Saint Aidan de Lindisfarne
Évêque-abbé (✝ 651)
Moine missionnaire irlandais venant du monastère fondé par Saint Colomba sur l'île de Iona, il établit la religion chrétienne dans le district de Lindisfarne en Angleterre et devint, vers 635, évêque du pays qu'il avait converti.
A lire: saint Aidan, premier habitant de Holy Island de Lindisfarne - site en anglais.
À Lindisfarne en Northumbrie, l’an 653, saint Aidan, évêque et abbé. Homme de grande piété, d’extrême mansuétude et de sage autorité, il fut appelé du monastère d’Iona par le roi saint Oswald, et il établit dans cette île son siège épiscopal et son monastère, pour travailler efficacement à répandre l’Évangile dans ce royaume d’Angleterre.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1767/Saint-Aidan-de-Lindisfarne.html
St. Oswald bei Freistadt ( Upper Austria ). Saint Oswald parish church - Bronze portal (1989) showing scenes of the life of Saint Oswald of Northumbria, by Jakob Kopp: King Oswald making Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne bishop of Northumbria.
Par ses actions, il montra que jamais il ne chercha ni n'aima les biens de ce monde; les présents que le roi ou les riches lui offraient, il les donnait aux pauvres. Il vint rarement à la table royale, et jamais sans y emmener l'un ou l'autre de son clergé, et se hâtant toujours de quitter pour rejoindre ses tâches. Le centre de son activité était Lindisfarne, au large de la côte du Northumberland, entre Berwick et Bamburgh. Là, il établit un monastère sous la Règle de saint Columcille (Columba d'Iona); il n'était pas inapproprié de l'appeler l'Iona anglais, parce que de là, le paganisme fut progressivement éliminé en Northumbrie et les coutumes barbares sapées. La communauté n'était pas autorisée à accumuler des richesses; les surplus étaient utilisés pour les besoins des pauvres et le rachat avec affranchissement des esclaves (manumission). De Lindisfarne, Aidan voyagea à pied à travers le diocèse, visitant son troupeau et fondant des centres missionnaires.
L'apostolat d'Aidan fut facilité par des miracles innombrables, rapportés par saint Bede (25 mai) qui rédigea sa biographie. Il fut aussi aidé par le fait qu'Aidan prêcha en Irlandais et que le roi fit la traduction. Saint Aidan fit entrer 12 jeunes Anglais dans son monastère, pour les y élever, et il était infatigable pour s'occuper du bien-être des enfants et des esclaves, et pour l'affranchissement de ces derniers, il utilisa pour leur manumission nombre des aumônes qu'on lui accorda.
Le grand roi saint Oswald assista son évêque de toutes les manières possibles jusqu'à sa mort à la bataille contre le roi païen Penda en 642. Une belle histoire préservée par saint Bède nous rapporte qu'Oswald était attablé pour dîner un jour de Pâques, saint Aidan à ses côtés, quand on lui apprit qu'un grand groupe de pauvres demandait l'aumône à la porte. Prenant un plat en argent massif, il le chargea avec la viande de sa propre table et ordonna de la distribuer parmi les pauvres, puis qu'on brisa le plat d'argent et qu'on en partagea les morceaux entre les pauvres. Aidan, nous dit Bède, prit la main droite du roi, disant "Que jamais cette main ne périsse!" Sa bénédiction s'accomplit. Après la mort d'Oswald, son bras droit incorrompu fut conservé comme sainte relique.
