Saints Mary and Martha, Orthodox Monastery, Wagener, SC

The annual Diocesan Assembly for the Diocese of the South was in Atlanta this past July.

Because this was the first assembly since the retirement of our beloved Archbishop Dmitri, his absence was keenly felt, especially by us “old timers”, one of whom is Mother Thecla. Albeit the services and meetings went well in the beautiful facilities of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, we knew that this was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the diocese. It was an honor for Mother Thecla to meet briefly with Metropolitan Jonah, to have lunch with the clergy wives, and to deliver her report on our monastery.

A few days after the assembly, our long-time friends, the Perdomo’s, visited us. Since their move out west and then to the Rio Grand Valley in Texas ten years ago, we see little of them, but know of their missionary work, both in Texas and Mexico, not to mention keeping up with their three daughters. Fr. Antonio Perdomo graciously offered to serve a weekday Liturgy for us. We chose July 27th, the Feastday of St. Panteleimon, a renowned unmercenary and great martyr.

Among our many visitors this past quarter were some local home-schoolers and parents who came for a candle-making demonstration. More and more, families and individuals who know they will be passing near our monastery are calling us and arranging a time to meet us and be given a tour. Several people have availed themselves of our Hermitage, mostly non-orthodox. Over and over, we are reminded that the main reason we are here is to be a witness for Christ and the Orthodox Christian Faith.

On the afternoon of the Feast of Dormition, August 15th, Mother Thecla led a Pan-Orthodox Women’s Retreat at Saint Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church (OCA) in Atlanta, Georgia. Liturgy was served in the morning, followed by lunch. The theme was “Cultivating Our Spiritual Garden”. Mother Thecla gave two, one-hour talks titled, “The Garden of the Heart” and “Being in God’s Garden”. Thirty-one women attended.

During July and August, we watched as our seventeen-year-old cat, Thamathacles, grew noticeably thinner. When we took him to the veterinarian, the tests showed that he was in renal failure. He died August 31st and is buried in our pet cemetery. Mother Helena and Sister Lyubov made a paw marker for him, just as they have made many other paw markers for the animals that are buried here.

By the time you read this newsletter, Sister Lyubov will have completed an eight-week course on irrigation. Living on the Sand Hills of South Carolina and having experienced ten years of drought, we need this information to help us be more efficient in our use of water now and in the future.

Tomatoes and bell peppers have been plentiful this year. However, grapes and pears for wine making have been less plentiful. As this newsletter is being written, Mother Helena is filtering the last carboy (a five-gallon glass jar) of pear wine. As most of you gardeners know, no two years are the same.

We went to the Barnyard Flea Market on Saturday, September 19th, and netted $309.30 for our building fund.

Clergy Wives Retreat started the following Thursday and ended after Liturgy on Sunday. Eleven clergy wives attended. Fr. Ernesto Rios graciously served Liturgy on Sunday. He, like us, is grateful for all that these women do. Below is a collage of pictures taken by Matushka Rebecca Myers from St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

At the end of September, we attended a talk given by Fr. Daniel Byantoro on his journey from Islam to Christ and on the Orthodox Church in Indonesia. His talk was packed with information and most inspirational. If you have the opportunity to hear him speak, make the time and attend.

In seventh century England, Ethelburga was a popular name which means “noble fortress”. Three famous saints of this century bear the name Ethelburga.

The first, Saint, Ethelburga of Lyming (Feastday September 8th, died 647) was the daughter of St. Aethalbert, first Christian King of Kent, and Saint Bertha. She married Saint Edwin, King of Northumbria, in 625 and was widowed c. 633. Her brother, King Eabald gave her a ruined Roman villa at Lyming (Lyminge) where she with her sister, St. Edburga, and other women built the first monastery for women in England. There St. Ethelburga was installed as its first abbess. It is interesting to note that she is considered to be the first queen and widow of the Anglo-Saxon tribe to become a nun.

Saint Ethelburga of Barking (Feastday October 11, died 675) was the third sainted woman by that name in the seventh century. She was the sister of Saint Erkenwald, Bishop of London, who founded a monastery in Chertsey (Surrey) and another in Barking (Essex). Proving her faithfulness and fervor for Christ in the monastic life, she became the first abbess of Barking. A few days after one of her nuns, Saint Tortgith by name, had a vision of a glorified body, wrapped in light and being drawn to heaven with cords of light, Saint Ethelburga of Barking reposed.

Our five-sisters narrative continues with the second Saint Ethelburga of Faremoutiers (Feastday July 7, died c. 664) who was the third daughter of King Anna and Saewara and fourth of the five sainted sisters. At a young age, Saint Ethelburga and Saint Sethrilda, her half-sister who was some years older than she, were sent to the abbey at Faremoutiers-en-Brie to be educated. Due to the lack of monasteries in their native kingdoms, many Anglo-Saxon princesses were sent to Faremoutiers-en-Brie to receive an education. Like her half-sister, Saint Ethelburga (known as Saint Aubierge in Gaul) took monastic vows and proved herself to be an exemplary nun who lived in perpetual virginity. Upon the death of Saint Sethrilda (c. 660), Ethelburga became the third abbess of Faremoutiers-en-Brie and was noted for her wisdom and justice. Saint Tortgith, mentioned above, was one of her nuns before joining the monastery at Barking in her native land. Ethelburga began building a church in honor of the twelve apostles, but died leaving the church half finished. According to her instructions, the nuns and monks buried her in the half-completed church. However, seven years later, the work on the church was totally abandoned; therefore, it was decided to move her remains. Upon opening St. Ethelburga’s tomb, they found her body to be as if she had just died (totally incorrupt). They washed and dressed her body in new garments before re-interring it at St. Stephen Church which was completely built and consecrated.

