QUEEN BERTHA OF KENT, A PREPARER OF THE WAY
Feast Day, May 1
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Aren’t we grateful for those who prepare the way for us? Jesus had his cousin John the Baptist who walked ahead of him and prepared the way by plowing the hard hearts of the people and allowing the seeds planted by Jesus to grow, to flourish, and to come to fruition. Queen Bertha of Kent, in the likeness of John the Baptist prepared the way for Anglo-Saxon England to receive the Gospel.
Bertha was a Frankish princess who was likely born about 539 and brought up in Tours, France. Her father was Charibert I, the Merovingian King of Neustria, which was the western part of the Frankish lands with its capital in Paris. Her mother was Ingoberga, the first wife of Charibert I. Ingoberga was known for her Christian piety and a generous supporter of the church in Tours. Bertha was also the great-granddaughter of Clovis, the founder of the Merovingian dynasty of France and his wife Clothide who aided in the conversion of her husband to faith in Christ.
The Venerable Bede described Bertha as the “of the royal stock of the Franks.” This would have made her marriage to the pagan Anglo-Saxon King Æthelberht of Kent in England a great bonus to both the Anglo-Saxon king and to the Merovingian line in France. This marriage was likely brokered by King Chilperic of France who would have used the daughter of his deceased half-brother to extend his influence across the English Channel.
Bertha’s marriage to King Æthelberht was conditioned on her being allowed to practice her faith in Christ. To ensure that this stipulation was met, she brought her chaplain, Bishop Liudhard with her to England. Interestingly, in 1844 in the churchyard of St. Martin’s a late 6th c. gold coin or medal was found with an attached loop along with other gold coins in a late 6th c. grave. This gold piece bears a head surrounded with letters spelling out in mirror writing in Latin “Leudardus Episcopus” (Bishop Liudhard). It now resides in the World Museum in Liverpool.
Queen Bertha and Bishop Liudhard restored a Roman occupation era Christian church in Canterbury which had been dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. It became her private chapel even before Augustine arrived from Rome. The present St. Martin’s of Canterbury continues in the same building. It is the oldest church in the English-speaking world and is part of the Canterbury World Heritage site.
Much of the favorable reception that Augustine received for his mission when he was sent by Pope Gregory I to preach the gospel to pagan Anglo-Saxon England in 597 is owed to the influence of Bertha. Pope Gregory wrote to the Eastern Church’s Patriarch of Alexandria, Eulogius, reporting that by Christmas 597 more than 10,000 English had been baptized in just a few short months. In 601, Pope Gregory addressed a letter to Bertha, in which he compliments her highly on her faith and knowledge of letters.
Anglo-Saxon records indicate that Queen Bertha had two children: Eadbald who later became King of Kent and Æthelburga of Kent who married King Edwin of Deira (later part of Northumbria). King Edwin’s conversion to Christianity was linked to his marriage to Æthelburga who brought her chaplain, Paulinus, with her to Northumbria. Paulinus baptized Edwin and all of his family including both the young Hilda, the future St. Hilda of Whitby, and her sister, Hereswith, at the hastily built minster in York.
We can only imagine how difficult it must have been for this young Frankish princess to travel to another country to marry a pagan king she had never met. This marriage must have even been more difficult as she likely did not know the Anglo-Saxon language. Her faith and her chaplain helped guide her through this maze of unknowing into a place in which she prepared the way for Anglo-Saxon England to come to faith in Christ.
The strong women of faith in Bertha’s lineage were transformational to the kings and to their lands as preparers of the way of Christ. Bertha’s Burgundian great-grandmother Clothilde helped convert her husband King Clovis of France to faith in Christ. Queen Bertha herself aided in the conversion of her husband King Æthelberht of Kent and prepared the way for St. Augustine’s reception to preach the gospel in England. Queen Bertha’s daughter, Queen Æthelburga helped convert her husband King Edwin of Northumbria to Christianity that brought faith to this area of England.
Thank you God for sending those ahead of us to prepare the way for us to do the work you have sent us to do. These soul preparers are a sacred and holy gift from the Spirit and we thank you. Amen.
Today, we can walk on a path in Canterbury in honor of Queen Bertha as there is the Bertha Trail also known as the Queen Bertha’s Walk. This trail consists of fourteen bronze plaques set in pavement that includes St. Martin’s Church, St. Augustine’s Abbey, and Canterbury Cathedral.
Rev. Brenda G. Warren is an ordained Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) pastor. Her passion is for the early Celtic and Anglo-Saxon saints that she writes about on her website: www.saintsbridge.org. A bibliography of St. Bertha of Kent is available on the website.
by Christine Sine
Tom and I have just returned from one of our quarterly retreats. This time we relaxed in a beautiful hotel on the beach at White Rock in B.C. Canada. Much of my time was spend contemplating the following passage from To Bless the Space Between, by John O’Donohue.
