St Bede, the Venerable, 673-735. Doctor of English History, Feast May 25th.

It is perhaps fitting that this website began on 5/25/00 in a location where the mother tongue is English. Bede is the only English-speaking doctor. He was a holy historian and chiefly remembered by giving us an account of Christianity in England. Saint Bede the Venerable is the Patron of Historians and Scholars.

From Bede’s era came the idea of dating everything from the birth of Christ (AD). Thus, the letters BC (before Christ) may have started.

If you appreciate reading History, you should love reading Bede. He has written beautifully on English History and his writings imparts knowledge on the holiness of God. God is most holy. If you truly want to please God, aim to be holy. If you want to understand the holiness of God petition Bede to guide and assist you.

Bede is the only doctor of the church that has the name ‘venerable’ attached to his name. Holiness will transcend ordinary history because it is ageless. God wants to share holiness with us now and later. Bede communicates and imparts God's holy and precious words and gifts to us. Communicating makes information commmon to all, but when Bede imparts he causes another to possess what is primarily Bede's own. And what is that? Bede's holiness! That is special. The type of holiness that Bede has, no one else has, unless he imparts it. The same would be true for each of us. Because of God's indwelling in each, we are unique and set apart in a distinctive manner.

Glory, honor and holiness are blessings and characteristics that God possesses and bestows on all creation. Ask Bede in holy prayers that God would bless us and all humanity. Beg for blessings for others.

"Bless the Lord oh my soul and let everything in me bless his Holy Name”. This quotation constantly streamed out of the venerable one’s mouth. Bless and glorify God with every creature you see, with every breath you breathe and every thought you think. That is Bede’s message. It is the meaning that this saint beckons us to strive for daily.

Blessings are received by hope. When we confidently trust God's goodness and rely and depend on God's mercy, the merciful God will bless us.

We have received many blessings and gifts. One discovers God's gifts when they are shared. Sharing one's gifts will enable one to receive more blessings and gifts. It's like creativity. You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. (Maya Angelou)

We can bless God as Bede when we bless others in the same manner that God blesses us. The saying: "what goes around, comes around, is absolutely true. From the 1st book of the bible, in Genesis, we read and understand in Chapter 26 that God bestows his blessings. We too will find blessings, as Abraham, when we obey God and keep his mandates-God's commandments, instructions, and ordinances.

God promises to stay with us and make his presence known when we seek God's attributes. The second book of Chronicles tells us that the Lord is with us when we are with the Lord. That is prayer! God also promises to stay with us when we obey.

Christ was obedient unto death-even the death of the cross.

How much will God bless us? More than we can imagine. No one, even today, can calculate the number of stars. Nevertheless, God tells us that blessings for us and our decendants will be greater than the number of stars. Imagine that! The eternal God will bless us unlimitedly when we obey and are loyal to his will and show charity to all.

Venerable Bede is most noted for his writings on English history and his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. This book is indisputably a masterpiece and eulogized by scholars of every age. It laid the foundation for British History. His book contains fascinating information about the church, history and religion. He is a master in the art and science of writing History.

From the time of his ordination to the priesthood at thirty, till his death, he was totally occupied with learning, writing and teaching. Beside the many books he copied, he composed forty-five of his own of which thirty were devoted to commentaries on the bible.

The noted writer Herbert Thurston, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia, states that Bede is remarkable for the relative purity of his language as also for his lucidity and sobriety more especially in matters of historical criticism. Thurston also notes Bede eloquence regarding holy scripture. He says that it is above all other books not only by its authority (because it is divinely inspired) or by it utility because it leads to eternal life, but also for its antiquity and literary form.

Our holy doctor composed the first known western sermon in Mary's honor and advised caution regarding the legend of her death. All the doctors included Mary most favorably in their writings and each compliments one another. Their works, actions and writings about Mary enriches and heightens our esteem and appreciation for the Mother of Jesus. However, being human, some of the doctors looked upon Mary differently and had different opinion especially regarding the Immaculate Conception. Also, some doctors critized one another and were sometimes opposed one another.

Mary's vast, devotional titles include one for each of the fifty states of the United States and every nation on earth. They are found under St Bernard, the devotional doctor, on this website.

font color=red>St. Bernard of Clairvaux 8/20

Significantly, Bede’s writings leave us with an indelible mark and unity that has power to eliminate all forms of violence within us, if that were possible. Civilization today appears to be more civil than in previous ages but are we any less violent? Humankind’s intricate problems stem from within us and it will only be through virtue that violence will be reduced and mastered.

