Coffee & Saints

Born: 672/673, Monkton in Jarrow
Died: May 25, 735, Jarrow

What I appreciate about St. Bede the Venerable:
He did not reach the masses by preaching loudly; instead he was able to bring the Lord to Europe and beyond by his writings from his cell at the monestary.

Coffee Order:
I picture Saint Bede the Venerable choosing a cold brew coffee.

For our coffee outing today, I think the Saint that I chose for this week, Saint Bede the Venerable, would choose a dimly lit coffee shop filled with old books on the walls, nice art work, and armchairs for seating. Saint Bede was a very intelligent man; I believe that he would choose a place where we could hear each other well – no background music or too many other people. Just the sounds of coffee brewing and milk being steamed.

Being that he was so well-read, I think we would enjoy chatting with one another over cold brews. He not only had a huge impact on the Catholic Church, he also had lasting impact on our world today. His was a chronologist who brought the timeline that most of us grew up with where we used AD (the time of our Lord) when giving a date in History.

I am not a history buff by any means; just ask my history teacher bestie! It is a little sad how lost I am when she gets into her “history rants” as we lovingly call them! It is not that I do not find history necessary or that I think it is boring, it is just not what I am drawn towards personally. I am much more drawn to writing, drawing, baking, and other creative pursuits. So at our coffee outing I would bring my friend along with me because I would very much enjoy watching the two of them talk history together.

Together in the quiet coffee shop, I wish that I could ask him about his upbringing. History does not leave us with much about his parents or how he was raised. What we do know is that he was sent to live in the monastery starting at just seven years old. Abbott Saint Benedict Bisco was the one was charged with looking after him. This is so very different than growing up in a traditional home with parents. Was he a difficult child? Was he hushed when running through the hallways? Did he sit quietly during prayer or squirm like my own children in Mass?

I can see the sorrow in his eyes as he tells me about the severe plague that overtook the monastery, killing all of the monks except for Bede and one other – Abbot Ceolfrid. How devastating! He was young at the time and must have felt so scared. Abbot Ceolfrid and Saint Bede did not give up on the Lord; they continued their daily prayers together as just the two of them.

Living with the monks was clearly a positive to him as he was ordained a deacon at nineteen and a priest at thirty. The monks must have felt so incredibly proud at seeing him enter fully into the priesthood. They had taken care of this young man as a child, teaching him the ways of the Lord, and now he was claiming the faith fully as his own. Any parent or guardian of the faith would feel so excited to witness it!

Every teenager is different and I do wonder what he was like. Because he was so smart was he the type to correct his teachers? I can so very well picture him lifting his hand and setting the record straight. How did he get along with his peers? Did they do well together or was he better friends with those who were older?

As he found his passion in writing and research, he spent much of his time analyzing the scriptures – writing in allegory. I find this really interesting because what he was doing was attempting to understand the deeper meaning of the texts. He was not mocking the scriptures or trying to change them; he was using critical thinking to understand it on a higher level. That would not only take a huge amount of patience and time; it would also take creativity. While he was known for being extremely smart, I would love to learn more from him about this side of him: the creative side.

He lived in a cell in the monastery, probably never leaving except for short visits to other monasteries to teach. While living in solitude he spent much of his time writing: more than forty books! He also used his creativity to write poetry. Everything that he wrote pointed back to the Lord, giving Him all of the glory.

Saint Bede may not have been out preaching to the masses; however, his writings from the isolated cell impacted Europe and beyond! God chose this man to bring others to recognize Him in these writings. Whenever I sit down to write, I begin in prayer, asking God to help guide my thoughts. I know in my heart that Saint Bede did this very thing. He was not out to receive love and devotion from fans; he was trying to bring God to the people.

To me, Saint Bede is a wonderful example of living one’s vocation well. He set aside his wants and desires and chose to follow the Lord. How incredible it must have been to enter the gates of Heaven and be welcomed by the Lord waiting with open arms. He continues to pray for us today, that we may recognize God in everything we do and to live our vocations in His Will. May we all pray for Saint Bede’s intercession that we follow God’s plan and not our own.

Prayer:
Saint Bede, you were a very smart and creative man who desired to follow the Will of the Lord. Pray for us, Saint Bede, that we may choose to follow God’s plan and not our own, even when it means that we must put our comfort aside. May we, like you, find our passion in life and use it to bring glory to God and to lead others to Him. Saint Bede the Venerable, Doctor of the Church, pray for us!

I hope you enjoyed learning about this Saint! The artwork above was created using AI and my own imagination – this is how I picture what it would be like to sit with Saint Bede in a coffeeshop today. I would love for you to share your own thoughts in the comments. How do you picture Saint Bede? What do you think he would have ordered at a coffee shop? Let me know below!

Cheers! ☕
Maggie