Before it occurs a beginning can be a longtime in preparation….
When the heart is ready for a fresh beginning unforeseen things can emerge. And in a sense, this is exactly what a beginning does. It is an opening for surprises. Surrounding the intention and the at of beginning there is always exciting possibilities. This inevitably excites artists. So much can actually happen between the moment the brush is taken into the hand and the moment it touches the canvas. Such beginnings have their own mind and they invite us to unveil new gifts and arrivals in one’s life. Beginnings are new horizons that want to be seen; they are not regressions or repetitions. Somehow they win clearness and become fiercely free of the grip of the past.
As I reflected on this I realized how often I confuse the start with the beginning. A new project, a new vision, a new idea does not begin until it is fully formed and clarified in our minds. Yet the idea has started long before that.
As many of you know I am entering a new stage of life with a new vision and a new pathway. I am impatient for all the pieces to come together. I am ready to begin, but it is not yet time. God has reminded me that this is still a time of refreshment, relaxation and renewal. It is a time to wait for God to begin, to continue to compose the song of life that God has placed within my soul and allow it to be heard in new melodies when God has fully formed it. I am excited by what I see starting to emerge and look forward to sharing my new beginnings with you in the coming months.
What Is Your Response
As I continue this walk I find myself asking some new questions that you might like to reflect on too:
- What is my unique God given gift that the world needs to see?
- What is the new joy filled horizon God has placed within me that wants to be seen?
- How am I choosing to cultivate that gift and enable myself to move towards that choice?
Each day is a new beginning for all of us, a time in which unforeseen and sometimes surprising things can emerge. Sometimes these are small and seemingly mundane things like the emergence of a new flower in our garden or the visit of a friend. Sometimes they are monumental like the emergence of a new vision or direction in life as I am experiencing.
Whatever the beginnings that are before you take time to prepare and to reflect. Look back over your last couple of days: What unforeseen and surprising things emerged in them? Write them down. What new gifts have they unveiled for you? Write these down and offer a prayer of thanks to God.
Now look ahead to the coming days and imagine with joy and anticipation the new things that God is preparing for you: What is the new horizon in you that wants to be seen?
by Lilly Lewin,
Here in the mid-south, we are already planting vegetables in the garden, and starting our front porch planters. The true gardeners are going full force getting in their early crops, and Home Depot and other garden centers are bursting at the seems with mulch, potting soil, and plants of all colors and kinds.
Other places in our country just had another snow storm this week, not a big one, but it still looks more like winter than spring. I realize that here in the Northern hemisphere we are living in or waiting for spring while you, in the Southern Hemisphere, are thinking of harvesting and living in fall. Regardless of where you live, you can let the gardens around you, the plants and trees and even vegetable patches remind you of what God is up to in your life. I spent many of my growing up years on a farm. One of my grandfathers was a farmer and my other grandfather was a florist and nurseryman. The grandma I am named for had a green thumb. So I have a bit of dirt under my nails and in my dna, but I am not one of those people who reads seed catalogues and has the gift of canning. I wish I did. What I do love is a beautiful sunflower or a bunch of day lilies in a field. I was super excited to see that the tulips I planted much too late in the fall actually bloomed this spring!
I love that God started people in a garden. God longs to restore us to the garden again. God has given us the beauty of this planet to reveal the wonder of our Creator.
As someone named after a flower, flowers and growing things awaken me to God and God’s love for me.
Maybe you didn’t grow up with a vegetable garden in your yard and maybe even succulents cannot survive in your flowerpot but I think we all can appreciate the hard work and patience it takes to grow things, and the beauty of the plants and trees around us.
What if we started looking at gardens more intentionally?
What if we allowed the garden patches around town or even the plants we see at the local garden center/ Home Depot remind us of what God is up to in our lives?
Gardens need fertilizers… sometimes this is a stinky business.
Growth can be stinky, it isn’t easy.
Gardens need water. They need sunlight. And weeding and pruning are needed to help gardens grow.
Fruit and veggies are produced to share with others.
Who do you want to grow alongside this season? Who do you want to share your Easter Season with you? What is the produce you are sharing with others?
Consider that Gardening is a process. It takes time.
Whether it is a flower garden or a vegetable one, there is usually a lot of planning that happens before the planting. What kind of plans are you making for new growth in your garden?
Are you taking time to let God grow good things? What seeds need to be planted?
What weeds need to be pulled? Are you allowing God to show you the weeds?
What does God want to plant in your life right now? What does God need to weed out?
Sometimes the roots of weeds are very deep, they might take a hoe or a spade to dig them out. Any pests eating away at the new leaves?
Remember that there are Seasons.
Even in California, there are growing seasons for different plants and vegetables.
God is a seasonal God. What season does God have you in right now?