Our historian’s central theme from his writings is spiritual, doctrinal and cultural unity. All the doctors highlighted the paramount importance of oneness with God. The fundamental reason why God is holy is because of his sacredness, wholeness, harmony and perfect accord. God is the perfect Supreme Being. One can not say more than that. Solidarity, when manifested as genuine love, for one’s neighbor, according to Bede, indicates that one can actually love the Creator perfectly even on earth as far as it is humanly possible.

Of all the writers in Western Europe, Bede is perhaps the most influential, especially in England. His shrine is located in Durham, England. The next link is perhaps the most comprehensive, scholarly and magnificent of any links on Bede and perhaps of any doctors on this site. It may take a second or two to download.
http://www.bedesworld.co.uk/
http://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/frameset.htm

Our English saint was a meticulous scholar with a distinctive style. He is the only Englishman that Dante names in the Paradiso.

This extraordinary scholar was versed in all the knowledge of his time. Although his presence was requested by kings and other notables-even Pope Sergius-he remained in his own monastery and seldom departed.

His books contain sacred truths that are mysterious and miraculous. Bede wrote lucidly about many fascinating and forgotten small matters such as the power of holy water. We know that since water falls from the heavens, the Creator has already and obviously blessed it. There is another type or class of holy water blessed by us. God has richly blessed our English heritage and nation both in its geography and its natural resources.

Americans are recipients of untold wealth and favors that has made our nation flourish. Of all the countries in the world, America has superabundant wealth, immense resources and rich endowments, not only in the natural elements, but also in the supernatural domain.

The church's extraordinary powers and influences in her spiritual endowments and prerogatives, especially in her sacraments and sacramentals, should overwhelm us. God's resplendent gifts and graces to us are superabundant. Take for example the ordinary appearance of blessed water-holy water. What Bede writes on this subject could make your hair stand up. In fact, all the sacraments and sacramentals contain intrinsical powers or have the power to cause, grace, and many blessings. Holy water imparts immense blessings.

The spirit of the founding fathers both in political and religious circles, such as George Washington and John Carroll, have bequeath to us Americans, extraordinary privileges, rights and gifts as no other country. All who have migrated to America for the land of the free and the home of the brave should be cognizant of the price that our forefathers and relatives have paid. They have vastly contributed to our liberty and freedom from oppression and religious independence. They have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. It is not only through Jesus Christ but through all of those "in Christ" that God has bestowed all gifts, fruits and beatitudes. He fills our life with goodness. He blesses us and makes us holy.

The Doctors of the Church write about ordinary, holy subjects and show the supernatural depths. They are the mouthpieces of the "Holy One." They reveal the supernatural almost as if they were natural. They have been blessed and ordained by God to be dispensers of graces. They provide deep and powerful perceptions to one's way of seeing and a profound insight into meanings.

Doctors state what nature cries out aloud and what many writers and poets write about. Listen to the beautiful inspiring words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning found in the 6/00 issue of the Catholic Digest under the section, "Words of Quiet Moments": All the earth is crammed with heaven and every bush aflame with God, but only those who see take off their shoes.

To be able to see and take off one’s shoes implies two blessings. First, it is the spirit of seeing and not necessarily the act of seeing or perhaps both together. The spirit of seeing or seeing spiritually means viewing things with faith. Faith is a gift, blessing and virtue. The "taking off one’s shoes" that Browning writes about is really the words from God to Moses at the burning bush in the second book of the bible. It implies that we should be humble and obey God’s words. Even if we do not understand those words of God, God demands respect because he is holy. God told Moses that the ground he was standing on was holy. It was Mt. Sinai where God would issue the Ten Commandments. Obeying the Ten Commandments steeps us in holiness. Hence, when we are humble and obedient, we flourish in holiness. When we live out our lives in holiness, we venerate God and may become venerable.

Venerable Bede’s message is that God’s glory, beauty, and blessings are for all of us. We are God’s temples where the Almighty dwells and we need to open up to that divine indwelling within us to perceive that other presence which the earth is crammed with. The poets, prophets, and the doctors are all pointing out to us of adoring, worshiping and revering God according to an open heart and mind wherever we are. We need to become venerable as Bede by venerating the God both within and all about us in nature.

