Introduction
Unlike some later chroniclers, Bede did not transpose well-known miracles from one saint to another. He researched authentic miracles of Northumbrian saints and found close (but never exact) matches in the lives of saints from the Roman Empire, to show that Christianity in the British Isles was cut from the same cloth.
POPE Gregory* tells how St Benedict of Nursia founded a hill-side monastery above a lake.* However, the path down to the lake proved dangerous for the monks when fetching water, so without telling them Benedict climbed up to the monastery, and laid three stones at a certain spot nearby before stealing back down the mountain. Next morning, he told the monks to go look for the stones. They found them beaded with water, dug beneath them, and a spring welled up.*
Bede asked us to remember this, as he told how Cuthbert had moved from Lindisfarne to Inner Farne, a small island further out to sea, only to find it bare and dry. He called the Lindisfarne monks around, and reminded them that Moses had brought water from a rock in the wilderness. After they had prayed, together they hacked out a hollow in the rocky ground and left it overnight. Next morning, it was full of water; and it never overflowed or ran dry.
Pope Gregory I ‘the Great’ (?540-604) was ultimately responsible for the mission of St Augustine of Canterbury to England in 597. He is held to be saint in the Eastern churches. See The Baptism of Kent.
St Benedict of Nursia (480-547) established a supremely influential ‘rule’ for communities of monks, drawing on those of St Basil the Great (329-379), St Pachomius (?292-348) and St John Cassian (?360-?435) in the East, all of them inspired ultimately by the example of St Anthony of Egypt (251-356). Benedict’s rule was followed in the monasteries of Bede’s Northumbria.
See also The Life-Giving Spring, which tells of a miraculous spring at Constantinople which is celebrated every year in the week after Easter Day.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Dangerous. Grind. Mountain.
2 Above. Beneath. Certain.
3 Further. Remind. Rocky.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding im-.
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Left. 2. Hack. 3. Spring. 4. Ground. 5. Well. 6. Rock. 7. Found. 8. Down.
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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