Saint Theodore of Crowland
Patron Saint of the Grimsby/Cleethorpes Orthodox Christian Mission
Saint Theodore of Crowland, Patron Saint of our Mission
Choosing a patron saint for a mission or a parish is something that is done only after much prayer and discernment. Those choosing the patron saint, will have a clear idea of why a particular saint is a 'good fit' for their mission or parish. There will be something about the saint's life that will have particular significance for the parish or mission seeking his/her patronage. After a patron saint has been chosen, he or she is officially 'installed' only after the bishop of the diocese has given his express blessing.
Who was Saint Theodore of Crowland?
Saint Theodore, whose feast we celebrate on the 9th of April, was the abbot of Crowland Abbey in the 9th century. Crowland Abbey was a Benedictine monastery, founded in the 8th century in memory of Saint Guthlac by Ethelbald, the King of Mercia.
In the 8th century AD, there began a series of violent raids and incursions by the pagan Viking Danes into various parts of England. In AD 793, there took place the devastating attack on Lindisfarne monastic community by these Viking raiders, which left the Christian population of Northumbria and Scotland stunned and devastated that something so awful could befall a Christian monastery. Unfortunately, this attack was to set the pattern for things to come.
By the 9th century AD, the Danes had invaded England, and typically targeted monastic settlements and ecclesiastical centres in Northumbria, East Anglica and Mercia (which included Southern Lincolnshire, where Crowland Abbey was situated). These Viking raiders looted the gold and silver holy vessels from the monasteries and churches; clerics, monks, nuns and lay Christians were brutally tortured, murdered, or dragged off into slavery. The Vikings had a particular loathing for Christianity, and their raids were characterised by the intentional profanation and destruction of Christian churches and shrines.
The Martyrdom at Crowland Abbey
Richard Stanton, in his 'Menology of England and Wales', gives us an account of what happened when Danish forces reached Crowland Abbey in 866:
'The year 866[?] is especially memorable for the cruel outrages of the pagan Danes, who in different parts of the country slaughtered innumerable victims, in their thirst for conquest and hatred of our holy religion, choosing in preference ecclesiastic and religious of both sexes. Lincolnshire and East Anglia were among the provinces which suffered most, and there, shortly before the glorious martyrdom of St Edmund, the chief monasteries were utterly destroyed.
It was on the 26th or 30th of August that the barbarians reached Croyland (Crowland), the celebrated retreat of St Guthlac. The solemn Mass was just ended but the clergy had not left the sanctuary, when the pagans broke into the church. The celebrant, who was the Abbot Theodore, the Deacon Elfgetus, and the Sub-deacon Savinus, were murdered in the sacred vestments before the altar, and shortly afterwards the Acolyths Egdred and Ulrick. Some of the community escaped, and hid themselves in a neighbouring forest; but those who sought to conceal themselves within their own walls seem all to have been discovered and cruelly butchered.'
Martyrdom and the Divine Liturgy
There is no question that Saint Theodore and his monks were aware that the Danes were approaching, and that the intent of the Danes was to sack the abbey and slay its monks, yet he and his deacon (Efgetus), his subdeacon (Savinus), and his acolytes (Egdred and Ulrick) all chose to remain at the altar and complete the solemn celebration of High Mass (the Divine Liturgy). They knew the fate that awaited them, and yet they chose participation in the solemn worship of God over the chance of concealment or escape.
A Saint for Grimsby/Cleethorpes
So, why have we chosen Saint Theodore of Crowland, a somewhat obscure monastic saint and martyr from Lincolnshire, as the patron saint of our mission parish in Grimsby/Cleethorpes? There are three reasons why the Trustees of our mission parish believed that Saint Theodore of Crowland would be a fitting and powerful patron for our mission parish.
1. Persecution of Christians
The first reason that Saint Theodore was chosen as our patron is because he lived at a time when Christians in England were being violently persecuted. Saint Theodore lived at a time when being Christian meant living with the constant threat of persecution and death.
