Complete Works of Bede

by Bede

  Sed ne tunc quidem eandem tangere flamma destinam ualebat; et cum magno utique miraculo ipsa eius foramina ingrediens, quibus aedificio erat adfixa, perederet, ipsam tamen ledere nullatenus sinebatur. Unde tertio aedificata ibi ecclesia, destinam illam non, ut antea, deforis in fulcimentum domus adposuerunt, sed intro ipsam ecclesiam in memoriam miraculi posuerunt, ubi intrantes genu flectere, ac misericordiae caelesti supplicare deberent. Constatque multos ex eo tempore gratiam sanitatis in eodem loco consecutos;

  quin etiam astulis ex ipsa destina excisis, et in aquam missis, plures sibi suisque langorum remedia conquisiere.

  Scripsi autem haec de persona et operibus uiri praefati; nequaquam in eo laudans aut eligens hoc, quod de obseruatione paschae minus perfecte sapiebat; immo hoc multum detestans, sicut in libro, quem de temporibus conposui, manifestissime probaui; sed quasi uerax historicus, simpliciter ea, quae de illo siue per illum sunt gesta, describens, et quae laude sunt digna in eius actibus laudans, atque ad utilitatem legentium memoriae commendans; studium uidelicet pacis et caritatis, continentiae et humilitatis; animum irae et auaritiae uictorem, superbiae simul et uanae gloriae contemtorem; industriam faciendi simul et docendi mandata caelestia, solertiam lectionis et uigiliarum, auctoritatem sacerdote dignam, redarguendi superbos ac potentes, pariter et infirmos consolandi, ac pauperes recreandi uel defendendi clementiam. Qui, ut breuiter multa conprehendam, quantum ab eis, qui illum nouere, didicimus, nil ex omnibus, quae in euangelicis uel apostolicis siue propheticis litteris facienda cognouerat, praetermittere, sed cuncta pro suis uiribus operibus explere curabat. Haec in praefato antistite multum conplector et amo, quia nimirum haec Deo placuisse non ambigo. Quod autem pascha non suo tempore obseruabat, uel canonicum eius tempus ignorans, uel suae gentis auctoritate ne agnitum sequeretur deuictus, non adprobo nec laudo. In quo tamen hoc adprobo, quia in celebratione sui paschae non aliud corde tenebat, uenerabatur, et praedicabat, quam quod nos; id est, redemtionem generis humani per passionem, resurrectionem, ascensionem in caelos mediatoris Dei et hominum hominis Iesu Christi. Unde et hanc non, ut quidam falso opinantur, XIIIIa luna in qualibet feria cum Iudaeis, sed die dominica semper agebat, a luna XIIIIa usque ad XXam; propter fidem uidelicet dominicae resurrectionis, quam una sabbati factam, propterque spem nostrae resurrectionis, quam eadem una sabbati, quae nunc dominica dies dicitur, ueraciter futuram cum sancta ecclesia credebat.

  Chap. XVII.

  How a prop of the church on which Bishop Aidan was leaning when he died, could not be consumed when the rest of the Church was on fire; and concerning his inward life. [651 a.d.]

  Aidan was in the king’s township, not far from the city of which we have spoken above, at the time when death caused him to quit the body, after he had been bishop sixteen years; for having a church and a chamber in that place, he was wont often to go and stay there, and to make excursions from it to preach in the country round about, which he likewise did at other of the king’s townships, having nothing of his own besides his church and a few fields about it. When he was sick they set up a tent for him against the wall at the west end of the church, and so it happened that he breathed his last, leaning against a buttress that was on the outside of the church to strengthen the wall. He died in the seventeenth year of his episcopate, on the 31st of August. His body was thence presently translated to the isle of Lindisfarne, and buried in the cemetery of the brethren. Some time after, when a larger church was built there and dedicated in honour of the blessed prince of the Apostles, his bones were translated thither, and laid on the right side of the altar, with the respect due to so great a prelate.

  Finan, who had likewise been sent thither from Hii, the island monastery of the Scots, succeeded him, and continued no small time in the bishopric. It happened some years after, that Penda, king of the Mercians, coming into these parts with a hostile army, destroyed all he could with fire and sword, and the village where the bishop died, along with the church above mentioned, was burnt down; but it fell out in a wonderful manner that the buttress against which he had been leaning when he died, could not be consumed by the fire which devoured all about it. This miracle being noised abroad, the church was soon rebuilt in the same place, and that same buttress was set up on the outside, as it had been before, to strengthen the wall. It happened again, some time after, that the village and likewise the church were carelessly burned down the second time. Then again, the fire could not touch the buttress; and, miraculously, though the fire broke through the very holes of the nails wherewith it was fixed to the building, yet it could do no hurt to the buttress itself. When therefore the church was built there the third time, they did not, as before, place that buttress on the outside as a support of the building, but within the church, as a memorial of the miracle; where the people coming in might kneel, and implore the Divine mercy. And it is well known that since then many have found grace and been healed in that same place, as also that by means of splinters cut off from the buttress, and put into water, many more have obtained a remedy for their own infirmities and those of their friends.

