As announced elsewhere on the Diocesan Website, 30th August / 12th September 2024 marked the completion of the frescoing of the front of the choir loft in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God and Holy Royal Martyrs in London, England. The walls of the Cathedral — which is the most extensively frescoed Orthodox Church in the British Isles — already contain holy images of a great many saints of these islands, together with saints of early Orthodox history, of many regions of Orthodox life across the centuries, and those of more recent generations from within the legacy of the Church Abroad.
The occasion of painting the front facade of the choir loft, which was one of the few spaces in the Cathedral not yet adorned with frescos, provided the opportunity for the Church to expand the collection of saints of the British Isles enshrined on its walls. For this important task, the head iconographer responsible for the group that frescoed the Cathedral as a whole (about which much can be read in the book published on the Cathedral’s adornment), the master-iconographer Anna Zdanovich, returned to London for a three-week period dedicated to converting the bare facade into a beautiful shrine to the memory of even more of our local Orthodox saints.
Over the course of the project, moveable scaffolding was erected within the Cathedral to provide Anna with access to the area, and the phases of sketching and then painting were begun. As the daily liturgical life of the Cathedral continued beneath, the faithful were able to behold the unfolding progress on the new frescos, as if the saints themselves were gradually emerging from history to stand amongst them in perpetual prayer.
The progress of the painting can be seen in the series of four photographs below:
The space provided Anna with the opportunity to enshrine six additional saints of the British Isles on the facade, in a composition specifically designed for the shape of the balcony and intended to fit together with the host of saints already on the Cathedral walls.
From left to right, the newly-added frescos are of the following luminaries of Holy Orthodoxy in these lands:
The Venerable St Melangell of Wales (7th century):
Commemorated 26th May / 9th June, the Venerable Melangell hailed from Ireland. Desirious to dedicate her life to prayer, she fled her Irish homeland around AD 590 and settled in the hill-lands of what is today the Principality of Wales. There, near the place known as Pennant, she developed her life of prayerful quietude. In due course, her fame spread through the surrounding regions, and other pious women came to emulate her ascetical life, which included rigours such as long periods in isolated prayer upon a rock, like St Simeon and the later St Seraphim. A community eventually formed around her, dedicated to communal prayer and care for the poor and needy. St Melangell headed this community until her repose.
One of the most famous events in the Saint’s life occurred in the year AD 604, when the Prince of Powys and Earl of Chester, Brochwel Ysgithrog, came across St Melangell during a hunt. The hare the Earl’s hounds were chasing fled to the Saint and hid under her cloak; and when the nobleman attempted to order the dogs to advance, they stopped in the presence of the Saint and, at her instruction, they turned and fled. The Earl was moved by her boldness and piety, and donated the land on which Melangell would eventually settle. This event lies behind the tradition of depicting St Melangell with a hare — as indeed she is depicted in the new fresco on the Cathedral balcony.
At her repose, St Melangell’s tomb became a place of pilgrimage known for producing many healings. In honour of their encounter, Earl Brochwel’s successors established the custom — which would remain for centuries — that her tomb would be protected as a place of of pilgrimage, as well as a place of refuge for small animals, who were to remain unharmed.
Tropar of St Melangell: ‘Preferring the rigours of monasticism to worldly status and marriage, O pious Melangell, though wast fifteen years on a rock, emulating the example of the Syrian Stylites. Wherefore, O Saint, pray to God that He will give us strength to serve Him as He wills, that we may be found worthy of His great mercy.’
The Holy Hierarch St Wilfrid of York (b. 634 - d. 709):
St Wilfrid, who is commemorated on 12th / 25th October, became Bishop of York and later of Hexam. He was first educated in the monastic life and theology at Lindisfarne, and later sent to Rome for further formation. En route back towards the British Isles, he spent several years in Lyon (where our Diocese has a parish to this day). His tenure as Bishop in York was aided by St Theodore (who is enshrined in a fresco elsewhere in the Cathedral). He is remembered as an example of active episcopal leadership while maintaining always a simple monastic interior life.
The Holy Hierarch St Swithun of Winchester (9th century):
Commemorated on 2nd / 15th July (the saint’s repose) and 15th / 28th July (the translation of his relics), St Swithun is one of the greatest wonderworkers of England, and is remembered particularly for his profound humility — so deep that he begged to be buried in a simple grave near his Cathedral ‘under the feet of passers-by and the rain from the eaves’. Born of a noble family from the English kingdom of Wessex, where he later served as a deacon and advisor in the royal court of King Ethelwulf, in due course St Swithun was consecrated Bishop and given an enormous diocese centred in Winchester. He became known for his meek wisdom and kindness towards all, coupled with a fierce defence of his diocese and the Church from invaders.
Tropar of St Swithun: ‘The grace of god manifestly revealed thee to thy flock as a teacher of compunction, a model of meekness and a champion of piety; for by thy surpassing humility thou didst attain the summit of holiness, and for thy manifold virtues thou hast received a crown on high. O holy Bishop Swithun our father, entreat Christ God that He save those who honour thy memory with love.’
