ECUSA Welcomes You # 8A - St Aidan's Traditional Geocache
ECUSA Welcomes You # 8A - St Aidan's
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Saint Aidan founded Lindisfarne, a famous monastery on an island in the North Sea, and is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria in the 7th century. With the decline of the Roman empire in the 5th century, paganism had made a strong resurgence in northern England. King Oswald of Northumbria had been living in exile on the island of Iona in Scotland since 616 AD, where he converted to Christianity. In 634 he regained his crown and was determined to restore Christianity amongst his people. He requested missionaries from Iona and Aidan arrived in 635. Aidan chose Lindisfarne, close to the royal castle, as his center of operations. King Oswald often had to translate for Aidan and his monks who did not speak English at first. An inspired missionary, Aidan walked from village to village, conversing with people and slowly interesting them in Christianity. By patiently talking to the people on their own level, Aidan and his monks slowly restored Christianity to the Northumbrian communities. In 651 a pagan army attacked Bamburgh and attempted to set its walls ablaze. According to legend, Aidan prayed for the city, after which the winds turned and blew the smoke and fire toward the enemy, repulsing them. The monastery he founded became a center of learning, preserving knowledge through the time of Europe's Dark Ages. From Lindisfarne came exquisitely illuminated manuscripts. Aidan was universally liked. The historian Bede writes, "He cultivated peace and love, unity and humility; he was above anger and greed, and despised pride and conceit." Aidan carried out the task not only of converting but also of civilizing Northern England. He founded schools, churches and monasteries, and then left them to grow on their own while he moved on to a new place. Aidan lived as a simple monk. He gave away almost every gift he was given, and insisted that others -- including his king -- be just as generous. He died in 651 AD. St. Aidan's Episcopal Church was founded in 1963 to provide an Episcopal presence in the Little Neck area, a community bordered on three sides by the branches of the Lynnhaven River. In 1966 it was the first church in Tidewater Virginia to house and support a Headstart program. Seton House, to your left as you face the church, is a shelter for runaway boys which is sponsored by the parish. This is one of nine caches in a series. There is also a tenth puzzle cache (ECUSA #10). The caches in this "Episcopal Church Welcomes You" series are: # 1 - Hickory Neck (GCV22G), Toano; #2 - St. Mark's (GCV22K), Hampton (archived); # 3A - Ascension, Labyrinth (GC5M6FA), Norfolk; # 4 Emmanuel (GCV22T), Hampton; # 5 St. Martin's (GCV22Y), Williamsburg; # 6 - All Saint's (GCV230), Virginia Beach; # 7 - Eastern Shore Chapel (GCV235), Virginia Beach; # 8A - St. Aidan's (GC115FG), Virginia Beach; # 9 - Glebe (GCV23F), Suffolk; # 10 - End of the Quest (GCV23P) in Virginia Beach. All caches are on the property of Episcopal churches in the Tidewater area. I have secured permission from the clergy of these churches (friends and colleagues of mine) to place these caches on their church's property. However, there could be muggles present at each location, particularly on Sunday mornings. This cache is a bison tube FTF - Mandingo24
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Unatvat ba gerr oruvaq n fgngvba bs gur pebff