york00orns

46 YORK.
of York, and has been recognised by successive
generations as patron saint of Ripon.
Before proceeding with the account of the Synod
which decided the Paschal question, a brief sketch
must be given of Wilfrid's early history, and how it
came to pass that he occupied so prominent a place
at that important conference. Wilfrid was bom
about 634. He was of good descent, and at a very
early age was desirous of quitting his home and devoting
himself to the service of God in some monastic
house. His father consented ; but it was needful
also that he should have the consent of Oswy, the
Northumbrian king. He was a bright and attractive
lad, and won favour in the eyes of Eanfleda, Os\vy's
queen. She sent the boy to Lindisfarne, under the
care of an aged retainer who was proceeding thither
to end his days under monastic rule. There the boy
passed four years, diligently studying all that the
monks could teach, and, above all, learning by heart
the Psalter in Jerome's version, and was loved by all.
Somehow or other he was led to cherish an ardent
desire to visit Rome, and to study the rules of ecclesiastical
discipline as there taught. Eanfleda ga'iC
him a letter to her brother Erconbert, the king of
Kent. [a.d. 653.] At Canterbury he spent a year, at
the expiration of which he was sent by Erconbert to
R6me, in company with one who was hereafter to be
kiiowa as Benedict Biscop, the future founder of the
monastery of Wearmouth, the zealous and earnest
student, the lover of religious art and culture. On
their way they halted at Lyons, where Wilfrid remained
for some time, his companion pressing