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Life of St Wilfrid
Eddius Stephanus, tr. Colgrave, 1927
How He Longed to See the Abode of St Peter the Chief of the Apostles
After the lapse of a few years, it came into the heart of this same young man, by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, to pay a visit to the see of the Apostle Peter, the chief of the Apostles, and to attempt a road hitherto untrodden by any of our race. By so doing he believed that he would cleanse himself from every blot and stain and receive the joy of the divine blessing. When he made this known to his master, the latter, who was a wise man, recognized that the plan was of God and gave his consent that his dear son should thus attain to the source of all good. Thereupon Queen Eanfled, on the advice of his father, sent him forth with all honour to her own kinsman, Erconberht, King of Kent, giving him the warmest commendations through her messengers, to the end that he might stay there until he found trustworthy fellow-travellers bound for the Apostolic See. When the king saw the servant of God approach, finding him continually occupied, as was his wont, in prayers and fastings, in reading and vigils, he loved him exceedingly. Now the Psalms which he had first of all read in Jerome’s revision he committed to memory from the fifth edition, after the Roman use. After a year of weary waiting from day to day, the king, in accordance with the queen’s request, found him a guide, a man of high rank and of remarkable understanding named Biscop Baducing, who was bound for the Apostolic See, and prevailed upon him to take the youth in his company. So the servant of God set out on his journey with the blessing of his kinsfolk, like Jacob; and that blessing did not fail him. He was friendly to all, wise of mind, strong in body, and swift of foot, ready for every good work, his face never clouded with sorrow. Glad of heart and rejoicing in his journey, he came at last in safety to Lyons, a city of Gaul; there he remained with his companions for a certain time, his stern guide having left him, just as Barnabas separated from Paul on account of John whose surname was Mark.