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The saints

St. Bede the Venerable

A monk who never traveled far and became the Father of English History.

Feast: 25 May · about 672 to 735 · The Middle Ages · Jarrow, Northumbria, England

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Painting of St. Bede, an old white-bearded monk, writing at a desk.

The original uploader was Timsj at English Wikipedia., 2005. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Bede the Venerable

The monastery of Jarrow, Northumbria

Bede was given to the monastery at age seven, and he stayed there for the rest of his life.1

He spent his days praying, teaching and writing.1

His Ecclesiastical History of the English People is still how we know much about early England.

Patron of scholars1

01St. Bede the Venerable

The scholar monk

He wrote on Scripture, science, time and grammar, and helped spread dating years from the birth of Christ.1

He was translating the Gospel of John into English as he died.1

Live it this week

Learn something deeply

Bede never left his monastery and learned more than almost anyone in his age. Choose one subject of the faith (the Mass, a book of the Bible, a council) and give it fifteen minutes every day this week.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Bede the Venerable”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.