Saint Aelfnoth (Alnoth)
Feast day: November 25
(d. 700)
There are many hermit saints in the history of the Catholic Church - women and men who are so in love with God that they withdraw from society in order to spend time only with Him. The hermit hopes to hear the music of his Beloved's voice, quiet and close, in their inmost being.
But even when the Lord does not deign to make Himself known, and He does not speak or move within, the Hermit loves to think of Him and wait in attendance upon the time when he MAY speak and move and make Himself known. The distraction of others and their voices, the noise of commerce and entertainments, are not of interest to the solitary, except in a pale and subordinate facsimile of common habit.
Monastics live lives of asceticism and offer up their pains and sufferings in reparation for their sins and the sins of the world, but to remove oneself from society to think of The Lord and draw close to him is not a suffering for them and can't be counted as such. Forgoing the supposed joys of common amusements is a pleasure for the hermit. In this way, they are contrary creatures, but it is my impression that the Lord made them this way from the beginning, constructing them so that even from childhood they enjoyed solitary time, at the very least.
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the
hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in
the synagogues and in the corners of the streets,
that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto
you, they have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,
and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father which is in secret; and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
Matthew 6:5-6
Many hermits in history have lived as married persons, with children and worldly duties, but immediately upon the death of their spouse, they flee to the convent or monastery, sometimes taking their children with them. It appears that our Church does not have much room for this sort of monasticism any longer. It has become obsessed with the young. Like the rest of society, the modern church has little interest in older persons, when it comes to monastic vocations. There are some practical aspects to this. Supporting people is very expensive. What can be done about that? The world has changed a lot since the Middle Ages. Besides which, many hermits bore their own expenses in those days, having family income to spend for their maintenance, which cost very little at that time. There were no medical bills (or medical care, to speak of!) No electric bills or mortgages. No automobiles or car insurance. It was a much simpler time.
It is no wonder that we know so little of the lives of the hermits because, after they retire to the hermitage, it is all an "inside job" without much for an outsider to observe, except an occasional miracle! (I think patience is, itself, a miracle.) In the case of today's saint, we know just the bare outline of his life. In his early life, he was a cowherd on St. Werberga's monastery property in Weedon, Northhampton, and he is briefly mentioned in Jocelyn's story of Werburga's life.
Apparently, there was a local official who was something of a bully and he used to torment Alnoth, who responded with patience - a rare trait. Eventually, today's saint retired to live as a hermit and was murdered by two robbers, at night, in his hermitage. His tomb is at Stowe, near Bugbrooke, and it has been an attraction for pilgrims. The local folk considered him a martyr, perhaps because he was bullied and then murdered because of his gentle Christian temperament.
I know what it is like to be tormented by bullies. I've been the target of bullies since I was a very little girl. Once they discover your temperament, they tend to shake you for either fun or finances. They would like to turn your world on end and hold you upside down to see if they can shake loose any coins or personal possessions that might fall out of your pockets.
I am generous by nature, so I have had people cynically make friends with me for the sole purpose of divesting me of household furnishings and supplies. Some are just content to block my garage so that I am unable to use my handicap mobility scooter that is stored there.
Of course, most of you are aware that after my father got Alzheimer's and tried to start his car with his credit card instead of his car key, other folks wrote me out of his will, knowing that I am disabled and poor and have need of the inheritance I was promised by my father, but that my nature is not such that I would be of any danger to them. Then, when he died under odd circumstances and his body was cremated without examination, I was advised of his death. These are distressing events, but I do not have to do anything with them because The Lord of Divine Love and Justice has seen them all, and He has His own methods of regulating justice, in this world and the next.
The bailiff who tormented Aelfnoth must have descendants here in the USA! Not everyone is like that, of course. I have many well-wishers, and I am betting I am probably more feisty than Aelfnoth, being a modern, independent woman. It is just that the bullies and thieves tend to make a an impression down through history. Think of all the years that have passed since that bailiff was harrowing Aelfnoth, and we know almost as much about him as we do the saint himself!
Today, let us pray for the bullies, the robbers, the murderers and the thieves who risk their souls by acting on their evil impulses. Please offer at least one "Hail Mary" for them. They need it!
I hope and I pray you had a lovely Thanksgiving, and God bless you all!
Silver Rose
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