St.Aelred of Rievaulx is our patron saint. He was born at Hexham, Northumbria (West Yorkshire, England) in 1110 A.D. Aelred, as a very young and handsome man, served as the Steward to the Court of King David of Scotland (1130 to 1134 A.D.). He aroused jealousy on the part of King David's knights brcause he was so close to the king. He entered the Cistercian Order of monks in 1134 A.D. at Rievaulx Abby.
According to Dr. John Boswell, there is indication Aelred was sexually active both before and after entering monastic life. Eight years after becoming a monk, Aelred became the Novice Master of Rievaulx. At that time he pursued the virtue of chastity, but never recanted or rebuked his homosexual relationships. He never felt his sexual urges were entirely under control. He was responsible for the training of impressionable young men and found that it was necessary to build a concealed tank in which he would immerse himself in icy waters to bridle his passion. The following year, he became the Abbot of Revesby, daughter house of Rievaulx. He was apparently very well connected for a man of his time. He corresponded with royalty and the Pope throughout most of his adult life.
Aelred had a deep appreciation for the particular love between two people. Christian tradition teaches us much about universal charity, the love of all people. Tradition teaches far less about the worthy love between David and Jonathan, Naomi and Ruth, or between Jesus and John, the "beloved disciple."
Aelred believed that we move toward God in and through our relationships with other people, not apart from or in spite of them. Aelred speaks of losing his heart to one boy and then another during his school days. He was a man of strong passions, who spoke openly of the men for whom he held deeply romantic attachments.
"The only one who would not be astonished to see Aelred living without Simon would be someone who did not know how pleasant it was for us to spend our life on earth together; how great a joy it would have been for us to journey to heaven in each other's company...Weep then, not because Simon has been taken up to heaven, but because Aelred has been left on earth, alone," wrote Aelred after the death of a monk he clearly loved.
The friendship Aelred so eloquently described, he summed up in this passage: "It is no small consolation in this life to have someone [with whom] you can unite with in an intimate affection and the embrace of a holy love, someone in whom your spirit can rest, to whom you can pour out your soul, to whose pleasant exchanges, as to soothing songs, you can fly in sorrow, [someone] with whose spiritual kisses, as with remedial salves, you may draw out all the weariness of your restless anxieties, a man [with whom] you can shed tears in your worries, be happy with you when things go well, search out with you the answers to your problems, with whom the ties of charity you can lead into the depths of your heart, where the sweetness of the Spirit flows between you, where you so join yourself and cleave to him that soul mingles with soul and two become one."
Evidence of Aelred's material success as the third Abbot of Rievaulx survives to this day. The ruins of the Abbey Church and Cloister are accessable for tourists to the North York Moors. His "Life of St. Edward" (in Latin) survives today in an 800 year old illuminated manuscript at Cambridge University Library. Aelred's spiritual achievements include a number of recognized miracles. Although he was never formally canonized by the Roman Church, his feast was promulgated by the Cistercian Order in 1476. His feast was accepted for observance as a Black Letter Day by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, U.S.A. in 1985. He was adopted as Patron Saint of Integrity, Inc. In 1987 and later by the Sarum Episcopal (Old Catholic) Church. He died of kidney failure on January 12, 1167 A.D. at Rievaulx. Even to the end of his days he felt his chastity was in need of vigilant protection.
"Sweet Lord, release wisdom from the seat of your greatness that it may be with us, toil with us, speak in us; may it, according to your good pleasure, direct our thoughts, words, and all our works and counsels, to the honor of your Name, the profit of the community, and our salvation; through our friend Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages."
