#the venerable bede

[illustratus]

The Last Chapter by James Doyle Penrose

[sweetmeatdale]

Historians: medieval records are often a muddled mess of incomplete manuscripts and conflicting accounts, and so much is just lost to time destroyed by everything from fire and water to mold and literally just being written over with something else

The Venerable Bede:

[cruger2984]

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.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The present life of man, my king, seems to me, in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad; the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm; but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant. If, therefore, this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed.

Talis... mihi uidetur, rex, vita hominum præsens in terris, ad conparationem eius, quod nobis incertum est, temporis, quale cum te residente ad cænam cum ducibus ac ministris tuis tempore brumali, accenso quidem foco in medio, et calido effecto cænaculo, furentibus autem foris per omnia turbinibus hiemalium pluviarum vel nivium, adveniens unus passeium domum citissime pervolaverit; qui cum per unum ostium ingrediens, mox per aliud exierit. Ipso quidem tempore, quo intus est, hiemis tempestate non tangitur, sed tamen parvissimo spatio serenitatis ad momentum excurso, mox de hieme in hiemem regrediens, tuis oculis elabitur. Ita hæc vita hominum ad modicum apparet; quid autem sequatur, quidue præcesserit, prorsus ignoramus. Unde si hæc nova doctrina certius aliquid attulit, merito esse sequenda videtur.

—The Venerable Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, lib ii, cap xiii (731 CE). (In this passage, an ealdorman of Ēadwine, King of Northumbria, proposes the king and his court convert to Christianity for expedient reasons, a proposal which is accepted). Below: the Beda Petersburgensis, dated Jan 1, 746 CE.

[Robert Scott Horton]

[jayblanc]

Don't forget that the year 1800 is still technically in the 18th century, because The Venerable Bede didn't like to use zeros, so we have to suffer with a legacy off-by-one error.

i hate hate hate that the “NINEteenth century” is talking about the EIGHTEEN hundreds. i know why this happens mathematically and stuff. but isn’t it just so fucked up? doesn’t it feel so wrong? dont you have to fight with your brain to reconcile the difference? is this not a sign of humanity’s eternal despair?

[caedmonofwhitby]

He [Caedmon]was established in the secular life until a time when he was advanced in years, and he had never learned any poetry. And he was often in drinking parties, when there was decreed, as a cause for joy, that they should all sing in turns to the accompaniment of the harp. When he saw the harp approach him, he rose up for shame from that feast and went home to his house. On a certain occasion when he did just that, he left the building of the drinking party, and went out to the animal shed, the care of which had been given to him that night. Then, in due time, he got himself settled in rest and slept, and a man stood before him as if in a dream and called him and greeted him and spoke to him by his name: 'Cædmon, sing me some-thing. Then he answered and said: I cannot sing; and therefore I left the party and came here, because I am not able to sing anything. Again, the one who was speaking with him said:

'Nevertheless, you must sing something for me.' Then Cædmon said: 'What shall I sing?' He said: 'Sing to me about creation." When he got this answer, he began to sing straightaway in praise of God the Creator, in verse and words that he had never heard, of which the arrangement is:

Now praise the Guardian of the heavenly kingdom,

the might of the Creator and his conception,

the work of the glorious Father, as he established the beginning,

eternal Lord, of each of the wonders.

He first created for the children of earth

heaven as a roof, holy Creator;

then the middle-earth the Guardian of mankind,

eternal Lord, afterwards adorned

the world for people, the Lord almighty.

from The Life of Caedmon, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History 8thC

trans from v. West Saxon, 10thC

Caedmon and the venerable Bede

Photo: St Andrew, Bethune Road

Stained glass window by John Salmon

[maypoleman1]

26th January

St Tortgith’s Day

Source: SS Mary and Martha Orthodox Monastery website

Today is St Tortgith’s Day. Tortgith was surely one of the most long-suffering saints in the Christian canon. According to Anglo-Saxon monk and historian the Venerable Bede, poor Tortgith’s devotion to Christ was rewarded by the Almighty with a chronic and painful wasting disease. Bede’s explanation for this unfair affliction was that God wished Tortgith to be purged of all sin, and that this was best achieved by a disease that caused her flesh to waste away. The only benefit that accrued to Tortgith was an ecstatic vision of the Mother of her convent, Ethelburga, ascending to Heaven drawn by golden cords. Sure enough, the abbotess died soon after, whereupon the luckless Tortgith lost the use of her limbs and voice. Three years later, the saint’s voice returned, and she had another vision of Ethelburga who correctly predicted Tortgith’s own death later that year, in 681.

One hopes this stoical woman found her reward in Heaven.

[silentkpublishing]

THE POWER OF SNOW

There are three generations of Stratford-Smyths ‘living’ in Bede Hall. THE FOURTH IS THE GHOST OF A NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRL, WHICH MAKES THEM FOUR GENERATIONS SPANNING FOUR DIMENSIONS. Bede Hall is old. The word ageless barely covers it, and the word timeless is an outright lie. Older than time is closest to the truth. But even then, strictly speaking, the Hall is older than history. The Hall hovers…

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Bede the Venerable

Doctor of the Church

672/673-735

Feast Day: May 25 (New), May 27 (Trad)

Saint Bede was a Benedictine monk in Britain. He was the greatest scholar, author, and teacher of his time, deeply versed in the sciences and history, and known as the “Father of English History”. As a linguist and translator, he brought the works of the Latin and Greek writings of the early church fathers to the English, which contributed significantly to English Christianity. St. Bede was the first to date events anno domini (AD). He’s called Venerable to acknowledge his wisdom and learning

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[tartaruscheezits]

my ocs! brown hair dude is acca and pink hair person is bede :D (oh hey, this is my first time seeing them in color too!)

[anastpaul]

(via Our Morning Offering – 21 July – Almighty God, Open Thou My Heart – A Prayer for Guidance – By St Bede t)

[bunny-banana]

just refered to the Venerable Bede as "my boy Bede" and lowkey meant it

[orthodoxadventure]

Saint Bede the Venerable, On the Martyrdom of John the Baptist

[bengerm]

interesting fact of the day, due to the linguistic conservatism of the geordie dialect (Tyneside English or Newcastle English) , it means the poems of the scholar Bede are better translated into geordie than standard English!

[girderednerve]

on the one hand, the resistance of some historians to theory is frustrating & limiting; on the other, i do more or less agree that the tedious work of history demands that we care intently about the small, particular, granular differences between all times & places, & these tend to resist theorization. history was first a rhetorical art, but we aren't writing after only thucydides, you know?

[caedmonofwhitby]

"O king, it seems to me that this present life of man on earth, in comparison to that time which is unknown to us, is as if you were sitting at table in the winter with your ealdormen and thegns, and a fire was kindled and the hall warmed, while it rained and snowed and stormed outside. A sparrow came in, and swiftly flew through the hall; it came in at one door, and went out at the other. Now during the time when he is inside, he is not touched by the winter's storms; but that is the twinkling of an eye and the briefest of moments, and at once he comes again from winter into winter. In such a way the life of man appears for a brief moment; what comes before, and what will follow after, we do not know. Therefore if this doctrine [Christianity] offers anything more certain or more fitting, it is right that we follow it."

-from Bede's Historia ecclesiastica, 9th Century

The Death of St Bede