The word blessing has a variety of meanings but strictly speaking-only God blesses. The Blessed One looks favorably upon persons or things. Blessings are the action of God expressing his kindness toward human beings, the favor he grants us, and the gifts that come from God's person. All can perform blessings according to one's position. Laity perform private, personal and individual blessings. Clergy perform many public blessings and naturally they can bless personally and individually as well. Blessings are done both by hands or words. The bible, especially the Psalms and the Canticles, invite us to bless the Lord with our words, lives and actions. Information about blessing can be found in Dictionary of the Liturgy, Rev. Jovian P. Lang, OFM. p 68-70 and My hands are held out to you, Giancarol Maroni, pp.37-40.

One of the most powerful ways to bless is to pray. When the Holy Spirit moves us in prayer by God's gift, the church is blessed and all its members and all creatures that are part of the church in a mystical manner, even though they may not be catholic.

One of our first physical blessings came with our birth and conception. This happened within our mothers and when each of us was taken from our mother by the hands of a doctor or whomever God designated. God used the hands of others to bring us into this world. When we fold our hands in supplication and pour out our hearts to God in prayer, we, in turn bless others. We receive all that we ask for in prayer when we have faith and truly believe that God will grant us his favor. Naturally, it has to be according to the holy will of God.

When we bless ourselves with the sign of the cross on our bodies, God favors us. When we use holy water, God sanctifies us with God’s holiness. God truly wants all of us to become as Bede-venerable. Our bodies are holy by reason that God formed it and keeps us in existence. Our souls are holy because God redeemed it through the blood of Jesus.

Many religious services and celebrations begin with the sign of the cross. This precious and victorious sign indicates that we are all temples of the Holy Spirit and God dwells within us. The more our lives are lived out in the imitation of Jesus Christ, the more we will be blessed with the same Spirit that Jesus received when he came out of the Jordan River. St John the Baptist administered Jesus’ baptism. This was the visible sign and God the Father proclaimed to the whole world that Jesus was God’s Son- the chosen one. The Spirit hovered over the Man-God. The followers of John began to follow the long awaited Messiah that the old prophets had foretold ending with the Baptizer. Through our own baptism administered normally through the hands of one of God’s ministers, we take on new spiritual life in body and soul.

Read Bede and beseech God to bless you through his intercession, insight, and profound wisdom. God awaits and wants to continue to bless each with infinite and unlimited benediction. God especially blesses those who act, think, and pray to the Almighty as his children and ask with confidence and assurance as a child would ask his parents.

Pray to be blessed by anyone and bless all with your eyes, hands and lips. You can do it secretly, silently or overtly as the Spirit moves you. Love to bless yourself with the sign of the cross and especially with holy water when it is available. If you believe in the acts you are performing, God will bless you and others with touches of favors and kindness. The most powerful and intimate form of communication is touch. For that reason, God greatly desires to bless and touch us deeply.

We have the power to touch God tangibly, physically, perceptibly and sensibly. Our challenge is: do we want God to touch us daily? God’s angels cry out daily: holy, holy, holy!!! Think about it. Our Supreme Being never stops receiving praise, honor and glory because of the infinite goodness, favors and blessings that all creation and creatures receive from God’s unlimited and eternal love.

Holy Bede commented on the Holy Innocents, which is celebrated around Christmas time, the holiest time of the year. The Innocents were babies under the age of two who were killed by the deranged King Herod. He feared that the newborn King of the Jews, which scripture had foretold, was born during this period and would take over his throne. To make sure this would not happened, he killed all the newborn babies under two. (St Joseph, the illustrious protector of the divine family, was told in a dream to take the child and flee into Egypt because Herod sought to kill him.) Only a madman would do something like this.

This event vividly reveals that many in history would die or be murdered because of fear, ignorance, spiritual blindness, and irrational fear. It also shows lack of value, faith and fear of God who is the Creator of all creatures. Herod tried to play God and it was a tragic mistake. Jesus came to establish a kingdom but it was a spiritual kingdom and not any earthly one.

To attain holiness is to accept everything as coming from God, even the cruel and murderous events that we do not have any control over. As the Holy Innocents were victims for Christ, he in turn would be a Victim that we may escape death, sin and judgment. Everyone, who surrenders to events that they have no control over, and offer it to God, will be giving a witness as the Holy Innocents and will become holy.

