Saint Bede the Venerable, Confessor & Doctor
S. Bedae Venerabilis Confessoris et Ecclesiae Doctoris
Saint Bede, the holy monk of Jarrow in England, was the most learned man of his age — the “Father of English History” and a Doctor of the Church — who devoted his whole life to study, teaching, and the praise of God.
Saint Bede was born about the year 673 in the north of England, near the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, where he was given as a small child to be raised and educated by the monks. He spent virtually his entire life within those monastery walls, and there, in prayer, study, and the daily round of the Divine Office, he became the foremost scholar of the early medieval West.
A life given to study and prayer
Saint Bede wrote with extraordinary range and care: commentaries on the Sacred Scriptures, works on chronology and the natural world, lives of the saints, hymns, and homilies. He is best remembered for his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, a work of such accuracy and devotion that it has earned him the title “Father of English History.” In it he preserved for all later ages the memory of how the Gospel was brought to the English and how the Church grew among them.
For all his learning, Saint Bede was first of all a monk and a man of prayer, who counted the chanting of the Psalms and the celebration of the sacred mysteries as the heart of his life. He laboured at his books even to his final hours; the moving account of his death in 735 tells how he completed a translation of Holy Scripture as his strength failed, and died with words of praise to the Holy Trinity on his lips.
Doctor of the Church
So holy and so learned was his memory that the Church honoured him with the singular title Venerable, and in time declared him a Doctor of the Church — the only native of England to be so named. The collect of his Mass thanks God for glorifying His Church through the learning of blessed Bede, and asks that His servants may ever be enlightened by Bede’s wisdom and helped by his merits. His feast honours the sanctification of study, and the truth that learning is most fruitful when it is joined to humility and prayer.
The Collect
O God, who dost make Thy Church glorious by the learning of blessed Bede, Thy Confessor and Doctor: mercifully grant to Thy servants ever to be enlightened by his wisdom and helped by his merits.
Deus, qui Ecclésiam tuam beáti Bedæ Confessóris tui atque Doctóris eruditióne claríficas: concéde propítius fámulis tuis; ejus semper illustrári sapiéntia et méritis adjuvári.
Patronage
He is venerated as the Father of English History and a patron of scholars, historians, and writers.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his feast is observed on 25 May as an optional memorial.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Bede the Venerable?
In the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal his feast is kept on 27 May as a Third Class feast. In the modern calendar it is observed on 25 May.
Who was Saint Bede?
He was an English monk of Jarrow (c. 673–735), the most learned man of his age, who wrote widely on Scripture, history, and chronology. His Ecclesiastical History of the English People earned him the title ‘Father of English History.’ He is honoured as a Doctor of the Church.
Why is he called ‘the Venerable’?
The title Venerable was given to Saint Bede in honour of his great holiness and learning, and it has been attached to his name ever since. He is the only native of England named a Doctor of the Church.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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