The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): JanuaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): January
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
little south of the Tyne.[40] This gave the name of Wearmouth to the new
monastery, which was dedicated to S. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles,
according to the express wish of Egfrid, in agreement with that of
Benedict, as an evidence of his leanings towards Rome.
This foundation was no sooner assured, than the unwearied Benedict took
ship again, to seek in France masons to build him a stone church, in the
Roman style, for everything that came from Rome was dear to him. The
church was carried on with so much energy, that, a year after the first
stone was laid, the church was roofed in, and mass was celebrated under
one of those stone arches which excited the surprise of the English in
the seventh century. He brought glass-makers also from France, for there
were none in England; and these foreign workmen, after having put glass
into the windows of the church and new monastery, taught their art to
the Anglo-Saxons. Animated by a zeal which nothing could discourage, and
inspired by intelligent patriotism, and a sort of passion for beauty in
art, which shrank neither from fatigue nor care, he sent to seek beyond
the seas all that he could not find in England--all that seemed
necessary to him for the ornamentation of his church; and not finding
even in France all he wanted, he went for the fifth time to Rome. Even
this was not his last visit, for some years later he made a sixth
pilgrimage. On both occasions he brought treasures back with him,
chiefly books in countless quantities, and of every kind. He was a
passionate collector, as has been seen, from his youth. He desired each
of his monasteries to possess a great library, which he considered
indispensable to the instruction, discipline, and good organization of
the community; and reckoned upon the books as the best means of
retaining his monks in their cloisters; for much as he loved travelling
himself, he did not approve of other monks passing their time on the
highways and byways, even under pretext of pilgrimages.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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