by Bede
§ 5. And because your diocese is too extensive, for you alone to go through it, and preach the word of God in every village and hamlet, even if you give a whole year to it; it is necessary that you appoint others to assist you in the holy work, by ordaining priests and nominating teachers who may be zealous in preaching the word of God in every village, and celebrating the holy mysteries, and especially by performing the sacred rites of baptism wherever opportunity may offer. And in setting forth such preaching to the people, I consider it above every other thing important, that you should endeavour to implant deeply in the memory of all men the Catholic faith which is contained in the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lords Prayer as it is taught us in the Holy Gospel. And, indeed, there is no doubt that those who have studied the Latin language will be found to know these well; but the vulgar, that is, those who know only their own language, must be made to say them and repeat them over and over again in their own tongue. This must be done not only in the case of laymen, who are still in the life of the world, but with the clergy or monks, who are without a knowledge of the Latin tongue. For thus every congregation of the faithful will learn in what manner they ought to show their faith, and with what steadfastness of belief they should arm and fortify themselves against the assaults of unclean spirits: and thus every choir of those who pray to God will learn what they ought especially to ask for from the Divine Mercy. Wherefore, also, I have myself often given English translations of both of these, namely, the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, to uneducated priests. For the holy prelate, Ambrose, also, speaking of faith, gives this admonition, that all the faithful should repeat the words of the Creed every morning early, and so fortify themselves as by a spiritual antidote against the poison, which the malignant cunning of the Devil may either by night or by day cast out against them. But that the Lord’s Prayer should be very frequently repeated, as even we have learnt by the habit of earnest deprecation and bending of knees.
§ 6. If your pastoral authority can accomplish these our suggestions in ruling and feeding Christ’s sheep, who shall declare what a heavenly reward you will prepare for yourself before Him who is the Shepherd of shepherds? The fewer examples you find of this holy work among the bishops of our nation, the higher will be your reward for your individual merit, inasmuch as you will by this paternal care and affection stir up and excite God’s people through the frequent repetition of the Creed, or holy prayer, to seek after intelligence, love, hope, and all those same heavenly gifts which are enumerated in their prayers. As, too, on the contrary, if you negligently discharge the duty committed to you by the Lord, you will take part hereafter with the wicked and idle servant for thus withholding your talent; especially if you have presumed to ask and receive from such temporal gifts, on whom you have not thought fit to bestow heavenly gifts in recompense. For when the Lord sent his disciples to preach the Gospel, and said to them, “And as ye go, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” he added, a little farther on, “Freely ye have received, freely give; provide neither gold nor silver.” If, therefore, he ordered them to preach the Gospel freely, and did not permit them to receive gold or silver, or any temporal payment of money from those to whom they preached, what hazard, I would ask, must hang over those who do the contrary?
§ 7. Consider what a heavy crime is committed by those who diligently seek earthly lucre from their hearers, and take no pains for their everlasting salvation, by preaching, exhorting, or rebuking them. Weigh this most anxiously and with the most careful attention, most beloved Prelate. For we have heard it reported, that there are many country-houses and hamlets of our nation situated on inaccessible mountains and thick forests, where, for many years, no bishop comes to perform any of the duties of the holy ministry or Divine grace, yet none of these is free from paying tribute to the bishop; and yet not only is there no bishop among them to confirm by the laying on of hands those who have been baptized, but they have not even any teacher to instruct them in the truth of the faith, and in the difference between good and evil. Thus some of our bishops not only do not freely preach the Gospel and confirm those who have been baptized, but do what is worse; for they receive money from their hearers contrary to God’s commands, and neglect the ministry of the word, which God ordained them to preach: whereas God’s beloved high priest, Samuel, is recorded to have acted very differently, in the judgment of all the people. “Therefore,” says he, “I have dwelt before you from my youth even to this day; behold, here I am; say of me before God, and before his Christ, whether I have taken any one’s ox or ass; whether I have falsely accused any one, or oppressed any one, or taken a gift from the hand of any one; and I will hold it for nought this day, and will restore it to you. And they said, Thou has not accused us falsely; neither hast thou oppressed us, nor taken any thing from the hand of any man.” In reward for his innocence and justice he was numbered among the leaders and priests of God’s people, and in his prayers was heard by God and admitted to converse with him; as the Psalmist says, “Moses and Aaron among his priests and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the Lord and he answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar.”
§ 8. But, if we believe, and confess, that any good is wrought on the faithful by the laying on of hands, whereby they receive the Holy Spirit; it follows, on the contrary, that those who have not the laying on of hands, must be deprived of this benefit. On whom, then, does this privation reflect, if not on the bishops who promise they will be their guardians, but either from neglect or inability perform none of the spiritual duties of a guardian? 1 Cor. vi. 10. Covetousness and nothing else, is the cause of this conduct. Against which the apostle (in whom Christ spake) argues, when he says, “The love of money is the root of all evil;” and again, “Neither shall the covetous inherit the kingdom of God.” For when a bishop, for the love of money, has nominally taken under his guardianship a larger portion of the people than he can by any means visit and preach to the whole year round, it is plain that he is only gathering danger and destruction for himself, as well as those whose false guardian he is.
