¹ Cuthberht, the holy bishop, shining with many merits and high honours, reigns in the kingdom of heaven with the Almighty Creator in eternal joy, and is glorified. Bede, the wise teacher of the English nation, wrote the life of this saint in the order of events, with wonderful praise, both in a simple narrative and in verse. Bede tells us that the blessed Cuthberht, when he was a child of eight years, ran about playing with children of his own age, as his carefree years urged him; but Almighty God wished to correct the thoughtlessness of His chosen Cuthberht through the warning of a timely teacher, and sent him a child of three years to reprove his senseless play wisely with serious words. This same three-year-old child asked the playful Cuthberht, “Why do you give yourself to this idle play, you who are consecrated by God for heavenly dignity? It is not fitting for a bishop to behave like ordinary men. Cease, dear friend, from so unbecoming a game, and devote yourself to God, who has chosen you to be a bishop of His people, to whom you will open the entrance of the kingdom of heaven.” But Cuthberht still ran on with his play, until his monitor, weeping bitterly and sadly, suddenly stilled the play of all the children. All the children then tried to comfort that one sorrowing child, but none of them could ease its sadness until Cuthberht gladdened it with kind kisses; and afterwards, in accordance with the child’s warning, he remained deeply serious ever after.

² After this, the blessed Cuthberht’s knee was lamed by a hard swelling, so that he had to support his walking with crutches. One day, as he sat in the sunshine apart from the others and bathed his leg, a venerable horseman came riding up to him on a snow-white horse, himself dressed in white garments; he courteously greeted the saint with peaceful words, asking whether, if it were convenient, he might be given a meal. Cuthberht then said frankly, “I would prepare your meal myself now, if I could walk. My diseased knee is so severely afflicted that no remedy can relieve it, however often it is applied.” The stranger then dismounted, took hold of his knee with his healing hands, and told him to take wheat flour, boil it in milk, and bind the swollen limb with the hot preparation; after these words he mounted his horse and departed by the way he had come. Cuthberht then bathed his knee according to the angel’s instruction, and at once recovered his health and his power of walking, and recognised that God had visited him through His angel, He who in ancient times had powerfully healed the blind Tobias through His archangel Gabriel.

³ Afterwards the holy Cuthberht, while keeping watch with shepherds in the field, saw the heavens open and angels leading the soul of Bishop Aidan with great glory into the heavenly joy. Once, too, Cuthberht was travelling through the country preaching the faith of God, when a storm drove him into a shepherd’s hut that stood deserted in the wilderness through which he was travelling, and he tied his horse inside it. Then, while he was singing his prayers, the horse tore the thatch from the roof of the hut, and down from the roof fell a warm loaf with food to go with it; he thanked God for the meal and refreshed himself with it.

⁴ After this the blessed Cuthberht wholly abandoned all worldly things and submitted himself to the monastic life with holy observances; soon after he became a monk he was appointed guest-master, so that he looked after the strangers’ lodgings and attended to the monastery’s guests. Then, one winter’s day, an angel of God came to him in the guise of a stranger, and Cuthberht received him with every hospitality. He then went out to fetch food for his guest, but when he came back in he found no guest; instead there lay three heavenly loaves, shining with the brightness of the lily, breathing the fragrance of the rose, and sweeter in taste than bees’ honey. The holy Cuthberht then searched everywhere in the snow along the way the stranger had gone, but when he saw no footprints in the snow, he knew that the stranger was an angel and not a man, who had brought him heavenly food and cared nothing for earthly food.

⁵ This holy man was accustomed to go to the sea at night and stand in the salt ocean up to his neck, singing his prayers. One night another monk waited for him to come out and slowly followed his footsteps until they both reached the sea. Cuthberht then did as he was accustomed: he sang his prayers in the sea waves, standing up to his neck, and afterwards knelt on the sand with his palms stretched out towards the heavens. Then two seals came up from the sea-bed, dried his feet with their fur, warmed his limbs with their breath, and afterwards, lying at his feet on the sand, begged his blessing with a sign. Cuthberht then sent the sea creatures back to the sea with a heartfelt blessing, and at daybreak returned to the monastery. The monk then became greatly afraid and, taken ill, threw himself down at the saint’s knees at early morning, praying that he would drive away his sickness entirely and show a father’s compassion for his curiosity. The saint answered at once, “I will quietly have compassion on your error, if you will keep this sight secret in silence until my soul has departed from this life, called away to heaven.” Cuthberht then healed the sickness of his observer by prayer and forgave him the fault of his curious spying. Many wonders were worked by the holy Cuthberht, but for the sake of brevity we will pass over some of them in silence, lest this account seem too long to you.

