The dictionary defines the word “venerable” this way: one accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character. The term venerable is associated with the saint we celebrate today: the Venerable Bede. I have always loved his name, since the term “venerable” denotes the great respect and honor that was given to him. Bede was a Benedictine monk, priest, and historian. He lived in England in the 7th and 8th centuries. A great translator and linguist, he translated the Latin and Greek writings of the Church Fathers into the Anglo-Saxon language. He also wrote 45 books himself. He is most remembered for being the Father of English history. I remember reading a book of his in my Western Civilization course in college, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The term “the Venerable Bede” comes from the inscription on his tomb in Durham England in Latin: “HIC SUNT IN FOSSA BEDAE VENERABILIS OSSA.” In English, it says: “Here are buried the bones of the Venerable Bede.”
Quote about the Venerable Bede: “We have not it seems to me, amid all our discoveries, invented as yet anything better than the Christian life which Bede lived, and the Christian death which he died.” (C. Plummer, Ecclesiastical History)
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