THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT BEDE THE VENERABLE The Patron of Historians and English Writers Feast Day: May 25
"He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor."
A monk, historian, and the only Englishman named a Doctor of the Church, Bede was born circa 673 AD in the Kingdom of Northumbria, possibly Jarrow in present-day Tyne and Wear, England. He is known as 'Venerable' on the account of his holiness.
At the age of 7, he entered the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul at Monkwearmouth as a puer oblatus (oblate) under the care of Benedict Biscop (Biscop Baducing), where he was ordained a priest in 702 AD by John of Beverly, the bishop of Hexham.
Except for a few visits to other monasteries, Bede's life was spent in a round of prayer, observance of the monastic discipline and study of Sacred Scriptures. And yet, Bede was considered the most learned man of his time, and wrote excellent biblical and historical books. He spent the last forty days of his life translating the Gospel of St. John in English.
When the last passage had been translated he said: 'All is finished.'
Bede died on the Feast of the Ascension - May 26, 735 AD at the age of 61 or 62, on the floor of his cell, singing 'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.' He was buried at Jarrow.
Cuthbert's letter also relates a five-line poem in the vernacular that Bede composed on his deathbed, known as 'Bede's Death Song'. It is the most-widely copied Old English poem and appears in 45 manuscripts, but its attribution to Bede is not certain—not all manuscripts name Bede as the author, and the ones that do are of later origin than those that do not.
In 1899, Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church. He is the only native of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to achieve this designation; Anselm of Canterbury, also a Doctor of the Church, was originally from Italy.
Bede was moreover a skilled linguist and translator, and his work made the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons, which contributed significantly to English Christianity. Bede's monastery had access to an impressive library which included works by Eusebius, Orosius, and many others.
