The original Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon form of his name is Baeda, though the saint himself wrote Beda; Bedanus is the Latinized form found in the earliest documents.
He was born in 672 or 673, and at the age of seven was offered to God at the double Benedictine monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, where he received all his formation. He was ordained a priest at twenty-nine.
His whole life can be summed up in his own words: “Aut discere aut docere aut scribere dulce habui”—“It was always my delight to learn, to teach, or to write.” He became the model of the Christian scholar for the Carolingian renaissance. The Synod of Aachen in 836 described him as “venerabilis et modernis temporibus doctor admirabilis”—“venerable and a most admirable doctor for modern times.”
Bede’s personality was far too rich for him to be only a compiler and transmitter of the heritage of the ancient Church. Grammarian, naturalist, historian, poet—above all, he was a theologian who made Sacred Scripture accessible through simple, clear preaching.
He died at Jarrow in 735, on Wednesday, May 25, the eve of the Ascension, after first Vespers of the feast had already been sung. For his earliest biographers this meant he died on the day of the Ascension itself, May 26 of that year. His feast was long celebrated on May 27, since May 26 was also the day of Saint Augustine of Canterbury’s death. Today the liturgical calendar honors him on the actual anniversary of his death, May 25.
