March 2: Chad of Lichfield, Bishop, 672

The Collect of the Day

Chad of Lichfield

Heavenly Father, whose son our Lord Jesus Christ took the form of a servant for the sake of his brothers and sisters: Strengthen us with the prayers and example of your servant Chad, who became the least of all to minister to all; through the same Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns, with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Chad of Lichfield

Heavenly Father, whose son our Lord Jesus Christ didst take the form of a servant for the sake of his brothers and sisters: Strengthen us with the prayers and example of thy servant Chad, who became the least of all to minister to all; through the same Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with three and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Leviticus 10:1–3
Psalm 84
Luke 14:1–14

Chad was born in Northern England around 634, one of four brothers dedicated to service in the church. Chad was trained by Aidan of Lindisfarne as a follower of the Celtic tradition in ritual. His elder brother Cedd had built a monastery at Lastingham, where he governed as abbot. At his death, Cedd left the abbacy to Chad. According to Bede, Chad was “a holy man, modest in his ways, learned in the Scriptures, and zealous in carrying out their teaching.”

Impressed by Chad’s qualities, the king appointed him Bishop of York. Chad was ordained by “bishops of the British race who had not been canonically ordained,” Bede tells us. Chad was, Bede also notes, “a man who kept the church in truth and purity, humility, and temperance.” Following apostolic example, he traveled about his diocese on foot.

The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore, arrived in England four years after Chad’s ordination as bishop. Theodore made it clear that Chad’s ordination had been irregular, that is, not according to Roman custom, and Chad humbly offered to resign from office. “Indeed, I never believed myself worthy of it,” he said.

Theodore, impressed by such humility, re-ordained him, and appointed him Bishop of Mercia and Northumbria. Chad continued his custom of traveling on foot until Theodore ordered him to ride, at least on longer journeys. When Chad hesitated, the Archbishop is said to have lifted him bodily onto the horse, “determined to compel him to ride when the need arose.”

Chad administered his new diocese with devout concern. He built a monastery, and established monasticism at Barrow. In his see city of Lichfield, where he had an official dwelling, he preferred to read and meditate in a small house he had built nearby.

Two and a half years after his re-ordination, plague broke out, killing many residents of the diocese including Chad himself, whose death Bede describes thus: “He joyfully beheld…the day of the Lord, whose coming he had always anxiously awaited. He was mindful to his end of all that the Lord did.” He died on March 2nd, 672, and was buried at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter in Lichfield.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

¹How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! *My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

²The sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

³Happy are they who dwell in your house! *they will always be praising you.

⁴Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.

⁵Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, *for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

⁶They will climb from height to height, *and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

⁷Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; *hearken, O God of Jacob.

⁸Behold our defender, O God; *and look upon the face of your Anointed.

⁹For one day in your courts is better than a thousand in my own room, *and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹⁰For the Lord God is both sun and shield; *he will give grace and glory;

¹¹No good thing will the Lord withhold *from those who walk with integrity.

¹²O Lord of hosts, *happy are they who put their trust in you!

Gospel

¹On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. ²Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. ³And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?” ⁴But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. ⁵Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” ⁶And they could not reply to this. ⁷When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; ⁹and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ¹²He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”