Dunstan was born in 909, near Glastonbury, England, to an upper-class family. He was sent to court, but was not happy there, and became a monk and priest at the urging of his uncle, the Bishop of Westminster. He returned home to Glastonbury, and lived in a hut near the ruins of the monastery there. He devoted his time to study, music, painting, and metalwork, becoming an expert in the casting of church bells. It is also here that, according to legend, he was visited by the devil, who Dunstan pinched on the nose with his metalworking tongs (he is commonly pictured with a pair of tongs because of this).
He was briefly exiled for rebuking King Edwy for being a randy little sod, but his exile provoked a rebellion, Edwy was deposed, his brother Edgar became king, and Dunstan became Archbishop of Canterbury. The coronation service he compiled for Edgar is the basis for the service used today. In 970 he presided over a conference of bishops, abbots, and abbesses which formulated the Regularis Concordia, a national monastic code, which borrowed heavily from the Benedictine rules.
In the later part of his life he concentrated on running the Canterbury cathedral school for boys, where he was apparently successful in improving the quality of education, and reducing the emphasis on corporal punishment. Long after his death, students at the cathedral school were known to pray to Dunstan for protection against cruel teachers.
He died on May 19, 988. He is now chiefly remembered for restoring English monastic communities, which had been devastated by the Vikings in the 9th century, but is also known as an artist and craftsman.
Patron Saints Index description of Saint Dunstan
Icon of St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
Saint Dunstan card
Figuring I could use all the help I could get, I designed a Saint Dunstan card to appeal to in moments of locksmithly stress. Above and to the right is the front, below is the back.
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I was a history major in college, and I happily admit that one of the things that drew me to it (aside from the lack of a math requirement) was the chance to explore human depravity. At the time, I studied 18th century English social history (where glorious writing and high art co-existed with mind-bogglingly barbaric "sports" like goose pulling). Over the last few years, much of my reading has been about the history of religion. For someone interested in both depravity and faith, the tradition of saint worship is a veritable cornucopia. It falls at the intersection of faith, fear, hope, cruelty, and ritual, and is often quietly funny. Take, for instance, Saint Sebastian: nearly killed by arrows (and, after being nursed back to health, beaten to death at Emperor Maximian's orders), now the patron saint of arrowsmiths and fletchers. Patron saints can be chosen by the Pope, but also adopted by any group that sees a relevance in the saint's life or death to their needs. Hence there are patron saints for animals with horns (Guy of Anderlecht), Belgian air crews (Therese of Lisieux), lost keys (Zita), vinegar makers (Vincent of Saragossa), and servants who break their master's property (Benedict). For a comprehensive list of patron saints by topic, visit the Patron Saints Index. |
Prayer (traditional form)
O God of truth and beauty, who didst richly endow thy bishop Dunstan with skill in music and the working of metals, and with gifts of administration and reforming zeal: Teach us, we beseech thee, to see in thee the source of all our talents, and move us to offer them for the adornment of worship and the advancement of true religion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Almighty God, who didst raise up Dunstan to be a true shepherd of the flock, a restorer of monastic life and a faithful counsellor to those in authority: give to all pastors the same gifts of thy Holy Spirit that they may be true servants of Christ and all his people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