⁶ But Cuthberht, as was his custom, went about preaching the faith so that he might teach the ignorant people the way of life. Once an eagle flew ahead of him on his journey, and he began to ask his companion who would give them food that day. His companion replied that he had long been wondering where they should ask for sustenance, since they had made the journey without provisions. Then Cuthberht said to him, “Almighty God can very easily provide food for us through this eagle, He who of old fed Elijah through the black raven before he was taken up to heaven.” They journeyed on, and behold, the eagle was sitting on the shore, having flown there with a fish it had just caught. Then the saint said to his companion, “Run to the eagle and take part of the fish it has caught for our meal. Praise be to the Almighty, who wishes to feed us through this bird. But give a share to the eagle as a reward for its labour.”

⁷ After the meal they went on their way, and Cuthberht preached beautifully to the people, warning them to be on their guard against the wiles of the devil, lest he corrupt their faith with lies and draw their minds away from the preaching. In the middle of this warning the people suddenly began to rush off, greatly deceived, so that they paid too little heed to his teaching. For the deceitful fiend had deluded them into thinking that a house really was burning there, crackling with firebrands, though it was only an illusion. The people then tried to put out the fire, to see whether water might quench it; but the presence of the saint quickly dispelled the devil’s delusion, which they had followed in error while paying little heed to the word of life. The people then returned in shame to the teaching they had abandoned, begging their teacher kindly to pardon them for having paid too little heed to his warning when he had told them of the danger before them.

⁸ On another occasion Cuthberht saved a burning house single-handedly from the fire’s destruction through holy prayers, and drove back the blast of wind, he who had very often before extinguished the poisoned darts of devilish temptation aimed at himself, through the protection of the righteous Lord. He would often preach fearlessly to the people in distant parts. Truly the Almighty had given him a sweet eloquence for the instruction of the people, and men could not hide their thoughts from him, but humbly confessed their secrets to him, not daring to do otherwise, and privately made amends as he directed.

⁹ A devout man also enjoyed close friendship with the holy Cuthberht and often benefited from his teaching. His wife was afflicted more grievously than he could have wished, for she suffered severely from madness. The devout man then came to the blessed Cuthberht, who at that time was prior of the monastery at Lindisfarne. Out of shame he could not tell him openly that his devout wife lay mad, but begged him to send a brother to perform the last rites for her before she was taken from life. But Cuthberht knew all about the woman and resolved to visit her himself at once, because she had previously lived devoutly, though misfortune had now befallen her. The man then began to weep bitterly, lamenting his misfortune. But Cuthberht comforted him with his words, saying that the devil who was tormenting her would leave her at his coming and flee in great terror, and that the woman, in her right mind and speaking properly, would come to meet him and take his bridle. It happened just as the teacher had said: the woman, in her right mind, greeted him with words, asked to prepare food for him, and told him how the devil had secretly left her and fled in great fear while the saint was on his way there.

¹⁰ The holy Cuthberht afterwards performed mighty miracles while living in the monastery. He then began to consider in his heart how he might escape the people’s praise, lest he become too famous in the world and a stranger to heavenly praise. He therefore resolved to lead the solitary life of a hermit and to live in complete seclusion. So he crossed the sea to Farne. That island lies in the midst of the sea, wholly beaten by the salt ocean; and before that time it was entirely filled with dark spirits, so that no one could cultivate the soil because of the threats of the black devils. But at last they all fled and left the island entirely to the noble champion, and he dwelt there alone, untroubled by their malice, through Almighty God. The island, however, was wholly without the blessing of water among its barren rocks; but the holy man at once ordered the hard rock in the middle of the floor of his humble dwelling to be hollowed out, and pleasant water quickly sprang up, sweet to the taste, for the holy man’s use, through Him who once, when God so willed, wondrously turned water into the flavour of wine.