Saint Oswin (20 août), le successeur de saint Oswald, soutint aussi l'apostolat d'Aidan. Et lorsqu'en 651, Oswin fut assassiné par Gilling, Aidan ne lui survécut que 11 jours. Il mourût au château royal de Bamburgh, qu'il utilisait comme centre missionnaire, gisant contre un mur de l'église où une tente avait été dressée pour l'abriter. Il fut d'abord enterré dans le cimetière de Lindisfarne, mais quand la nouvelle église Saint-Pierre fut achevée, on y transféra son corps. Les moines de Lindisfarne, fuyant les attaques répétées des Vikings, abandonnèrent leur sainte île en 875, emportant les reliques de saint Oswald et saint Aidan placées dans le cercueil contenant le corps incorrompu de saint Cuthbert. Durant 100 ans, les moines errèrent, s'installant de ci de là, et fondant des églises. En 995, craignant une nouvelle attaque des envahisseurs Danois, les moines s'enfuirent à nouveau avec leurs précieuses reliques. Selon la tradition, quand les moines approchèrent de la ville de Durham, le cercueil devint de plus en plus lourd, et un moine eut un songe dans lequel Cuthbert dit que son corps trouverait son repos final à "Dunholme". Aucun des moines ne connaissait un tel lieu mais, interrogeant les villageois, ils entendirent 2 femmes parler d'une vache perdue qui se serait égarée dans "le Dunholme". Les moines investiguèrent ce détail et découvrirent que c'était un promontoire boisé sur une boucle de la Rivière Wear, où de nos jours se trouve la cathédrale de Durham.
Les moines de Glastonbury affirmèrent que dès le 11ième siècle, ils possédaient les ossements de saint Aidan de Lindisfarne (Northumberland). Nous savons que ce n'était pas le corps entier, car il est reconnu que la moitié du corps se trouve à Iona en Écosse, et une partie du restant se trouve à la cathédrale de Durham. Saint dont le corps n'était pas entier et pourtant le plus ancien enregistré, il semble qu'Aidan est le seul saint "nordique" dont les reliques furent amenées au sud à Glastonbury par Tyccea, bien qu'apparemment pas sous la menace Viking.
Saint Bède loue hautement l'Irlandais Aidan qui fit tant pour porter l'Évangile à ses frères Anglo-Saxons. "Jamais il ne rechercha ni n'aima quoique ce soit de ce monde, mais fit ses délices à distribuer immédiatement aux pauvres quoique ce soit que rois ou riches du monde lui donnèrent. Il traversa villes et pays à pied, jamais à cheval, sauf si pressé par une urgente nécessité. Partout où il rencontrait quelqu'un, riche ou pauvre, il l'invitait, si païen, à embrasser le mystère de la Foi; ou s'il s'agissait d'un croyant, il cherchait à le renforcer dans leur Foi, exhortant par des paroles et actions pour les aumônes et bonnes oeuvres."
Il écrivit que saint Aidan "était un homme d'une gentillesse remarquable, bon et modéré, zélé pour Dieu; mais pas complètement selon la connaissance..." Par cela, Bède veut dire qu'Aidan suivait et enseignait la Liturgie et les coutumes disciplinaires des Chrétiens Celtes, qui différaient de ceux de la Chrétienté continentale romaine. Montague note qu'un des efforts de l'éducation anglo-saxonne dirigée par les moines Irlandais était que l'écriture anglaise se distinguait par son orthographe irlandaise. Aidan amena en Irlande la coutume du jeûne du mercredi et du vendredi (voir Didachè).
Dans l'art, on représente Saint Aidan en évêque avec en main le monastère de Lindisfarne et un cerf à ses pieds (parce que la tradition rapporte que sa prière rendit invisible un cerf poursuivit par des chasseurs). Il peut aussi être représenté
(1) tenant une torche allumée;
(2) donnant un cheval à un pauvre;
(3) calmant une tempête; ou
(4) éteignant un incendie par sa prière. Il est particulièrement vénéré à Glastonbury, Lindisfarne, et Whitby
SOURCE : http://stmaterne.blogspot.ca/2008/08/saint-aidan-de-lindisfarne-abb-vque-et.html
Saint Aidan, évêque de Lindisfarne (651)
Saint Aidan naquit en Irlande (alors appelée Ecosse) au septième siècle. Comme moine du monastère fondé par Saint Columba, sur l'île d'Iona, il était connu pour son ascétisme rigoureux. Lorsque le saint roi Oswald de Northumbrie voulut convertir son peuple au christianisme, il se tourna vers les moines celtes d'Iona, plutôt que vers le clergé romain de Cantorbéry. Saint Aidan fut consacré évêque et envoyé en Northumbrie pour prendre en charge la mission. Le roi Oswald lui donna comme siège épiscopal l'île de Lindisfarne près de la résidence royale de Bamburgh. Saint Aidan y fonda le célèbre monastère de Lindisfarne en 635.
