Richard of Chichester

Richard of Chichester (c. 1197 – 3 April 1253), also known as Richard de Wych, is a saint (canonized 1262) of the Catholic and Anglican churches who was the Christian Bishop of Chichester from 1244 to 1253.

In Chichester Cathedral a shrine dedicated to Richard had become a richly decorated centre of pilgrimage. In 1538, during the reign of Henry VIII, the shrine was plundered and destroyed by order of Thomas Cromwell.

Richard of Chichester is the patron saint of Sussex in southern England. The Anglican Church has, since 2007, celebrated his translated saint's day on 16 June, Sussex Day.

Life

Richard was born in the Burford area, near the town of Wyche (modern Droitwich, Worcestershire) and was an orphan member of a gentry family. On the death of their parents, Richard's elder brother was heir to the estates but he was not old enough to inherit, so the lands became subject to a feudal wardship. On coming of age, his brother took possession of his lands, but was required to pay a medieval form of death duty that left the family so impoverished that Richard had to work for him on the farm. His brother also made Richard heir to the estate.

Educated at the University of Oxford, Richard soon began to teach in that university. From there he proceeded to Paris and then Bologna, where he distinguished himself by his proficiency in canon law. On returning to England in 1235, in his late thirties, Richard was elected Oxford's chancellor.

His former tutor, Edmund of Abingdon, had become by that time archbishop of Canterbury. Richard shared Edmund's ideals of clerical reform and supported papal rights even against the king. Richard then decided to become a priest, and studied theology for two years with the Dominicans at Orléans. Richard then returned to Chichester, but the king refused to restore the see's properties for two years, and then did so only after being threatened with excommunication. At first, Richard lived at Tarring in the house of his friend Simon, the parish priest of Tarring, visited his entire diocese on foot, and cultivated figs in his spare time.

Richard furnished the chronicler, Matthew Paris, with material for the life of St. Edmund Rich, and instituted the offerings for the cathedral at Chichester which were known later as "St. Richard's pence".

Richard was merciless to usurers, corrupt clergy and priests who mumbled the Mass. He was also a stickler for clerical privilege. His remains were translated to a new shrine in 1276, on June 16, which also serves as his translated saint's day for Anglicans.

Richard overruled Henry on several occasions. Richard defrocked a priest who had seduced a nun out of her convent, turning aside a petition from the king in the priest's favour.

Richard was militant in protecting the clergy from abuse. When townsmen of Lewes violated the right of sanctuary by seizing a criminal in church and lynching him, Richard made them exhume the body and give it a proper burial in consecrated ground.

Richard's feast day is on 3 April in the West, but because this date generally falls within Lent or Eastertide this is normally translated to 16 June in some provinces of the Anglican Communion, which venerates St. Richard more widely than does the Roman Catholic Church.

The first Anglican bishop of Chichester was Richard Sampson, during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. Through his Vicar-General, Thomas Cromwell, the king ordered the destruction of Richard's shrine in Chichester cathedral in 1538.

Forasmuch as we have lately been informed that in our cathedral church of Chichester there hath been used long heretofore, and yet at this day is used, much superstition and a certain kind of idolatry about the shrine and bones of a certain bishop of the same, whom they call Saint Richard, and a certain resort there of common people, which being men of simplicity are seduced by the instigation of some of the clergy, who take advantage of their credulity to ascribe miracles of healing and other virtues to the said bones, that God only hath authority to grant. . . . . We have appointed you, with all convenient diligence to repair unto the said cathedral church, and to take away the shrine and bones of that bishop called Saint Richard, with all ornaments to the said shrine belonging, and all other the reliques and reliquaries, the silver, the gold, and all the jewels belonging to said shrine, and that not only shall you see them to be safely and surely conveyed unto our Tower of London there to be bestowed and placed at your arrival, but also ye shall see both the place where the shrine was kept, destroyed even to the ground and all such other images of the said church, where about any notable superstition is used, to be carried and conveyed away, so that our subjects shall by them in no ways be deceived hereafter, but that they pay to Almighty God and to no earthly creature such honour as is due unto him the Creator. . . . . Given under our privy seal at our manor of Hampton Court, the 14th day of Dec., in the 30th year of our reign (1538).

Document issued by Thomas Cromwell on behalf of Henry VIII.

