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| Melrose Abbey. (Source.) |
My
friends know that I have a great devotion to the saints, especially those off
the beaten path, who may not have much of a public cultus. In my years in the monastery, the evening reading
from a bound, typescript translation of the Cistercian Menology was one of my
favorite times of the day. In addition to
giving a bit more detail about the day’s Cistercian heavy hitters, who would
also be mentioned in the Martyrology, the Menology, gave blurbs for those I
liked to think of as God’s also-rans—the servants of God, venerables, and blesseds,
who might have languished in relative obscurity for centuries.
Today’s
entry in the modern
Cistercian Menology for St. Waltheof, Abbot of Melrose, is just such a
case. Also known as Walden, Waldef, etc.,
he died in 1160. His life is recorded as
follows:
After his father's death, his mother married King David of Scotland and Waltheof was brought up at court where St Aelred became his close friend. Unlike Aelred, however, Waltheof was not attracted by court life and cultured society. He became a canon of St Augustine and was made prior of their house at Kirkham.
