Who are the Anglo Saxons?

They were an Agrarian people living from the land in small family groups that become small tribes, these in turn could be in a group under a leader, their lives could be very short under the pressure of famine and war. This bound them in great loyalty to each other.

They came from three very powerful nations of the Germans (there is another group called the Frisians) so namely the Saxons (placed in modern Holstein, also the Saxons were a combination of small tribes coming together under one leader only in warfare), Angles (Angelyn, placed in modern Schleswig) and the Jutes (Jutland peninsula).

The Jutes peopled the land of Kent and the Victuarii, that is, the race that peopled the Isle of Wight and that which in the land of the West Saxons (Wessex) situated opposite the same Isle of Wight is called the nation of the Jutes (up the Neon valley).

From the Saxons, that is from the region, which is now called East Saxons (Essex), South Saxons (Sussex) and the West Saxons (Wessex).

From the Angles came the East Angles (East Anglia), the Middle Angles, the Mercians, whole of the Northumbrian people, north of the Humber River.

To come across to Britain these three groups came through Frisia (Modern Ostfriesland), first they settled then moved on and with them would have been Frisians.

Also the Anglo Saxons would have already been here as mercenaries for the Roman Empire and towards the later part, a large part of the Legions, which caused disquiet with Rome.

The Homes and other Buildings

This was made of wood, they either had an earth floor or a pit underneath floor boards which were resting on beams, the roof was thatched normally of straw, the sides of the building were either boards or wattle (interwoven pliable twigs) forming a wall covered over with daub (moist clay mixed with dung). In the community there would several buildings serving different functions, i.e. weaving, storage, living, sleeping, carpentry, smithy, mead hall for meetings and feasting where the thane lord of the manor would live with his family. The living building the important feature of this building would be the hearth were the fire is used for cooking, keeping warm and dry it was an open fire for boiling and griddling and hot stones for baking, so the hearth needed skill in its use so getting the best from it, around the fire would be benches so people could sit around the fire especially in the evening to drink ale and converse with each other.

As it says used for sleeping with beds of straw or heather for instance with coverings of furs or a bed as we know it with latticed ropes between the frame, then a linen mattress fill with straw or similar laid on top, again furs or even woollen blankets to keep people warm.

This was meeting place for the village used for drink and celebration and usually where the Thane lived with his family, their quarters would be behind stage where the Thane ate and conducted the business of running the village, in front would be tables and benches for his warriors and other staff who would sleep there as well as bringing out furs and mattresses from beside the wall, the warriors in particular must always be ready to defend their Lord.

Tallow candles and pottery lamps filled with oil.

Food and Agriculture

Cooking
There would be different utensils needed for cooking a cauldron for boiling water or stews made from iron hanging from a chain over the fire, iron frying pan, griddle, clay pots for storage or cooking in, wooden bowls, wooden hooped tubs, bone spoons, iron knives etc.

There were different techniques that were be used:

Stewing
This was a very versatile way of cooking for the family and groups cooked in the cauldron or similar, the stew could have meat and/or vegetables or a stew of fruit.

Broth
Similar to a stew again very convenient, broth or soup could be of peas or beans with herbs added being thicker than a stew but still relatively thin by today’s standard.

Cereal Pottage
Made from things like rye, or barley. Oats would be used or porridge.

Roasting, Grilling & Toasting
Roasting of meat with grilling of fish, meat and things like apples which comes close to toasting by the fire.

Griddling & Frying
Using a griddle or an iron frying pan using oil or butter.

Baking
For bread and pies using the hot stones.

Cereal Pottage
Made from things like rye, or barley. Oats would be used for porridge.

Cereals
This would have been grown in fields nearby, each family had a long plot to grow their crop it was normally one furlong in length (220 yards / 201 metres) but narrow because either the scratch plough or the mould board plough pulled by two oxen could not be easily turned for the next farrow this saved time and effort. This was called ridge and farrow as the plough only turned the soil one way, unlike today’s plough which can be reversed the fields in time had long ridges and farrows which can be seen even to this day in some fields. So the field would normally be ploughed and manure spread in the Autumn for the winter weather to break it down, sown with seed in spring and harvested in early autumn with long handled scythes, the crop then raked up and put into sheaves before being carted away for threshing and storage, (this could be ground later by hand or in later times a mill) and the cycle starts again.