Bede’s holy writings will move you. His writings impart blessings, conversions, and glory. His friends said they never read his writings without weeping. He became the "Father of English Learning" and the first known writer of English prose. Venerable Bede is also the earliest witness of pure Gregorian tradition in England. Pope Gregory has his name associated with Gregorian Chant from an earlier period. However, Bede works are found especially valuable by present-day scholars engaged in the study of the primitive form of the chant. Thurston has more to say about this at the below link:

www.newadvent.org/cathen/02384a.htm.

In the beautifully illustrated, monthly Magnificat, May issue, on the 25th, 5/00, there is an article on Saint Bede the Venerable about Keeping the Commandments. Jesus has told us that the entire law and commandments of God can be summed up in two manners. Love of God and love of neighbor are at the heart of knowing and keeping the commandments.

In this meditation of the day on Bede’s illustrative feast day, one might want to reflect on his words below and recall Jesus’ word: If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

When the angels were expelled from Paradise they did not receive the mercy that human beings received when they were shut out of Paradise (the Garden of Eden). When fallen creatures entered into this vale of tears, they received hope of recovering their senses. But more importantly, hope was given us through the promise of a Redeemer from the very beginning of our fall.

The fallen angels received no such mercy because they exceeded the mercy of God. Bede goes on to say: “he (God) will at once be merciful to the one who prays; similar to this is that saying of the Psalmist: ‘Will God forget to be merciful, or will he in his wrath shut up his mercy?’ Surely it is certain that this and all other sayings of this sort are appropriate to the circumstances of this age, in which the saints sing to the Lord of mercy and judgment.”

The gift and blessing of praying and turning to the Lord of all creation is the key in this passage. Prayer opens up for us sinners the floodgates of God’s abundant mercies which is not only the forgiveness of our sins. It is also God’s forgetfulness of our sins when we are sincere and earnest. There is a scientific study on the Internet below:

http://learningtoforgive.com

But more than forgiveness and forgetfulness of our sins is the fact of God’s friendship, love, and mercy are awaiting us daily. They are renewed each morning for us. From Jeremiah we read that the mercies of the Lord are not spent, each moring they are renewed.

To be able to turn to God is a gift in itself. Praying to God is a double gift because not only do we find peace and pardon in conversation with God but through Jesus who unites himself to us through God’s church. God extends to us a gift that we become one and united with Jesus Christ through his sacraments and sacramentals within the church. Obviously, we can certainly find the Creator both within and without the church but isn’t it wholesome, glorious and ineffable to be able to discover God everywhere?

Thus we see that by keeping the commandments, according to the Venerable Bede, Doctor of the Church, one is united to God by reason of one's actions and receives blessings and mercies. The favors of the Lord are superabundant and his mercies are tender, profound, exquisite moving us to adoration, thanksgiving and serene peace. Praying is as the heart of worship, adoration, and reverence for life and its Lifegiver, the generous One. Pray that the commandments be etched in our minds and hearts to bless God and all creation and creatures therein. A very similar event happens daily when we receive holy communion and God writes his name and law all over our soul and within it and he claims us for himself. We are then his as he was in the Old Testament in the Ark of The Covenant that held the two tables containing the 10 commandments.

As Saint Bede is the eminent doctor, historian of the church for all humankind, Jesus is the dominant One throughout all of history. Our entire civilization, customs and years are built upon his birth. As we lived out the jubilee year 2000 after his nativity, we remember he is the first and last One before eternity.

Historically, the Alpha and the Omega is our Beginning and End. The omnipotent One has created each individual of every nation. God will allow all to be judged by the love people give or keep. Life and love are all there are. All are God’s people and all of God’s are ours. The mighty One calls all-even those who turn away. God pursues all by his Redeemer to claim us in holiness.

Bede's feast day within the church's calendar is shared by many who have been richly blessed and inundated with divine favors. One of my favorite is St Mary Magdalen of Pazzi whose extraordinary gifts she too longs to share with you. Her feast day is the same as Bede's on May 25th.

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm12.htm

Hopefully, from Saint Bede's example and Mary of Pazzi among the celestial court we might want to bless the Lord more lovingly and petition God to bless us and others.