Comme évêque, saint Aidan était réputé pour son humilité et sa piété, c'était un modèle à suivre pour les autres évêques et prêtres. Il n'était pas attaché aux choses de ce monde, il ne cherchait pas les trésors terrestres. Chaque fois qu'il recevait des cadeaux du roi ou des hommes riches, il les distribuait aux pauvres. Les mercredis et vendredis, il avait l'habitude de jeûner de tout aliment jusques à la neuvième heure, sauf pendant la saison pascale.
De Lindisfarne, saint Aidan voyagea partout en Northumbrie, visitant son troupeau, et établissant des missions. Oswald, qui connaissait le gaélique depuis le temps où lui et sa famille furent exilés à Iona, servit d'interprète pour l'évêque Aidan, qui ne parlait pas anglais. Ainsi, le roi joua un rôle actif dans la conversion de son peuple.
Un an, après avoir assisté aux offices de Pâques, le roi Oswald était attablé à un repas avec l'évêque Aidan. Au moment même où l'évêque était sur le point de bénir la nourriture, un serviteur entra et informa le roi qu'un grand nombre de gens dans le besoin étaient dehors et demandaient l'aumône. Le roi ordonna que sa propre nourriture soit servie aux pauvres sur des plateaux d'argent, et que les plats d'argent du service soient brisés et leur soient distribués.
Saint Oswald fut tué au combat en 642 dans sa trente-neuvième année. Saint Aidan fut profondément affligé par la mort du roi, mais son successeur le saint et pieux roi orthodoxe Oswin fut aussi très cher à son cœur. Saint Aidan prédit la mort du roi Oswin, disant que son peuple ne méritait pas un tel bon souverain. La prophétie ne tarda pas à être accomplie, car saint Oswin fut assassiné le 20 août 651.
Saint Aidan rejoignit le Seigneur le 31 août, moins de deux semaines plus tard. Il mourut à Bamburgh, près du mur ouest de l'église. La poutre sur laquelle il s'appuyait pour se soutenir, existe encore, malgré le fait que l'église ait été détruite par le feu à deux reprises. La poutre peut encore être vue au plafond de l'église actuelle, au-dessus des fonts baptismaux.
Dans un premier temps, le saint évêque Aidan fut enterré à Lindisfarne sur le côté droit de l'autel dans l'église de Saint-Pierre. Plus tard, les reliques du saint ont été transférées à Iona, le monastère où il avait d'abord embrassé la vie monastique.
Sa fête est au 31ème jour du mois d'août.
Version française Claude Lopez-Ginisty
d'après
http://www.oodegr.com/english/biographies/
Voir aussi:
http://allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Aidan.htm
SOURCE : https://orthodoxologie.blogspot.com/2010/05/saint-aidan-eveque-de-lindisfarne-651.html
Saint Aidan of Lindesfarne
Also
known as
- Apostle
of Northumbria
- Aedan
of Lindisfarne
Profile
Monk at Iona, Scotland. Studied under Saint Senan at Inish
Cathay. Bishop of Clogher, Ireland. Resigned the see to became a monk at Iona c.630. Evangelizing bishop in Northumbria, England at the behest of
his friend the king, Saint Oswald of Northumbria. Once when pagans attacked Oswald‘s forces at Bambrough,
they piled wood around the city walls to burn it; Saint Aidan prayed for help, and a
change in wind blew the smoke and flames over the pagan army.
