Hugh, Bishop
admin | 16 November 2024The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Hugh (1135-1200), Bishop of Lincoln (source):
O God,
who didst endow thy servant Hugh
with a wise and cheerful boldness
and didst teach him to commend to earthly rulers
the discipline of a holy life:
give us grace like him to be bold in the service of the gospel,
putting our confidence in Christ alone,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Epistle: Titus 2:7-8,11-14
The Gospel: St. Matthew 24:42-47
Hugh, from Avalon in France, was a Carthusian monk before he became Bishop of Lincoln in 1186. The Cathedral had been badly damaged in an earthquake the year before he arrived and Bishop Hugh encouraged the building of a larger, grander building, once acting as a labourer himself.
Hugh was a holy man, not afraid to challenge even kings. He stood up to Henry II, Richard I, and latterly John, warning him that he must rule his subjects in accordance with God’s will. Eventually John was forced in 1215 to sign the Magna Carta, which recognized the rights of the church, the barons and freemen. Lincoln Cathedral owns one of the 4 surviving original copies of the Magna Carta.
Bishop Hugh was a good administrator as well as a hard-working and inspirational leader, renowned for his holiness and austere way of life. Although he had a huge diocese to run, he cared particularly for the poor and outcast, including lepers, and was a protector of Lincoln’s Jews during a period of persecution.
Whenever possible, Hugh left the grand palace beside the Cathedral and stayed at his manor at Stow, north of the city. Hugh loved animals, and befriended a swan which lived on his moat there. The swan, which was said to rest its head on his chest, became Hugh’s symbol.
Hugh died in 1200 and was made a saint only twenty years later.
Artwork: Francisco de Zurbarán, Saint Hugh of Lincoln, 1637-39. Oil on canvas, Museum of Cadiz, Spain.
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