There is a time for tilling the soil. There is a time for planting the seeds. And there is a time for harvest.
There is a time to lay fallow.
How is your soil? How is the soil of your heart this Easter Season? Does it need tilling, cultivating, weeding? Are their rocks that need to be removed? What birds or other pests are threatening your garden?
What is your soil in need of now? Are you willing to let God till the soil?
How does the soil of your heart need to be replenished, enriched?
Gardening is messy, dirty and takes time. It is subject to the weather.
You have to trust God to grow what you plant.
It’s organic.
You have to trust that the seeds you plant today will grow into beautiful flowers in the months to come.
You often have to wait to see the fruits of your labor.
And if it’s time to let yourself lie fallow, know that God is in the midst of this too.
Allowing a field or garden to lie fallow enables an even more abundant harvest in the future.
Trust the Gardener to grow something beautiful in you and through you.
Some things to try:
•Put a garden trowel or a pair of garden gloves somewhere you can see them regularly. I often put symbols on my coffee table, but you might want to put it on your desk or even create a centerpiece with a pot of soil, some garden gloves and some seed packets to remind you of what God is growing in your life.
•Plant some bulbs or seeds and wait for them to grow.
•Buy someone else some flowers or share some from your own garden and/or share some vegetables you grow or buy at a farmers market with a neighbor to brighten their day and show God’s love in a practical way.
•Pull some weeds in your yard, and ask God to remove the weeds in your heart and show you the roots of old habits or old junk that is getting in your way and needs to be pulled out.
•Notice the flowers in your neighborhood, notice the weeds and the wild flowers. Allow God to surprise you with beauty along the way.
By Shelby Hofer. She is a full time stay at home mom to two little ninja-pirates, a part time missionary to Switzerland, and a full time lover of Jesus. When she’s not being yelled at for trying to pee alone, she enjoys coffee, talking and listening to people’s stories. —
Right now feeding my baby looks eerily like that scene from Jurassic Park where the T-Rex has just gotten out of his fence, and they are in the cars and trying not to move because if they do they’ll attract his attention and get eaten!! Yeah, that’s my life right now. My littlest pirate ninja has been such a pain in the ### when it comes to taking her bottle lately that when she FINALLY starts to eat, it’s like, “Nobody move! On pain of death!” Because the second we twitch our noses, she immediately starts crying and won’t eat again. Ugh.
Sometimes, after a whole day of trying to get both of my little pirates to eat, and repeating myself about a hundred thousand million times, and listening to my toddler repeat HIMSELF a hundred thousand million times, and making 3 meals, and cleaning, and working, and trying to stay relatively clean (by “clean” I mean, that you can’t actually smell me from 4 feet away) I just want to scream at the first person who sneezes when I’m trying to feed the baby. And scream at my toddler for not. Eating. His. Food. That he totally loved yesterday. And scream at my hubby for unloading the dishwasher. (what?)
It’s nice to have my hubby around for accountability, in that it would be way more embarrassing to be caught in the act of losing my $#*% and that helps me to hold it together until bedtime. Though it’s something that I battle, pretty much daily. Being a mom is hard. Because we are everything to everyone in our family, all day, every day. And then we try to be a good friend, and a good daughter, and a good wife, not necessarily in that order. And we try to parent out of our marriage, but how do you do that when you are flinging past each other all week just trying to keep afloat? Oh yeah, still working on that one.
Everyone says, “This too shall pass”, and I kind of want to punch them in the face sometimes. Yes, I know it shall pass, but it sucks crazy right now. And it’s hard. And it’s painful. And it’s messy. And it’s uncomfortable. But this is my life. And lately I’m trying to focus on finding the joy.
Joy is not happiness. You can have joy and NOT be happy. Joy is the bright spots in the midst of the craziness. Joy is the moment when my toddler says “please”. Joy is the days when I feel like a rock star because I’ve done 3 loads of laundry AND put them away. Joy is the moments when you get a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel.
So hang in there, mama. Sometimes the T-Rex bites your hand off, and sometimes you get to pet it and it gives you a lovely snuggle. Those are the joy moments. And while we don’t always have the energy to choose joy, we can practice looking for it.
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.”
In the next few months at Godpsace, we desire to be sharing the ‘joy spots’ of God’s new kingdom in your life, neighbourhoods and churches that expresses the joy of God’s kingdom breaking into ours. What are some of these little ‘spots’ in your life that you see every day? Here is a reflection by Talitha Fraser —
I walk home from the restaurant and it rains. Hard. After a long, sticky, humid day, the wild water is a welcome relief – cleansing, cooling, sparkling. It feels made just for me this moment: that sky, those lights, these puddles. I grin conspiratorially with anyone I meet. Fancy all those looking down and running to get out of the wet, those looking out not thinking to leave their house and relish in the beauty of this. Familiar sights are made fresh by this new light, washed with mist and rain – it is a marvel and so many are missing it. You have to be present to the moment that you’re in. I am present to this one and it is a present to me. It was pretty life-giving – drenched by more than just rain.