  I have written thus much concerning the character and works of the aforesaid Aidan, in no way commending or approving his lack of wisdom with regard to the observance of Easter; nay, heartily detesting it, as I have most manifestly proved in the book I have written, “De Temporibus”; but, like an impartial historian, unreservedly relating what was done by or through him, and commending such things as are praiseworthy in his actions, and preserving the memory thereof for the benefit of the readers; to wit, his love of peace and charity; of continence and humility; his mind superior to anger and avarice, and despising pride and vainglory; his industry in keeping and teaching the Divine commandments, his power of study and keeping vigil; his priestly authority in reproving the haughty and powerful, and at the same time his tenderness in comforting the afflicted, and relieving or defending the poor. To be brief, so far as I have learnt from those that knew him, he took care to neglect none of those things which he found in the Gospels and the writings of Apostles and prophets, but to the utmost of his power endeavoured to fulfil them all in his deeds.

  These things I greatly admire and love in the aforesaid bishop, because I do not doubt that they were pleasing to God; but I do not approve or praise his observance of Easter at the wrong time, either through ignorance of the canonical time appointed, or, if he knew it, being prevailed on by the authority of his nation not to adopt it. Yet this I approve in him, that in the celebration of his Easter, the object which he had at heart and reverenced and preached was the same as ours, to wit, the redemption of mankind, through the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven of the Man Christ Jesus, who is the mediator between God and man. And therefore he always celebrated Easter, not as some falsely imagine, on the fourteenth of the moon, like the Jews, on any day of the week, but on the Lord’s day, from the fourteenth to the twentieth of the moon; and this he did from his belief that the Resurrection of our Lord happened on the first day of the week, and for the hope of our resurrection, which also he, with the holy Church, believed would truly happen on that same first day of the week, now called the Lord’s day.

  CHAP. 18

  His temporibus regno Orientalium Anglorum, post Erpualdum Redualdi successorem, Sigberct frater eius praefuit, homo bonus ac religiosus; qui dudum in Gallia, dum inimicitias Redualdi fugiens exularet, lauacrum baptismi percepit, et patriam reuersus, ubi regno potitus est, mox ea, quae in Galliis bene disposita uidit, imitari cupiens, instituit scolam, in qua pueri litteris erudirentur;

  iuuante se episcopo Felice, quem de Cantia acceperat, eisque pedagogos ac magistros iuxta morem Cantuariorum praebente.

  Tantumque rex ille caelestis regni amator factus est, ut ad ultimum, relictis regni negotiis, et cognato suo Ecgrice commendatis, qui et antea partem eiusdem regni tenebat, intraret monasterium, quod sibi fecerat, atque accepta tonsura pro aeterno magis regno militare curaret. Quod dum multo tempore faceret, contigit gentem Merciorum duce rege Penda aduersus Orientales Anglos in bellum proc
edere, qui, dum se inferiores in bello hostibus conspicerent, rogauerunt Sigberctum ad confirmandum militem secum uenire in proelium. Illo nolente ac contradicente, inuitum monasterio eruentes duxerunt in certamen, sperantes minus animos militum trepidare, minus praesente duce quondam strenuissimo et eximio posse fugam meditari. Sed ipse professionis suae non inmemor, dum opimo esset uallatus exercitu, nonnisi uirgam tantum habere in manu uoluit: occisusque est una cum rege Ecgrice, et cunctus eorum, insistentibus paganis, caesus siue dispersus exercitus.

  Successor autem regni eorum factus est Anna filius Eni de regio genere, uir optimus, atque optimae genitor sobolis, de quibus in sequentibus suo tempore dicendum est; qui et ipse postea ab eodem pagano Merciorum duce, a quo et prodecessores eius, occisus est.

  Chap. XVIII.

  Of the life and death of the religious King Sigbert. [Circ. 631 a.d.]

  At this time, the kingdom of the East Angles, after the death of Earpwald, the successor of Redwald, was governed by his brother Sigbert, a good and religious man, who some time before had been baptized in Gaul, whilst he lived in banishment, a fugitive from the enmity of Redwald. When he returned home, as soon as he ascended the throne, being desirous to imitate the good institutions which he had seen in Gaul, he founded a school wherein boys should be taught letters, and was assisted therein by Bishop Felix, who came to him from Kent, and who furnished them with masters and teachers after the manner of the people of Kent.

