Herbert of Derwentwater

Saint Herbert of Derwentwater (died 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon priest and hermit who lived on St Herbert's Island, a small island in Derwentwater in Cumbria, England.

Biography

The life of St Herbert is recorded in Book IV Chapter 29 of St Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People.[1]

His date of birth is unknown. He was for long the close friend and disciple of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, at whose request he took up the life of an anchorite,[1] living for many years on the small island now named after him, on Derwentwater.[2] He ate fish from the lake and grew vegetables around his cell.[3]

Herbert visited Cuthbert in Lindisfarne every year to receive spiritual direction. In AD 686, hearing that his friend was visiting Carlisle to give the veil to Queen Eormenburg, he went to see him there, instead of at Lindisfarne as was usual. After they had spoken together, St Cuthbert said, "Brother Herbert, tell to me now all that you have need to ask or speak, for never shall we see one another again in this world. For I know that the time of my decease is at hand." Then Herbert fell weeping at his feet and begged that St Cuthbert would obtain for him the grace that they might both be admitted to praise God in heaven at the same time. And St Cuthbert prayed and then made answer, "Rise, my brother, weep not, but rejoice that the mercy of God has granted our desire." Herbert, returning to his hermitage, fell ill of a long sickness, and, purified of his imperfections, passed to God on the same day, 20 March 687, on which St Cuthbert died on Holy Island.[2]

Veneration

Herbert's feast day is 20 March. Cuthbert's feast is far more popular, and Herbert has been largely forgotten.

St Herbert's Island is named after him. At the north end of the island the remains of his hermitage survive.[4] Each year the parish of Our Lady of the Lakes and St Charles arranges to celebrate Mass on St Herbert's Island in his memory.[4] Since 1983 pilgrimages have been made from Chadderton to Cumbria, parishioners joining others from churches in the Lake District in crossing Derwentwater and concelebrating Mass on St Herbert's Island.[1]

Churches are dedicated to St Herbert at Braithwaite and Carlisle in Cumbria, Darlington in County Durham and Chadderton in Greater Manchester.[1]

Friars Crag viewpoint on Derwentwater is named after the monks who sailed to St Herbert's Island on pilgrimage to visit the saint.[3]

Dominican priest, philosopher and theologian Herbert McCabe's novice master, Columba Ryan, gave him the religious name Herbert, in an ironic reference to McCabe's tendency to shock.[5]

In literature

William Wordsworth wrote a poem, For The Spot Where The Hermitage Stood on St Herbert's Island, Derwentwater, celebrating the spiritual friendship between Saints Cuthbert and Herbert.

St Herbert appears under the name "Erebert" as a character in Melvyn Bragg's mostly fictional book Credo about the life of St Bega.

St Herbert's Island inspired "Owl Island" in Beatrix Potter's book The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Life of St Herbert". St. Herbert's, Chadderton.
  2. 1 2 Toke, Leslie (1910). "St. Herbert of Derwentwater". Catholic Encyclopedia. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Saint Herbert and his Island". Lake District National Park.
  4. 1 2 Welch, Annette. "St. Herbert and his Island". Our Lady of the Lakes, Keswick. Archived from the original on 2006-05-09.
  5. ↑ Mills, John Orme (2001-07-24). "Fr Herbert McCabe". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-01-13.

Coordinates: 54°35′00″N 3°08′20″W / 54.58333°N 3.13875°W / 54.58333; -3.13875

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