Feast day: May 25
Saint Bede was raised in the abbey of Saints Peter and Paul at Wearmouth-Jarrow in England. He became a Benedictine monk and was a famous teacher and author. Known as one of the most learned men of his time, he penned works about history, rhetoric, mathematics, music, astronomy, poetry, grammar, philosophy, hagiography, homiletics, and the Bible.
One of his most famous works is the Historia Ecclesiastica, which discusses how the Church should use its spiritual, doctrinal, and cultural powers to put an end to violence. Much of what we know about England before the eighth century comes from Bede’s writings. Bede is called “venerable” to acknowledge his great wisdom, and he was declared a Doctor of the Church.
(Image in public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)