St. Bede the Venerable
May 27 the venerable St. Bede was born in northern England in the
year 673. At the age of seven he was sent as an oblate to a nearby monastery in
686 the plague struck and only two surviving monks were able to sing the full
office one was bead. Then about 13 years old when he was only 19 he was
ordained a deacon by the Bishop of his diocese, he then became a priest at the
age of 30. Saint bead was a gifted teacher and scholar. He was considered the
most learned man of his time. One student of his became the teacher of Alka
women the famous teacher in the time of Charlemagne he wrote over 60 books on a
large variety of subjects. His most famous work is “the ecclesiastical history
of the English people” He also helped to establish the practice of dating from
the birth of Christ except for a few visits to other monasteries he spent his
life in the observance of monastic discipline in his own monastery. Saint Bede
died on Ascension Thursday in the year 735 on the floor of his cell singing the
glory. Bede was called venerable because of his reputation for holiness and his
cult became widespread in England and on the continent within a century. In
1899 Pope Leo the 13th declared him a doctor of the church he is the only
native of England who has been given this title and he is also the only
Englishman in Dante's Paradise in the same canto as Saint Isidore of Seville St. Bede Pray for Us.
