Saints

Monk. Born in Northumbria in 673, Bede studied at the newly-founded monastery of Wearmouth, and then Jarrow. Here he became a monk, and spent the rest of his life - probably travelling no further afield than York and Lindisfarne. The Venerable Bede said: "I have devoted my energies to the study of the Scriptures. Observing monastic discipline, singing the daily services in church, study, teachin... Read More

St David of Scotland Scotland's greatest king was the sixth and youngest son of St Margaret of Scotland and Malcolm III, born in 1085. He married Matilda, daughter of Waldef, the Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northampton and Huntingdon, which gave him a claim to the earldom Northumberland. For many years he waged a long and unsuccessful war against England, but after being crowned king of Scotland in 112... Read More

Priest, reformer and founder. The son of a lawyer, Philip Neri was born in Florence in 1515. He was educated by the Dominicans before being apprenticed to an uncle's mercantile business. At 17 he went to Rome where he became a tutor in the house of a nobleman, wrote poetry, and studied theology and philosophy. From 1538 he formed a brotherhood of laymen who met together to pray and work with pilg... Read More