BEDE
HIS SERMON ON ALL SAINTS[1]
(ABOUT 710)
Born about 673, died in 735; surnamed "the Venerable"; ordained a Deacon in his nineteenth year; a Priest in his thirtieth; devoted his life to teaching and writing; his "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation" is his best known work, and one of much importance to early English history.
To-day, beloved, we celebrate in the joy of one solemnity, the festival of All Saints, in whose companionship the heaven exults; in whose guardianship the earth rejoices; by whose triumphs the Holy Church is crowned; whose confession, as braver in its passion, is also brighter in its honor—because while the battle increased, the glory of them that fought in it was also augmented. And the triumph of martyrdom is adorned with the manifold kind of its torments, because the more severe the pangs, the more illustrious also were the rewards; while our Mother, the Catholic Church, was taught by her Head, Jesus Christ, not to fear contumely, affliction, death, and more and more strengthened—not by resistance, but by endurance—inspired all of that illustrious
- ↑ Translated by the Rev. John M. Neale. Abridged. More than thirty editions of Bede's writings have been published. The one which appeared in 1843, edited by Dr. J. A. Giles, and giving in complete form the original Latin, with translations of the historical work into English, comprises twelve volumes.
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