Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne

Mission and Pastoral Method

Aidan's missionary work proceeded chiefly on foot. Bede records that he would walk from one village to another, conversing with the people he met and gradually drawing them toward the Christian faith rather than compelling them. Because Aidan and his monks did not at first speak English, King Oswald, who was fluent in Irish Gaelic from his years at Iona, often acted as their interpreter.

Over the course of his episcopate Aidan built churches, monasteries, and schools across Northumbria and trained a number of young Englishmen for future leadership in the Church. His see at Lindisfarne became a principal center from which Christianity spread through northern England.

Asceticism and Charity

Bede portrays Aidan as a man of strict personal asceticism and notable generosity. He traveled on foot rather than by horse, provided for orphans, and used gifts he received to ransom people who had been wrongfully sold into slavery. He was remembered for directing his charity toward the poor rather than the powerful.

Successors and Legacy

Aidan was succeeded at Lindisfarne by Finan, who governed the see from 651 to 661 and built a substantial timber church there. The monastery continued as a major spiritual center of the north under later bishops, including Cuthbert. Aidan himself is honored as the Apostle of Northumbria.

By tradition, in the eleventh century monks of Glastonbury obtained relics said to be those of Aidan. The principal historical source for his life remains the account of Bede.