The fifth sister and youngest daughter of King Anna and Saewara, Withburga (Feastday March 17th, died c.743, translation of relics July 8th) was sent at a young age with her nurse to Holkham in Norfolk. There she chose to remain a virgin and live an austere life as a hermitess. In 654, shortly after her father fell in battle, she moved to Dereham (now the market district of Norfolk), took monastic vows, and founded a monastery for women.

During part of the construction of this monastery, Saint Withburga had nothing but dry bread and water to give to her nuns and workmen. She prayed fervently to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary for assistance. The Theotokos appeared to her in her sleep and instructed Saint Withburga to send two of her nuns to a specific fountain every morning. There they would find two does who would allow the nuns to milk them. As God is always bountiful, there was milk aplenty, thus adding milk, butter and cheese to their diet. Since the workmen and nuns were better fed, the construction of the monastery progressed readily.

The news of how the nuns were able to milk two does spread quickly and came to the ears of the Reeve (overseer of royal domains) who had great contempt for Saint Withburga and was opposed to the building of this monastery. With his hunting hounds, he rode to Dereham with the intent of killing the deer, or, at the very least, preventing the does from coming to the fountain to be milked; however, his horse stumbled and threw him, thus breaking his neck. (Another account states that Withburga stepped out in front of the horse which reared up and threw the Reeve, whereupon, he broke his neck.)

Little else is known of Saint Withburga except that she was a good abbess and was known for her gentle virtues and holiness. It is thought that there were over 650 nuns under her care and direction. If indeed, she died on March 17, 743, she was over a hundred years old. Originally, she was buried at the west end of the cemetery of the Abbey of Dereham. Through her relics, many healings, both bodily and mental, have occurred. In iconography, Saint Withburga is usually depicted standing, dressed in early Anglo-Saxon monastic garb with a church in her hand, and two does standing at her feet.

Fifty-five years later in 798, it was decided to enshrine her body in the church she had built. Upon opening her tomb, it was discovered that she was incorrupt, her flesh still supple and looking as if she had just died.

With the invasion of the Danes in 869-870, the nuns were scattered and the monastery destroyed. However, the church and Saint Withburga’s shrine were left standing. In the century that followed, this church became the parish church for the townsfolk of Dereham. Then in 970, King Edgar, the first king of a united England, endowed Athelwold I, Bishop of Winchester from 963-984, with the monastery at Ely and all of the other monasteries that had been destroyed by the Danes. Providing assistance, King Edgar instructed him to rebuild these monasteries. At the newly restored Ely monastery, Bishop Athelwold I installed Brythnoth as the Abbot (from 970-981).

Wanting Saint Withburga’s body re-interred at Ely with those of her sisters, Saint Sexburga and Saint Etheldreda, and her niece, Saint Ermengilda, Bishop Athelwold I asked the Abbot Brythnoth to transfer her body. The abbot and some of his monks paid a friendly visit to the people of Dereham and suggested that Saint Withburga’s body be moved to Ely. Upon hearing this, the townspeople refused to allow the body of their precious saint to be moved.

Devising an alternate plan, on July 8, 974, Abbot Brythnoth armed several of his monks with food, wine, and weapons,

Inscription on stone above well:

“The Ruins of a Tomb which contained the Remains of
Withburga,
Youngest Daughter of
Annas,
King of the East Angles,
Who died A.D. 674.
The Abbot and Monks of Ely
Stole this precious relic
And translated it to Ely Cathedral
Where it was interred near her three Royal sisters

took them with him to Dereham where he held his usual administrative court, and then invited the townspeople to a great feast. With food aplenty and wine flowing freely, the townsfolk fell into the sleep of drunkenness. The monks then slipped away, broke into Saint Withburga’s tomb, placed her incorrupt body into a coffin, and loaded it onto an awaiting ox-drawn wagon. Recovering in part from their inebriation, the townspeople discovered the desecration of their beloved saint’s tomb and hastily pursued the monks. By the time they caught up with the monks, her coffin had already been transferred to a waiting barge near Brandon and was sailing down the river to Ely. Following the barge, the people of Dereham threw clods of earth and anything else they could at the monks, but to no avail, and returned home. In the midst of the marshes around Ely, the monks on the barge lost their way, but were led to shore by a column of fire which appeared from heaven.

Downheartedly, the townsfolk returned to Dereham to discover that a miraculous spring of the purest water had risen up where Saint Withburga’s body had originally lain in the churchyard. This spring had and still has many healing virtues and runs to this day. It has been noted that it never freezes. Many pilgrims have made and continue to make the journey to pray at her spring and drink this holy water. The grounds around the well are surrounded by a well-kept garden which is enclosed by old walls that rise to a height of five to six feet.

In 1106, the remains of the four saints were translated to the new church at Ely and laid near the high altar. They found that the bodies of Saint Sexburga and Saint Ermenilda were reduced to dust, except the bones; whereas, the body of Saint Etheldreda was entirely incorrupt, and the body of Saint Withburga was still sound, fresh, and the limbs flexible.

Although no one knows where their bodies are today, it is thought that they are somewhere in the collapsed sections of the old church structure.