AIDANO (Aedan, Aidanus), saint. — Irish monk, founder and first abbot-bishop of Lindisfarne. We know nothing of his youth. We find him a monk at Iona in 635, when the pious king of Northumbria, Osvaldo, desirous of restoring Christianity in his kingdom, requested missionaries from that monastery where he had stayed as an exile. After an initial unsuccessful attempt at evangelization by the monk Corman, A. was chosen. Consecrated bishop, he was sent with several companions in apostolic work to Northumbria in that same year, 635.
Trained at the school of the great missionary of his race, s. Columba, he imitated him by choosing, to found his monastery, a barren little island, Lindisfarne, which, situated opposite the royal residence of Bamborough, became the Iona of the Anglo-Saxons, the religious and cultural center of northern England. From there he directed all Celtic missionary activity in the Northumbrian kingdom, founding churches, monasteries, and schools. For this he had the constant assistance of the king, who, besides being his friend, became his interpreter, until A. had mastered the Anglo-Saxon language. Despite his strong attachment to Celtic customs, he loved the teaching of Roman chant.
After the killing of Osvaldo (642) and the division of the kingdom, A. continued his apostolate throughout Northumbria, favored by King Osvino. He died on 31 August 651, eleven days after the killing of his august friend, and was buried at Lindisfarne. His tomb immediately became an object of veneration. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on 31 August, attributing to him the merit of s. Cutberto’s religious vocation (cf. Vita s. Cuthbert, 4).
Tanner (Bibl. Britann. Hibern., London 1748, p. 15) attributes to him certain Commentarii in S. Scriptorum e Homiliae et Canciones, but with little foundation. Of A. there remain only a few sayings preserved for us reverently by Bede.
A. may be regarded as the apostle of England proper, whereas s. Agostino, sent by s. Gregorio Magno, was so chiefly for the Saxon region of Kent. Bede devotes several chapters of his Historia ecclesiastica to him (III,
3. 5. 14-17. 25-26; IV, 27). Although he reproaches him for his Celtic particularism concerning the tonsure and the celebration of Easter—for which he calls him « habentem zelum Dei, quamvis non plene secundum scientiam » (ibid., III, 3: PL 95, 119)—he nevertheless cannot refrain from praising his apostolic zeal, his charity toward the poor, and the austerity of his life, joined to the utmost gentleness. Cf. Alcuino, De Sanctis Eccl. Eborac. 692.