Aidan was known for his
knowledge of the Bible, his eloquent preaching, his personal holiness,
simple life, scholarship, and charity. Miracle worker.
Trained Saint Boswell. Founded the Lindesfarne monastery that became not
only a religious standard bearer, but a great storehouse of European literature and learning
during the dark ages. Saint Bede is lavish in his
praise of the episcopal rule of Aidan.
Born
- 31 August 651 at Bamburg, England of natural causes
- the young Saint Cuthbert of
Lindisfarne, a shepherd in the fields at the time, saw Aidan’s soul
rise to heaven as a shaft of light
- buried at Lindesfarne
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Calendar of Scottish Saints
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- Dictionary of National Biography
- Lives of the
Saints, by Father Alban Butler
- New Catholic Dictionary
- Saints of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
- books
- Dictionary of Saints, by John Delaney
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
- other
sites in english
- Britannia Biographies
- Catholic Ireland
- Independent Catholic News
- Little Book of Celtic Saints
- Mark Armitage
- Michael J Lichens
- New World Encyclopedia
- Regina Magazine
- Saint Aiden’s Orthodox
Church,
Manchester, England
- Saint Aidan Anglican, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
- Wikipedia
- images
- sitios
en español
- Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
- fonti
in italiano
Readings
O holy Bishop Aidan, Apostle of
the North and light of the Celtic Church, glorious in humility, noble in
poverty, zealous monk and loving missionary, intercede for us
sinners that Christ our God may have mercy on
our souls. – troparion of Saint Aidan
Thou didst teach and
preserve Christ’s doctrine and didst spread the faith throughout Northumbria, O holy Hierarch Aidan.
Unceasingly pray to God for us for thou
dost worship before His throne for ever. – kontakion of Saint Aidan
MLA Citation
- “Saint Aidan of
Lindesfarne“. CatholicSaints.Info. 25 July 2020. Web. 9
January 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-aidan-of-lindesfarne/>
SOURCE :
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-aidan-of-lindesfarne/
Andreas Meinrad von Au (1712–1792). King Oswald of Northumbria translates the sermon of Aidan into the Anglo-Saxon language, 1778. Ceiling fresco in St. Oswald, Otterswang, Bad Schussenried, Germany:
Aidan (Aedan) of Lindisfarne B (RM)
Calendar of Scottish Saints – Saint Aidan, Bishop
Article
A.D. 651. This saint was
a native of Ireland, where, after some years of monastic life at Inniscattery
in the Shannon, he was consecrated bishop. Later on he entered the monastery of
Iona. He became the first bishop of Lindisfarne, and the helper of Saint Oswald
in the conversion of Northumbria. His life was one of great poverty and
detachment, and his example had a wonderful effect on his flock. He used to
travel about his diocese on foot, accompanied by his clergy, spending the time
occupied by the journey in prayer and holy reading. His alms were abundant, and
his manner to all with whom he came in contact kind and fatherly. His miracles,
even during life, were many and striking.
Saint Aidan was the
founder of Old Melrose, which stood a short distance from the site of the more
modern Cistercian Abbey whose ruins are familiar to travellers. He also
assisted the Abbess, Saint Ebba, in the foundation of the celebrated monastery
of Coldingham, which consisted of two distinct communities of men and women.
After ruling his see for
seventeen years, he died at Bamborough in a tent which he had caused to be
erected by the wall of the church. Saint Cuthbert, then a youthful shepherd, as
he kept his flock on the hills, had a vision of the soul of Saint Aidan being
borne by angels to Heaven. It was this vision which determined him to seek
admission to Melrose. Many churches bear Saint Aidan’s name. Among them are
those of Cambusnethan in Lanarkshire and Menmuir in Angus. At the latter place
is the saint’s holy well, which was renowned for the cure of asthma and other
complaints. Another holy well called after Saint Aidan is to be found at Fearn
in Angus. The ancient church of Kenmore, Perthshire, was known as Inchadin.
