Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne

Life story

Aidan was an Irish monk living on Iona, the monastery founded by Columba. His birth year is not known. When Oswald became king of Northumbria, he had spent his exile on Iona, and he asked the community to send someone to preach to his people. The first man sent was unsuccessful, and Aidan was chosen to replace him.

In 635 Aidan arrived in Northumbria and was made bishop. He set his see on the island of Lindisfarne, near the royal fortress of Bamburgh. According to Bede, he travelled mostly on foot to meet people and taught with gentleness, and on occasion King Oswald himself translated for him because Aidan did not yet speak English well. He founded a monastery at Lindisfarne, trained English boys, and supported many religious women, among them Hilda, whom he appointed abbess of Hartlepool.

After Oswald's death in 642, Aidan went on serving under the later kings. He died on 31 August 651 at Bamburgh, according to Bede in a tent propped against the church wall. His relics were later placed at Lindisfarne. Bede wrote of him at length with praise for his simple life and zeal, although he disagreed with Aidan's method of dating Easter. The Church keeps his feast on 31 August. His method of work, as Bede describes it, was to walk among ordinary people, speak with them, and give away the gifts that wealthy hearers pressed on him. The monastery he founded at Lindisfarne sent missionaries on into Mercia, Essex and other English kingdoms in the following decades.

Works and witness

• Monk of Iona, invited to Northumbria by King Oswald
• Established the see of Lindisfarne in 635
• Trained English boys as monks and priests
• Appointed Hilda abbess of Hartlepool
• Died at Bamburgh in 651

Saints from the same country

Saint Thomas Becket, Saint Thomas More, Saint Carlo Acutis, Saint Bede the Venerable

References

• Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
• Martyrologium Romanum
• Adomnán, Vita Columbae

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.