Apocalypse Now In The Vatican

St. Bede The Venerable Confessor & Doctor of the Church May 27th “Bede, a priest... born at Jarrow, on the borders of England and Scotland. At the age of 7 he was placed under the care of St. Bennet Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, to be educated. He became a monk, and so ordered his life that, while devoting himself wholly to the pursuit of learning, he did in no way relax the discipline of his Order. There was no branch of learning in which he was not thoroughly versed, but his chief care was the study of the Holy Scriptures, and in order to understand them better, he learned Greek & Hebrew. At the age of 30 he was ordained priest at the command of his Abbot, and, on the advice of Acca, bishop of Hexham, immediately undertook the work of expounding the Sacred Books. In his interpretations he adhered to the teachings of the holy Fathers so strictly that he advanced nothing which they had not taught, and even made use of their very words. He ever hated sloth, and by habitually passing from reading to prayer and from prayer to reading. He so maintained the fervour of his soul that he was often moved to tears while reading or teaching. He persistently refused the office of Abbot, lest his mind should be distracted by the cares of transitory things. The name of Bede soon became so famous for learning and piety that Pope St Sergius thought of calling him to Rome so that he might help to solve the difficult questions which had then arisen concerning sacred things. He wrote many books to reform the lives of the faithful, and to defend and propagate the faith. By these he gained such a reputation in all parts that the holy Bishop Boniface, who was later martyred, called him a “light of the Church.” Lanfranc styled him the “teacher of the English,” and the Council of Aix-Ia-Chapelle “the admirable Doctor.” But as his writings were publicly read in the churches during his lifetime. And as it was not yet allowable to call him ‘saint: they named him the “Venerable,” a title which has ever remained peculiarly his... (conʼt)”