One of the patron's of Sussex
One of the saints of Sussex is St. Cuthman. Recently, I was introduced to his prayer, which struck a chord in my soul. I share it with you. Perhaps, St. Cuthman will help God bring the holy house of prayer to a
Walsingham. There is a GREAT history with many of the things noted here about him at this website. Click here for another version of the Burton interpretation discussed below.
He was very poor, a simple shepherd, who pushed his mum miles in a wheelbarrow, when they had to leave their home to beg for food.
His simple faith inspired others to help him build a Church, and one is on the site today in Steyning, where he ended his journey.
May God bless my building, which would obviously not be of my doing, but God's alone.
"Father Almighty, you have brought my wanderings to an end; now enable me to begin this work. For who am I, Lord, that I should build a house to name? If I rely on myself, it will be of no avail, but it is you who will assist me. You have given me the desire to be a builder; make up for my lack of skill, and bring the work of building this holy house to its completion."
There is another connection, as I just finished a play on the history of Walsingham and am approaching groups to produce it. Christopher Fry wrote a play on St. Cuthman in which Richard Burton played the saint. Here is a quotation from the play, thanks to Wiki, from which I found the above prayer as well here.
It is there in the story of Cuthman, the working together
Of man and God like root and sky; the son
Of a Cornish shepherd, Cuthman, the boy with a cart,
Of a Cornish shepherd, Cuthman, the boy with a cart,
The boy we saw trudging the sheep-tracks with his mother
Mile upon mile over five counties; one
Mile upon mile over five counties; one
Fixed purpose biting his heels and lifting his heart.
We saw him; we saw him with a grass in his mouth, chewing
And travelling. We saw him building at last
A church among whortleberries…
Here is Richard Burton with the scene from the play, but a better one, which I could not copy is from the amazing website above under website. This reading is good but the other one is superb.
St. Cuthman and his mum in the wheelbarrow are found in a misericord in Ripon Cathedral.
I, of course, love the area around Fountains Abbey more than any place in the world. But, he and mum are also depicted in the Horsham Heritage Sundial, found at this site. The above sculpture is also from the sundial.
Pray to St. Cuthman for me, and the holy house project. By the way, the name of the house now is King's Lodge, but I would change it to King's Post if St. Cuthman helps me. You can listen to Richard Burton to find out why. The holy house with stamp duty would cost 432,000 pound sterling.