Saints

Hermit. Born in Asyut, Egypt, in 304, John was a carpenter. When he was 25 he went out into the desert to pray and was to became one of the most famous hermits of his time. For ten years he was the disciple of an elderly hermit. St John called him his 'spiritual father.' After the older monk's death, St John spent four or five years in various monasteries. Finally, he found a cave high in the roc... Read More

Bishop. Frisian by birth, Liudger was one of the eighth century Anglo Saxon missionaries who evangelised parts of northern Europe. He studied under Boniface at Utrecht and Alcuin at York. He then began preaching in remote areas of Frisia, where Charlemagne had gone ahead breaking up pagan shrines. In 777 he was ordained priest and built several churches. When the Saxons invaded the area they dro... Read More

Monk, and gifted musician. Tutilo was an Irish monk who lived in the late ninth and early tenth centuries. He was educated at the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Gall in Switzerland. A good-humoured person of many talents, he was a poet, portrait painter, sculptor, orator, architect and mechanic. But his greatest talent was music. He could play all the instruments known to the monks. Together wit... Read More