Oswald of Worcester

Who they were

Oswald, of Danish family, was raised by his uncle St Oda of Canterbury. Seeking a stricter life, he became a monk at Fleury, and in 962 was consecrated Bishop of Worcester by St Dunstan.

With Dunstan he worked to reform the Church, founding monasteries including Ramsey, and became Archbishop of York in 972. He died on 29 February 992 in the act of washing the feet of the poor, as he did daily in Lent.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

A monk-bishop who died washing the feet of the poor.

Connected on this site

• Abbo of Fleury Saint
  “While archbishop, he brought the scholar Abbo of Fleury to teach, and he spent two years in England, mostly at Ramsey.” — Wikipedia
• Botwine Saint
  “The late 10th- and early 11th-century writer Byrhtferth of Ramsey in his Vita sancti Oswaldi claimed that Oswald of Worcester, Archbishop of York, discovered Botwine's relics at the monastery of Ripon.” — Wikipedia
• Thurcytel Saint
  “This Thurcytel was a kinsman of Oscytel, Archbishop of York, and, thus, also of Oscytel's successor Oswald of Worcester.” — Wikipedia
• Æthelwold of Winchester Saint
  “Æthelwold became the leading propagandist for the monastic reform movement, although he made enemies by his ruthless methods, and he was more extreme in his opposition to secular clergy than his fellow reformers, Saint Dunstan and Oswald of Worcester.” — Wikipedia