I once heard a well-known Protestant educator talk at a homeschool conference. He had written a high school history text with a companion literature text, but he had difficulty finding a publisher. The Protestant publishers wanted him to remove several Catholic figures. But the author protested and persisted because as a true educator and historian, he knew that there would be great gaps in the knowledge of the young scholars if they were not introduced to Augustine, Aquinas, and the Venerable Bede.
Today is the Feast Day of the Venerable Bede, which I think is such a unique name for a saint. He’s a saint, but he is still mostly known as venerable. To my mind, that’s kind of neat.
Who was Bede the Venerable?
St. Bede, the Venerable, was born in 672 or 673 in Monkton, Jarrow located in Northumbria (modern-day northern England). We don’t know about his parents. Perhaps he was an orphan? Maybe his parents simply wanted him to have a good education at the monastery. Whatever it was, Bede entered the monastery at St. Peter at Wearmouth at the age of 7 and spent the rest of his life there. He became a deacon at 19 and was ordained at 30.
St. Bede is an excellent example of someone who heard the call of God in his life, followed that call, and was richly rewarded. Bede was an exemplary student and he was a lifelong learner! He described himself as always taking delight in learning and teaching!
His interests were wide too. An avid scripture scholar and commentator, he also studied mathematics, poetry, astronomy, philosophy, and music. Perhaps you know this one!
But St. Bede is best known as the father of English history. His work, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, is a must-read for serious students of English history and literature. The work is divided into five parts from the raids by Julius Caesar (55–54 BCE) to the arrival in Kent (597 CE) of St. Augustine of Canterbury. Bede claimed the authority of ancient letters, tradition via oral history (early history was sung and recited from memory), and his own knowledge of current events. But Bede’s history is written from a deeply Christian perspective, giving honor and glory always, to God.
Bede never traveled very far in his lifetime. His human remains, however, were transferred at least three or four times, once because of the Protestant Reformation. Since 1831, they have been here:
Bede’s title of “Venerable” was given to him while he lived. According to the late Jean Heimann from Catholic Fire:
Bede was much loved and admired by his fellow monks in the monastery in which he lived all his life and rarely ever left, and it is said that the title ‘venerable’ was accorded him while he was still alive. On his death, Cuthbert, one of his disciples said of him, “I can with truth declare that I never saw with my eyes or heard with my ears anyone return thanks so unceasingly to the living God.”
In 1899 Bede was named a Doctor of the Church, the only Englishman to hold such an honor. He is mentioned in Dante’s Paradise. He is the patron saint of historians:
Things to Do today!
Listen to the Caedmon’s Hymn, that survived the ages and obscurity thanks to St. Bede.
Read Pope Benedict’s teaching on St. Bede from 2009.
Read excerpts from Bede’s excellent history!
Pray for the English People.
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