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St. Wulfstan

Feast 01-19

Patron of

About

Wulfstan, born in Warwickshire around 1008, became a Benedictine of Worcester and in 1062 its bishop. He was the last English bishop to survive the Norman Conquest, keeping alive the old English tongue and piety in a Church increasingly ruled by foreign prelates.

A fearless preacher against the slave trade at Bristol, he labored to free captives and defend the poor. He was devoted to St. Oswald, whose relics he enshrined, and kept the ancient fasts when they were falling out of use. He died on January 19, 1095, after more than thirty years as bishop, and was buried in his cathedral. Venerated by Catholics and Anglicans alike, he is invoked as a patron of peasants and of those who fast, and as a defender of the Church's care for the poor.

the poor, poor, the poor people, poverty, poor people, the impoverished, the needy, the destitute, the less fortunate, the underprivileged, the poor and needy, church reform, reforming the church, church renewal, ecclesiastical reform, renewing the church, church changes, church improvement, church revitalization, england, english, britain, english catholics, uk, british, england catholics, great britain, united kingdom, english christians, anglican convert, bishops, bishop, episcopacy, episcopal, diocese, church leaders, prelates, shepherds, apostolic successors

Suggested prayer

O God, who granted St. Wulfstan to keep the faith of old England alive when all around him was changing, grant through his intercession that we may hold fast to what is good and never cease to defend the poor. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sources

Other saints to pray to

For the poor

For church reform