WULSTAN was born nearly a millennium ago, probably in 1008 at Long Itchington, in Warwickshire and was educated in the Benedictine monasteries at Evesham and Peterborough. He became a member of the household of the bishop of Worcester: such was a common way for a promising youth to be launched into public or ecclesiastical life in the Middle Ages.

After he was ordained priest he was offered a richly endowed church, but he turned it down and entered the cathedral priory at Worcester as a novice. This was a small community of twelve monks and Wulstan successively held the offices of master of the boys, cantor and sacristan, till in 1050 he became prior.

Wulstan improved the monastic observance as well as the finances of the house, but he was especially noted for his pastoral work. When, in 1062, the bishop of Worcester was translated to York, the papal legates, who had spent Lent at Worcester Priory, recommended that Wulstan succeed. The King, St Edward the Confessor, after consulting the people of Worcester and his Council, agreed, and, much against his will, Wulstan was ordained as bishop whilst remaining prior of the community.

Wulstan was a pastor rather than an academic or politician; he was noted for his preaching and was the first English bishop who is known to have carried out systematic visitations of his diocese. He built many churches as well as rebuilding the cathedral. He worked to improve the standard of the clergy and promoted clerical celibacy. Always he refused to wear the rich garb of bishops, being content with lambskin.

Wulstan had a great devotion to the English saints, especially to a former Benedictine bishop of Worcester, St Oswald, whose care for the poor he emulated, personally washing the feet of three poor men each day of Lent and giving them food.

He developed the habit of constantly praying the psalms throughout the day whether he was travelling, or working at home. As prior he had a habit of visiting monks who had missed Matins and praying the office with them personally afterwards.

In that age it was inevitable that a bishop would be drawn into politics and public affairs. After the Battle of Hastings, he submitted to William the Conquer, and in fact, was the only one of the old English bishops to retain his see, and so “was the last representative on the English thrones of the Church of Bede and Cuthbert. He was the link between it and the Church of Lanfranc and Anselm”. In his old age he was one of the bishops who consecrated St Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury. In the various rebellions, he was loyal to the king and defended Worcester castle against rebels.

Wulstan's greatest achievement was his success in having the slave trade from Bristol to Ireland abolished. The rough merchants of Bristol eventually heeded him, because he still preached to them in the old English language.

When Lanfranc became Archbishop of Canterbury, Wulstan supported his reform policies, and fostered links between the two sees. Worcester became a suffragan see of Canterbury, rather than being linked with York as hitherto. Wulstan developed Worcester as a cultural centre and sent disciples to Canterbury for their education.

Wulstan died at the age of eighty-seven in 1095. Cures began to be reported at his tomb, his cult grew and he was canonised by Innocent III in 1203. His tomb in the Cathedral was splendidly covered in silver and gold and became a locus of devotion and pilgrimage. His feast is kept on January 19, the date on which he died.

Colman who had been Wulstan's chaplain for fifteen years wrote his life. This has been lost but was the basis of the Latin Life by William of Malmesbury.

Recommended Book: Prayer & Community
The Benedictine Tradition
Columba Stewart OSB
London: Darton Longman Todd 1998 £7.95 ISBN 0-232-52240-5

THIS is the first of series entitled Traditions of Christian Spirituality, edited by Philip Sheldrake SJ. The author, Columba Stewart OSB is monk of St John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. He presents an introduction to Benedictine spirituality and in his preface he says he kept in mind three groups of prospective readers, Benedictine monastics, those who already know something about the topic such as oblates and those who make retreats at monasteries, and people who know nothing at all about Benedictinism.

Fr Columba begins by setting Benedict in his context, giving a brief history of monasticism before Benedict, showing that his was one rule among many. Benedict himself adapted from earlier rules, especially the Rule of the Master. After him others adapted his rule. That each monastery had its own rule was the norm. It was only because Charlemagne in the interest of standardisation wanted all the monasteries of the empire to have the same rule that St Benedict of Aniane had St Benedict's Rule imposed on them. From that time onwards the Rule of Benedict became the standard for all the monasteries of the west, albeit with differing interpretations.

Fr Columba summarises the essential of Benedictinism as prayer and community. He summarises St Benedict's theology of prayer as constant mindfulness of the presence of God. 'The monastic attitude to prayer is not supposed to be different from that towards the rest of life, but more so.' So in a real sense everything is prayer. The public prayer, the Opus Dei, is the climax of this attitude, and it leads into the Lectio Divina, the prayerful reading of scripture which St Benedict sees as occupying a large part of monastic time. It is only comparatively recently the monastics have reclaimed their birthright in lectio divina and it has become the heritage of oblates as well as of more and more Christians.

There is a chapter on obedience and humility, the basic virtues which the monastic must spend a lifetime developing as his attitude of standing before God and man. The monastic must realise his or her total dependence on God. 'Obedience consists of a word spoken and heard'. It is, the author explains, the word spoken through the Bible and prayer. Each one must listen attentively to the voice of God speaking. The superior has to be as obedient as the other members of the community. He or she, has to listen to God's voice in exercising the leadership role. Humility consists in living the right relationship with God and neighbour.

Other chapters deal with the shape of coenobitic life and the disciplined life. The author shows the development of monasticism and its various facets down to the present age.

This is a remarkably honest book, Fr Columba is prepared to be quite critical in his assessment of Benedictine life, not only in its history but also today's practice. Two quotations will illustrate this. "Today most Benedictines have considerably modified their founder's ascetical prescriptions. They run the risk of losing sight of the larger significance of their daily life and practices." "Benedictines leave their monasteries just as spouses leave their marriages, and for a similar mix of reasons."

Fr Columba is well aware of the danger in monasticism, when things get out of balance. He sees work as a potential danger for todays monastics "Work, despite its ascetical qualities, is often not regarded as a fruitful discipline pointing beyond itself to a spiritual goal, but becomes an end in itself whether for financial or personal reasons. The result can be a crushing burden of tasks which are never finished and a constant (if unacknowledged) guilt about neglect of monastic duties."

The final chapter is entitled 'Monasticism for the World'. In it Fr Columba describes the interface between monastics and others. There is a great surge of interest in monasticism today. Benedict is for all Christians, the fundamental insight of the Rule is that we seek God by ordinary means. God is here and among us, we have to learn to see and hear his voice in those among whom we live.

From the Rule of St Benedict