BIRINUS

'Birinus' (c. 600–649), venerated as a saint, was the first Bishop of Dorchester,Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 219 and the " to the West Saxons".
After Augustine of Canterbury performed initial conversions in England, Birinus, a Frank, came to the kingdoms of Wessex in 634.Walsh ''A New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 102 Birinus had been made bishop by Asterius in Genoa, and Pope Honorius I created the commission to convert the West Saxons. In 635, he persuaded the West Saxon king Cynegils to allow him to preach. Cynegils was trying to create an alliance with Oswald of Northumbria, with whom he intended to fight the Mercians. At the final talks between kings, the sticking point was that Oswald, being a Christian, would not ally himself with a heathen. Cynegils then converted and was baptized,^[1] and he gave Birinus Dorchester for his episcopal see. Birinus's original commission would have entailed preaching to all parts of the West Saxon kingdom, but he remained there in Wessex. However, in Wessex, Birinus was very active in establishing churches. After Cynegils' death, the new king, Cenwalh, invited Birinus to establish a church at Westminster. He also supposedly laid the foundations for Saint Mary's in Reading, Saint Helen's in Abingdon and other churches across old Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.
His feast day is December 3 in the Roman Catholic Church,^[2] but some churches celebrate his feast on December 5. In the Church of England his feast day falls on 4 September and has the status of a Commemoration.

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Notes

References

External links

Notes

1. Patron Saints Index: Birinus accessed on September 1, 2007
2. Catholic Online Saints and Angels St. Birinus accessed on September 1, 2007

References

★ Catholic Online Saints and Angels St. Birinus accessed on September 1, 2007

★ Patron Saints Index: Birinus accessed on September 1, 2007

★ Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961

★ Walsh, Michael ''A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West'' London: Burns & Oats 2007 ISBN 0-8601-2438-X

External links

★ Berkshire History site with a biography of St. Birinus

★ Catholic Encyclopaedia biographical entry