Saint Withburga

Saint Withburga
St. Wihtburh, depicted in a rood screen in Dereham
Virgin; Abbess
Born	Unknown
Died	17 March 743 Dereham, England
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church; Anglican Communion; Eastern Orthodoxy
Feast	8 July

Wihtburh (or Withburga) (died 743) was an East Anglia saint, princess and abbess who was possibly a daughter of Anna of East Anglia, located in present-day England. She founded a monastery at Dereham in Norfolk. A traditional story says that the Virgin Mary sent a pair of female deer to provide milk for her workers during the monastery's construction. Withburga's body is supposed to have been uncorrupted when discovered half a century after her death: it was later stolen on the orders of the abbot of Ely. A spring appeared at the site of the saint's empty tomb at Dereham.

Tradition describes Wihtburh as the youngest of the daughters of Anna of East Anglia, but she is not mentioned by Bede. He was well-informed about and described her elder sistersSeaxburh of Ely, Æthelthryth and Æthelburh of Faremoutiers and Sæthryth, her older half-sister.

After her father's death (c.653), Wihtburh built a convent in East Dereham, Norfolk. A traditional story relates that while she was building the convent, she had nothing but dry bread to give to the workmen. She prayed to the Virgin Mary and was told to send her maids to a local well each morning. There they found two wild does which were gentle enough to be milked; they provided nutritious drink for the workers. This allowed the workers to be fed.

The local overseer did not like Wihtburh or her miracles. He decided to hunt down the does with dogs and prevent them from coming to be milked. He was punished for his cruelty when he was thrown from his horse and broke his neck. This story is commemorated in the large town sign in the centre of East Dereham.

Wihtburh died in 743 and was buried in the cemetery of Ely abbey. When her body was dug up 55 years later, it was found not to have decayed. This was considered a miracle and her remains were reinterred in the church which she had built in Dereham. The church became a place of pilgrimage, with people visiting Wihtburh's tomb.