CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER l8
As he departed with his companions the brethren made their way back to the church and with prayers and tears commended themselves and their concerns to the Lord. A short while later, having recited the psalms for Terce, they reassembled to consider what to do. They decided to make their request at once for a new abbot to God through prayer, fasting and the singing of psalms. This decision was communicated to their brother monks of St Paul’s both by a group of St Paul’s monks who were present and also by a delegation from St Peter’s. The monks of St Paul agreed; the two monasteries were of one mind; the hearts and voices of all were lifted up in unison to the Lord. Three days later on Pentecost Sunday all the monks of St Peter’s met together in council with a good number of the senior monks of St Paul’s. They were completely unanimous in their decision: and so Hwaetberht was duly elected abbot. He had been taught in that same monastery from his earliest childhood to observe the discipline of the rule and had also applied himself there to solid study of the arts of writing, chanting, reading and teaching. In the reign of Pope Sergius of blessed memory he too had hastened to Rome and had stayed there a good long while, learning, copying down and bringing back with him all that he thought necessary for his studies. At the time of his election he had been a priest for twelve years. As soon as he was elected abbot by all the brethren of the two monasteries, he set off at once with a few of the monks to find Ceolfrith who was waiting for a ship to take him across the ocean. They informed him of the result of the election. ‘Thanks be to God,’ he replied, and confirmed their choice. Hwaetberht gave him a letter of recommendation to Pope Gregory, some lines of which we think it well to include in this book as a record.