§ 9. Thus far, most beloved Bishop, have I briefly alluded to the calamity under which our country is suffering most severely, and I earnestly beseech you to strive to rectify what you see done amiss. For I believe you have a ready assistant in so good a labour in King Ceolwulph, who, by his own zeal for religion, will endeavour firmly to lend his aid in whatever relates to the rule of piety, and most especially will exert himself to promote and bring to completion the good works which you, his dearest relation, shall undertake; wherefore I would prudently advise him, that he should in your time make the ecclesiastical establishment of our nation more complete than it has hitherto been. This cannot be better done, in my opinion, than by consecrating more bishops, and following the example of the lawgiver, who, when he found himself unable alone to bear the strife and burden of the whole Israelitish people, moved by Divine inspiration, appointed and consecrated seventy Elders, whose aid and counsel might aid him in discharging his heavy duties. Who is there that does not see how much better it would be to divide the weighty load of ecclesiastical rule among several, who can the more easily bear each his portion, than for the whole weight to be laid on one, — a burden greater than he can bear! For the holy Pope Gregory, in his letters to the blessed Archbishop Augustine concerning the faith of our nation, which was still future and required their exertions to sustain it, ordered him to ordain twelve bishops therein, as soon as they should have embraced the faith, and that the Bishop of York should receive the pallium from the Apostolic See, and become their metropolitan. Wherefore, holy Father, I would wish that you should, under the holy guidance of the above-named king, whom God loveth, endeavour, to the best of your judgment, to make this number of bishops complete, in order that the number of ministers may abound, and the church of Christ be the more fully instructed in those things which pertain to the duties of our holy religion. And, indeed, we know that, by the negligence and foolish donations of
preceding kings, it is not easy to find a vacant place where a new episcopal see may be erected.
§ 10. I should therefore consider it expedient, that a general council should be held, and the consent both of kings and bishops be obtained, that, by a proclamation, a place may be provided among the monasteries, where an episcopal see may be created. And, lest any abbot or monks may endeavour to contravene or oppose this decree, licence should be given them to choose some one from among themselves to be ordained bishop, and to rule with episcopal authority, over the adjoining country belonging to the same diocese, as well as the monastery itself: or, if no one can be found in that monastery fit to be ordained bishop, yet that it shall depend upon their examination, according to the canonical statutes, who shall be ordained bishop of that diocese. By following this suggestion, and with God’s assistance, you will find no difficulty, I think, in fulfilling the appointment of the Apostolic See, and the Bishop of the church of York will become the metropolitan. And, if it appear necessary that any addition of land or property should be made to such a monastery, that it may be the better able to undertake the episcopal duties, there are, as we know well, many places calling themselves monasteries, but exhibiting no sign whatever of a monastic system; some of which I should much like to see transferred by synodical authority, that their present luxury, vanity, and intemperance in meat and drink might be exchanged for chastity, temperance, and piety, and that they may so help to sustain the episcopal see, which is to be created.
§ 11. And, seeing that there are many such large establishments, which, as is commonly said, are of use neither to God nor man, because they neither observe regular monastic life, nor yet supply soldiers or attendants of the secular authorities to defend our shores from barbarians; if any one were, according to the necessities of the times, to erect an episcopal see in such places, he may be shown to incur no blame of prevarication, but rather to be doing an act of virtue. For how can it be accounted a misdeed, that the unjust decrees of former kings should be set right by the correct judgment of princes better than they? or that the lying pen of unrighteous scribes should be destroyed and nullified by the discreet sentence of wiser priests, according to the example of ancient history, which, in describing the times of the kings of Judah, from David and Solomon to Hezekiah, the last of them, shows that some of them were religious, but the greater number reprobate; and that at one time the wicked censured the deeds of the good who went before them, but at another time the good, with the aid of God’s holy spirit, zealously corrected the hurtful deeds of their wicked predecessors, as was their bounden duty, by means of the holy priests and prophets; according to that saying of the holy Prophet Esaias, “To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free.” By which example it behoves your Holiness also, in conjunction with our religious king, to cancel the irreligious and unrighteous deeds and writings of those who lived formerly, and to fix your eye on such things as may benefit this province, either according to God, or according to the flesh; lest, in these our times, either religion cease altogether, (together with the love and fear of Him who seeth into the heart,) or the number of our secular soldiers become lessened, and our borders be no longer defended from the inroads of the barbarians. For, disgraceful though it be to say it, so many estates have been received under the name of monasteries by those who know nothing whatever of the monastic life, as you yourselves know better than I, that the sons of the nobles, or of discharged soldiers, can find no place wherein to receive their possessions; and thus, having nothing to do, and not marrying, though past the age of puberty, they are held by no tie of continence; and therefore either go beyond the sea and abandon their country, which they ought to fight for; or, with still greater wickedness and impudence, not being bound to chastity, become addicted to luxury an fornication, and do not abstain even from the very virgins who are dedicated to God.
