St. Aidans Day, 31st August

Everlasting God
you sent the gentle bishop Aidan
to proclaim the gospel in this land:
grant us to live as he taught
in simplicity, humility, and love for the poor;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen


FROM the aforesaid island, and college of monks, was Aidan sent to instruct the English nation in Christ, .... it was the highest commendation of his doctrine, with all men, that he taught no otherwise than he and his followers had lived; for he neither sought nor loved any thing of this world, but delighted in distributing immediately among the poor whatsoever was given him by the kings or rich men of the world. He was wont to traverse both town and country on foot, never on horseback, unless compelled by some urgent necessity; and wherever in his way he saw any, either rich or poor, he invited them, if infidels, to embrace the mystery of the faith or if they were believers, to strengthen them in the faith, and to stir them up by words and actions to alms and good works.


...... whatsoever gifts of money he received from the rich, he either distributed them, as has been said, to the use of the poor, or bestowed them in ransoming such as had been wrong. fully sold for slaves. Moreover, he afterwards made many of those he had ransomed his disciples, and after having taught and instructed them, advanced them to the order of priesthood.


...It is reported, that when King Oswald had asked a bishop of the Scots to administer the word of faith to him and his nation, there was first sent to him another man of more austere disposition, who, meeting with no success, and being unregarded by the English people, returned home, and in an assembly of the elders reported, that he had not been able to do any good to the nation he had been sent to preach to, because they were uncivilized men, and of a stubborn and barbarous disposition. 

They, as is testified, in a great council seriously debated what was to be done, being desirous that the nation should receive the salvation it demanded, and grieving that they had not received the preacher sent to them. 

Then said Aidan, who was also present in the council, to the priest then spoken of, "I am of opinion, brother, that you were more severe to your unlearned hearers than you ought to have been and did not at first, conformably to the apostolic rule, give them the milk of more easy doctrine, till being by degrees nourished with the word of God, they should be capable of greater perfection, and be able to practice God's sublimer precepts." Having heard these words, all present began diligently to weigh what he had said, and presently concluded, that he deserved to be made a bishop, and ought to be sent to instruct the incredulous and unlearned; since he was found to be endued with singular discretion, which is the mother of other virtues, and accordingly being ordained, they sent him to their friend, King Oswald, to preach; and he, as time proved, afterwards appeared to possess all other virtues, as well as the discretion for which he was before remarkable.

source: Bede. My emphasis. 

A Patron Saint for the Persecuted

A Greek boy, with a father from modern-day Turkey and a mother from modern-day Palestine, who grows up to be a soldier in the Roman army. George may be a fitting patron saint for an island whose 'locals' have emerged from many strata of immigration, and continue to do so.

Perhaps the key thing to remember about him is that he was a public servant who faced immense pressure over being a Christian in his place of work. He served Emperor Diocletian as a soldier, and when Diocletian ordered that every soldier should sacrifice to the Roman gods and every Christian in the army should be arrested, George refused to back down on his faith. When a combination of bribes and torture failed to break his will or his trust in Jesus, he was martyred 1710 years ago today.

As I've written before, Aidan is a much better candidate for a local patron saint of England (or in these parts, Boniface, a Devonian apostle to Germany). But George's story points to global issue. Discrimination against Christians in this country is nothing like the vicious  persecution experience in other places - topping the list is another megalomaniac emperor, followed by a raft of places where the official religion (Islam) holds totalitarian sway. But there are signs that our government and public sector culture is hardening against Christians, both globally and locally. There is a steady feed of stories of discrimination within the UK.

The challenge of St. George is for Christians to live with courage, integrity and generosity in the public sector and in the workplace, so that even those who oppose the Christian faith can't find fault in the behaviour and character of Christians. It also calls for Christians to have more confidence in what they believe in.  Only 8 years after George's death, an edict across the Roman empire gave official tolerance to the Christian faith. A year after that came the conversion of Emperor Constantine, and the rest is history.

