From Catholic Forum:

BEDE the Venerable

Also known as: Venerable Bede; Father of English History
Memorial: 25 May; formerly 27 May
Profile: Born around the time England was finally completely Christianized. Raised from age seven in the abbey of Saints Peter and Paul at Wearmouth-Jarrow, and lived there his whole life. Benedictine monk. Spiritual student of the founder, Saint Benedict Biscop. Ordained in 702 by Saint John of Beverley. Teacher and author, he wrote about history, rhetoric, mathematics, music, astronomy, poetry, grammar, philosophy, hagiography, homiletics, and Bible commentary.

He was known as the most learned man of his day, and his writings started the idea of dating this era from the incarnation of Christ. The central theme of Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica is of the Church using the power of its spiritual, doctrinal, and cultural unity to stamp out violence and barbarism. Our knowledge of England before the 8th century is mainly the result of Bede's writing. He was declared a Doctor of the Church on 13 November 1899 by Pope Leo XIII.
Born: 672 at Wearmouth, England
Died: 25 May 735
Canonized: 1899 by Pope Leo XIII
Patronage: lectors
Prayers: Prayer to...
Representation: monk writing at a desk; old monk dying amidst his community old monk with a book and pen; old monk with a jug;
Additional Information: Google Directory: Bede
Google Directory: Works
Print References: New Catholic Dictionary

He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor. -Saint Bede the Venerable

Account of the death of St. Bede:

On Tuesday before the feast of the Ascension, Bede's breathing became labored and a slight swelling appeared in his legs. Nevertheless, he gave us instruction all day long and dictated cheerfully the whole time. It seemed to us, however, that he knew very well that his end was near, and so he spent the whole night giving thanks to God.

At daybreak on Wednesday he told us to finish the writing we had begun. We worked until nine o'clock, when we went in procession with the relics as the custom of the day required. But one of our community, a boy named Wilbert, stayed with him and said to him, "Dear master, there is still one more chapter to finish in that book you were dictating. Do you think it would be too hard for you to answer any more questions?" Bede replied: "Not at all; it will be easy. Take up your pen and ink, and write quickly," and he did so.

At three o'clock, Bede said to me, "I have a few treasures in my private chest, some pepper, napkins, and a little incense. Run quickly and bring the priest of our monastery, and I will distribute among them these little presents that god has given me."

When the priests arrived he spoke to them and asked each one to offer Masses and prayers for him regularly. They gladly promised to do so. The priests were sad, however, and they all wept, especially because Bede had said that he thought they would not see his face much longer in this world. Yet they rejoiced when he said, "If it so please my Maker, it is time for me to return to him who created me and formed me out of nothing when I did not exist. I have lived a long time, and the righteous Judge has taken good care of me during my whole life. The time has come for my departure, and I long to die and be with Christ. My soul yearns to see Christ, my King, in all his glory." He said many other things which profited us greatly, and so he passed the day joyfully till evening.

When evening came, young Wilbert said to Bede, "Dear master, there is still one sentence that we have not written down." Bede said, "Quick, write it down." In a little while, Wilbert said, "There; now it is written down." Bede said, "Good. You have spoken the truth; it is finished. Hold my head in your hands, for I really enjoy sitting opposite the holy place where I used to pray; I can call upon my Father as I sit there."

And so Bede, as he lay upon the floor of his cell, sang, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit." And when he had named the Holy Spirit, he breathed his last breath.

from a letter on the death of Saint Bede written by the monk Cuthbert

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, any my spirit rejoices in God my savior." With these words Mary first acknowledges the special gifts she has been given.

Above all other saints, she alone could truly rejoice in Jesus, her savior, for she knew that he who was the source of eternal salvation would be born in time in her body, in one person both her own son and her Lord.

"For the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name." Mary attributes nothing to her own merits. She refers all her greatness to the gift of one whose essence is power and whose nature is greatness, for he fill with greatness and strength the small and the weak who believe in him.

She did well to add: "and holy is his name," to warn those who heard, and indeed all who would receive his words, that they must believe and call upon his name. For they too could share in everlasting holiness and true salvation according to the words of the prophet: "and it will come to pass, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." This is the name she spoke of earlier when she said "and my spirit rejoices in God my savior."

from a homily by Saint Bede

St. Bede the Venerable

May 25th. St. Bede the Venerable.

Bede was born in 673 near Sunderland, and from the tender age of 7 began to receive a Benedictine education, firstly from St. Benet Biscop at Wearmouth Abbey and then at Jarrow on the Tyne, where he was to become a monk and remain for the rest of his life. His scholarly work depended on the fine libraries which St. Benet Biscop had assembled; Bede's output consists of commentaries on the Scriptures writings, on a whole host of subjects including mathematics, poetry and timekeeping, and his famous 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People', which is such an important source of our knowledge of the development of Christianity in early Britain.

Bede never travelled but he had a very shrewd awareness of what was going on; in 735 he wrote a letter making suggestions to reform the Church in Northumbria, where not all was going well.

St. Cuthbert has left an account of Bede's death, which took place just after he had dictated the last sentence of his translation of St. John's Gospel. His name became famous on the Continent principally through his History, a work which reveals Bede's qualities of modesty and humility. Unlike many historians, he did not seek to score points against those of whom he wrote.

His sainthood was recognised 50 years after his death in 735; his body was later taken from Jarrow to Durham Cathedral, where it lies in the Galilee Chapel. In 1899 he was belatedly named a Doctor of the Church.