St Cuthbert, monks and the Corona Virus

Tim Stanley, the historian and writer, gave a lovely Thought for the Day on Radio 4 on his affinity with St Cuthbert. He reflected on Cuthbert's love of solitude and concluded:

“Monasteries might be set apart from society, but they are still deeply concerned with society. Monks work and teach, they carry out acts of charity, they pray for others, and they will be praying for the end of the corona virus right now… There is wisdom in a monk's desire to put aside the distractions of the world, the noise and the nonsense, and to focus on becoming a fuller human being by showing resilience and compassion. It is not impossible that some people come out of this changed for the better."

Listen here: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p087w4gp

There is a lovely story of Cuthbert emerging from the North Sea after one of his long prayer vigils in the cold waters off Lindisfarne. Two otters followed him onto the sand, prostrated themselves and licked his feet to warm them. They then dried his feet with their fur.