Desserts
Sweet omelettes, fruits mixed in a bread for puddings and milk/cream curds.

Cakes & Biscuits
Enriched bread, shortening of fats and oils with honey, they could produce shortbread.

Vegetables
Which would include purple carrots, parsnips small cabbages, peas beans, onions, leeks with wild roots such as burdock. Most of these could be stored as they are or dried for later use and the cats would help to keep the mice and rats at bay.

Honey
Was a sweetener and also used to produce a drink called mead.

Ale
This was brewed being a very weak drink so could be used like water as being fermented safer to use.

Fruits
Apples, plums, cherries, pears and berries again could be stored some in a dried state plums to prunes.

Dairy Produce
Cheese, butter, milk and eggs.

Fish
Such as perch, pike, trout, herring, salmon and eels along with shellfish, oysters, cockles and mussels all of these would most probably have been eaten straight away.

Meat
Oxen, pigs and sheep would have been slaughtered and cured using salt, especially any animal that could not have been fed during the winter months. The meat could have been hung up in the rafters of the living building as the constant smoke from the fire would help to preserve the precious meat, also another source of meat would be ducks and geese but they can be slaughtered when needed without the need to preserve. As can be seen the storage building was very important to the welfare of the village.

Cows
Were kept for their hides, meat, calves and milk, which in the summer could be up to three times a day.

Sheep
Kept for their wool, meat and lambs could be let astray in the summer under the eye of a shepherd. So the diet of the Anglo Saxons / Englisc like the diet during the second world war was plain but healthy, the big difference being that there was no great reserves so a poor harvest for what ever reason soon effected every one especially the lowest in society.

The Storage Building
Used to store the Spelt wheat, rye (for bread) oats for animal feed and porridge stored in large clay urns.

Food Production
The vegetables and fruits would have been grown near the home in plots for the vegetables, with the pigsty nearby compost for the plot, the fruit either as trees or bushes again nearby with that important bees hive for honey and pollination of the fruit.

Clothing & Materials

There were two main materials for clothing wool and linen. Wool was sheared from the sheep in late spring and linen was produced from the flax plant harvested in autumn. The two processes used to obtain wool and linen cloth was very similar, except the flax fibres have to be beaten from the core of the plant using a flax hammer and a heckle is used instead of a wool comb. These are then produced into cloth by the use of a loom, a very important piece of equipment at first used by women but later on with developments men used the loom as it was more physical to use.

Clothing (Women)
Clothing for women in general but there was variants, women would have a long tunic dress with a belt or long braid around the middle, sometimes with a long woollen scarf wrapped around the shoulders and over the head, with linen under garments, whilst men used short tunics with thick woollen trousers, tying on their leather shoes with straps that criss-crossed up to their knees. They could have also a long linen band to wrap around their legs under the straps to protect them further, women had leather shoes in the form of a booty, under-garment were made of linen.

Leather
This is animal skins i.e. cows, oxen or sheep which are treated to become leather which has a multitude of uses, from leather buckets to shoes, gloves and belts.

Iron
This was crucial in their society to be able to produce iron out of iron ore found all round the country, a furnace was needed to produce the required heat to melt the ore a bellows was used the raise the heat still further, iron was used for weapons swords which had a steel edge a later development, arrow heads, chain mail, farm implements such as plough, scythe, hay fork, in cooking iron frying pans knives, chains.

The Community

At the top in the actual Kingdom where the community was, there would be a King elected by the Witan who were a group Ealdorman, Bishops before them, Shamans and others who advised the King, then the Thanes who would be in charge of several villages and in each village of two or three families, there would be a headman from the Ceorls/Churls Freemen whose family had special status, then came the other families of specialists like Carpenters or Blacksmiths. Then came the slaves who could be prisoners taken in conflict, criminals or those who were poor or became poor due to circumstances like a failed harvest and so became slaves.

