Died April 24, 729. Saint Egbert was a Northumbrian monk of Lindisfarne
who migrated to Ireland and lived at Rathelmigisi (Rathmelsigi) in
Connaught. In 684, he unsuccessfully tried to dissuade King Egfrith
from invading Ireland. At Rathelmigisi Egbert trained several bands of
monks for the German missions that included
Saints Wigbert (f.d. April 12)
and
Willibrord (f.d. November 7).
When his companion Aethelhun died
of the plague and he contracted it, too, Egbert vowed voluntary exile
for life if he recovered. Although he wanted to join the missionaries,
his vow and a vision instructing him otherwise, led Egbert to become an
admirable monk on the island of Iona in Scotland. There he attempted to
induce the monks to adopt Roman liturgical practices.* He succeeded at
last: in fact, on the day of his death, Easter was celebrated at Iona
for the first time according to the reckoning established by the Council
of Nicea in 325AD. Egbert's feast is found in both the Roman and Irish
martyrologies and in the metrical calendar of York
(
Benedictines,
Encyclopaedia,
Farmer,
Gill).