ST. AIDAN (AUG. 31ST)

 

The Life of St. Aidan of Lindisfarne

Edited by Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)

St. Aidan, also known St. Aidan of Lindisfarne and the Apostle of Northumbria, lived from about 590 until 31 August 651. He was an Irish monk and missionary who is said to have restored Christianity to Northumbria after a time of initial evangelization and decline. In 635 he founded a monastic settlement on the tidal coast of Lindisfarne and served as its missionary bishop.

Little is known of St. Aidan's early life, except that he was of Irish descent and upbringing. He seems to have served from a young age at the monastery founded by St Columba on Iona. Roman Britain had been a Christian society by the time the Romans withdrew, but under the Anglo-Saxons it reverted to paganism. The turning point came as a result of Oswald of Northumbria, later known as Saint Oswald, who had been in exile on Iona from the age of 12 in 616. Oswald was baptized as a Christian, and when he became King of Northumbria in 634 he invited monks from the monastery on Iona to help him convert his subjects to Christianity.

The mission was initially under the control of a bishop named Cormán, but his approach was seen as harsh and unsympathetic and he only succeeded in alienating those he was trying to convert. Cormán returned in failure to Iona in 635, and was replaced by Aidan. Aidan chose the island of Lindisfarne as his base, and founded a monastery there. He then set out, with his supporters, to walk the length and breadth of Northumbria. Over the years that followed he converted the Northumbrians though personal piety and the power of his example. Almost as an aside he was also responsible for founding the precursor to Melrose Abbey.

King Oswald died in 642, but the momentum towards conversion was unstoppable and St. Aidan worked closely with Oswald's heir, Oswine of Deira. Twelve days before his death, Bamburgh Castle, within sight of Lindisfarne Monastery, had come under attack. It is said that Aidan saw the smoke from the fires and knelt in prayer. The wind immediately changed and the smoke miraculously blew back in the faces of the attackers, who withdrew as a result.

Around this time, Oswine was betrayed and murdered during this conflict, and just two weeks later Aidan died, on the 31st August, 651. He had become ill while on one of his incessant missionary tours. Aidan is said to have died on a spot now included within the structure of St Aidan's Church in Bamburgh, and he was buried on Lindisfarne within the grounds of his monastery.

After his death, despite his relative obscurity, St. Aidan’s reputation grew amongst the Celts, Angles, Saxons and the Normans. His veneration was increased after the Venerable Bede’s writing about him was popularized and Glastonbury monks built a shrine around some of his relics. After the Reformation, his collected relics were interred at St. Aidan's Church, Bamburgh, where they rest in anticipation of Christ's Return and the Resurrection! Through St. Aidan's postmortem testimony as a faithful witness to the mercy of God, he eventually became on of England's greatest saints, and is remembered as one of the important pillars of missions and evangelism amongst English-speaking peoples. May St. Aidan’s example shine brightly in the hearts of all Orthodox Christians who wish to see Christ’s Gospel proclaimed to all the world! 

Blessed Feast of St. Aidan! St. Aidan, pray for us! 

The Grave of St. Aidan at His Church in Bamburgh

(Portions of the text come from “Undiscovered Scotland: Saints of the Highlands” and the Wikipedia article on St. Aidan)