Medicine

The Anglo-Saxon/Englisc medicine was a mixture of their own practices, influenced by the practices of Greeks and Romans. They used invasive surgery, prescriptions of potions especially herbal ones which could be very effective for the conditions they were prescribed for or no effect at all, even the reverse. There was magic used by the local shaman of the heathen faith, later to become the priest of the church who cured by faith alone! It was a very mixed bag of ideas and practices, the wealthy could employ a practitioner of medicine, whilst the ordinary people would use remedies handed down to them especially herbal remedies. Held in the British Museum is a book compiled in this era that prescribes cures for many different medical conditions which includes bloodletting. Anglo-Saxon/Englisc medicine was on par with the rest of Europe of the time, their biggest plus having a simple and robust diet which stood them in good stead, like the diet which was used during the Second World War, the real problem was the lack of personal hygiene at the time, which could cause problems, they would certainly smell which would certainly offend our nostrils of today!

Old Englisc

Old English or Englisc/Anglo-Saxon is the early version of the Englisc spoken today that is middle German, being used for approximately 700 years from the 5th century when the Englisc first landed. Old Englisc varies widely from the language we know today. From the start this German was influenced by different Germanic dialects, including Celtic, with the coming of Christianity, Latin became a very powerful influence, as the church brought reading and writing which was used for government which later adopted a new alphabet as the old Englisc had used a Runic alphabet. Old Englisc was divided into four dialects, each spoken in a different area or Kingdom, by the 9th century the process of unification is well underway, so dialects fell into disuse as the government favoured the use of Wessex Englisc which was the most widely used dialect being called the Winchester standard, which over the centuries to become the English we speak today.

Warfare

There would have been a group of Thanes with the King at all times called the King’s Thanes, Thanes out in the Kingdom would rotate with each other one month with the King then two months at home, these were the standing army equipped with amongst other things chain mail, helmet, sword, lance, possibly an axe, shield and a horse with equipment. Then comes the Fyrd of local freemen of Churls/Ceorls who were more lightly armoured would have a shield, lance, axe, possible sword, unlikely to have any mail. These would normally back up the Thanes but there has been many times where they fought on there own and the whole thing was glued together by loyalty to each other and to the man above, the whole system was built on this, it was a shared society and this was its strength so it could then have a better chance of surviving hardship like failed crops, warfare and anything else that life threw at them.

King Alfred

Alfred was born in Wantage a royal residence in 849. His father was King Ethelwulf and his mother was Osburga, Alfred was the youngest son with four brothers. At the age of five he was sent to Rome by himself with obvious attenders, and later on in childhood went again to Rome with his father, on return his father found he had been deposed by his son Ethelbald, Ethelwulf excepted this situation not wanting division with Viking raids. As a child he won a prize of a volume of poetry when he was able to memorize it before his brothers and sister. The volume was given to him by his mother.

By 866, Alfred was second to his brother Ethelred after the passing of Ethelbald and Ethelbert. The two brothers worked together fighting side by side against the Vikings who had been a constant threat during his life. In 868, he married Ealhswith the daughter of an Ealderman of the Gain in Lindisfarne in Mercia. He was fighting with his brother in Mercia against the Vikings who were paid to leave Wessex alone, this lasted until 870 when the Vikings returned the following year 871 when nine battles were fought some were battles of victories Ashdown on the Berkshire Downs to defeat at Basing. Ethelred was slain at the Battle of Merton April, Alfred was crowned King soon after, although he was defeated twice once when he was not there and later the Battle of Wilton in May when peace was made which lasted for five years, unfortunately he did not build up a defence in this period, so in 876 when a new Danish leader emerged called Guthrum, Wessex was not prepared through Alfred’s slackness and so the Danes were able to penetrate Wessex and attack Wareham. Alfred did come to an agreement, with the exchange of hostages, but this whole thing was a feint as Guthrum murdered the hostages, then moved to Exeter. Alfred then besieged the town luckily a relief force in the form of a Danish fleet was virtually destroyed off Swanage by a great storm. Again Guthrum submitted but this time they withdrew to Mercia, north from Chippenham, where Alfred celebrated Christmas with his court, on the twelfth night/wassail night 878 celebrating with the Witan, was Guthrum attacked or was he invited by some of the Witan to become King of Wessex? Alfred escaped with his guards and attendants to hide at the Isle of Athelney in the Somerset levels, here Alfred gathered his strength and made it known that he was still around to the rest of Wessex, here he allegedly burnt the cakes left in his charge by a swineherds wife, maybe a parable of Alfred letting the Kingdom burn by doing nothing in the five years since the last Viking attacks.

