Part III, Chapter 3 of the Vita Sancti Oswaldi gives an account of how Oswald, in Fleury to learn about the reformed monastic life there, is recalled to England by his dying uncle, Archbishop Oda of Canterbury. The delivery of Oda's message takes place in the public sphere of the monastery, the ‘ueredarios’ (‘messengers’) from England bringing with them ‘immensis muneribus’ (‘immense gifts’) as a material demonstration of friendship and a reminder of Oswald's obligations to his uncle and patron. The request for Oswald's return is explicitly addressed to the whole of the monastic community at Fleury: ‘humili preci flagitabant presulem illius loci omnisque caterue congregationem, ut filium ad patrem dirigerent antequam ex hac uita transiret’ (‘in humble petition they asked the abbot of Fleury and all its congregation of monks, that they might return the son to his father before he [Oda] departed from this life’). The decision about Oswald's departure also seems to be communal, with the abbot taking counsel (‘consilio’), ‘cum commisso sibi agmine et sancta plebe Christi’ (‘together with his charges and all his Christian flock’). When Oswald subsequently takes his leave of Fleury for England, the scene is one of public, demonstrative behaviour and performative speech which ties the monks and the saint together in an enduring bond.