Aidan of Lindisfarne

Aidan of Lindisfarne (; died 31 August 651) was an Irish monk and missionary credited with converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity in Northumbria. He founded a ministry cathedral on the island of Lindisfarne, known as Lindisfarne Priory, served as its first bishop, and travelled ceaselessly throughout the countryside, spreading the gospel to both the Anglo-Saxon nobility and the socially disenfranchised (including children and slaves).

He is known as the Apostle of Northumbria and is recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and others.

Biography Bede's meticulous and detailed account of Aidan's life provides the basis for most biographical sketches (both classical and modern). Bede says virtually nothing of the monk's early life, save that he was a monk at the ancient monastery on the island of Iona from a relatively young age and that he was of Irish descent. According to Catholic tradition, in Aidan's early years, he was a disciple of Saint Senan on Inis Cathaigh. Aidan was known for his strict asceticism.

Legacy and veneration Modern statue of St. Aidan beside the ruins of the medieval priory on Lindisfarne After his death, Aidan's body was buried at Lindisfarne, beneath the abbey that he had helped found. Though his popularity waned in the coming years, "in the 11th century Glastonbury monks obtained some supposed relics of Aidan; through their influence Aidan's feast appears in the early Wessex calendars, which provide the main evidence for his cult after the age of Bede."

His feast is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, 31 August. Reflecting his Irish origins, his Scottish monasticism and his ministry to the English, Aidan has been proposed as a possible patron saint for the whole of the United Kingdom.

Aidan is honored in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church on 31 August.

St Aidan's Church of England Secondary School in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is named for him, as is St Aidan's College of the University of Durham.