After the spectacular victory by the Devonshire fyrd under Ealderman Odda over the Danes who had landed from Wales to attack Alfred from behind at the Countisbury Hill fort, East from what is now Lynemouth in March, this allowed Alfred to leave Athelney to meet the fyrds of Wiltshire, Somerset and part of Hampshire at the Ecgbert stone in Wiltshire where they left together from Iley oak near Longbridge Deverell on the morning of the Battle of Ethandun (Edington) Wiltshire where once again the Wessex army defeated Guthrum in a spectacular victory and had to submit from his stronghold of Chippenham which was under siege. Guthrum and 30 of his chief men were later baptized at the Church in Aller, Somerset in the faith of Englisc Orthodoxy, Alfred became Guthrum`s Godparent who took the name of Athelstan, this was concluded with twelve days of feasting at Wedmore, Somerset and later with the Wedmore treaty where the Danelaw was created, a line from London to the Mersey, along Watling Street where on the east of this the Danes governed themselves. Alfred reorganized the defence of Wessex by building and reorganizing existing towns into Burghs (defensive towns), being 20 miles (32 km) from each other, a days marching distance for a relief force, also local people could take refuge within them. This defence proved itself time and time again during the rest of his reign and very importantly the Kingdom became strong again because of this. The Danes tried to invade Wessex over the years, but Alfred and later with his son Edward who was to become Edward ‘the Elder’ were able to defeat them to the point in 897 when the Danes finally left mainly for Europe. In this time Alfred had a ship designed which was faster and bigger than the Viking Longship, which was effective in fighting the Danes at sea, this being the seed for the later Royal Navy both here and the USA. Burghs with their organization could also be taxed, as the Burgh would need a certain number of men to defend it, plus the same number who would work on the fields, these two forces rotated with each other, it was built on Hidage, the area of land needed to support a family, so the size of a Burgh depended on the number of hidages the land could support, this went on to Hundreds (hidages) a sub division of a Shire.

Alfred created a legal code, Mosaic Law, Celtic law and old Anglo-Saxon Heathen customs, for officials to act on these laws they needed to be able to read and write, because of the devastation brought by the Viking raids, so Alfred needed to rebuild churches and monasteries for learning and the spiritual need of the people which united Wessex. Alfred was a very religious and pious man who divided his time into two, one for administration of the Kingdom, whilst the other for spiritual matters of the church, he acquired the services of a Welsh bishop Asser who became Alfred’s autobiographer, also many others came over from Ireland and Europe to help Alfred in his quest to build up the church and government (we must remember the Celtic church is another name for the Orthodox church). He gave alms to Rome regularly and had contact with the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Alfred’s main aim was to secure Wessex and Englisc Mercia, taking back London from the Danes, having contact with Athelstan (formerly Guthrum) and the Welsh. Alfred started the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, translated Gregory ‘Pastoral Care’ and the ‘Consolation of Philosophy’ by Beothus amongst other things. Alfred and Ealswith had five children, Ethelfleda, Edward ‘The Elder’, Athelgiva, Alfthryth and Athelward. Alfred passed away on the 26th October 899, age 50, he had suffered for most of his life with an unpleasant illness possibly Crohn’s disease, he was eventually reburied from the Minster at Winchester to Hyde Abbey, Winchester.

This was eventually lost after the desolution by Henry VIII when the Abbey was destroyed, but in the 90’s it was rediscovered by an archaeological dig which was looking for it, now we have the chancel of the Abbey created as a garden (under the care of Hyde Abbey friends), where three empty tombs were found (desecrated in the 18th century), they have now been covered each with a simple grave stone with a simple cross. Ealswith, the mother of England, Alfred, the founder of England and Edward ‘the Elder’, the creator of England.

