The Venerable Bede Of Jarrow 	May 25
Teacher of the Faith
The Venerable Bede is remembered principally for his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. His talents reached far beyond that however, though it remains his outstanding work and most significant contribution to the story of the church.
Bede was born about 673 near Sunderland. At the age of seven he was placed in the monastery at Wearmouth under the care of Benedict Biscop. Biscop had become the founder and abbot of Wearmouth in 674, and developed there a great centre of art and learning, based on the enormous collection of books he gathered from his visits to Rome and elsewhere. In 682 he founded the monastery of Jarrow and placed Bede there under the abbot, Ceolfrith. Bede spent the remainder of his life at Jarrow, never travelling further from it than, perhaps, Lindisfarne or York. Probably because of exceptional progress in his studies, he was ordained deacon at the age of 19. He was ordained priest about 703 at the age of 30.
Bede used the library gathered by Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrith to the full, and became the greatest scholar of the western church of his time. He wrote extensively on chronology and on the lives of the saints and on the abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow, and provided extensive commentaries on Scripture, based on earlier patristic writings. His works on chronology are of significance because they helped to establish the custom of dating events from the birth of Jesus. The crown of his work was his Ecclesiastical History. It is an outstanding work because of Bede’s careful attention to sources and his judicious and charitable treatment of contentious points. It is, within the limits of the information available to him, reliable and accurate. For the sixth and seventh centuries it remains the major source of English history.
The character of Bede is evident in his works: he was an ardent and careful scholar. He did his work, he says, “amid the observance of monastic discipline and the daily singing in church”. He remained a devout scholar to the end, dictating his vernacular translation of John’s Gospel on his death-bed. He died in 735. The title “Venerable” (meaning “revered”) was ascribed to him more than a century later and indicates the respect with which he was regarded.
For Liturgical Use
Bede was born about 673 and, as a boy, was educated first in the monastery at Wearmouth and then at Jarrow, where he remained till his death in 735. He used the extensive library at Jarrow to the full and became the greatest European scholar of his day. He is best known for his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, but wrote extensively on many subjects. The title “Venerable” ascribed to him a century later indicates the respect in which he was held.
Sentence
To you, O God, belong wisdom and strength; counsel and understanding are yours.	
				Job 12:13 (adapted)
Collects
Everliving God,
you called your servant Bede
to devote his life
to learning, teaching and writing;
grant that the story of your past mercies
may confirm our faith and hope in you
and encourage us on our journey;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Praise to you, holy God,
for the monks of Jarrow,
happy to sing the daily services of the church
and to observe the monastic discipline.
Praise to you for your venerable servant Bede,
translator, historian.
Keep us from despising simple and virtuous living.
Psalms	78:1-7	145
Readings
Ecclesiasticus 39:1-9	The student of wisdom
1 Corinthians 1:18-25	The power and wisdom of God
John 21:20-25		True testimony
Post Communion Sentence
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”	John 20:29