By Shelby Selvedge —
I recently have spent some time learning more about labyrinths and the purpose behind them. I was asked to draw a labyrinth and it prompted me to want to know more about it in hopes it would inspire my drawing, it did. What stuck with me is the process of releasing or focusing on something on the way toward the center, gaining insight or revelation in the center, and then bringing that back to the rest of your life.
This process reminds me of how I experience God through nature. God speaks through nature, his creation. This is a prominate way he speaks to me. When I am stressed, have a decision to make, a hurt to process, or an idea I want to explore I often seek out time amongst the trees, by a lake, in the mountains, or on the beach. Hiking or walking in nature is the most frequent way I delve into nature. It is like walking a living labyrinth.
I have an intention, something on my mind, as I embark on my walk, hike, or climb. I release it to the wind, the trees, let it out in my footsteps, and feel it flow around my body and out with my breath. Whether I end up at the top of a mountain, by a water fall, or around the lake before heading home, something always flows back in and gives my thirsty soul life. For me it can be a feeling, an idea, or resolution, or even simply God’s peace. On my way home I carry what I received in my interaction with nature, the living labyrinth, and bring it back to my more routine moments.
Its not a one time event but rather one I do frequently. It never looks the same either. Sometimes it’s a grouling climb to the summit of a mountain pushing every fiber of my being, other times a walk around Greenlake, or sitting quietly in a forest. It doesn’t matter the type of way I choose to interact with nature but my intention and mindset behind it.
What ways do you interact with nature as a living labyrinth?
Do you see God revealed in nature?
How can we mindfully enter nature as if it were a labyrinth: releasing, receiving, and returning?
It is a week since Easter Sunday and we have just celebrated Earth Day and Good Seed Sunday. Here in the Pacific NW we are watching the emergence of new life as trees burst into bloom and perennials burst fresh from the ground. . I have put away lenten images and redecorated my sacred space with images of new life and resurrection to match the joy of the season.
It seems however that in many ways resurrection has passed us by. We are back to life as usual. Just as the disciples returned to their nets, unsure what to do with the rumours of Jesus reappearance, we are unsure what do with resurrection in our own lives.
These pivotal days of our faith seem to make little difference in the way we live. Why I wonder? Why aren’t we transformed by the resurrection?
Living Into the Resurrection Seems so Overwhelming for Us.
Perhaps it’s because living into the resurrection seems so overwhelming for us. We think we need to dash off to be a missionary in some other part of the world. Or we need to give up the job we love to work with the homeless in the inner city. Or we need to sell all our possessions to live with the poor.
Yet that is not what resurrection is all about. This is a season of light and joy and believe it or not, light and joy don’t take spectacle to live out. Jesus did such mundane everyday things in the days of his reappearance and looked so ordinary that his disciples didn’t always recognize him.
What is your response?
What are the joy spots in your life that speak of resurrection living? Take time to reflect on your life and how it has been changed by your relationship with Christ. What are the daily, weekly and seasonal activities that you feel most represent the joy of resurrection living. How could you express that joy in this resurrection season?
The risen Jesus seemed like a very ordinary person. If we were in charge of his PR campaign there would have been neon signs in the sky, interviews on CNN, audiences with world leaders. Approaching this Jesus would have been impossible, and following in his footsteps totally unimaginable. But that was not how Jesus came.
- He came to Mary as a gardener not as a king. He was so ordinary that she did not recognize him at first, after all who really looks closely at the servant who tends the gardens?
- He made breakfast on the beach for his friends. Again it took them a while to recognize him. And it needed a bit of a miracle – 153 large fish weighing down their nets – for them to truly see who he was. Perhaps their eyes skimmed past him because of the ordinariness of how he looked and how he acted.
- He came as a stranger and walked for a whole day explaining the scriptures to a couple of his disciples before they recognized him. A stranger who walked rather than riding in a carriage is hardly a king, let alone the risen son of God.
- He comes to the disciples, afraid and hiding behind closed doors. He let them touch him, calmed their fears and sent them out to change the world.
Resurrection living is not complicated. It is about ordinary people doing ordinary things just as Jesus did – simple acts of hospitality, companionship to the fearful, talking to strangers. These were the things that brought the joy of resurrection living into the lives of those early disciples.
What is your response?
How could you more effectively live into the resurrection at this season? Are there situations in which you could offer breakfast to your colleagues or friends? Or perhaps you could take some kids out for a hike, talk to them about their life concerns and answer their questions. Or maybe their are strangers at church whom you could ask out for a cup of coffee and a chat. The possibilities are endless. How could you practice the joy of resurrection living today?
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