Godric was the oldest of the three children of a freedman Anglo-Saxon farmer. He was born in Walpole, Norfolk, England in 1069 and was an adventurous sea-faring man. Godric spent his youth in travel, both on land and sea, as a peddler and merchant mariner. In a contemporary manuscript, he was referred to as a “pirate” due to is erratic way of life. However, he got converted, upon visiting Lindisfarne during a voyage and being touched by the life of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne.

He lived as a hermit in the holy lands, and worked in a hospital near Jerusalem. Godric remained a hermit for nearly sixty years at Finchale, County Durham, England, first in a cave and then in a more formal hermitage. He was led to its site by a vision of Saint Cuthbert. As a self-imposed austerity, and a way to always remember Christ’s lowering himself to become human, Godric never wore shoes, regardless of the season. It was a rough life, living barefoot in a mud and wattle hut, wearing a hair shirt under a metal breastplate, standing in icy waters to control his lust and living for a while off berries and roots.

Godric was noted for his close familiarity with wild animals, his supernatural visions, his gift of prophecy and the ability to know of events occurring hundreds or thousands of miles away. This caused many people, including Thomas Beckett and Pope Alexander III, to seek his counsel. Godric was a noted hymn writer and he wrote the oldest songs in English and he claimed that was taught to him by the Virgin Mary. The brief song Sainte Nicholaes by Godric is one of the oldest in the English language, and is believed to be the earliest surviving example of lyric poetry.

The saint died in 1170 at Finchale, County Durham, England after a prolonged illness.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Eugene de Mazenod
2. Saint Barrfoin
3. Saint Mateo Correa
4. Saint Theobald of Vienne
5. Saint Zeno

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