Keltney Burn in the same neighbourhood, is called in Gaelic “Saint Aidan’s
Stream.”
MLA Citation
- Father Michael Barrett, OSB. “Saint Aidan, Bishop”. The
Calendar of Scottish Saints, 1919. CatholicSaints.Info. 12 August
2017. Web. 9 January 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/calendar-of-scottish-saints-saint-aidan-bishop/>
SOURCE
: https://catholicsaints.info/calendar-of-scottish-saints-saint-aidan-bishop/
Dictionary of National Biography – Aidan
Article
Aidan, Saint (died 651),
was the first bishop of Lindisfarne. Oswald, who became king of Northumbria in
635, had been converted to Christianity during his exile at the monastery of
Hii or Iona. His first duty as king was to repulse the heathen Welsh. His
success enabled him to persuade his people to accept the christian faith. He
summoned missionaries from the monastery of Hii, which had been founded by the
Irish monk Columba. The monks of Hii sent a bishop of austere temper, who was
soon dispirited by the obstinacy of the Northumbrian people. He returned to Hii
and reported his ill success. The monks sat in silence, which was broken by one
of the brethren, Aidan. ‘Were you not too severe,’ he said, ‘to unlearned
hearers? Did you not feed them with meat instead of milk?’ All agreed that
Aidan should be sent to Northumbria as bishop. He set out at the end of 635.
Aidan was the founder of
the Northumbrian church. He was the fast friend of King Oswald, who acted as
his interpreter when he began to preach at the court, and the thegns heard him
gladly. Faithful to the traditions of his youth, Aidan chose as the seat of his
church the island of Lindisfarne, which in some measure reproduced the features
of Iona. It lies off the Northumbrian coast, to which it is joined at low tide
by an expanse of two miles of wet sands; at high tide it becomes an island. As
it was close to the royal vill of Bamborough, Aidan could vary a monastic life
with missionary journeys to the mainland, and frequent intercourse with the
king. Monks from Iona flocked to Lindisfarne, and thence carried monastic
civilisation along the Tweed, where Boisil founded the monastery of Old
Melrose. The zeal of Oswald and the piety of Aidan went hand in hand. Churches
were built, and the Northumbrian folk flocked to hear the new teachers. The
personal characters of Oswald and Aidan were the chief means of commending
Christianity to the people. Aidan taught no otherwise than he lived, and
impressed his own standard upon his followers. The gifts which he received from
the king and his thegns were at once distributed amongst the poor. He had no
care for worldly pleasures, but spent his time in study and in preaching. His
life was simple: he traversed the country on foot, and preached to every one
whom he met. His friendship with King Oswald continued unbroken. One Easter day
Aidan sat at dinner with Oswald, when the royal almoner came in to say that he
had not enough to satisfy all the needy. Oswald ordered the food to be taken
from his own table, and his silver dish to be broken in pieces and distributed.
Aidan seized the outstretched hand of the king and blessed him, saying, ‘May
this hand never perish!’ When Oswald fell in battle against the heathen Penda
in 642, his right hand and arm were found severed from his body, and men said
that through Aidan’s blessing they remained uncorrupted, and were a relic of
the church of York.
Oswald’s defeat by the
heathen king of Mercia threatened to sweep away Northumbrian Christianity.
Deira, under Oswini, submitted to Penda; but Bernicia under Oswiu, Oswald’s
brother, still made resistance. Penda ravaged the land and laid siege to the
rocky fortress of Bamborough. Finding it impregnable by assault, he gathered
all the wood and straw of the neighbourhood to the foot of the rock, and,
waiting for a favourable wind, fired it. The sparks would easily have set on
fire the wattled houses of the little town. Aidan, from his retirement in a
hermitage on the isle of Farne, just opposite Bamborough, saw the cloud of
smoke arise. ‘See, Lord,’ he cried in an agony of prayer, ‘what evil Penda is
doing.’ His prayer was heard. The wind changed, and the smoke and flames were
blown back on the besiegers. Their plan
failed, and Bamborough was saved.
