St Botolph
St Botolph (sometimes Botolf) was described as "a man of unparalleled life and learning, and full of the grace of the Holy Spirit", in an eight-century biography. He founded an influential monastery in East Anglia in 654. A later biography, after the Norman Conquest, first links him to 17 June, the date which we now celebrate as our patronal festival. 2020 is the 1,400th anniversary of his birth.
More than 70 churches in England are dedicated to him, mainly in the East of England. Boston in Lincolnshire, is a contraction of Botolph's Town, and links him therefore to the city of Boston in the USA.
St Botolph is a patron saint of travellers, which is why many churches close to town and city gates were dedicated to him. We use this prayer:
Father, in the peace of this church help me to pray for all who have to travel. May they be always in your care, finding peace in their journeys, and may they reach their destinations in safety, through the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.