St. George? Here Be Dragons, I'm with Aidan.

this is a repost from a couple of years ago, and still stands:

Theologian Ian Bradley called for St. Aidan to be made the new patron saint of England. Not just England, but the entire UK:

He said: "St George had nothing to do with Britain and his legend was brought back here with the Crusades. St Andrew similarly had no links with Scotland and St Patrick was born in Scotland or England and put into slavery by the Irish. On the other hand, St Aidan unites three of the countries by having lived there and is, I believe, a better symbol for Britishness.

"It's like Billy Bragg says in his song 'Take Down the Union Jack' about Britain; 'It's not a proper country, it doesn't have a patron saint'. Aidan was the sort of hybrid Briton that sums up the overlapping spiritual identities of Britain.

"He also makes a good patron saint of Britain because of his character. He was particularly humble and believed in talking directly to people. When he was given a horse by King Oswald of Northumbria, he immediately gave it away because he was worried that he would not be able to communicate properly.

"He was also not shy of reprimanding the mighty and powerful about their failings. He saw it as part of his job to remind secular rulers not to get above themselves. At a time when we are thinking about what makes Britishness, he had a sense of openness and diversity for his time that I think makes him a good candidate as the patron saint of Britain."

I guess the fact that Aidan actually did some of the things he's said to have done might count in his favour as well.

Update: as RevEv notes in the comments, the idea of Aidan for the UK ignores the fact that the Welsh have a decent patron saint already in St. David. I'm struck by the irony of the BNP launching their election campaign with a dressed up 'St. George', someone who'd not be allowed into the country if they had anything to do with it.

St. Aidans Day

Leave me alone with God as much as may be.

As the tide draws the waters close in upon the shore,

Make me an island,

set apart,

alone with you, God, holy to you.

Then with the turning of the tide

prepare me to carry your presence to the busy world beyond,

the world that rushes in on me

till the waters come again and fold me back to you.

links

Aidans Prayer

Brief biography

Nice reflection on Aidans life and example here.

Why St. Aidan should be patron saint of England.

The Community of Aidan and Hilda.

St. Aidan vs St. George

Despite the praise heaped upon St. George by J.John and others, I still maintain that St. Aidan would be a more fitting patron saint for England. Missionary, Northerner, and actually lived here.

Fellow Twitterers have suggested St. Alban, St. Cuthbert and St. Edmund. Any more contenders out there?

St. Aidans Day

... is today, 31st August. Here's a bit about the patron saint of this blog:

Aidan was born in Ireland in the late sixth century and later became a monk of Iona in Scotland before being sent to Northumbria to evangelise the intractable English. Being a gentle person, Aidan successfully put into effect the basic principle of starting where people are and leading them a step at a time to the knowledge of Christ

more here and here. A community which tries to live in the spirit of Aidan is the Community of Aidan and Hilda, based on Lindisfarne but with members in all sorts of places. If you're anywhere in the North-East, I can recommend their 'Open Gate' as a retreat house and place to stay.

Saint Swap: St. Aidan for St. George

Theologian Ian Bradley is calling for St. Aidan to be made the new patron saint of England. Not just England, but the entire UK:

He said: "St George had nothing to do with Britain and his legend was brought back here with the Crusades. St Andrew similarly had no links with Scotland and St Patrick was born in Scotland or England and put into slavery by the Irish. On the other hand, St Aidan unites three of the countries by having lived there and is, I believe, a better symbol for Britishness.

"It's like Billy Bragg says in his song 'Take Down the Union Jack' about Britain; 'It's not a proper country, it doesn't have a patron saint'. Aidan was the sort of hybrid Briton that sums up the overlapping spiritual identities of Britain.

"He also makes a good patron saint of Britain because of his character. He was particularly humble and believed in talking directly to people. When he was given a horse by King Oswald of Northumbria, he immediately gave it away because he was worried that he would not be able to communicate properly.

"He was also not shy of reprimanding the mighty and powerful about their failings. He saw it as part of his job to remind secular rulers not to get above themselves. At a time when we are thinking about what makes Britishness, he had a sense of openness and diversity for his time that I think makes him a good candidate as the patron saint of Britain."

Ht Libby Purves. Of course you know what I think already. What better patron saint for a country than a missionary monk and a Northerner?