Transcript File - Rev. Tim Hubert

Bede the Venerable
ENGLISH MONASTIC
PRIEST AND HISTORIAN
MAY25
Bede the Venerable
The Story
 In one sense, this is a story of a lucky little boy who was born around
672 in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria which is in northern England. About
the tender age of 7, Bede (Beda, Baeda) was given to the new monastery
at Monkwearmouth at the mouth of the river Wear, called St. Peter’s.
This new monastery had been established in 674.
 Being given to a monastery was beneficial to the family, to the child and
to the monastery.
The Story
 The Abbot of St. Peter’s, Saint Benedict Biscop Baducing received a
grant of land from King Ecgfrid of Northumbria and promptly worked
hard to build the most beautiful monastery in England. To do this he
needed to import stone masons, because the English were not building
in stone yet, and glass makers, because the English didn’t know how to
make glass yet.
 He went to Rome to buy books and religious paintings. The paintings
were hung on the north and south walls to tell the Christian story to the
people who couldn’t read or hear. When the common people first saw
the chapel windows they were utterly amazed!
The Story
 The new monastery was so successful, a second monastery, this one at
Jarrow, ten miles down the road, was established in 682. Bede, still a
child, was transferred to this newest monastery.
 Returning from one of his trips to Rome, Abbot Benedict Biscop came
back to find his king had been slain in battle and his Wearmouth
monks dispersed or sick. Going to Jarrow, he discovered plague had
struck and there was only one monk and a small boy left who could sing
the daily prayer. This young boy was Bede!
The Story
 Bede’s life would have been one of prayer and study and teaching.
Except for an occasional trip outside the monastery, he spent his whole
life at Monkwearmouth and Jarrow.
The Story
 When Bede was only 20, he was ordained a Deacon by Bishop John of
Hexham Abbey.
The Story
 The usual age for diaconal ordination was 25. This may indicated that
Bede, even at this early age was considered exceptional.
 When he was 30 he ordained into the priesthood, again by his diocesan
bishop, John of Hexham.
 About this same time, he was accused of heresy by some drunken
monks over his dating of Easter. Bede followed the English dating that
differed from the Roman dating.
The Story
 One of the books Bede wrote was “The Church History of the English
People,” completed when Bede was 59 in 731. This is actually a set of
five books that traces not only the history of Christianity in England,
but the history of the English as well. This is a rare and important work
on this history of the Anglo-Saxons in England!
The Story
 Bede tells us about the time when Julius Caesar invaded England in 55
BC.
 He tells about the coming of Christianity along with the Roman troops
and by traveling evangelists.
 This was dangerous work in England back then. St. Albans was
martyred, probably some time after the persecution of the Roman
Emperor Diocletian in the late third century.
 St. Augustine of Canterbury (different from St. Augustine of Hippo),
brought Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons in 597 AD.
The Story
 On May 26, 735 Bede died and was buried, first at Jarrow Monastery,
Northumberland, England where he had lived most of his life.
The Story
 About the 9th century, he acquired the title “Venerable.”
 His body was stolen from Jarrow in 1020 and taken to Durham
Cathedral.
 His grave was destroyed during the English Reformation, but was
finally put in its present tomb in 1831.
 In 1899 Pope Leo XIII recognized Bede as a Doctor of the Church, the
only Englishman so honored.
 In 1935 he was declared “Sanctus” or “holy.”
Remember
 We need to remember to write down the stories of our faithful
ancestors. Where did their faith, their church, the Lord fit in their
lives? What did they pass on to the following generations?
Prayer
 Dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, remembering Saint Bede, watch
over all Christians who work hard to remember the story of their
faithful ancestors. Help us to reflect on the story of our faithfulness in
your families, church, community and world. Amen