Day 5 ST. CUTHBERT & VENERABLE BEDE

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ST. CUTHBERT (634-687) 
Cuthbert was a monk, bishop, and hermit associated with the monasteries of Melrose, Lindisfarne, and Northumbria. He was known as a great evangelist and preached throughout the southern parts of Scotland. His contemporaries said that when he preached “his face shone like angel and his hearers fell under deep conviction of sin.”14 He was known for his piety, diligence, and obedience. He was also thought to have the gift of healing, giving him the name “Wonder Worker of Britain.” In his later days, he lived as a hermit and became the Bishop of Lindisfarne in 685.

Venerable Bede (672-735)
Bede was a monk at the Benedictine monastery at Jarrow in Northumbria. He earned the title “the father of English history.” He wrote the history of the Church of England up to his time, Church History of the English People, which is still a primary source of information. He was one of the most educated Western Europeans of his day. He knew Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. Bede was a dedicated follower of Augustine of Hippo and studied the early Church fathers—Ambrose, Jerome, and Gregory the Great. He wrote sermons, poems, commentaries, and biographies (including a biography of Cuthbert). His humble character made him one of the best-loved English saints.

Bede’s dying words were written and treasured:

The time of my release is near, and my soul longs to see Christ my King in all His beauty . . . I am not afraid to die, for we have a God who is good beyond comparison.”15

From the 10th century on, he was known as the Venerable Bede.

14 Needham, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Vol. 1, 346.
15 Needham, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Vol. 1, 348.