A man of eloquence , prayer , peaceful , humble , and with care for the sick and poor

[Rob2]

St Aidan​

Celebrated on August 31st

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A monk of Iona, off the Scottish maniland , the first bishop and abbot of Lindisfarne. he was born in Ireland, St Aidan came to England in the 7th century when King Oswald was living in exile with the monks at Iona, during the Mercian invasion. The King became Christian and when he regained his throne he gave Aidan the island of Lindisfarne, close to the royal palace of Bamburgh.

Aidan converted many people. He founded churches and monasteries, liberated Anglo Saxon slaves and educated them. Aidan had a reputation for living very modestly. After Oswald died Aidan supported King Oswin and the two became good friends. One day Oswin gave him a fine horse but he gave it away to a poor man almost immediately. During Lent he went on retreat to the Inner Farne Island. In 651, he saw Bamburgh being burnt by Fenda, another militant King of Mercia. He prayed successfully for the wind to change, but died later that year.

The Vikings sacked Lindisfarne in 793 and St Aidan was forgotten for a while, but in the 10th century the monks of Glastonbury obtained his supposed relics and his cult was revived.

Bede praised him for his eloquence, his prayerfulness, peaceful nature, humility and care of the sick and poor.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Rob,

Thanks for alerting us to this dear Saint whom we celebrate on this date: August 31. He is not mentioned on the Calendar I use (sent by the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC). All the saints are dear brothers and sisters to me, and of course Mary our Mother and Model is Queen of all Saints.

I also appreciate icons of Saints. My favorite of Mary is Our Lady of Vladimir also called Our Lady of Mercy. Today – since I’m in Wk 2 - Day 6 of St. Louis de Montfort’s 33 Day Preparation for renewing my Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, I’m very aware of the Holy Spirit’s overshadowing of Mary and her unique role in God’s plan. I’m sure St. Aidan must have loved Mary in a special way, for he could not have been a man of prayer, without God’s Grace coming to Him through Mary. I do not know the artist who did this sketch, below but it is my “homescreen” when I open my computer:

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Our Lady of Light, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, pray for us. Mary, Mother and Model of the Church, pray for us. St. Aidan and all you Holy Saints and Angles pray for us.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful; kindle in us the Fire of Your Love! Jesus, we trust in You!

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I found a Catholic collect for him, finally. I usually try to find the collect for the saints of the day because if you prayerfully say it on the saint’s feast day, there is an indulgence. Catholic Culture has many of the current calendar saints and Liturgia Latina has a lot of the old 1962 missal saints, and I have collected various other old public domain references, web pages for orders, etc. to find as many as I can. But many saints not on the US calendar are really hard to find, and I don’t want to pray an Anglican collect.

Fortunately another Catholic on Reddit was looking for St. Aidan’s Catholic collect also, and another person provided it:

Lord,
you called our fathers to the light of the gospel
by the preaching of Saint Aidan
By his prayers help us to grow in the love and knowledge
of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

I seem to recall a good old British folk rock band called Lindisfarne.