Readings

May 25: Bede, Priest and Historian, 735

The Collect of the Day

Bede

Almighty God, who has enriched your church with the learning and holiness of your servant Bede: Grant us to find in Scripture and disciplined prayer the image of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and to fashion our lives according to his likeness, to the glory of your great Name and to the benefit of your holy church; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bede

Almighty God, who hast enriched thy church with the learning and holiness of thy servant Bede: Grant us to find in Scripture and disciplined prayer the image of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and to fashion our lives according to his likeness, to the glory of thy great Name and to the benefit of thy holy church; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

At the age of seven, Bede’s parents brought him to the nearby monastery at Jarrow (near Durham in northeast England) for his education. There, as he later wrote, “spending all the remaining time of my life…I wholly applied myself to the study of Scripture, and amidst the observance of regular discipline, and the daily care of singing in the church, I always took delight in learning, teaching, and writing.” Bede was ordained as a deacon at nineteen, and as a priest at thirty.

Bede was the greatest scholar of his day in the Western church.He wrote commentaries on the Scriptures based on patristic interpretations. His treatise on chronology remained standard for centuries. He also wrote on orthography, poetic meter, and especially on history. His most famous work, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, remains the primary source for the period from 597 to 731, when Anglo-Saxon culture developed and Christianity triumphed.

Bede took his vocation as a historian seriously. He consulted many documents, carefully evaluated their reliability, and cited his sources. His interpretations were largely balanced and judicious. He also wrote The History of the Abbots (of Wearmouth and Jarrow), and a notable biography of Cuthbert, both in prose and in verse.

He died on the eve of the Ascension in 735 while dictating a vernacular translation of the Gospel of John. Around 1020, his body was removed to Durham and placed in the Lady Chapel at the west end of the cathedral nave. Together with Cuthbert, who is also buried in the cathedral, he remains beloved by the Christian community in Durham and by pilgrims from around the world.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

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Psalm

7The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; *the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; *the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.

9The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; *the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, *sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

11By them also is your servant enlightened, *and in keeping them there is great reward.

12Who can tell how often he offends? *cleanse me from my secret faults.

13Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; *then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, *O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Gospel

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Ecclesiastes 12:9–14

9 Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs. 10 The Teacher sought to find pleasing words, and he wrote words of truth plainly. 11 The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings that are given by one shepherd. 12 Of anything beyond these, my child, beware. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Matthew 13:31–33

31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”