The parish has relics of St Chad, but these were not placed in the altar.

In his homily Archbishop Kevin referred to these relics: he said,
'I come from the Birmingham diocese originally and St Chad is our patron Saint. The Cathedral, where I was ordained priest, is dedicated to St Chad and this parish has relics that came from there, thought to be his actual bones. This saint was adopted as patron of the mission in South Norwood that began in 1907.'

Much of what we know of St Chad has been related by the Venerable Bede. A relic associated with him, together with fragments of the bones of St Thomas of Canterbury and St Simon Stock were enclosed within the altar during its dedication.

The relics of St Thomas a Becket, The Venerable Bede and St Simon Stock, with a parchment signed by Archbishop Kevin and three grains of incense ...

... are placed in the reliquary ...

... and sealed.

The cavity behind the altar in which the stone mason enclosed the relics

The newly-dedicated altar

After the Mass, a reception in the hall

Father Michael O'Dea, Dean of Croydon and Parish Priest of The Faithful Virgin, Upper Norwood at the reception

Bishop Patrick, who was Parish Priest of St Chad's before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop, meets old friends

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A short biography of Saint Chad

St Chad was born in Northumbria about 623, the youngest of four brothers all of whom became priests. In spite of his Celtic name, Ceadda, he seems to have come from a noble Anglo Saxon family. His early life was spent in the monastery at Lindisfarne, founded by St Aidan in 635. Aidan had travelled from the island of Iona where St
Columba had established his monastery. Aidan died in 651 and Chad went to Ireland, probably wandering from monastery to monastery, to complete his studies and to be ordained to the priesthood.

Chad's brother, St Cedd, a tireless missionary among the East Saxons, had founded a monastery at Lastingham in Yorkshire. When he was dying in 664, Cedd nominated Chad as the abbot to succeed him; here he gained a high reputation for his kindness and humility. He lived a strict regime of prayer and fasting which he saw as a way of atoning for the sins of the world.

There was conflict at the time between the Celtic bishops and those who followed the Roman tradition. This was especially evident in the dispute about how to calculate the date of Easter. At the Synod of Whitby in 664, the Roman usage was accepted. St Wilfrid, a fierce pro-Roman protagonist, had been appointed Bishop of Lindisfarne. His diocese covered the kingdom of Northumbria. He moved the see to York and travelled to France to be consecrated by the 'Roman' bishops there, however, he was away for so long that King Oswiu of Northumbria declared the see vacant and procured the
election of Chad as Bishop of York. The new bishop travelled to Canterbury for his consecration only to find that Archbishop Deusdedit had died. He was eventually consecrated by Bishop Wine at Dorchester, who was assisted by two rather dubious British bishops.
 

In 669, Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury, concerned about the validity of Chad's consecration, restored the diocese of York to Wilfrid and Chad returned to Lastingham. But Archbishop Theodore was so impressed by Chad's humility in accepting his removal from York that he soon re-consecrated him and appointed him as bishop of the vast diocese of Mercia which covered most of central England. He settled at Lichfield where he established a monastery; from here he travelled his diocese on foot in imitation of Christ.

Chad died on 2nd March 672, probably of the plague. He was buried at Lichfield and his body later transferred to Lichfield Cathedral where it rested until the Reformation. It is claimed that some of his bones were preserved by recusants. They are now in St Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham.

Most of what we know about Chad is found in the Venerable St Bede's 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People' completed in 731. He certainly viewed Chad as a leading figure in the early history of the Church in this country. Many miracles were attributed to him. He was renowned for his prayerful and ascetic life, his hospitality to those in need and his tireless preaching of the Gospel.

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