§ 12. But others, who are laymen, and have no experience of the regular monastic life, nor any love for the same, commit a still greater scandal: — for they give money to the kings, and under pretence of erecting monasteries they acquire possessions, wherein the more freely to indulge their licentiousness; and procuring these by a royal edict to be assigned over to them in inheritance, they get the deed by which these privileges are confirmed, as if it were a matter worthy of God’s notice, authenticated by the signatures of the bishops, abbots, and secular authorities. And thus, having gained possession of farms and villages, they free themselves from every bond, both human and Divine, and in the character of superiors over monks, though they are but laymen, they do nothing therein but gratify their desires. Nay, it is not monks that are there assembled, but all such as they can pick up, outcasts from other monasteries for disobedience, or men whom they can allure away from other monasteries, or, in short, such of their own followers as they can persuade to receive the tonsure, and promise monastic obedience to themselves. With such ill-sorted societies do they fill the cells which they have built, whilst they present a disgraceful spectacle, never before heard of: for at one time they are occupied with their wives and the care of raising children, and at another time they rise from their beds to occupy themselves with the internal concerns of the monastery. Furthermore they display the same folly in procuring land for their wives, as they say, to erect convents, and these, equally foolish, though also laics, suffer themselves to become the superiors over Christ’s handmaidens. Well suited to them is the proverb that wasps, though they can make combs, yet store them with poison instead of honey.
§ 13. Thus for about thirty years, ever since King Aldfrid was removed from this life, our province has been involved in such folly and error, that there has not been a single præfect since that time, who has not furnished himself during his præfecture with a monastery of this kind, and involved his wife also in the guilt of such wicked traffic; and thus this wicked custom has prevailed, and the king’s ministers and servants have bestirred themselves to do the like. So that numbers of men have been found, who call themselves abbots and præfects, or ministers or servants of the king, who, although as laymen, they may have learnt a little of the monastic life, not by experience, but by hearsay, yet are utterly without share of that character and profession which is required to teach it; and, indeed, such men, as you know, on a sudden submit to the tonsure, and of their own judgment, from laymen, become not monks but abbots. But, inasmuch as they have no knowledge nor love of the above-named excellence, what can be more applicable to them than that malediction of the Gospel, “If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch?” Such blindness might, in truth, some time or other, be put an end to and retrained by regular discipline, and expelled by pontifical and synodical authority beyond the limits of the Holy Church, if the pontiffs themselves were not found to aid and abet such crimes; for they not only do not take care to annul such unrighteous decrees by righteous ones, but rather do all in their power to confirm them by their own subscriptions, as we have said before, prompted by the same love of money to confirm those wicked writings, as the purchasers themselves were to buy such monasteries. I could tell you much more about these and such like traitors to their own cause, by whom our province is grievously vexed, if I did not know that you are yourself well acquainted therewith. For in what I have written to you already, I have not supposed that I was informing you of a thing which you were before ignorant of, but I wished to advise you in a friendly manner, to correct with all diligence faults, of the existence of which you were already well informed.
§ 14. And now I pray and beseech you in the Lord, to protect the flock committed to you from the fury of assailing wolves; and remember that you are appointed to be their shepherd, not a hireling; to show forth your love of the Chief Shepherd, by the skilful feeding of his sheep; and to be ready with the blessed Prince of the Apostles, if occasion require, to lay down your life for the same. Beware, I entreat you, lest on the day of judgment that same Prince of Apostles, and the other leaders of faithful
flocks, present to the Lord the fruits of their pastoral care, whilst among yours may be found a portion, that deserves to be placed on his left hand among the goats, and to depart with curses unto everlasting punishment; nay, even yourself may on that day deserve to be classed among those of whom Esaias said: “He shall be the least among a thousand, and a little one among a strong nation.” For it is your duty most diligently to inquire into whatever right and wrong is done in all the monasteries of your district, that no abbot, who is ignorant of the rules or despises them, and also that no unworthy abbess, be placed over any society of Christ’s servants or handmaidens. And on the other hand, that no contemptuous and undisciplined society of contumacious hearers spurn against the supervision of their spiritual masters; and this the more especially, since you say, that all inquiry into what is done within the walls of a monastery belongs to you, and not to the king, or any of the secular princes, save when any one in the monasteries is found to have offended against the princes themselves. It is your duty, I say, to provide, lest the Devil usurp the sovereignty in places dedicated to the Lord; lest discord take the place of peace, strife of piety, drunkenness of sobriety, and fornication and murder reign instead of charity and chastity; lest there be found among you some, of whom it may truly be said, “I saw the wicked buried, who, when they were alive, were in the holy place, and were praised in the city, as if of righteous deeds.”