AIDAN (Aedan, Aidanus), saint. – An Irish monk, founder and first abbot-bishop of Lindisfarne. Nothing is known of his early life. We find him a monk at Iona in 635, when the pious king of Northumbria, Oswald, desirous of restoring Christianity in his kingdom, requested missionaries from that monastery where he had sojourned as an exile. After an initial unsuccessful attempt at evangelization by the monk Corman, A. was chosen. Consecrated bishop, he was sent with some companions to Northumbria in the same year, 635.
Trained in the school of the great missionary of his people, St Columba, he imitated him by choosing, to found his monastery, a barren islet, Lindisfarne, which, situated opposite the royal residence of Bamborough, became the Iona of the Anglo-Saxons, the religious and cultural centre of northern England. From here he directed all the Celtic missionary activity in the kingdom of Northumbria, founding churches, monasteries and schools. For this he had the constant support of the king, who, besides being a friend, acted as his interpreter until A. became proficient in the Anglo-Saxon language. Despite his strong attachment to Celtic customs, he loved the teaching of Roman chant.
After the murder of Oswald (642) and the division of the kingdom, A. continued his apostolate throughout Northumbria, favoured by King Oswine. He died on 31 August 651, eleven days after the murder of his revered friend, and was buried at Lindisfarne. Immediately his tomb became an object of veneration. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on 31 August, attributing to him the religious vocation of St Cuthbert (cf. Vita s. Cuthberti, 4).
Tanner (Bibl. Britann. Hibern., London 1748, p. 15) attributes to him Commentarii in S. Scripturam and Homiliae et Conciones, but with little foundation. Only a few sayings of A. survive, preserved religiously by Bede.
A. may be considered the apostle of the Angli proper, whereas St Augustine, sent by St Gregory the Great, was 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 Bede reproaches him for his Celtic particularism regarding tonsure and the celebration of Easter – for which he says of him ‘habentem zelum Dei, quamvis non plene secundum scientiam’ (ibid., III, 3; PL 95, 119) – yet he cannot but praise his apostolic zeal, his charity towards the poor and the austerity of his life, joined to the greatest meekness. Cf. Alcunio, De Sanctis Eccl. Eborac. 692.