St. Willehad

Biography

St. Willehad (c. 745–789) was born in Northumbria, in northern England, and was probably educated at York, where Alcuin was among his contemporaries. Around the 760s or early 770s, with the approval of a Northumbrian synod, he set out as a missionary to Frisia, following in the footsteps of St. Willibrord and St. Boniface. He preached at Dokkum, where Boniface had been martyred, and in nearby regions, at times facing hostility from people who saw his preaching as an attack on their gods. Around 780 Charlemagne sent him to work among the Saxons between the Weser and Elbe rivers. In 782 the Saxon uprising led by Widukind destroyed his churches, several of his companions were killed, and Willehad had to flee. He traveled to Rome to meet Pope Adrian I and then spent about two years at Willibrord's abbey of Echternach, praying and copying manuscripts. When peace returned he resumed his mission, and on July 13, 787, he was consecrated bishop at Worms, choosing Bremen as his see. He built a cathedral there, dedicated to St. Peter, on November 1, 789. Only days later he fell ill with fever while visiting his people and died at Blexen, on the Weser, on November 8, 789. A Life written in Bremen in the ninth century preserves his story. The Church also honors Blessed John Duns Scotus on this day.

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