St Bede on Candlemas

Following on from my post yesterday for Candlemas I see that Christopher Howse wrote about the feast on its eve in his regular Saturday column Sacred Mysteries in the Daily Telegraph. 

In it, as he so often does, he links the celebration of the feast to its place in the history of the Church. In particular he highlights the writings of St Bede and the great age of Northumbrian Christianity in the seventh and eighth centuries. Thus he links the universally applicable theology of the only British Doctor of the Church, St Bede, to a surviving codex in the form of a spectacular and expensive copy of the Bible made in that Northumbrian monastic world and sent as a gift to the Pope. That in turn is an indicator of the fact that the Christians of Northumbria were very conscious of, and loyal to, their Catholic heritage.

The article can be seen at Sacred Mysteries: Candlemas as the homecoming of Jesus

Timely observations from St Bede

I was struck by how apposite to church life today are some of the comments in the following extract from a homily by St Bede, who died in 735. It might suggest that early eighth century Northumbrian churchmen and congregations were as fallible as their twenty-first century descendants and successors.

Here is what St Bede had to say - I have highlighted the passage which struck me.


" When the Lord first shewed forth in a figure by cursing the barren fig tree, he afterwards put before us in action even more plainly by casting the profaners out of the temple. The tree was not guilty because of her fruitlessness at this time when the Lord was hungry, for the time of figs was not yet come. But those priests were guilty because they carried on worldly business in the Lord's house, and thereby neglected to bring forth that fruit of godliness which was due, and which the Lord was hungry to find in them. The Lord made the fig tree to wither away under his curse, that all men who saw it, and all men who hear of it, might know that they will be condemned by the judgment of God, if they content themselves with the sound of good works, without the solid fruit of good works, after the fashion of that barren fig tree which gave pleasant shade and the rustle of green leaves, without the solid fruit, of which those leaves were wont to be an evidence.

But because the buyers and sellers heeded not the parable of the barren fig tree, the Lord visited them with the righteous indignation which they deserved, and cast out the traffickers in earthly things from that house. For it had been commanded that nothing should be done therein save the work of God, to wit, the offering to him of sacrifices and prayers, and the reading, teaching, and singing of his Word. Yet we may well believe that nothing was sold or bought in the temple save things needful to the service thereof, as we read in another place, that when Jesus went into the temple he found them that sold oxen and sheep and doves. For we are certainly given to understand that it was the worshippers from afar who, from the inhabitants of the place, bought such things as were needful for sacrifice in the Lord's house.

Therefore, if the Lord would not suffer even so much as the buying and selling in the temple of those things which he willed to be offered in sacrifice therein (and this, no doubt, on account of the greed and cheating which so often accompany buying and selling), with what severity, suppose ye, would he visit such as he might find idling away the time of worship in laughter, or in gossip, or in any other sin? If the Lord will not suffer to be carried on in his house such worldly business as may be freely done elsewhere, how much more shall such things as ought never to be done anywhere, draw down the anger of God if they be done in his own holy house? The words: Them that sold doves: do remind us that the Holy Ghost was given unto the Lord in the shape of a dove, and by doves therefore we are reminded of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. They, then, to this day sell doves in the temple of God, who take money in the Church for the laying on of their hands, whereby the Holy Ghost is given from heaven."

St Bede the Venerable

Last Monday was the feast of St Bede the Venerable, and John Dillon has posted these medieval images of St. Bede on the Medieval Religion discussion group.

a) Bede as depicted on the opening folio of a twelfth-century copy of his Homiliae Evangelii (Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 47, fol. 1v):

http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/bke/0047/1v

b) St. John dictating to Bede as depicted on detached fol. 1v of Lambach, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. VI (frontispiece to Bede's In Apocalypsin; circa 1140; leaf now in the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; image expandable):

• 

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.39225.html

c) Bede as depicted in an initial 'S' in an earlier thirteenth-century copy (ca. 1220) of his De locis sanctis (Reims, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 36, fol. 221r):

http://www.enluminures.culture.fr/Wave/savimage/enlumine/irht6/IRHT_098040-p.jpg

d) Bede as depicted in an illumination illustrating his prayer Domine ihesu christe qui septem verba... in a later fourteenth-century (circa 1378-1383) book of prayers of southern French origin (Avignon, Bibliothèque-Médiathèque Municipale Ceccano, ms. 6733, fol. 56r):

http://www.enluminures.culture.fr/Wave/savimage/enlumine/irht3/IRHT_057772-p.jpg

St Bede on the Ascension

This morning at the end of the Mass for the transferred Solemnity of the Ascension at the Oratory the recessional hymn was, as is usual on the feast there, Mgr Ronald Knox's translation of St Bede's hymn for the Ascension, and sung to the tune of Immortal, Invisible,God only wise. Like others of Knox's translations the text is sometimes awkward, and I realise that I am not alone in thinking that. That slightly unmusical style is perhaps surprising given Knox's felicity in producing the elegant pieces containedin Essays in Satire or Let Dons Delight :

New praises be given to Christ newly crowned,
who back to his heaven a new way hath found;
God’s blessedness sharing before us he goes,
what mansions preparing, what endless repose!


