Saint Everilda of Everingham (, died. ''c.'' 700)"Everilda" in Frances Egerton Arnold-Forster, ''Studies in church dedications: or, England's patron saints'', 1899:403f, based on ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, organised by the saints' feast days. The project was conceived and ...

'', "setting forth three lessons on the saint". Also Everildis. was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

of the 7th century who founded a convent at Everingham, in the English county of the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. All we know of her comes from the York Breviary.

Biography

Everilda was converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

by Saint

Birinus Birinus (also ''Berin'', ''Birin''; – 3 December 649 or 650) was the first Bishop of Dorchester and was known as the "Apostle to the West Saxons" for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity. He is venerated as a sain ...

, along with King Cynegils of Wessex, in 635. Her legend in the York Breviary states that she was of the

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

. She fled from home to become a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

, and was joined by Saints Bega and Wuldreda. Saint Wilfrid of York made them all nuns at a place called the Bishop's Dwelling, later known as Everildisham. This place has been identified with present-day Everingham. She gathered a large community of some eighty women. Everilda died peacefully when her mission was accomplished.

Veneration

Her name appears in the '' Martyrology of Usuard'' as well as in the church calendars of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

and

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

. There are two churches dedicated to St Everilda: St Everilda's Church, Nether Poppleton, and Ss Mary & Everilda, Everingham. Everilda's

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is 9 July.

Notes

External links

Saints of July 9: Everild of EveringhamCatholic Online entry
{{Authority control Converts to Christianity from Anglo-Saxon paganism West Saxon saints Northumbrian saints Anglo-Saxon nuns History of the East Riding of Yorkshire Christianity in the East Riding of Yorkshire Yorkshire saints 7th-century Christian saints Female saints of medieval England 7th-century English nuns 7th-century Christian nuns