Hereford Saint Ethelbert Probus Club

3:53pm Thursday 26th June 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

HOW many of the good citizens of Hereford still do not know that the first Christian Anglo-Saxon king, Ethelbert of East Anglia, was murdered by command of King Offa of Mercia, in 794, at Marden only five miles north of Hereford City?

Subsequently, King Ethelbert was canonised, and became one of the two patron saints of Hereford Cathedral, but while his image abounds throughout the church, none related the full story of his life.

In June 2007, a new shrine was dedicated to Saint Ethelbert the King, in the form of 12 beautifully painted episodes portraying his life. It consists of a seven-sided wooden structure placed on a pillar, immediately east of Hereford Cathedral’s high alter, traditionally the place where saints were enshrined.

It is truly a work of art, created by modern-day craftsmen whose labours will surely survive the passage of time.

Proud to carry the saint’s name, the Saint Ethelbert Probus Club of Hereford was, for the second year in succession, invited to join the Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Reverend Michael Tavinor, for a private gathering at the shrine to celebrate and to ponder once again on the remarkable life story of Saint Ethelbert.

A week after visiting the cathedral, the club also held its own Saint Ethelbert’s annual celebration lunch in the Balcony Restaurant at The Courtyard. There were 45 in attendance plus the Dean, welcomed as a special guest.

Likely now to become a firm fixture in the club’s regular activities, this annual double celebration of the life of Saint Ethelbert will be a cherished ritual.