GODRIC OF FINCHALE

Business Man to
Hermit

GODRIC OF FINCHALE BORN

Godric was born in 1065 near Walpole in Nothfolk.
St. Godric; the hermit around whose cell rose the Priory of Finchale.
In a loop of the river Wear, near Durham.
His parents were poor and pious folk; and, being a sharp boy, he
did not take to field-work, but preferred wandering the fens as a
peddler. (in other words, he left his family as a teenager and set
out to find his fortune)
He started selling any small wares that he acquired from a fairs and
sold them to others in different locations in England for better
prices.
He established a network of locations and started to prosper and
get wealthier.

GODRIC OF FINCHALE LIVED

His business grew and Godric s aspirations led him to work on
ships as a ships mate and a peddler (dealer, supplier).
He became a Half owner of a merchant ship and part owner of
another (in his mid thirties). He started to buy and sell items all
across the English channel down to the Mediterranean and back.
Godric became very rich and was known as the pirate of the
English kingdom.
Frederick Buechners says that Godric is to be believed, a brawler
(A fighter who depends on ferocity, toughness, and strength to win
fights) and wincher (wrong doer), an especially shrewd trader and,
when necessary, a con man and worse.

GODRIC OF FINCHALE REFLECTION

After several voyages and as his revenue
(wealth) increased, he was met by community of
monks who lived in Farne (The Farne Islands are
a group of islands off the coast of
Northumberland, England) invited this wealth
merchant to prayer and as he told so, Godric
was overwhelmed with remorse.
He asked himself am I doing the right thing by
my fellow man? Am I doing right by my maker?
Is trade deceitful?
There he fell to his knees and vowed renounce
his life as a merchant.

Farne
Islands

GODRIC OF FINCHALE ENDING

At the age of 40, He left all his worldly
goods behind and lead a life as a hermit
(loner, solitude).
He finally lived the remaining of his life
where he build a small wooden chapel in
Finchale on the river Wear in Durham and
named it Virgin Mary and lived for
another 57 years serving God. It was
said that he mercilessly mortified (cut
himself with a knife) his flesh in the
praise of God.
He died at the age of 105 on May 21,

WHAT ARE THE LESSONED

LEARNED?
Wealth is an obsession. You cant live
without it!
Who doesnt want to be rich?
Are you as ambitious as Godric?
Do you think what he did is correct?
Should we place God over our
ambitions?
Is being a businessman, peddler,
merchant a bad thing?