Alcuin of York

by G. F. Browne

“Up to this time, the holy Church of York has remained untainted in its elections. See that it be not tainted in your day. If, which be far distant, it loses its ecclesiastical reputation, I fear that you will lose the eternal kingdom. Judas sold the spouse, that is, Christ. And he that sells Christ’s spouse, that is, the Church, is guilty of the same crime; for Christ and the Church are one body, as saith the Apostle[162]. He who sells the Church must of necessity be outside the Church; and he who is outside the Church, where will he be but with the devil in eternal destruction. Fear not, hate not, him who speaks to you the truth; for to this which I say, the books sent forth by the Holy Spirit testify. My desire is that you be without stain in the sight of God; that you reign felicitously in this present world, and rejoice for ever with Christ. Live and be strong and happy in Christ.”

Eanbald I did not abdicate. He died on August 10, 796, and the electors immediately proceeded to the election, their choice falling upon Eanbald II. The election was so hasty that Eanbald II was consecrated five days after the Archbishop’s death.

This is Alcuin’s letter to the new Archbishop:—

Ep. 72. A.D. 796.

“To his best-loved son in Christ, Eanbald the Archbishop, his in all things devoted father Albinus sends greeting.

“Laud and honour to the Lord God omnipotent who hath preserved my days in prosperity, so that I can rejoice in the exaltation of my dearest son; and have been allowed, though the lowliest servant of the Church, to train up one of my pupils to be regarded as worthy to become a dispenser of the mysteries of Christ and to labour in my stead in the Church where I was nourished and instructed; and to preside over those treasures of wisdom of which my beloved master Helbrecht left me his heir. I must pray with all intentness the divine clemency that he may be my survivor in this life as he was my solace alway in the time of his obedience; not that I wish for my own death but that I desire that his life should be prolonged. For not sons to fathers but fathers to sons should leave an heritage.[163]

“See, my dearest son, by God’s favour you have all that man could hope for, and more than all that our small desert dared hope for. Now, then, act as a man and a strong man. The work of God which is put into your hands do to the full, for the profit of your own soul and the welfare of many souls. Let not your tongue cease from preaching; nor your foot from going about among the flock committed to you; nor your hand from labouring that alms be given and the holy Church of God be everywhere exalted. Be the outward expression of the well-being of all. In thee let there be the example of most holy manner of life; in thee let there be the solace of the miserable; in thee the strengthening of the doubting; in thee the rigour of discipline; in thee the confidence of truth; in thee the hope of every good. Let not the pomp of the world lift thee up; nor luxury of food enervate thee; nor the vanity of vestures make thee soft; nor the tongues of flatterers deceive thee; nor the gainsaying of detractors disturb thee; nor troubles break thee; nor joys lift thee up. Be not a reed shaken by the wind; be not a flower falling with the gale; be not a tottering wall; be not a house built upon the sand; but be the temple of the living God, built on the firm rock, whose indweller be the very Spirit, the Paraclete.

“How many days do you suppose you have to live? Put it in your mind at fifty years. Even that has its end; and you cannot expect to live so long as that. Let the weakness of your body make you strong in soul; be with the Apostle,—‘when I am weak, then am I strong.’ Let the affliction of your body be the gain of your soul. Show yourself gentle and humble to the better; hard and rigid to the proud; all things to all men that you may gain all. Have in your hands honey and wormwood; let each man eat which he chooses. Let him who would live on pious preaching have the honey; let him who needs hard invective drink of the wormwood, but so that he may hope for the honey of pardon to follow, if the blush and confusion of penitence go before.”