His glory still praising on thrice-holy ground
the apostles stood gazing, his mother around;
with hearts that beat faster, with eyes full of love,
they watched while their Master ascended above.


‘No star can disclose him’ the bright angels said;
‘Eternity knows him, your conquering head;
those high habitations he leaves not again,
till, judging all nations, on earth he shall reign.’


Thus spoke they and straightway, where legions defend
heaven’s glittering gateway, their Lord did attend,
and cry, looking thither, ‘Your portals let down
for him who rides hither in peace and renown.’

They asked, who keep sentry in that blessed town,
‘Who thus claimeth entry, a king of renown?’
‘The Lord of all valiance,’ that herald replied,
‘Who Satan’s battalions laid low in their pride.’

 
Grant, Lord, that out longing may follow thee there,
on earth who are thronging thy temples with prayer;
and unto thee gather, Redeemer, thine own,
where thou with thy Father dost sit on the throne.

Source:minipilgrim.com

 I found another translation online, which is by Benjamin Webb (1820-1885), and sung to "Lasst uns erfreuen": 

A hymn of glory let us sing:
New songs throughout the world shall ring:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Chirst, by a road before untrod,
Ascendeth to the throne of God.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

The holy apostolic band
Upon the Mount of Olives stand;
Alleluia! Alleluia!
And with his followers they see
Jesus' resplendent majesty.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

To whom the angels, drawing nigh,
"Why stand and gaze upon the sky?
Alleluia! Alleluia!
This is the Saviour!" thus they say;
"This is his noble triumph-day."
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

"Again shall ye behold him so
As ye today have seen him go
Alleluia! Alleluia!
In glorious pomp ascending high,
Up to the portals of the sky."
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Oh, grant us thitherward to tend
And with unwearied hearts ascend
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Unto thy kingdom's throne, where thou,
As is our faith, art seated now.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Be thou our Joy and strong Defence
Who art our future Recompense:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
So shall the light that springs from thee
Be ours through all eternity.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

O risen Christ, ascended Lord,
All praise to thee let earth accord,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Who art, while endless ages run,
With Father and with Spirit One.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

Source:fministry.com

Not having Bede's Omnia Opera to hand I do not know how long is the original text - both Knox and Webb appear to have made a selection of stanzas from a lengthy original.

Two thoughts arise. Firstly what might John Mason Neale have done with the text is he had translated it, given his immense skill as a translator, or what might Edward Caswell produced?

Secondly, and assuming that Kox was not taking undue liberties with the text - and his style might very well suggest that he was in this case being very literal in his translation - what were the sights that inspired St Bede with his images of fortifications and gateways? In addition to the Apocalypse did he have in mind the undoubtedly extensive remains in his lifetime of Roman town defences and buildings in his native Northumbria? Was he thinking of Hadrian's Wall or Eboracum (York) and peopling them with the Angelic host? What also might his imagery suggest, in a reflex way, about the outward state and display about Northumbrian kingship?

St Bede

Today is the feast of St Bede (673-735), the great historian of the conversion of England and the only English Doctor of the Church (to date).

 

The tomb of St Bede in Durham Cathedral

Image: dur.ac.uk 

Here, from the Office of Readings for today, is the account by the monk Cuthbert of the death of Bede:

"On the Tuesday before Ascension, Bede began to suffer greater difficulties in breathing and his feet began to swell slightly. Nevertheless, he continued to teach us and dictate all day, and made jokes about his illness: “Learn quickly,” he would say, “because I don’t know how long I’ll last: my Creator may take me very soon.” But it seemed to us that he was perfectly conscious of his approaching end.

He spent all night in giving thanks to God. As dawn broke on the Wednesday, he ordered us to finish writing what we had started, and we did this until the third hour [mid-morning]. Afterwards we carried the relics of the saints in solemn procession, as it was the custom to do on that day. One of us stayed with him, and asked him: “Dear master, the book is almost complete, there is one chapter left to go – would it be difficult for you if I asked you to do more dictation?.” “No,” Bede replied, “it is easy. Take your pen and ink, and write quickly” – which he did.

