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St. Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne
VII Century
Irish by birth, St. Finan of Lindisfarne became a monk at Iona and upheld
the Celtic traditions against the encroachment of Roman usage. Finan
baptized Penda, ruler of the Middle Angles, and Sigebert, ruler of Essex.
Elected bishop of Lindisfarne in 651, Finan sent missionaries to Mercia
and to Essex. He also debated Ronan, an Englishman, about the correct way
to calculate the date of Easter. On the Holy Island, he built a wooden
cathedral, the roof of which was thatched with seagrass. (A later abbot
removed the thatching and covered the building with lead). Finan died in
661, and St. Cuthbert succeeded him as abbot.
Karen Rae Keck
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