7th century; she is probably identical with the Saint Bega celebrated on
October 31.
Saint Bega or Saint Bee was an Irish princess, whom a Norwegian prince
sought in marriage. She, however, had already pledged herself and her
virginity to Jesus and been given a bracelet by an angel marked with a
cross as a token of her heavenly betrothal. On the eve of her wedding,
as her father and her groom were celebrating in the hall, she escaped
with the help of the
bracelet. Seated on a clod of earth, she was taken across the sea to the
coast of Cumberland.
There she lived as an anchoress, who was fed by the wild birds and, if
left in peace, would have continued in this fashion. After being
attacked by marauders, King Saint Oswald of Northumbria advised her to
enter a convent. She therefore received the veil from Saint Aidan and
established a monastery at Saint Bees (Copeland near Carlisle) which
later became a cell of the great abbey of Saint Mary at York.
While the details as related above may be uncertain, Saint Bega is
venerated in Northumbria. The promontory on which she lived is named
Saint Bee's Head, and she is the patroness of the local people who were
injured by the exactions of their lords and the invasions of the
neighbouring Scots.
In her hermitage at Saint Bees (Cumbria) was kept what is presumed to be
her miraculous bracelet, which has the Old English name beag that so
closely resembled her that it may have given rise to her cultus. Oaths
were sworn on the bracelet. The people treasured equally the stories of
how Saint Bega in her earthly life had been devoted to the poor and
oppressed and had cooked, washed and mended for the workmen who built
her monastery. There is also a place in Scotland called Kilbees, named
after this saint
(
Benedictines,
Farmer,
Delaney,
Husenbeth,
Walsh).
For a fictionalised account of her life and the 664 Synod of Whitby read
Melvyn Bragg's novel
Credo,
published in the States as
The Sword and
the Miracle.
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Through the intercessions of St Bee and of all the Saints of Britain,
Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us!
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