King Edward ‘The Martyr’

In March 978 King Edward rode to Corfe Castle after a day hunting on the Isle of Purbeck Heathland, he was greeted by his stepmother with a welcome cup of mead, whilst excepting this greeting the attendant who gave him the cup stabbed him, Edward’s horse galloped off in the mayhem that followed with Edward being dragged along as his foot was trapped in the stirrup, his body was found later several miles away, his body was first put in a woman’s cottage, then later buried in Wareham’s Abbey. His stepmother who wished to have her son crowned King and the magnates who were opposed to Edwards reform of the church, now had their way. King Ethelred was too young to be King so his mother was his consort until he came of age. Archbishop Dunstan who saw all this gave a very solemn sermon, that England would suffer misfortune for this terrible deed, which it did in the unhappy reign of King Ethelred `the unready`, who did not respond effectively to Viking raids and the benefit of his crowning was very soon negated. Ethelred had built a Shrine for his stepbrother at Shaftsbury Abbey who became known as King Edward ‘the Martyr’.

Saint Edward Brotherhood

The Saint Edward Brotherhood was established at Brookwood, Surrey in 1982 to prepare and care for the church in which the sacred relics of Saint Edward `the martyr` were to be enshrined. A small monastic community, which is hoped will increase, chants the services of the church daily at the Shrine, and their numbers are augmented on Sundays and feast days by a number of orthodox believers who form a mission parish. Since the schism of the Roman Church in the eleventh century there has been no indigenous Orthodox Church in this country, and so those English people who have turned to Orthodoxy have, of necessity joined one of the churches from Eastern Europe which have establishes parishes here: the Greek, Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches. This community is under the spiritual direction of Archbishop Mark, a hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (The church is now under the direction of the Omophorion of Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and fili of the Synod in Resistance in Greece). In receiving and enshrining the sacred relics of Saint Edward ‘the Martyr’, however, they bear witness to the fact that for many centuries the light of Orthodoxy shone in these Isles, and they look back with gratitude and filial piety not only to the spiritual heritage of the Greek Orthodox peoples, whose witness has kindled a love of Orthodoxy in our hearts again, but also to the spiritual athletes of our land, who shone forth in piety in the first ten centuries of the Christian era.

Service Schedule at St. Edward’s Church

Sundays
Martins at 7.30am
Divine Liturgy at approximately 9.45am
Vespers chanted after the parish breakfast at 2.00pm

Saturdays and Weekdays
Matins at 7.00am
Divine Liturgy at approximately 8.30am
Vespers at 6.00pm

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about the Orthodox Church and teachings, please write to:

Saint Edward Brotherhood,
Saint Cyprian’s Avenue,
Brookwood, Nr Woking,
Surrey,
GU24 0BL

Telephone: 01483 487763
Email: theshepherd@mac.com
Website: www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org

Saints & Martyrs

St. Aidan passed on 651
The Apostle of Northumbria, was the founder and the first bishop of the monastery on the Island of Lindisfarne. He is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria, being a Celtic/British orthodox Christian.

St. Augustine born early 6th century passed on 604
Apostle of the Englisc, a founder of the Englisc Church and a patron of England, being the first Archbishop of Canterbury being an orthodox Christian.

St. Bede, 620-664
Saint Bede, the venerable Bede, a Benedictine monk who lived virtually his whole life at the monastery of St. Peter of Monkwearmouth, Northumbria, wrote the book ‘The ecclesiatical history of the Englisc people’, being an Englisc orthodox Christian.

St. Boniface, 672-754
Apostle of the Germans, borne Wynfrith in Crediton in Wessex now Devon, a missionary in the Frankish Empire, an Englisc orthodox Christian.

St. Cedd, 620-664
The evangelist of the Middle Angles and the East Saxons, born in Northumbria and brought up on the Island of Lindisfarne by St. Aidan, he was a Celtic.

St. Columba, 521-597
Columba of Iona, Apostle of the Picts was an outstanding missionary among the Gaelic monks in Ireland, moved to Scotland/Pictland being granted the Island of Iona, which became his centre for evangelising the Picts. A Celtic/British orthodox Christian.