¹¹ The saint then ordered seed to be brought to him, intending to cultivate the fruits of the earth in that wilderness, if Almighty God should so grant, so that he might provide food for himself. He sowed wheat on the prepared land, but it could not grow to produce grain, nor did it even come up as green shoots. He then ordered barley to be brought to him for seed and sowed the ground, though it was past the season. It grew abundantly and ripened well. Then the ravens came to rob him of the fruits of his labour, bold as they were. Then the saint said to the hard-beaked birds, “If the Almighty has allowed you this, take your share of the fruits and do not ask me. But if He has not granted it to you, depart, you bloodthirsty birds, from this island to your own home.” At this the ravens all flew away together over the salt sea, and the saint then enjoyed the fruits of his labour.

¹² After that, two other black ravens came and tore the thatch from his house with their hard beaks and carried it to their nest as a shelter for their young. These also the blessed man drove from the place with a word; but one of the birds flew back after three days, deeply downcast, and alighted at his feet, earnestly begging that he and his mate might live on that land without causing harm. The holy man granted him this, and they joyfully returned to that land, and brought the teacher a gift in return, pig’s fat to grease his shoes, and afterwards lived there harmlessly.

¹³ The saint then wished to build a house for his own use with the help of the brothers, and so he asked them for a log with which to support the house on the seaward side. The brothers promised to bring the timber when they next came to him. They came, indeed, as they had said, but had forgotten the timber; Almighty God, however, remembered it and sent him the log Himself on the sea flood, and the tide cast it up at the very place where he intended to build the house on the salt shore. The saint lived there for many years, following a very austere hermit’s life, and devout men often visited him and amended their lives through his teaching.

¹⁴ Then an abbess named Ælfflæd, a sister of King Ecgfrith, came to him; she wished to strengthen her mind through his counsel. During their conversation she began to beg the holy man to tell her how long her brother Ecgfrith would hold his kingdom. The saint answered her indirectly, saying, “One year’s pleasure counts as nothing when dark death is at hand.” She then understood that her brother would not enjoy his life beyond that one year, and at once, weeping sadly, asked him, “Dear friend, tell me who will succeed to his kingdom, since he has no brother and leaves no child.” Then the holy man said to the maiden again, “The Almighty Creator has preserved a chosen one to be king of this nation, and he will be as dear to you as the other is now.” The maiden ventured to speak to him once more, saying, “The hearts of men think in different ways: some desire the honour of this world, some satisfy their shameful desires, and afterwards they are all poor. You despise high rank, and it is more pleasing to you to sit in this poor hovel than to be a great bishop in a hall.” Then the prophet said that he was not worthy of so great a rank nor of the lofty seat, but that nevertheless no man could flee from the power of God in any corner of heaven or of earth or, thirdly, of the sea. “I believe, however, that if the Almighty commanded me to take that office, I would seek this island again after two years and enjoy this land. I beg you, Ælfflæd, not to mention our conversation to anyone while I live.”

¹⁵ After these words an assembly was held, at which Ecgfrith was present together with Theodore, the archbishop of this island, and many other venerable counsellors, and they all unanimously chose the blessed Cuthberht as bishop. They then at once sent letters bearing this decision to the blessed man, but they could not draw him from his monastery. Then King Ecgfrith himself sailed to the island, along with Bishop Trumwine and other devout men, and they earnestly begged the holy man, knelt down, and pleaded with him in tears, until they drew him weeping from the wilderness to the synod with them; and at their command he accepted the office, just as had been foretold long before by the mouth of the child and by the great Bishop Boisil, who with true prophecy had told him the course of his life.

