Saint Ƿærburh (Werburgh)d. 700, the patron saint of Chester. Her feast day is 3 February.
It has been said that her name means "true city", but a more accurate translation would be:
Ƿær: 1. truth ; faith 2. fidelity ; friendship 3. agreement ; promise
bur(h): an inner chamber / inner room
Inner Chamber of Faith/truth or "Body Filled with Faith".
She was born in Staffordshire in mid 7th century and was the granddaughter of King Penda of Mercia. She was the daughter of St Ermenilda (Next week's Sant of the Week).
She devoted herself Christ at an early age and entered the Abbey of Ely to become a nun. She became the fourth Abbess of Ely; she succeeded her mother Ermenilda, her grandmother Seaxburh, and great-aunt Etheldreda.
Come Miracles:
1. Ƿærburh commanded flock of geese causing havoc in the cornfields of Weedon. The command banished them and since then no geese have been seen in those parts.
2. She parted the River Dee at flood, to save the Earl of Chester
3. Her favourite goose, Greying was eaten and she revived him with just the left over bones
4. In 708 her brother King Coenred opened her grave and she was found to be miraculously intact -- a year later he abdicated and became a monk
There are ten churches in England dedicated to the saint.
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