An outstanding candidate for the role of UK patron saint is, I believe, Aidan, the 7th-century Christian missionary bishop who embodies both the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon strains in our national identity.

Originally from Ireland, he was a monk in the Scottish monastery that Columba founded on Iona, from where he was called by Oswald, ruler of the English kingdom of Northumbria, to promote Christianity. He established his episcopal see on the island of Lindisfarne, where he also set up a monastery in 635.

Aidan was a person of deep and genuine humility, described by the early church historian Bede as “a man of outstanding gentleness, devotion and moderation”. He upbraided a monk of “much harsher disposition”, who had first been chosen to evangelise the Northumbrians but had no success, for being too hectoring in his approach.

When a subsequent king, Oswin, gave Aidan a fine horse, he gave it away to the first beggar that he met, preferring to go round his extensive diocese on foot. In Bede’s words: “Whenever he met anyone, whether high or low, he spoke to them.”

Read it all (subscription).

August 31st is the feast of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, “the Apostle of Northumbria”: Irish monk of Iona, missionary to Bernicia, founder-Bishop of Lindisfarne, adviser to King Saints Oswald and Oswine, wonderworker, and Confessor of the Faith—who died on this day in A.D. 651. pic.twitter.com/wxKsay0wry

— Tradical (@NoTrueScotist) August 31, 2018

There is less theater in America these days. Fewer venues. Fewer productions. Fewer performances.

Cal Shakes, a Bay Area favorite that staged Shakespeare in an outdoor amphitheater, is producing no shows this year. Chicago’s Lookingglass Theater, where Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses” had its premiere before coming to Broadway, has halted programming until next spring. The Williamstown Theater Festival, known for its star-studded summer shows, has no fully staged productions at its Western Massachusetts home this season.

The coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath have left the industry in crisis. Interviews with 72 top-tier regional theaters located outside New York City reveal that they expect, in aggregate, to produce 20 percent fewer productions next season than they did in the last full season before the pandemic, which shuttered theaters across the country, in many cases for 18 months or more. And many of the shows that they are programming will have shorter runs, smaller casts and simpler sets.

Seattle’s ACT Theater has reduced the length of each show’s run by a week. In Los Angeles, the Geffen Playhouse will no longer schedule performances on Tuesdays, its slowest night. Philadelphia’s Arden Theater Company expects to give 363 performances next season, down from 503 performances the season before the pandemic.

Read it all.

As they struggle to recover after the pandemic, regional theaters in the U.S. are staging fewer shows, giving fewer performances, laying off staff and, in some cases, closing. https://t.co/UzrmbK5BL4

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 23, 2023

You may also find more there and you can listen directly or download it if you prefer.

@NetworkTheatre Jean-Paul Sartre's 'No Exit' (Huis Clos) @CasaLiverpool last night tonight Fri 9 Feb, 7.30pm £9/£7 https://t.co/jbUIKGj5ak or pay on door @speccytheatreco @offtopictheatre @hihtheatre @reviews_chris @IanDHall1 @LiverpoolPhilos #philosophyinpubs #Pips pic.twitter.com/M0RGZAKpwG

— Theatre At The Casa (@CasaTheatre) February 9, 2018

“This memorial is designed to have life and legs,” he said.

Mayor John Tecklenburg called the memorial a “sacred public space” and celebrated its potential to foster healing.

Chris Singleton, son of the late Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, said the memorial was a helpful way forward from tragedy.

Malcolm Graham, brother of the late Cynthia Graham Hurd, said the site is “where love and harmony prevail over hatred and division.”

“Together we can channel our pain into positive action,” he said. “As Cynthia would say, keep the faith, do the work.”

Read it all.

Fundraising efforts, years of design and planning, and delays caused by the COVID pandemic, finally are in the rearview mirror as the Emanuel Nine Memorial Foundation broke ground today, signaling the start of the construction phase of the memorial project.https://t.co/bolJ34ysIL

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 22, 2023

Holy Father, who hast nourished and strengthened thy Church by the writings of thy servant Thomas a Kempis: Grant that we may learn from him to know what we ought to know, to love what we ought to love, to praise what highly pleaseth thee, and always to seek to know and follow thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Thomas à Kempis, Priest and Mystic, 1471 https://t.co/yMZVsjUlGX

Image: Stained glass depiction of Thomas à Kempis by W.F. Dixon (1884), in The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Photo by JoJan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons pic.twitter.com/yReojAfi2G

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) July 24, 2023

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Early morning view of the Ashley River and Downtown Charleston! #chswx pic.twitter.com/lHebOsCrXo

— Joey Sovine Live 5 (@JoeySovine) July 24, 2023

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil; and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

And when he was alone, those who were about him with the twelve asked him concerning the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.” And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them. And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

–Mark 4:1-20

Happy Monday all and hope its a good one! Quite a contrast to yesterday, the rain has stopped and sun out 🙂 #Mondayvibes #Monday #Lancashire @StormHour pic.twitter.com/a7h3uxD4hj

— David Oxtaby (@Disc_light) July 24, 2023