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The Shrine of St. Richard had, up to this point, enjoyed a level of popularity approaching that accorded to Thomas Becket at Canterbury. The document ordering the destruction of the shrine was issued to a Sir William Goring of Burton and a William Ernley. They received £40 for carrying out the commission on 20 December 1538.</blockquote>

The modern St Richard's Shrine is located in the retro-quire of Chichester cathedral and was re-established in 1930 by Dean Duncan Jones. In 1987 during the restoration of the Abbey of La Lucerne, in Normandy, the lower part of a man's arm was discovered in a reliquary. The relic was thought to be Richard's. After examination, to establish its provenance, the relic was offered to Bishop Eric Kemp and received into the cathedral on 15 June 1990.

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Richard is supposed to have recited the prayer on his deathbed, surrounded by the clergy of the diocese. The words were transcribed, in Latin, by his confessor Ralph Bocking, a Dominican friar, and were eventually published in the Acta Sanctorum, an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints. The British Library copy, contains what is believed to be Bocking's transcription of the prayer:

Gratias tibi ago, Domine Jesu Christe, de omnibus beneficiis quae mihi praestitisti;

pro poenis et opprobriis, quae pro me pertulisti;

propter quae planctus ille lamentabilis vere tibi competebat.

Non est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.

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thumb|upright|The statue of St Richard near the west door of Chichester Cathedral.

Whoever translated the Latin into English was obviously skilled in his craft as he managed to produce a rhyming triplet, namely "clearly, dearly, nearly". The first use of the triplet in a hymn was in the "Mirfield Mission Hymnbook" of 1922, and the first use of the phrase "Day by Day" was in the "Songs of Praise, Enlarged Edition" published in 1931.

The author who is credited with translating the prayer from the original Acta Sanctorum and bringing it to public notice, was Cecil Headlam in 1898. The following version in the "Prayers of Saints" is quite different from the one that is familiar today :

THE DYING PRAYER OF S. RICHARD,

Bishop of Chichester.

LORD JESU CHRIST, I thank Thee for

all the blessings Thou hast given me,

and for all the sufferings and shame Thou

didst endure for me, on which account that

pitiable cry of sorrow was Thine : " Behold and

see, if there was any sorrow like unto My

sorrow ! " Thou knowest, Lord, how willing

I should be to bear insult, and pain, and death

for Thee; therefore have mercy on me, for to

Thee do I commend my spirit. Amen

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The prayer was adapted for the song "Day by Day" in the musical Godspell (1971), with music by Stephen Schwartz. The words used, with a few embellishments, were based on the following from "Songs of Praise, Enlarged Edition":

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Current patronage, festivals and dedication

thumb|right|Flag attributed to Saint Richard, which is flown on [[Sussex Day]]

Richard of Chichester is celebrated in the Church of England and most provinces of the Anglican Communion on June 16 each year. As the patron saint of the county of Sussex in England, his translated saint's day, 16 June, is also celebrated more broadly by the county as Sussex Day.

Richard is honoured with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 3 April, which is also his feast day in the Roman Catholic Church pursuant to the new Roman Martyrology of 2004.

The Anglican parish church of Peel Hall, Wythenshawe was built in 1969 and dedicated to St Richard of Chichester; the construction incorporated stones from a number of different cathedrals, including Chichester Cathedral.

The Church of the Sacred Heart and St. Catherine of Alexandria in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire is also known as ‘England’s Ravenna ‘ because its architecture and interior art was influenced by the Italian city. The interior is completely covered by 8 tonnes of Venetian glass mosaics above a marble lower level. The wall to the right of the nave tells the story of St. Richard from his baptism in Droitwich Spa to his death in Dover . The Church also has a chapel that is dedicated to St. Richard. The art was designed by Gabriel Pippet and created in mosaic form by Maurice Richard Josey . The Church is popular with visitors and considered as being amongst the most beautiful in England.

Notes

References

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Attribution:

External links

Biography of St Richard of Chichester from Catholic Online
St. Richard de Wyche from Catholic Encyclopedia
St. Richard, Bishop and Confessor from The Lives of the Saints by Alban Butler
St. Richard's RC Parish, Chichester
The Parish Church of St Richard, Aldwick in memory of St Richard, Bishop of Chichester 1244-1253
St. Richard's Catholic Parish, Creve Coeur, Missouri, USA

Life

Current patronage, festivals and dedication

See also

Notes

References

External links