Friday, 7th November, is the (optional) memorial of St. Willibrord (658 – 739), Apostle of Frisia and Archbishop of Utrect. Born in Yorkshire, he was educated by St. Wilfrid at Ripon and then spent twelve years in Ireland. Ordained a priest, he returned to England but shortly afterwards left as a missionary with twelve companions for Frisia (the modern-day north Netherlands and north-west Germany). The mission prospered and he gained the support of Pope Sergius. In 695, Pope Sergius consecrated him a bishop and instructed him to organise the Church with Utrecht as his episcopal see. Willibrord built churches, founded monasteries and established suffragan bishoprics. In 698, he founded the great monastery of Echternach where he settled. Willibrord’s mission was particularly successful in the Frankish areas where he gained the patronage of the secular rulers. At times, he was accompanied by St. Boniface who later went to Germany. His mission was marked by energetic preaching, prayer and study. It also included some remarkable and prophetic gestures. In Denmark he bought thirty slave-boys and educated them as Christians. At Walcheren, he destroyed a wooden idol and in Heligoland, he killed some sacred cows, which his followers needed for food. The absence of any retribution from the deities prospered his activities. He largely converted Holland and inaugurated a century of English Christian influence on northern Europe. He died at Echternach in 739 and was immediately venerated as saint. He is the patron saint of Holland – and is more honoured over there than over here. On Friday, let us pray for the mission of the Church in the Netherlands. [Image: RTL Today][Portsmouth Diocese e-News]