St. Bede—25th May. Bede»The Father of English History» was born in 673 in Monkton in Northumbria. and was an English monk at the monastery of Saint Peter´s at Monkwearmouth and later at its sister monastery Saint Paul´s in Jarrow. From the tender age of 7 he had been entrusted inthe monks care by his parents. He was a model brother whose self disciplinedevotion and application were as notable as his scholarly achievements which were numerous. In 703 he was ordained to the priest hood by Saint John Beverly this was unusual for his time as monks were rarely ordained . Bede had many strings to his bow academically he produced an amazing literary harvest, his most famous work being «Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum» (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) Bede died in Jarrow at the monastery in 735 having just finished his last sentence of the translation of St Johns Gospel in to old English, his translations form Greek and Latin to English allowed the writings of the early Church fathers to be more comprehensive to his fellowSaxons.Leo X111him as the only English Doctor of the Church in 1899. He was buried at Jarrow before beingre-interred inside Durham Cathedral.
St. Philip Neri – 26th May. Philip Romolo Neri Known as «The Apostle of Rome»born in 1515 in Florence in Italy.At the age of 18he decided to commit his life to God while praying in the catacombs of St Sebastiano,here he experienced a globe of light that entered his mouth and moved to his heart. His heart was literally on fire for the love of God and he began serving the poor , sick and needy. In 1551 he was ordained as a priest at the Church of San Girolamo. Philip was a charismatic character who possessed a good sense of humour and plenty of zeal this enabled him to draw many worshippers who met him inadesignated room calledOratory to discuss spiritual matters ,pray and strengthen their faith. This group under the direction of Philip and a fellow priest Buonsignore Cacciaguerra established their own foundationas the Congregation of the Oratory . Philip was a great seeker of humility and practised and taught spiritual mortification, hein May 1595 after a long drawn out illness and was canonized in 1622.When his body underwent autopsy it was discovered that two of his ribs had been broken an incident attributed to the globe of lightthat infused his heartwhich swelled with desire for God.
St. Augustine of Canterbury – 27th May. St Augustine was a seventh century monk and the first Archbishop of Canterbury. He is considered the «Apostle to the English» and founder and Doctor of the English Church . Born in Italy he enrolled as a monk on the Celian hill where he became prior. In 597 under the authority of Pope Gregory the Greathe was sent to England along with 30 fellow monkslead a great evangelistic Christianize King Ethelbert and his Kingdom of Kent from Anglo- Saxon paganism .In 597 he landed on the island of Thanet and proceeded to Canterbury.was consecrated as bishop he was a powerful preacherconverted King Ethelbert and many of his subjects including thousands duringmass baptism on Christmas day in 597.Augustine established his See at Canterbury and built Britain´s first Cathedral there he also founded a Benedictine monastery known as» St Peter and St Pauls» now referred to as St Augustine´s. He died in 605 many miracles were attributed to him.
