Apart from the remarkable Patrology of J. Quastefi, whose fourth volume, published in 1996 by the Institute Patristicum Augustinianum in Rome, ends with Bede Venerabilis, there is no specialized approach to the personality of the Anglo-Saxon monk in a Patrology textbook, as Andrew Louth pertinently suggests in the epilogue to his monograph on St. John Damaschin, a contemporary of Bede Venerabilis. Saint Bede Feast Day has significant theological contributions.
Saint Bede Feast Day is 25 May. Born in 672 or 673 in Monkton at Wearmouth/Northumbria (now Northumberland, or Sunderland, County Durham), Bede the Venerable was one of the leading figures of the Christian West and is honored today as a saint by both the Orthodox Church (25 May) and the Catholic and Anglican Christian communities.
Joining the ranks of Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monks at the age of seven, the young Bede distinguished himself early as a theologian and historian, acquiring the elements of his knowledge in St Peter’s Monastery in Wearmouth, under the direct guidance (intellectual and spiritual) of Benedict Biscop Baducing, one of the organizers of Benedictine monastic life in Northumbria, and of Abbot Ceolfrid, also venerated as a saint in the West today as Saint Bede Feast Day, on 29 September.
Biography of Saint Bede
| Full name: | Benedict Bishop West Saxon Bīeda |
| Date of birth: | 0673 AD |
| Year of death: | 0735 AD (25 May) |
| The thread of life: | 62 years old |
| Place of birth: | Northumbria, England |
| Nationality: | Irish |
| Profession: | Christian Theologist |
| Death cause: | Natural Causes. |
When was St. Bede born?
Saint Bede Feast Day is 25 May. St. Bede was ordained a deacon at the age of 19 and 30 and received the Holy Sacrament of the priesthood from St. John of Beverley, the holy bishop of Hexham (687), and in 705 of York. Bede loved church services and believed that if angels were present at services with the monks, then his place was there too. “If they did not see me among the monks, would they not ask, where is Bede?”
According to historical sources, Saint Bede was born in 0673 AD. After his birth, he became a miracle man. The appearance of St. Bede the Venerable in the history of England coincides with the completion of the Anglo-Saxon conversion to the Catholic Church, begun under St. Augustine of Canterbury in about 600 AD and completed under St. Theodore, a native Cilician, Archbishop of Canterbury (668-691). St. Bede the Venerable was his main collaborator in organizing and establishing a solid Christian intellectual culture in England.
St. Bede had in England the role of Cassiodorus in Italy, St. Isidor in Spain, and St. Gregory of Tours in France, of initiating his nation into the knowledge of ancient patristic Christianity and helping it to fully embrace the Church of Christ led even then by the Bishop of Rome.
What is Bede’s real name?
The name Bede in Saxon means prayer. Saint Bede, “the father of English learning” – as the historian Burke called him – died at the age of 63 in the monastery of Jarrow, England, after dictating the last page of his previous book and reciting the prayer “Gloria Pairi”: “Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, and now, and ever and ever. Amen.”
According to historical sources, St. Bede’s real name is Benedict Bishop West Saxon Bīeda. St. Bede was a church historian and recorded the history of Christianity in England up to the present day. The probable year of his birth is 673, and the place is Northumbria, somewhere near the town of Jarrow.
In the anonymously written Life of Ceolfrith, there is a mention of an incident involving the young Bede. The plague of 686 swept through Ceolfrith’s monastery, kidnapping most of the chanting monks from the church choir, leaving only the abbot and a boy he had as an apprentice alive. This young man “is now a priest in the same monastery and praises the wonderful deeds of the abbot, both in word and in writing, before all who wish to know them.”
What is the Venerable Bede famous for?
Saint Bede Feast Day is 25 May. In 735 St., Bede fell ill. Almost two weeks before Easter, he felt weak. He kept up his cheerfulness and taught his pupils daily lessons, after which he continued his day singing Psalms and praying prayers of thanksgiving to God. He often quoted St Ambrose: “I have not led a life of which I am ashamed among you, and I do not fear death, for God is Merciful” (Pauline, Life of St Ambrose, ch. 45).
According to the apocryphal writings, St. Bede is famous because, in addition to his lessons and Psalms, St. Bede was also working on an Anglo-Saxon translation of the Gospel of John and a book of quotations from the writings of St. Isidore of Seville (celebrated on April 4). On the Thursday before the Ascension, the saint’s breathing became increasingly labored, and his legs swelled. ‘Study quickly,’ he said to those who wrote after his dictation, ‘for I don’t know how long I can go on. The Lord may call me to Him at any moment.”
After Wednesday morning, at the third hour, a procession with the relics of the saints in the monastery was held, after which the brothers went to Mass, leaving Monk Wilbert with Bede. He remembered that there was still a chapter to be written from the book the Saint had dictated, but he did not want to disturb Bede at his dying hour. Then St. Bede said to him, “Don’t bother. Take the pen and write quickly.”