St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, 634-687
Patron Saint of Northumbria and a patron of England. He was an outstanding man of Northumbrian origin becoming a hermit but a synod gave him bishopric of Lindisfarne, he did except this after some persuasion but he went back to his little Island when he could. He saw the transition from Celtic/British orthodoxy, which he was to Englisc orthodoxy.

King Edmund the Martyr, 962-978
Being King of the East Angles, he refused to give up his faith in the face of torture by the Danes who had captured him after the defeat of his army, he died a martyr.

King Edward the Martyr, 962-978
Being king of the Englisc he was murdered at Corfe Castle in Dorsetshire by a servant of his stepmother as he bent down to accept a drink offered to him after hunting on Purbeck heath. He defended the Church against magnates who wanted to take the lands from the church for their own profit.

St. Felix passed on 647
Apostle of the East Angles he came from Burgandy who came over with Sigbert, the exiled son of Radwald the first Christian King of the East Angles when he returned. St. Felix did great missionary work, Felixstowe in Suffolk is named after him.

St. Hild, 614-680 Hilda of Whitby
She was of royal birth but decided to become a nun becoming the founding Abbess of the Monastery at Whitby. She was of the Celtic/British orthodox persuasion but it was at her Abbey that the synod was held to decide who to follow Celtic/British orthodoxy or Englisc orthodoxy which was the one that was decided on. She was an outstanding woman whose advice was sort by Kings and Princes.

The Church

The Church had a steady impact on Anglo Saxon society after its introduction by St. Augustine from 597. The church’s structure was not dissimilar to the society it was now living in, there was the Archbishop of Canterbury later the Archbishop of York (King), then the Bishops overseeing a Diocese (Ealdorman), the priests/fathers oversaw an area (Thane) and then Monks who worked like the headman of the village.

The Orthodox Faith
The word Orthodox means the correct belief or right thinking. It takes the meaning from the Greek vocabulary. Orthos means ‘right’, and the word doxa means ‘belief’. The Orthodox Church shares much of other Christian churches believe in God revealed by Christ and the belief in the incarnation of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection. The Orthodox Church differs substantially in the way of life and worship, life doctrine and worship.

Orthodox Worship
Orthodox Christianity stresses a way of life and belief of maintaining the correct form of worshipping God, passed on from the very beginning of Christianity. Orthodoxy believe they are the right way to confess the true doctrines of God.

The Orthodox Bible
The Orthodox Bible is the same as that of most western Churches, except the Orthodox Bible is based on the ancient Jewish translation into Greek called the Septuagint not from the Hebrew.

The wisdom of the Father of the Church is central to the orthodox way of life as today’s inheritors of the true faith and church passed on its purest form. By maintaining the purity of the inherited teaching of the Apostles, believers are made more aware of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit being present both in history and today.

What do Orthodox Christians believe in?

ONE GOD, FATHER ALMIGHTY
Maker of heaven and earth and all things visible and invisible.

ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST
The only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light from Light; true God from true God; Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, through whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven. Who was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. Who rose on the third day according to the Scriptures. Who ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. Who is coming again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom shall have no end.

THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Lord, the giver of life. Who proceeds from the Father. Who with the Father and the Son is equally worshipped and glorified. Who spoke by the Prophets. One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church. One baptism for the remission of sins, the resurrection of the Dead, the life of the Age to come.

Orthodox Christian Doctrine
During the first thousand years following the birth of Christ, numerous variant teachings arose attempting to replace Christianity with some religiosity of human invention and convenience. All these variant teachings (heresies) were answered by the Church with the Seven Great Ecumenical councils. At the first of these councils, in AD 325, at Nicaea, the assembled Fathers proclaimed the Creed (from credo, I believe) which summarises the True Christian Doctrine. This Nicene Creed as originally formulated is faithfully recited by the Orthodox at the Liturgy in all churches in all places of Orthodox worship.

The Symbol of Faith
I believe in God, Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible: and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, Light from light, True God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Essence with the Father, through whom all things were made; who for us men, and our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man: and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; and He rose on the third day according to the Scriptures: and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father: and He is coming again with glory, to judge the living and the dead; And His Kingdom will have no end: And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of the Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son is equally worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets: And in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church, I confess one Baptism for the remission of the Dead; And the life of the Age to come. Amen.

