Commemoration Columba, Aidan, and Bede the Venerable

Monday, June 9

Commemoration

Columba, Abbot of Iona, d. 597

Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, d. 651

Bede the Venerable, Priest, Monk of Jarrow, d. 735

Renewers of the Church

Reflection

Columba, an Irish missionary, “pilgrim for Christ,” was moving and influential speaker, described as a kind of sixth-century John Wesley. Historian Bede calls Columba “a true monk in life no less than in habit,” turning the Picts (the original inhabitants of Scotland) to the “faith of Christ by his words and example and so received the island of Iona from them to establish a monastery there.” A religious community was reestablished on Iona in 1938, and the island is known as a “thin place,” where “there’s very little between you and God.”

Aidan, known for gentleness, simplicity, and generosity, was a monk of Iona who established a religious community on the island of Lindisfarne, off the coast of northeast England, from where he made long journeys to the mainland as far south as London. When he preached, King Oswald served as his interpreter.

Bede, “the father of English history,” is considered to have been the greatest scholar of Western Europe during his day, and his Ecclesiastical History of the English People remains the primary source for the seventh and early eighth centuries. He wrote of himself: “I have spent all my life in this monastery, applying myself entirely to the study of the Scriptures; and, amid the observance of the discipline of the Rule and the daily task of singing in the church, it has always been my delight to learn or to teach or to write.”

Prayer

Loving God, you called your servants Columba, Aidan, and Bede, to renew your Church. Embolden and strengthen us in our ministry by their examples of faithfulness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.