Born in Burford, Worcestershire, around 1197, Richard and his older brother Robert were quite young when their parents died, leaving a rich estate with a guardian to manage it. The guardian allowed the estate to dwindle, and Richard worked long hours to restore it.

Pressure was put on Richard to marry, but he, who from earliest years had preferred books to almost anything else, turned the estate over to his brother and went to Oxford. Often hungry, cold, and not always sure of his next day’s keep, Richard managed to succeed in his studies under such teachers as Robert Grosseteste.

He continued to study law at Paris and Bologna, earned a doctorate, and returned to Oxford to become the university chancellor. Shortly afterward, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Rich, appointed him to be his own chancellor. The friendship between the primate and his young assistant was close: Richard also became his biographer. Conflict with King Henry III eventually forced the archbishop into exile in France, where Richard nursed him in his final illness. After the archbishop’s death, Richard moved to the Dominican house at Orleans for further study and teaching. He was ordained as a priest in 1243.

He then returned to England and was elected Bishop of Chichester in 1244. King Henry opposed the election, confiscated all of the revenues of the diocese, and even locked Richard out of the episcopal dwelling. Richard was given lodging by a priest, Simon of Tarring. During these years he functioned as a missionary bishop, traveling about the diocese on foot, visiting fishermen and farmers, holding synods with great difficulty, and endeavoring to establish order. Threatened by the Pope, Henry finally acknowledged Richard as bishop in 1246.

For eight years, he served his diocese as preacher, confessor, teacher, and counselor. He died in 1253. Nine years after his death, he was canonized. His best-remembered words are:

Dear Lord, of thee three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly.

Excerpted directly from “Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022,” p. 170-171.

Lessons and Psalm

Jude 17-25
Psalm 84:7-12
Luke 3:7-14

Preface of a Saint (2)