Celebrating our saints by Fr. Guy Cole

Celebrating our diocese by Fr Guy Cole

On 16th May, 2026, we kick off our season of pilgrimages celebrating our 1350th anniversary, with a pilgrimage from St Dubricius church in Hamnish to Leominster Priory, remembering both St Dubricius and St Eadfrith, two of the Celtic saints associated with our diocese. Here, Fr Guy reflects on this special year.

Do you like birthdays? In my family we celebrate by telling the story of the day of the birth. Every year, on our birthdays, we recount anything that was of note about the day;
the time, the place, the weather, things that were said or done at the time. And through the retelling it becomes part of who and what we are.

This year our diocese is celebrating it’s 1,350 birthday. Surely that means a lot of candles and a big cake! In celebrating this special year we’ve chosen to tell the stories of our birth as a diocese. We’re retelling the stories of St Dubricius, saint of the south of the diocese, St Edfrith, saint of the centre of the diocese and St Milburga, saint of the north of the diocese. I’d like to share with you the story of my local saint, Edfrith of Leominster.

St Edfrith was a monk from the Celtic monastery at Lindisfarne. In 660 he set out to meet with Merewald, king of the Magonsaete, who ruled the area now covered by the diocese of Hereford. 

On the way Edfrith met a frightful lion whom he pacified by feeding it bread. Meanwhile King Merewald was haunted by dreams of hellish-hounds pursuing him. In his dreams he was saved from the hounds by a man holding golden keys.

Merewald confided his dream to Edfrith who interpreted the visions for him. The hounds, he said, were the king’s enemies, from whom he could only be saved by adopting the faith of St Peter. So Merewald was baptised and gave the site of Leominster to Edfrith for a monastery dedicated to St Peter.

Leominster became a mission centre and site of Christian culture which eventually passed to Hereford with the founding of the cathedral in 676. The monastery continued in importance up to the Reformation. Medieval English kings, archbishops, and Welsh princes passed through on their way to or from Wales.

That’s the story of Edfrith and his part in the story of our diocese. How well do you know the story of your own parish church? How well do you know your own faith stories of when and where you were baptised and confirmed? On the 1,350th birthday of our diocese we look back, not to wallow in nostalgia, but to be reaffirmed in our identity as a diocese, to learn to be Christ’s people once again, and to go forward in Christ with faith and hope and love. Happy Birthday!

Leominster Pilgrimage details:

• Saturday, 16th May, 2026 10.00 am start.
• Pilgrimage Lead: Fr. Guy Coles.
• We will be walking with Bishop Richard from St Dubricius, Hamnish, to Leominster Priory which was founded by St Edfrith in 660.
• It is a 3-and-a-half-mile walk over fields and includes some stiles – approx 2 hours, followed by Holy Communion service in the Priory and 1pm picnic lunch.
• The advice is to wear stout footwear.
• Please park in the car park at Hamnish village hall. HR6 0QW.
• Toilets are available at Hamnish village hall and Leominster Priory.
• Shuttle transport back to Hamnish will be available after the Holy Communion service and picnic lunch at Leominster Priory.
• This is a FREE event but BOOKING IS REQUESTED so we can plan for numbers.
• Further information will be added to the Eventbrite page here.

 

– ENDS –