The Catholic Defender: Saint Bede the Venerable “ANCHORED IN FAITH AND MORALS.”

Bede is best known for his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (“Ecclesiastical History of the English People”), a source vital to the history of the conversion to Christianity of the Anglo-Saxon tribes

Bede is one of the few saints honored as such even during his lifetime. His writings were filled with such faith and learning that even while he was still alive, a Church council ordered them to be read publicly in the churches.

At an early age, Bede was entrusted to the care of the abbot of the Monastery of St. Paul, Jarrow.

The happy combination of genius and the instruction of scholarly, saintly monks, produced a saint and an extraordinary scholar, perhaps the most outstanding one of his day.

He was deeply versed in all the sciences of his times: natural philosophy, the philosophical principles of Aristotle, astronomy, arithmetic, grammar, ecclesiastical history, the lives of the saints and especially, holy Scripture.

From the time of his ordination to the priesthood at 30—he had been ordained a deacon at 19—till his death, Bede was ever occupied with learning, writing, and teaching. Besides the many books that he copied, he composed 45 of his own, including 30 commentaries on books of the Bible.

His Ecclesiastical History of the English People is commonly regarded as of decisive importance in the art and science of writing history.

A unique era was coming to an end at the time of Bede’s death:

It had fulfilled its purpose of preparing Western Christianity to assimilate the non-Roman barbarian North.

Bede recognized the opening to a new day in the life of the Church even as it was happening.

Although eagerly sought by kings and other notables, even Pope Sergius, Bede managed to remain in his own monastery until his death.

The 7th/8th-century English monk St Bede was called venerable soon after his death and is still often called "the Venerable Bede" despite having been canonized in 1899.

After Bede had dictated 'the last sentence' to his student Wilbert, he asked to be placed in the spot where he usually prayed. There, 'on the floor of his little cell, while chanting “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit”, he breathed his last.

The School Motto is “ANCHORAM FIDE ET MORIBUS” which means “ANCHORED IN FAITH AND MORALS.”

The boy who attends St. Bedes is expected to learn the best way of performing his duties to God, Family, School, Society, Country and the Environment.

Only once did he leave for a few months in order to teach in the school of the archbishop of York.

Bede died in 735 praying his favorite prayer: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As in the beginning, so now, and forever.”

The Prayer of St. Bede. “I implore you, good Jesus, that as in your mercy you have given me to drink in with delight the words of your knowledge, so of your loving kindness you will also grant me one day to come to you, the fountain of all wisdom, and to stand for ever before your face.”

Though his History is the greatest legacy Bede has left us, his work in all the sciences, especially in Scripture, should not be overlooked. During his last Lent, Bede worked on a translation of the Gospel of Saint John into English, completing it the day he died. But of this work “to break the word to the poor and unlearned” nothing remains today.