¹⁶ In that same year the noble King Ecgfrith was also killed on his ill-fated campaign, when he too rashly, against the Lord’s will, decided to make war upon the Picts; and afterwards his illegitimate brother reigned, who had gone to the Scots in pursuit of wisdom, to increase his learning in a foreign land. Then the earlier words were fulfilled, which the holy man had spoken to the maiden about her brother before he became a bishop. The holy Cuthberht, as bishop of the church of Lindisfarne, then cared for his people with all diligence in imitation of the blessed apostles, shielded them from the devil with constant prayers, and stirred them towards heaven with wholesome exhortations; he lived as he himself taught, always confirmed his preaching by his example, adorned it with miracles, sweetened it with true love, tempered it with great patience, and was deeply devout in everything he said. He would not change his accustomed diet, nor the garments he had worn in the wilderness, but kept to the austerity of his hard diet among lay people all his life. He was rich towards the poor and needy, and always poor for himself.

¹⁷ He also worked many miracles during the time that he was a bishop. With holy water he healed an ealdorman’s wife of a wretched disease, and she, soon recovered, attended on him. At that same time he also anointed with oil a maiden who lay in long and wearisome pain from a persistent headache, and she was immediately better. A devout man was also gravely afflicted and lay at the point of death, given up by his friends; one of them, however, had holy bread which the blessed man had previously blessed, and he dipped it in water, poured it into the mouth of his sick kinsman, and the sickness was at once stilled. On another occasion a sick boy was brought before the wise man while he was travelling through the country to teach. The bearers earnestly begged his blessing, and he at once raised the boy up, so that he who had been carried there on a litter walked away on sound feet. A poor mother, deeply sorrowful, carried her half-dead child with difficulty along the same road on which the holy man was travelling. He had pity on the sorrowing mother, kindly kissed her son, and said that her child would recover and all her household enjoy health; and the words of the prophet were fulfilled.

¹⁸ Ælfflæd, the noble maiden, afterwards invited the holy teacher to dine with her. While sitting at table he was greatly moved, looked up towards heaven, and threw down his knife. The blessed woman then asked him why he had so quickly stopped eating. Then the bishop said with a stirred mind, “Just now I saw angels carrying a blessed soul from your estate up to high heaven with holy song, and his name will be made known to you early in the morning, when I offer the life-giving gift to God in the faithful church.” It was then reported, just as the prophet had said, that her herdsman, in the course of his duty, had climbed an oak and was feeding his cattle on its leafy crown, when he fell heavily and departed from this world, to God’s glory, through his kindness to his herd. Who could ever recount all the mighty miracles of this holy man, how often he healed the sick with ease, constantly drove away the dark spirits, and wisely foretold the death of those marked to die, wise in prophecy through the spirit of wisdom?

¹⁹ A priest of very devout life named Hereberht, of a thoughtful mind, lived in a hermitage according to his teaching and visited him every year. Cuthberht then spoke with him privately, telling him to ask freely whatever he needed before his last day, for from that day on he would not see him again in this earthly life. Hereberht was deeply grieved and fell at his feet with flowing tears, praying that he might journey with him from this toil to heavenly glory, since in life he had obeyed his teaching. At this the bishop bowed his knees in prayer with a glad heart, and immediately afterwards comforted the priest, saying that the Almighty Ruler had granted that they should journey together from these tribulations to everlasting joy. Hereberht then returned home and lay on his sickbed, his limbs afflicted, awaiting the other’s end. The holy Cuthberht then hastened with all speed to the hermitage where he had previously dwelt; at the prompting of the mighty Lord he wished to end his life in the land where he had spent his days long before. There he took to his bed, his departure from this life to God swiftly approaching, in the third year of his episcopate; and on that day he went to the Lord, and the holy priest Hereberht with him, as they had previously been told in life through the Spirit of God, with good will. His body was buried in the church at Lindisfarne, where very many miracles were worked through the merits of his blessed life. It afterwards pleased his successor, Bishop Eadberht, to have the body placed there, in the eleventh year after Cuthberht’s death. Then the holy corpse was found lying in the earth whole and sound, as though he were sleeping, his limbs still supple, just as he had been laid.

²⁰ Glory and praise be to the bountiful Lord, who so generously honours His chosen ones that, after this mortal life, they live with Him for all eternity. Amen.