In these years of
trouble in Bernicia, Aidan found more scope for his missionary activity in the
Deiran kingdom, where he exercised over King Oswini the same spell as had
charmed Oswald. Oswini gave Aidan a valuable horse to aid him in his journeys.
Soon afterwards Aidan met a poor man who asked for alms; having nothing else to
give him, he gave him the horse. Oswini, when next they met, gently chid him
for his unthinking charity. ‘Is the foal of a mare,’ said Aidan, ‘more valuable
in your eyes than the Son of God?’ Oswini stood by the fire and reflected;
presently he fell at Aidan’s feet and asked pardon for his thoughtless speech.
Aidan raised him, but sat in deep sorrow. When asked the cause, he answered, ‘I
grieve because I know that so humble a king is too good to live long.’ Aidan’s
prediction was soon verified. Oswiu had regained the Bernician kingdom, and longed
to unite again under himself the dominions of Oswald. He marched against
Oswini, who was murdered by a treacherous thegn. Aidan’s heart was broken when
he heard of his friend’s death. He only survived him twelve days, and died on
31 August 651. When he felt that death was approaching, he had a hut built
against the west wall of the church of Bamborough. There he died, leaning
against a post which had been erected to buttress the wooden wall. On the night
on which he died, a shepherd lad, Cuthbert, as he watched his sheep on the
Lammermoor hills, saw stars falling from the sky. When he heard the news of
Aidan’s death, he recognised them as angels bearing heavenward Aidan’s soul.
Moved by the marvel, he entered Boisil’s monastery of Melrose.
The body of Aidan was
buried at Lindisfarne, and was afterwards translated to the right side of the
high altar. When, after the synod of Whitby in 664, the Columban Church was
defeated by the Church of Rome, Bishop Colman departed to Iona. He carried with
him part of the bones of Aidan, and left only a portion for the ungrateful land
which had forsaken Aidan’s ritual.
MLA Citation
- Mandell Creighton.
“Aidan”. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885. CatholicSaints.Info. 6 April
2019. Web. 9 January 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/dictionary-of-national-biography-aidan/>
SOURCE :
https://catholicsaints.info/dictionary-of-national-biography-aidan/
Sant' Aidano di Lindisfarne Vescovo
Irlanda ? – Bambourgh, Inghilterra,
31 agosto 651
Di Aidano ci è giunta una descrizione a opera del monaco anglosassone Beda
il Venerabile, che nacque 20 anni dopo la sua morte. È sconosciuto il luogo e
la data di nascita di Aidano, ma si crede che fosse irlandese. Nel 635 fu nel
monastero di Iona nell'omonima isola e centro missionario dell'epoca. In
quell'anno il re di Northumbria, Oswald desideroso di diffondere il
cristianesimo nel suo regno, si rivolse all'abate di Iona, dove era stato
convertito e battezzato, affinché mandasse un missionario. Dopo il fallimento
del vescovo Cormano, fu mandato lo stesso Aidano, che intanto era stato
consacrato vescovo missionario. Accolto dal re Oswald gli concesse l'isola di
Lindsfarne nel Mare del Nord per fondarvi un monastero e una sede episcopale.
Aidano ebbe un aiuto costante da parte del re Oswald e quando questi morì nel
642, il successore Oswin, continuò ad appoggiarlo nella sua opera di apostolato
missionario. Undici giorni dopo la morte del re Oswin assassinato, anche Aidano
morì a Bambourgh il 31 agosto 651 e sepolto nel suo monastero. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Aidano = splendido capo, dall'antico normanno
Emblema: Bastone pastorale
Martirologio Romano: A Lindisfarne nella Northumbria, in Inghilterra,
sant’Aidano, vescovo e abate, che, uomo di somma mansuetudine, pietà e
rettitudine di governo, dal monastero di Iona fu chiamato dal re sant’Osvaldo a
questa sede episcopale, dove fondò un monastero per attendere efficacemente
all’evangelizzazione del regno.