At the ninth hour [mid-afternoon] he said to me “I have a few precious things in my cell: some pepper, some napkins, and some incense. Run quickly and call the priests of the monastery to me, so that I can give to them the few little gifts that God gave me.” When they came he spoke to them in turn, giving advice to each one and begging him to say a Mass and pray for him; which they all willingly promised to do.

They were grief-stricken and wept, especially because he had said that he thought they would not see his face much more in this world. But at the same time it made them glad when he said “It is time – if it is my Maker’s will – to return to him who made me, who shaped me out of nothing and gave me existence. I have lived a long time, and the righteous judge has provided well for me all my life: now the time of my departure is at hand, for I long to dissolve and be with Christ; indeed, my soul longs to see Christ its king in all his beauty.” This is just one saying of his: he said many other things too, to our great benefit – and thus he spent his last day in gladness until the evening.

Then Wilbert (the boy who asked him for dictation) asked him again: “Dear master, there is still one sentence left to write.” “Write it quickly,” he answered. A little later the boy said “now it is completed” and Bede replied “you have spoken truly, it is finished. Hold up my head, because I love to sit facing my holy place, the place where I used to pray, and as I sit I can call upon my Father.”

And so, on the floor of his cell, he sat and sang “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit”; and as he named the Spirit, the Breath of God, he breathed the last breath from his own body. With all the labour that he had given to the praise of God, there can be no doubt that he went into the joys of heaven that he had always longed for."

Quite apart from its description of the peaceful death of man immersed in scripture and prayer, what interests me about this account are the references to Rogation processions and to the concept of offering Mass for an individual soul being well established in England by 735 - these are not late nedeival accretions, and nor was the Northumbrian church primative and folksy - it was very much part of Catholic Christendom.

Peterborough

The church at which my friends were received in Peterborough was The Sacred Heart and St Oswald. I was delighted to find a modern church which by its dedication revived an ancient devotion in the city.

The story can be found in St Bede's Ecclesiastical History of how St Oswald, King of Northumbria 633-641 not only sent out the remains of a feast to the beggars outside, but ordered that the silver plate on which the food was carried be also broken up and given to the poor. His guest, St Aidan, who sensed that Oswald was not long for this world, was so moved that he took the king's right arm and blessed it, with the prayer that it should never decay. When, not long after Oswald was killed in battle at Oswestry by King Penda of Mercia his corpse was hacked to pieces by the victors and displayed. His head eventually returned to the north and is now in the coffin of St Cuthbert at Durham, carried thither by the monks of Lindisfarne when they fled the Vikings. Other relics went to Bardney abbey in Lincolnshire.

St Owald's right arm, incorrupt as a result of St Aidan's prayer, eventually came to Peterborough, and was the principal relic of the abbey. It was kept in a chapel in the south transept of the monastic church, and still venerated by pilgrims, until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 and the later establishment of the diocese in 1541. What happened to the Holy Arm thereafter appears unrecorded. To get some idea of such a royal relic look at my recent post about the "Holy Right" of St Stephen of Hungary here.

St Oswald,
pray for us!

Photo: De Cura Animarum

In the modern church hall there were pictures from a parish pilgrimage to Lindisfarne and Durham, so there is clearly an awareness of the continuing link with St Oswald and a wish to share that with parishioners.

Anglo-Saxon attitudes

St Bede has appeared a bit more than usual in the Divine Office recently. May 25th was his feast day and the second reading for the Visitation on May 31st was from one of his homilies.

Apart from the integral spiritual interest of these readings I was struck by the references in the account by an eye-witness of Bede's last hours read on the saint's day to a Rogation procession with relics on the eve of Ascension and to Bede's request that his fellow monks should remember him with Masses for his soul, whilst his sermon for the Visitation referred to the singing of the Magnificat at Vespers. Nothing exceptional in that, but I realised how easily one can forget that such things were the staple of the life of the early eighth century Church, and be surprised by such direct evidence. I suspect many people in England have a view of the Anglo-Saxon Church as being all homespun missionary stuff, a bit undenominational and, well, Anglican, and not as part of the universal Catholic Church of the West, with all its already long established rituals and ceremonials.

The impression is reinforced by the fact that the not inconsiderable number of Anglo-Saxon church buildings that survive have, inevitably, lost virtually all their decoration, save fragments of sculpture - and that is usually damaged through demolition and rebuilding or through deliberate iconoclasm. The artistic vitality of Anglo-Saxon England needs to be appreciated as part of the institution which sponsored so much of that creativity, that is the Church. It is not something which stands on its own as artistic endeavour, or which by its absence is denied to have ever existed.

What St Bede records or was remembered about him is a valuable corrective to such impressions. His role as a Doctor of the Church is thus linked to his position as an historian and author of unique importance.