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St Helier - The fabled life of St Helier |
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Saintly behaviour
Saints have traditionally been revered as exceptional religious figures and canonised in recognition of their close presence to God, and in doing so, secure their “place in the afterlife”. The mainstream Christian church has concentrated on honouring those Christians who have died for their faith as witnesses or martyrs. The earliest listed saint associated with Britain was the Roman soldier Alban (St Albans), who died for his Christian beliefs in the 3rd Century.
During the 4th Century, the canonisation of saints expanded throughout the Church to incorporate a number of other categories. Those who suffered, but were not killed for their faith, were known as Confessors (such as Edward the Confessor 1005 – 1066); virgins who were martyrs to chastity; and even theologians.
The tide gives way to the annual pilgrimage
© Geraint Jennings - La Societe Jersiaise |
In Celtic Christianity, sainthood was often conferred on those who founded new missions, churches and monasteries – this can be seen in the names of so many places in Scotland, Cornwall, Ireland and Wales. The medieval western church with its bureaucratic approach to faith, established a formal approach to canonisation by the papacy – especially from the 13th Century.
After the 16th Century reformation, the Protestants were totally against the thought of any human having an assured place in heaven. They could not embrace the notion of sainthood, but found it difficult to expunge the usage of Saints days in England, so they came to an accommodation with the process.
Anglicanism remained receptive to the concept of the saints, especially under the influence of the 19th Century Oxford Movement – a breakaway religious movement conceived in 1833 by Anglican clergymen at Oxford University, who wanted to re-introduce certain Roman Catholic doctrines and rituals into the Anglican service.
If St Helier was to have spread the word of Christianity to Jersey, it is likely that there was little impact whilst he remained a hermit on the rocky outcrop, but the legend of him picking up his head and walking across the water to Jersey may well have been a powerful way of promoting conversion from the islanders' pagan ways to Christianity. Today, St Helier is still a celebrated legend with an annual pilgrimage being held to the Oratory for a short service on 16 July.
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