  This king became so great a lover of the heavenly kingdom, that at last, quitting the affairs of his kingdom, and committing them to his kinsman Ecgric, who before had a share in that kingdom, he entered a monastery, which he had built for himself, and having received the tonsure, applied himself rather to do battle for a heavenly throne. A long time after this, it happened that the nation of the Mercians, under King Penda, made war on the East Angles; who finding themselves no match for their enemy, entreated Sigbert to go with them to battle, to encourage the soldiers. He was unwilling and refused, upon which they drew him against his will out of the monastery, and carried him to the army, hoping that the soldiers would be less afraid and less disposed to flee in the presence of one who had formerly been an active and distinguished commander. But he, still mindful of his profession, surrounded, as he was, by a royal army, would carry nothing in his hand but a wand, and was killed with King Ecgric; and the pagans pressing on, all their army was either slaughtered or dispersed.

  They were succeeded in the kingdom by Anna, the son of Eni, of the blood royal, a good man, and the father of good children, of whom, in the proper place, we shall speak hereafter. He also was afterwards slain like his predecessors by the same pagan chief of the Mercians.

  CHAP. 19

  Uerum dum adhuc Sigberct regni infulas teneret, superuenit de Hibernia uir sanctus nomine Furseus, uerbo et actibus clarus, sed et egregiis insignis uirtutibus, cupiens pro Domino, ubicumque sibi oportunum inueniret, peregrinam ducere uitam. Qui cum ad prouinciam Orientalium peruenisset Anglorum, susceptus est honorifice a rege praefato, et solitum sibi opus euangelizandi exsequens, multos et exemplo uirtutis, et incitamento sermonis, uel incredulos ad Christum conuertit, uel iam credentes amplius in fide atque amore Christi confirmauit.

  Ubi quadam infirmitate corporis arreptus, angelica meruit uisione perfrui, in qua admonitus est coepto uerbi ministerio sedulus insistere, uigiliisque consuetis et orationibus indefessus incumbere; eo quod certus sibi exitus, sed incerta eiusdem exitus esset hora futura, dicente Domino: ‘Uigilate itaque, quia nescitis diem neque horam.’ Qua uisione confirmatus, curauit locum monasterii, quem a praefato rege Sigbercto acceperat, uelocissime construere, ac regularibus instituere disciplinis. Erat autum monasterium siluarum et maris uicinitate amoenum, constructum in castro quodam, quod lingua Anglorum Cnobheresburg, id est urbs Cnobheri, uocatur; quod deinde rex prouinciae illius Anna ac nobiles quique augustioribus aedificiis ac donariis adornarunt.

  Erat autem uir iste de nobilissimo genere Scottorum, sed longe animo quam carne nobilior. Ab ipso tempore pueritiae suae curam non modicam lectionibus sacris simul et monasticis exhibebat disciplinis, et, quod maxime sanctos decet, cuncta, quae agenda didicerat, sollicitus agere curabat.

  Quid multa? Procedente tempore et ipse sibi monasterium, in quo liberius caelestibus studiis uacaret, construxit; ubi correptus infirmitate, sicut libellus de uita eius conscriptus sufficienter edocet, raptus est e corpore; et a uespera usque ad galli cantum corpore exutus, angelicorum agminum et aspectus intueri, et laudes beatas meruit audire. Referre autem erat solitus, quod aperte eos inter alia resonare audiret: ‘Ibunt sancti de uirtute in uirtutem’;

  et iterum: ‘Uidebitur Deus deorum in Sion.’ Qui reductus in corpore, et die tertia rursum eductus, uidit non solum maiora beatorum gaudia, sed et maxima malignorum spirituum certamina, qui crebris accusationibus inprobi iter illi caeleste intercludere contendebant;

  nec tamen, protegentibus eum angelis, quicquam proficiebant. De quibus omnibus siqui plenius scire uult (id est, quanta fraudis solertia daemones et actus eius, et uerba superflua, et ipsas etiam cogitationes quasi in libro descriptas replicauerint; quae ab angelis sanctis, quae a uiris iustis sibi inter angelos apparentibus laeta uel tristia cognouerit), legat ipsum, de quo dixi, libellum uitae eius, et multum ex illo, ut reor, profectus spiritalis accipiet.

  In quibus tamen unum est, quod et nos in hac historia ponere multis commodum duximus. Cum ergo in altum esset elatus, iussus est ab angelis, qui eum ducebant, respicere, in mundum. At ille oculos in inferiora deflectens, uidit quasi uallem tenebrosam subtus se in imo positam. Uidit et quattuor ignes in aere non multo ab inuicem spatio distantes. Et interrogans angelos, qui essent hi ignes, audiuit hos esse ignes, qui mundum succendentes essent consumturi. Unum mendacii, cum hoc, quod in baptismo abrenuntiare nos Satanae et omnibus operibus eius promisimus, minime inplemus; alterum cupiditatis, cum mundi diuitias amori caelestium praeponimus;

  tertium dissensionis, cum animos proximorum etiam in superuacuis rebus offendere non formidamus; quartum impietatis, cum infirmiores spoliare et eis fraudem facere pro nihilo ducimus. Crescentes uero paulatim ignes usque ad inuicem sese extenderunt, atque in inmensam adunati sunt flammam. Cumque adpropinquassent, pertimescens ille dicit angelo: ‘Domine, ecce ignis mihi adpropinquat.’ At ille: ‘Quod non incendisti,’ inquit, ‘non ardebit in te; nam etsi terribilis iste ac grandis esse rogus uidetur, tamen iuxta merita operum singulos examinat; quia uniuscuiusque cupiditas in hoc igni ardebit.