Di s. Aidano ci ha lasciato una sua memorabile descrizione, il monaco anglosassone s. Beda il Venerabile (672-735), Dottore della Chiesa, nella sua “Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum”, e che nacque 20 anni dopo la sua morte, quindi abbastanza vicino al suo tempo.
È sconosciuto il luogo e la data di nascita di Aidano, ma ragionevolmente si crede che sia irlandese; lo si ritrova nel 635 nel monastero di Iona, fondato nel 563 da s. Colombano nell’omonima isola e centro missionario dell’epoca, al tempo del quinto abate Seghino.
In quell’anno 635, il re di Northumbria, Osvaldo (604-642) desideroso di diffondere il cristianesimo nel suo regno, si rivolse all’abate di Iona, dove era stato convertito e battezzato, affinché mandasse un missionario.
Fu inviato prima il vescovo Cormano, il quale fallì perché considerò il popolo di Northumbria barbaro ed ostinato; Aidano monaco anch’egli ad Iona, non fu d’accordo con Cormano, ritenendo che il suo agire era stato troppo rigido e non comprensivo dell’ignoranza di quelle genti, alle quali bisognava far conoscere “il latte di una dottrina più umana”.
La tesi di Aidano fu accettata dall’abate e così consacrato vescovo missionario, sempre nel 635 fu mandato in Inghilterra, accolto favorevolmente dal re Oswald, il quale visto i successi desiderati in conversioni, gli concesse l’isola di Lindsfarne nel Mare del Nord per fondarvi un monastero con la regola di s. Colomba e una sede episcopale di fronte alla residenza reale di Bambourgh.
L’isola di Lindsfarne, fu poi conosciuta come l’Isola Santa (Holy Island) per il gran numero di monaci e cristiani che l’abitavano. Nel 664 fu riconosciuta la sua primazia sull’Inghilterra cristiana. Aidano ebbe un aiuto costante da parte del re Oswald e quando questi morì nel 642, il successore Oswin, continuò ad appoggiarlo nella sua opera di apostolato missionario.
Beda descrive la sua opera infaticabile, che lo portò a fondare chiese, scuole, monasteri, rafforzando lo ‘sciptorium’ di Lindsfarne, anche se Aidano mantenne gli usi celtici per la celebrazione della Pasqua, introducendoli in Inghilterra.
Uomo virtuoso, dedito all’astinenza, alla carità, alla preghiera e allo studio delle Scritture, seppe nel contempo combattere con vigore i ricchi ed i potenti, che viziosi opprimevano i poveri.
Viaggiava sempre a piedi, evitava di sedersi alla tavola del re, distribuiva ai poveri i doni ricevuti, accontentandosi dello stretto necessario. Si guadagnò per la santità di vita, la stima dei grandi ecclesiastici del tempo; fu direttore spirituale della badessa Ilda.
Undici giorni dopo la morte del re Oswin assassinato, anche Aidano morì a Bambourgh il 31 agosto 651 e sepolto nel suo monastero, ma poi le sue reliquie furono traslate nella chiesa di S. Pietro a Lindsfarne; una parte di esse nel 664, furono portate a Iona, dal suo successore Colmano.
Gli studiosi inglesi lo considerano “l’apostolo dell’Anglia”; a lui è attribuita la vocazione di s. Cutberto (637-687), il quale divenne monaco e poi vescovo di Lindsfarne.
Si raccontano alcuni prodigi da lui compiuti; placò una tempesta versando nel mare dell’olio consacrato e durante una guerra tra il re della Mercia e quello della Northumbria, con le sue preghiere, ritorse addosso ai nemici le fiamme che questi avevano appiccato a Bambourgh.
Venerato particolarmente nell’Argyll e in Scozia, la sua festa è al 31 agosto.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/68275