One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church

One/Unity
According to orthodox teaching, the unity of the church is man’s free unity in the truth and love of God. Such unity is not brought about or established by any human authority or juridical power, but are in the truth and love of God, they are members of his church.

Holy
The Church is Holy because God makes her members holy by union with God. God sanctifies the church by drawing her into divine life, supremely, through the union affected by the incarnation. The faith and life of the church participates in the Holiness of God by expressing the Divine life of the Doctrine, Sacraments, Services and Saints - men and women whose lives have been recognized for their holiness. Just as untruths separate from the unity of God, and ultimately separates from the unity of the church, immorality also separates one from God and the church.

Catholic
The Church is the fullness of Christ’s body on earth. As a term, catholicity means fullness or perfection, wholeness only God is perfect wholeness, the fullness of Being, God makes the church to be Catholic by its participation in his full, divine life. Fr Thomas Hapko, “The term ‘Catholic’ as originally used to define the church (as early as the first decades of the second century) was a definition of quality rather than quantity, calling the church catholic means to define how it is, namely, full and complete, all-embracing, and with nothing lacking. Even before the church was spread over the world, it was defined as catholic. The original Jerusalem church of the apostles, or the early city churches of Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, or Rome were catholic. These churches were catholic as is each and every Orthodox Church today because nothing essential was lacking for them to be the genuine church of Christ. God himself is fully revealed and present in each church through Christ and the Holy Spirit, acting in the local community of believers with its apostolic doctrine, ministry (hierarchy), and sacraments, thus requiring nothing to be added to it in order for it to participate fully in the Kingdom of God”.

Catholicity is sometimes confused with, universality - the idea that the Christian faith is for all men. However, the word was originally used to denote the true church among a growing horde of heretics who had removed elements from the faith which they disliked, refashionity Christian belief to their pleasure Catholicity is a qualitative mark: the quality of the whole faith handed down from the apostles.

Apostolicity (Apostolic)
The church has been sent into the world, to bring the world into communion with God. Just as the Son was sent by the Father, and the Spirit sent by the Holt Trinity into the world. Fr Thomas Hopko “As Christ was sent from God, so Christ Himself chose and sent His apostles. As the Father sent me, even so l send you... receive the Holy Spirit”, the risen Christ says to His disciples. Thus, the apostles go out to the world, becoming the first foundation of the Christian Church. In this sense, then, the church is called apostolic: first, as it is built upon Christ and the Holy Spirit sent from God and upon those apostles who were sent by Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit: and secondly, as the church in its earthly members is itself sent by God to bear witness to His Kingdom, to keep His word and to do His will and His works in this world". This sending was first effected with the apostles, thus apostolicity is not only the divine mission; it is also unity of the church with the apostles who were sent out by Jesus Christ. Thus, there is an apostolic succession by which the pastors of the church are able to trace their orders back to the infant church founded by Jesus Christ in the first century.

Introduction of the Orthodox Western Rite
Before the year 1054 there would have been no difficulty in declaring that the Western Rite of the undivided church was simply the use of Latin speaking churches. The rite used by Christians in England, Ireland and Scotland, was as Orthodox as that used in Constantinople. In the first thousand years of Christendom all the far flung Churches were in communion with the five Patriarchates, (Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Rome) were Orthodox. After 1054 and more precisely the Norman conquest (1066) of the Englisc at Senlac (Battle), the churches of the west were drawn into the schism in most causes at the point of a sword by Norman Roman Catholic soldiers for the Roman Patriarchate, away from the unity of the Orthodox church. The Western Liturge came to reflect the Papal errors and even incorporated the filique in the Nicene creed with other aberrations.

Augustine 597 – 604

Apostle of the English, was a Benedictine monk who died 26 may 605. Feast day 26 May.

He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury of the English Orthodox church. Why did he come to Kent land of the Cantwara? King Ethelbert was the King of Kent who was a Heathen, married to Bertha daughter of Charibert former King of Paris, one of the Merovingian Kings of the Franks. One of the agreed gifts of betrothal to his wife, was a church so that she could continue with her Christian worship, her chaplain was Ludhard. The King renovated a derelict Church and it was dedicated to St. Martin of Tours, a major patron Saint of the Merovingian Royal family.

