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[[Image:chadgeorgeinfo.jpg|right]]'''Saint Chad of Lichfield''' (+672) also called ''St. Caedda'' was a [[missionary]], [[bishop]], [[healer]], and [[wonderworker]] who spread the Orthodox Catholic Faith throughout the British Isles. His feast day is commemorated on [[March 2]].
==Saint Chad the Wonderworker of Lichfield and Mercia==
Everything we know of this great hierarch comes from the writings of St [[Bede]] "Ecclesiastical History", written in 731.
St. Chad, the youngest of four brothers, was born into a humble Northumbrian family near the beginning of the seventh century. His brothers, St. [[Cedd]], St. [[Cynebil ]] and righteous Caelin all became monks. A family of saints, these four men studied under the great sainted-hierarch and monk, [[Aidan of Lindisfarne|Bishop Aidan]]. Saint Aidan was a great source of spiritual insight to these four men, all four became priests of the holy Church. They were sent to Ireland under great [[geronda]] (elder) and Saint [[Egbert]] at the monastery of Rathmelsige (Melfont), for advanced study and training in the monastic life.
Chad worked tirelessly with his broher Cedd (who had been made bishop of London), they established the monastery of Laestingaeu, now [[Lastingham ]] in Yorkshire. Upon the death of his brother Cedd in 664, Chad succeeded him as abbot.
===Chad, the Humble Bishop===
===Chad, the Missionary===
In 669, King Wulfere demanded a bishop for his people in Merica. St. Chad was called on by St. Theodore of Tarsus to be archpastor of the Mercian people. This was a land of deeply rooted pagan beliefs. St. Chad considered this to be his true work, bringing the Mercian people to Christ. He soon discovered that a great persecution occured on the plains of Lichfield, deep within the Mercian lands. The Roman emperor [[Diocletian]] had exterminated 1000 martyrs on the plains of Lichfield in the year 303A.D, they are know as the [[Martyrs of Lichfield]]. St. Chad considering this to be a holy place move the See of Mercia from Repton to exact spot of the massacre in Lichfield where his diocesan Cathedral and Monastery were built. St. Chad is considered the first bishop of Lichfield.
As Bishop of Lichfield, Chad carried out his missionary and pastoral work with zeal. The kingdom of Mercia was huge, and Chad spent much of his time travelling by foot. In accordance with the Celtic tradition in which he had been brought up, he at first insisted on making all journeys on foot, following the example of the apostles. However, St. Theodore insisted that Chad used a horse for long journeys. St. Chad, unwilling to do anything that he felt would put him above the common man, refused, but Theodore, St. Bede tells us, lifted Chad bodily onto the horse himself.