  Sicut enim quis ardet in corpore per inlicitam uoluptatem, ita solutus corpore ardebit per debitam poenam.’ Tunc uidit unum de tribus angelis, qui sibi in tota utraque uisione ductores adfuerunt, praecedentem ignes flammae diuidere, et duos ab utroque latere circumuolantes ab ignium se periculo defendere. Uidit autem et daemones per ignem uolantes incendia bellorum contra iustos struere.

  Sequuntur aduersus ipsum accusationes malignorum, defensiones spirituum bonorum, copiosior caelestium agminum uisio; sed et uirorum de sua natione sanctorum, quos olim sacerdotii gradu non ignobiliter potitos, fama iam uulgante, conpererat; a quibus non pauca, quae uel ipsi, uel omnibus, qui audire uellent, multum salubria essent, audiuit. Qui cum uerba finissent, et cum angelicis spiritibus ipsi quoque ad caelos redirent, remanserunt cum beato Furseo tres angeli, de quibus diximus, qui eum ad corpus referrent.

  Cumque praefato igni maximo adpropiarent, diuisit quidem angelus, sicut prius, ignem flammae. Sed uir Dei ubi ad patefactam usque inter flammas ianuam peruenit, arripientes inmundi spiritus unum de eis, quos in ignibus torrebant, iactauerunt in eum, et contingentes humerum maxillamque eius incenderunt; cognouitque hominem, et, quia uestimentum eius morientis acceperit, ad memoriam reduxit. Quem angelus sanctus statim adprehendens in ignem reiecit. Dicebatque hostis malignus: ‘Nolite repellere, quem ante suscepistis; nam sicut bona eius peccatoris suscepistis, ita et de poenis eius participes esse debetis.’ Contradicens angelus: ‘Non,’inquit, ‘propter auaritiam, sed propter saluandam eius animam suscepit’; cessauitque ignis. Et conuersus ad eum angelus: ‘Quod
incendisti,’ inquit, ‘hoc arsit in te. Si enim huius uiri in peccatis suis mortui pecuniam non accepisses, nec poena eius in te arderet.’ Et plura locutus, quid erga salutem eorum, qui ad mortem poeniterent, esset agendum, salubri sermone docuit. Qui postmodum in corpore restitutus, omni uitae suae tempore signum incendii, quod in anima pertulit, uisibile cunctis in humero maxillaque portauit; mirumque in modum, quid anima in occulto passa sit, caro palam praemonstrabat. Curabat autem semper, sicut et antea facere consuerat, omnibus opus uirtutum et exemplis ostendere, et praedicare sermonibus. Ordinem autem uisionum suarum illis solummodo, qui propter desiderium conpunctionis interrogabant, exponere uolebat. Superest adhuc frater quidam senior monasterii nostri, qui narrare solet dixisse sibi quendam multum ueracem ac religiosum hominem, quod ipsum Furseum uiderit in prouincia Orientalium Anglorum, illasque uisiones ex ipsius ore audierit; adiciens, quia tempus hiemis fuerit acerrimum et glacie constrictum, cum sedens in tenui ueste uir ita inter dicendum, propter magnitudinem memorati timoris uel suauitatis, quasi in mediae aestatis caumate sudauerit.

  Cum ergo, ut ad superiora redeamus, multis annis in Scottia uerbum Dei omnibus adnuntians, tumultus inruentium turbarum non facile ferret, relictis omnibus, quae habere uidebatur, ab ipsa quoque insula patria discessit; et paucis cum fratribus per Brettones in prouinciam Anglorum deuenit, ibique praedicans uerbum, ut diximus, monasterium nobile construxit. Quibus rite gestis, cupiens se ab omnibus saeculi huius. et ipsius quoque monasterii negotiis alienare, reliquit monasterii et animarum curam fratri suo Fullano, et presbyteris Gobbano et Dicullo, et ipse ab omnibus mundi rebus liber in anchoretica conuersatione uitam finire disposuit. Habuit alterum fratrem uocabulo Ultanum, qui de monasterii probatione diuturna ad heremiticam peruenerat uitam. Hunc ergo solus petens, annum totum cum eo in continentia et orationibus, in cotidianis manuum uixit laboribus.