Richard of Chichester
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Saint Richard of Chichester (also known as Richard de Wych or variations thereof) (born Droitwich 1197, died Dover 1253) is a saint (canonized 1262) who was Bishop of Chichester. His shrine in Chichester Cathedral was a richly-decorated centre of pilgrimage which was destroyed in 1538.
Educated at Oxford, he soon began to teach in the university, of which he became chancellor, probably after he had studied in Paris and in Bologna. About 1235 he became chancellor of the diocese of Canterbury under Archbishop Edmund Rich, and he was with the archbishop during his exile in France.
Having returned to England some time after Edmund's death in 1240 he became vicar of Deal and chancellor of Canterbury for the second time. In 1244 he was elected Bishop of Chichester, being consecrated at Lyons by Pope Innocent IV in March 1245, although Henry III refused to give him the temporalities of the see, the king favouring the candidature of Robert Passelewe (d. 1252).
In 1246, however, Richard obtained the temporalities. The new bishop showed much eagerness to reform the manners and morals of his clergy, and also to introduce greater order and reverence into the services of the church. His term of office was also marked by the favour which he showed to the Dominicans, a house of this order at Orléans having sheltered him during his stay in France, and by his earnestness in preaching a crusade. After dedicating St Edmund's Chapel at Dover, he died at the Maison Dieu in the town in April 1253.
It was generally believed that miracles were wrought at his tomb in Chichester cathedral, which was long a popular place of pilgrimage, and in 1262 he was canonized at Viterbo by Pope Urban IV. Richard furnished the chronicler, Matthew Paris, with material for the life of Edmund Rich, and instituted the offerings for the cathedral at Chichester which were known later as "St Richard's pence."
Saint Richard is best remembered today for the popular prayer ascribed to him:
- Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
- For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
- For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
- O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
- May I know Thee more clearly,
- Love Thee more dearly,
- Follow Thee more nearly,
- Day by day.
This prayer was adapted for the song Day by Day in the musical Godspell.
Saint Richard’s feast day is June 16 in the Anglican calendar of saints. He is the patron saint of bus and lorry drivers, and of the county of Sussex.
His life by his confessor, Ralph Bocking, is published in the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists, where a later and shorter life by John Capgrave is also to be found.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