This marriage no doubt was an opportunity for Pope Gregory I to send a missionary, who in 596 directed a Prior Augustine of the monastery of Saint Andrew, founded by Gregory. Augustine was not very enthusiastic, but set off with 40 monks to Kent, they turned back in Province to Rome, but Gregory commanded and encouraged him to continue, the journey took nearly a year with stopovers. They landed at Ebbsfleet on the Isle of Thanet on the 26 May 597, whereupon on learning of their arrival, King Ethelbert, who was Bretwalda over other Kings was rowed over to meet Augustine at what is known as St. Augustine cross. Ethelbert permitted Augustine with his monks (he was all so accompanied with Laurance of Canterbury) to settle and preach in Canterbury the capital of Kent, by the end of the Year. Ethelbert with 10,000 of his subjects at Christmas were baptised. Also Augustine was consecrated Bishop of Arles.

Augustine reported his success to Gregory who in 601 sent Mellitus and Justus with others who brought Gregory reply plus the Pallium for Augustine with sacred vessels, vestments, books, relics etc. Gregory directed the new Archbishop to ordain twelve Suffragan Bishops and send a Bishop to York, also for twelve suffragan Bishops this plan never happened nor the primatial. In London at the time it was very venerable to attacks by Pagans, so Canterbury was selected.

Augustine consecrated Mellitus Bishop of London and Justus Bishop of Rochester. Augustine did meet the Bishops of the Celtic Church at Aust/Aust Cliff, Gloucestershire, in an attempt to unite the Church in Britain, but this was premature at that time, the site is named after him. Gregory’s practical common sense approach to Pagan sites and feast days was to consecrate them as Churches and the feasts for martyrs or ceremony days.

Augustine re-consecrated and re-built an old church in Canterbury for his cathedral and founded a monastery nearby, he also restored a church and founded the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul outside the wall.

Major Kings at that time
(There were subject/minor Kings as well)

King of Kent
Aathelbert l (560-616).

King of East Anglia
Raedwald (593-617).

King of Mercia
Pybba (593-606).

King of Bernicia
Aethelfrith (593-617).

King of Deira
Aethelfrith of Bernicia (593-617).

King of Wessex
Ceolwulf (597-611).

Heathen Religion

Their beliefs and reverence was in the world around, the world in which they lived, the world that they were intimately tied. Heathenism was as it implies practiced on heaths, high places were sacred areas as were woods having within sacred groves under the bows of trees, like great cathedrals.

Wood was of great importance as it was used in so much of their lives hence their great reverence for it and with this comes the Green man of the wood. The uses of wood were great and varied such as building, tools, weapons and cooking implements.

Water was essential and places like springs became sacred places, even today we have well dressing celebrations.

Food again was essential and the ground that produced it and again there was important celebrations to celebrate this i.e. spring celebration for new life and harvest celebration when the harvest was brought in, there was sacrifices given for this.

As this was an agrarian society like ours was until the agricultural revolution, their lives were entwined with it living with abundance and scarcity hence their reverence to it and their fear if the harvest goes wrong and causes a famine. So over time they developed gods who represented different aspects of the world around. The best way to show their main gods is to look at the days of the week, as their society was an oral one nothing has been written down, except by Christian monks who may describe a Heathen ceremony only in the context of a Christian, ancient customs which have been handed down or Archeological evidence where we try to piece together what has been found.

Funerals
For a funeral they had a funeral pyre covering the body with artefacts around them depending on who they were, after the cremation their ashes was placed in a pot and buried. Kings were buried under a mound with items for the next world, some like the burials at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk were laid out in a long ship before they were covered over with a mound of earth.

The Priests
Again little is known of these people, but in the British museum there in the vaults is held a manuscript which is of healing remedies, sacred ceremonies and spiritual secrets, a thousand year old wizard’s spell book preserved in the library’s vault. The sorcerer/shaman wormed a picture of this world and the next with spells, potions etc working with the fears and prejudices of the people whose own lives can be very short and violent, the shaman tries to allay these fears and this depends upon the character and intelligence of a man who has a very important position in Anglo Saxon life.