St. Chad was a good sport

	St. Chad When: died 672 Where: England What: Bishop Feast: March 2

If there were a patron saint of good sportsmanship it would be St. Chad, a 7th century British saint well-known for his humility and his devotion to preaching the gospel.

Chad and his older brother, St. Cedd, were born in Northumbria, England. They studied under St. Aidan at Lindisfarne (a center of learning and missionary work in England) and became monks. After Aidan died, Chad served for several years in Ireland at Rathmelsigi under St. Egbert.

When Cedd died, Chad became abbot of Lastingham Abbey (founded by Cedd). At that time, King Alcfrid (son of King Oswy) named Wilfrid bishop of York.

Wilfrid, who had studied in Rome, refused to be ordained by a bishop who followed Celtic, rather than Roman, rules (see St. Colman, 2/14, for more ). So Wilfrid went to France to be ordained, but no one heard of him for two years.

Finally, King Oswy got tired of waiting for Wilfrid to return, so he appointed Chad as Bishop of York. All might have gone well, except that, when Chad went to Kent to be ordained, he learned that the archbishop had died and no successor had been named. So he went to West Saxon where he was ordained by three bishops of questionable status.

As bishop, Chad lived simply, spending most of his time in study and walking around his diocese preaching the gospel in cottages, villages and castles, as Aidan had taught him.

When Wilfrid returned from France to find Chad serving as bishop, he gracefully moved to Ripon. However, the new archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore, refused to accept Chad's ordination and demanded that Wilfrid become bishop.

In response, Chad told Theodore: "If you consider that I have not been properly ordained, I gladly resign. I never thought myself worthy of the office and agreed to undertake it, though unworthy, under obedience."

With that, Chad moved back to Lastingham. But the story doesn't end there. Theodore was so impressed by Chad's humility that soon after, when the bishop of Mercia died, Theodore named Chad to the see and had him validly ordained.

As bishop, he moved the see to Lichfield, where he built a small house near the church so he and a few monks could pray together. He also started a monastery and continued to travel his diocese preaching -- but, at Theodore's insistence -- on horseback because of his age. He died of the plague.

Miraculous cures were reported at two shrines to Chad. Several more shrines followed, including one Henry VIII destroyed. Some of his relics are in the Catholic cathedral at Birmingham. More than 30 churches were dedicated to him in England's Midlands.