An extraordinary manner to petition God and move the Mighty One to bless you, your love ones, the church, your special intentions and all creation, is to pray and honor God's Mother especially during her special month, May, which is now upon us. We can both honor God and the infinite One's Mother by crowning Mary, Queen of the May. This is a delightful feast!

One may recall this special event if one was privileged to go to parochial school as a young person and participate in the May procession in honor of St Mary. Perhaps your parish or religious educational program offered you the opportunity to witness the crowning of Mary.

The Magnificat, May 2002, offers us an example. One person crowns the statue of Mary while all sing:

Bring flow'rs of the fairest,
Bring flow'rs of the rarest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale.
Our full hearts are swelling,
Our glad voices telling,
The praises of the loveliest,
Rose of the vale.

O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today.
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.

Our voices ascending
In harmony blending
O!thus our hearts turn,
Dear Mother, to thee,
O! Thus shall we prove thee
How truly we love thee,
How dark without Mary life's journey would be.

O Virgin most tender,
Our homage we render,
Thy love and protection, sweet Mother, to win,
In danger, defend us,
In sorrow befriend us,
And shield our heart from contagion and sin.


After the crowning, other suitable songs and appropriate litanies can be said. One such litany can be found under St Bernard at the very end. Then a closing prayer such as the Hail, Holy, Queen or the Memorare can be said.

Bede links below:
      http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintb10.htm
      http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook3.html

      
The next link is perhaps the most comprehensive, scholarly and magnificent of any links on Bede and perhaps of any doctors on this site. It may take a second or two to download.
http://www.bedesworld.co.uk/
http://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/frameset.htm

A magnanimous site on Celtic Christianity. Please explore St Patrick among others that laid the foundation for Bede's early monasticism in England, Ireland and around the world:
       http://www.ccbrundage.net/saints

This link on Julian Norwich, who was a mystic and English writer provides a fascinating and splendid insight into God's nature and religion.

http://www.gloriana.nu/julian.html

Pioneers of the Spirit is a wonderful introduction to the lives of the mystics. This series will inspire anyone who watches it to pursue their own spiritual journey with the same passion as Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Dante Aligheri, Ignatius Loyola, William Blake, Augustine of Hippo and Teresa of Avila. See www.visionvideo.com. Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490

The link is below: Vision Video

The History of Bede and the History of Museums in the United States as found in Museums USA contain an interesting and fascinating unity, and makes history come alive for us today, and relived, in many sacred dimensions including the secular domain and these areas are deeply related and interwoven.

About MuseumsUSA

Your Passion Is Our Passion

Small organizations have a passion about getting their stories told but don’t always have the resources to do so effectively. Through MuseumsUSA, we are providing smaller museums with the opportunity to increase their visibility and reach, while also providing all museums with the opportunity and resources to network with the museum community as a whole.

Our goals are threefold:

To get information about museums and their events out to the public
To provide museums and museum associations with the technology-based tools that will enhance their operations and effectiveness
To provide museums with an internet presence if they don’t already have one and to promote their websites if they do.

The below link is the beginning of your exploration

Museums USA



This reflection and meditation is taken on Bede's feast day in the year of our Lord on May, 2004, and taken from the Magnificat Publication. Christ's Glory with the Father

Written by Saint Bede the Venerable, an English Benedictine monk, a biblical scholar, and the first English historian.

All those who have been breathed upon by the holy Spirit, and have taken upon themselves the very pleasant yoke of the Lord's love, and following his example, learned to be gentle and humble of heart, enjoy even in the present some image of the future tranquility. Separated with their whole mind from the turmoil of worldly men, they rejoice always in remembering their Maker's countenance, and thirst after reaching perfect contemplation of him.

If we desire to arrive at the reward of this vision, we must demonstrate that we are not subservient to the allurements of the world. Thus we may be capable of becoming worthy to attain the grace of the Holy Spirit, which the world cannot receive. Let us love Christ, and let us observe, by persevering, his commandments, which we possess by beginning to observe them. It will come about as our just reward that, by loving him, we will be worthy to be more fully loved by the Father; and he himself may deign to present us with a more abundant gift of his love in the future. For, as a result of our loving him now, he grants us to believe and hope in him, but then he will grant us to see him face to face, and he will manifest himself to us, that is, with that brilliance which he had with his Father before the world began, with whom he lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God throughout all ages. Amen.