Bede was born near St. Peter and St. Paul monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow, England in 673. He became a monk at the monastery and in 692, when he was nineteen years old, Bede was ordained a deacon . The canonical age for the ordination of a deacon was 25; Bede's early ordination may mean that his abilities were considered exceptional. He was ordained a priest at the age of thirty, and he spent almost all of his life in the monastery itself, devoting himself to the study of Scripture and to teaching and writing.
Bede was an author, teacher and scholar, and his most famous work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, gained him the title "The Father of English History". He was called "the Venerable" to acknowledge his wisdom and learning, and the title was formalized at the Council of Aachen in 853.
He was a careful scholar and distinguished stylist, the "father" of English history, the first to date events Anno Domini (A.D.). In 1899, Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church.
Bede died in Wearmouth-Jarrow on May 25.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
2. Saint Aldhelm
3. Saint Gerard de Lunel
4. Saint Leo of Troyes
5. Saint Manuel Moralez
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