Saint Richard of Chichester - April 3
Also known as
Richard de Wych
Richard Backedine
Richard of Wich
Richard of Droitwich
Richard of Burford
Richard of Wyche
Memorial
3 April
16 June (Anglican Communion)
Profile
Second son of Richard and Alice de Wych. His father died when the boy was young. The family fell upon hard times, but as soon as he became old enough, Richard took over management of their estates and brought them back to profit. Educated at Oxford, England, in Paris, France, and in Bologna, Italy. Chancellor of Oxford University. Legal advisor to Saint Edmund Rich and Saint Boniface of Savoy, the Archbishops of Canterbury. Priest. Bishop of Chichester. Miracles and cures occured at his shrine in Chichester. His patronage of coachmen began with the Milanese Guild of Coachmen, possibly because Richard drove carts and wagons on the family farm.
Born
c.1197 at Droitwich, Worcestershire, England as Richard de Wych
Died
3 April 1253 at Dover, Kent, England of natural causes
Canonized
1262 by Pope Urban IV at Viterbo, Papal States (part of modern Italy)
Patronage
coachmen
–
in England
Chichester, city of
Chichester, diocese of
Sussex
Representation
bishop with a chalice on its side at his feet because he once dropped the chalice during a Mass and nothing spilled from it
kneeling with the chalice before him
ploughing his brother’s fields
a bishop blessing his flock with a chalice nearby