The Holy Hierarch St Aethelwold of Winchester (10th century):
The Holy Hierarch Aethelwold (sometimes written Ethelwold), commemorated 1st / 14th August, was one of the great restorers of monasticism in England, after it had suffered much under Danish raids in the ninth century. For this essential project, which he undertook together with his fellow saints of the late tenth century, the Holy Hierarchs Dunstan of Canterbury and Oswald of Worcester and York (both of whom are already commemorated in frescos elsewhere in the London Cathedral), the trio became collectively known as the ‘Three Holy Hierarchs of England’. St Aethelwold was raised in piety from his childhood by devout parents, and from his youth sought to serve the Church. He was ordained Priest in AD 939 (fortuitously, on the same day as St Dunstan), and took up the monastic life in Somerset. He taught at Glastonbury, where he became Prior; and later re-established a monastic community in Abingdon, near the church founded during the visit of the Empress St Elena, where an earlier monastery had been founded in the seventh century, later abandoned.
From 963 St Aethelwold was appointed Bishop of Winchester, and took to reforming the laxity of clerical and liturgical life. Driven and energetic in his pastoral zeal, he became known as ‘formidable as a lion with the rebellious and unruly, yet as meek as a dove with the obedient and God-fearing’. He remained deeply ascetic to the end of his days.
Tropar to St Aethelwold: ‘By vigilant prayer and ascetic endeavour, thou didst make thy passions subject to thy reverent soul, O holy hierarch Aethelwold, man of noble desires; wherefore, thou didst uproot evil wherever thou didst find it, and in thy humility hast shown thyself to be a true model of Christian virtue. O saint of God, by thy supplications entreat Him to have pity on us all.’
Venerable St Botolph of Iken (7th century):
Commemorated 17th / 30th June and 1st / 14th December, St Botolph is one of the most renowned of the saints of the British Isles, whose fame and veneration spread not just across the islands, but across the whole of Europe. Born around AD 615, he and his brother Adulf, also venerated as a Saint of the Church, were amongst the first recorded baptisms in the Kingdom of East Anglia. The Irish missionary St Fursey had established a monastery at Burgh Castle in Norfolk (where the Diocese has a parish today, as well as in nearby Mettingham), where Sts Botolph and Adulf were educated and tonsured as monks. Later St Botolph went to receive further formation in Gaul (where the Diocese today as a parish in Lyon), before returning to England where, after the death of King Anna in 653 he founded a monastery in Ikenho on the site of what is today Iken in north-eastern Suffolk. The monastery was destined to become one of the chief religious centres in the whole of England. The temple of St Botolph on the site stands to this day, and the Diocese’s parish in Mettingham maintains the tradition of an annual pilgrimage there in honour of the saint.
St Botolph was known for his care for the poor (his monastery routinely emptied its larders in aid to the hungry), his sweet demeanour, and his missionary zeal that saw him travel to far corners of England — for which he has become known as the ‘Patron Saint of Travellers’. His veneration began immediately upon his repose in AD 680. The place of his abode became known as 'Botolphston' (possibly from either 'Botolph's stone' or 'Botolph's town'), and this was later contracted to 'Boston' — thus rendering him the patron of cities in both England and the United States that bear this name. For this reason he is sometimes known as ‘St Botolph of Boston’.
Tropar of St Botolph: ‘Neither the desolation of the fens, nor the depth of thy humility could hide the light of thy virtues, whereby thou becamest a lamp unto the faithful, O Botolph our venerable Father. Wherefore, we entreat thee: do thou also enlighten us who venerate thy blessed memory.’
The Venerable St Eanswythe, Abbess of Folkestone (7th century):
The sole daughter of King Eadbald of Kent, St Eanswythe (commemorated 31st August / 13th September) was raised a Christian by her pious mother, though her father’s paganism constantly put her faith to the test. From her youth she desired to flee the expectations of married life and dedicate herself to God in sacred virginity. At length her father relented, and granted her the construction of a monastery in Folkestone in Kent — though even the period of its construction he sought to sway her towards the married life. St Eanswythe, however, remained steadfast, and in AD 630 the complex was completed, becoming the first women’s monastery in England. The saint was, at this point, only sixteen years of age. Little is known of the leadership of the community prior to her maturity and appointment as its Abbess, nor indeed of its later history, to the point of its sacking by the Danes in the mid-ninth century; however, St Eanswythe herself was known for her gentle spirit, her dedication to the monastic rule of prayer and hospitality, and her humble faith before God. All this in a life that concluded in 640, when the saint was but in her mid-twenties — having in so short a span of years attained to great godliness. Her relics were venerated immediately, and throughout the centuries to follow.
Kondak of St Eanswythe: ‘Having discarded a bed for rest, for the sake of thy love for God, O Mother Eanswythe, / and illuminating thy spirit with fasting, / thou didst utterly vanquish thine enemies; / and by thine intercessions didst destroy the evil schemes of our adversaries.’
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