St. Bede was a gifted teacher and scholar. He was considered the most learned man of his time. A student of his became the teacher of Alcuin, the famous teacher in the time of Charlemagne. He wrote over 60 books on a large variety of subjects. His most famous work is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. He also helped establish the practice of dating from the birth of Christ.
Except for a few visits to other monasteries, his life was spent in observance of the monastic discipline. St. Bede died on Ascension Thursday in the year 735, on the floor of his cell, singing the Glory Be.
He was called Venerable because of his reputation for holiness, and his cult became widespread in England and on the Continent within a century. In 1899 Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church. He is the only native of England who has been given this title. He is also the only Englishman in Dante's Paradiso, in the same canto as St. Isidore of Seville.
St. Bede the Venerable, pray for us.