Thought for the Week column with Martin Parrott: Remembering Hilda of Whitby
November 17 is the day the Church remembers a great local saint: Hilda of Whitby. Born from royal stock in 614, she became a nun and later, after becoming an abbess, founded a monastery at Whitby in 657. It was a very different place from the abbey which now lies in ruins overlooking the town.
There is nothing left of Hilda’s monastery although archaeology has given us some clues as to what her community was like. There was a Church where everyone gathered for worship, and the living accommodation was in small huts, each housing two or three people, with groups of men and women living separately.
Hilda insisted that Christian virtues were paramount in the shared values of the community. When she died at Whitby in 480 her legacy was a highly cultured and outward-looking group of Christians which fostered music and craft – the most famous example being her encouragement of Caedmon, commemorated as the first English poet.
Whitby’s standing at that time was evident when it was chosen to host the Synod of Whitby in 664. Hilda enabled this important turning point in the history of English Christianity.
Sadly, violence, death and destruction are also part of the story. The attacks from the Vikings and others from the east made Whitby uninhabitable for many hundreds of years after Hilda’s death.
It is thought that Hilda’s bones were removed from Whitby and only returned when the threat of violence had passed and the first monastery was built after the Norman conquest.
The Church says thank you for Hilda and the Spirit of God that inspired her full and creative life which in turn gave life to others.
We can also be thankful for a vision of human community living respectfully in harmony and peace.
Martin Parrott, assistant priest, Holy Trinity and St Jude’s, Halifax