Currently, in the 21st century AD, Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world, and according to the BBC, a report ordered by the Foreign Secretary in 2024, Jeremy Hunt, described the persecution of Christians in certain parts of the world as at near genocide levels. Whether it is by physical violence and/or threats of death, as in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Nigeria, China, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Iran, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, to name but a few. Or the more subtle political persecution taking place in the nations of the West, where Christians are targeted because their beliefs regarding the dignity of the human person and the holiness of human sexuality places them at odds with current cultural and political ideologies; and where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is increasingly being labelled as 'hate speech'.
Our mission will be blessed by having as its patron a saint who knew what it is to live out his Christian life with the daily reality of persecution and repression, and to live in the shadow of the constant threat of violence and death. In living out our Orthodox Christian faith, and preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ, there is no question that as a mission and as individual Orthodox Christians, we will face hostility and opposition. How wonderful to have a patron in Saint Theodore, who can stand in the presence of the living God to intercede for our physical and spiritual protection.
2. Martyrdom
The second reason that Saint Theodore was chosen as our patron for Grimsby/Cleethorpes mission, is that he is a martyr for Christ who surrendered his life to Christ through the hands of his violent persecutors.
To be a 'martyr' simply means to be a witness to Christ, and as Orthodox Christians, we are all called to bear witness to, to testify and proclaim, through our words and actions, the Good News that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Mt. 16: 16-17), and the Saviour of the world (1 Jn. 4: 14), who has come into the world not to condemn it, but to save it (Jn. 12: 47), through inaugurating the advent of the Kingdom of God (Mk. 1:15).
But here is the hard truth: witnessing to Christ always comes at a cost to us, both in terms of what we need to give up in order to follow Christ (the pursuit of power, wealth, prestige, honour, safety, and anything else that would separate us from Him), and in terms of the real risk that by following Christ we will experience criticism, ridicule, and even hatred, from family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues, non-Christians, and even from non-Orthodox Christians.
We need to live in the awareness that martyrdom is a daily reality for Orthodox Christians, the call total self-emptying (kenosis), whether through fasting, prayer and corporal works of mercy, or through suffering for our faith in Christ. Our martyrdom (our bearing witness) demands of us that we remain faithful to the Commandments of Christ – all of His commandments (Jn. 14:15), even if this entails accepting suffering and death for His Name's sake (Mt. 16:25). Tertulian, a Christian apologist writing in the second century is quoted as saying, 'The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.' May our mission parish in Grimsby/Cleethorpes be the seed that is watered by Saint Theodore's blood, shed so many centuries ago for the love of Christ.
3. The Importance of the Divine Liturgy
The third reason that Saint Theodore of Crowland was chosen as the patron saint of our Grimsby/Cleethorpes mission, is because of his witness to the importance of the Divine Liturgy in the lives of Orthodox Christians. As noted above, Saint Theodore and his monastic companions chose to remain engaged in the worship of God, through the Divine Liturgy (also known as the Mass or the Eucharist) which they were serving, knowing that they faced certain death (or worse) at the hands of the Danish raiders.
In the Divine Liturgy, Orthodox Christians remain faithful to the Lord's commandment to: 'Take, eat, this is My Body…..Drink of this, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins' (Mt. 26: 26-28); because we believe Christ when He said: 'I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread, he will live for ever; and the Bread that I shall give for the life of the world is My Flesh…Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. For my Flesh is food indeed, and my Blood is drink indeed' (Jn. 6:51-59).
In the Divine Liturgy, (the Eucharist), Orthodox Christians participate in Christ's self-offering to His Father; in eating His Body and drinking His Blood, they receive His Divine Life, and abide in His salvation, receiving forgiveness, healing, transformation, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist is not a simple recalling of the past events of Christ's salvific Life, Death and Resurrection, it is their actualisation in the present, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we may truly experience their transforming power NOW.
Our participation in Christ's thanksgiving sacrifice in the Eucharist is the summit of our participation in the Divine Life in this world, giving us a foretaste of the Kingdom to come: this is what Saint Theodore bore witness to in remaining at the altar to serve the Divine Liturgy, rather than seeking to hide or escape from the pagan Danes. Through his actions, Saint Theodore becomes a witness to the crucial importance of the Divine Liturgy for the life, growth, and sanctification of our mission parish and each of its members.