O Sovereign Lord, who didst bring thy servant Alfred to a troubled throne that he might establish peace in a ravaged land and revive learning and the arts among the people: Awake in us also, we beseech thee, a keen desire to increase our understanding while we are in this world, and an eager longing to reach that endless life where all will be made clear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Thank you for bringing to our attention this important peace-maker in the history of the British Isles, Kendall. Even though General Convention has dropped him from TEC’s calendar of saints, happily our Catholic friends continue to hold him up for special annual remembrance.
Alfred the Great was a remarkable man. He played a major role in laying the foundation of future British greatness.
He also played a vital role in ensuring that the legacy of great learning which the Anglo-saxons had inherited from the British church would not be lost, even though centres of learning of the British church were destroyed by the Vikings.
The preface to Alfred’s Legal Code contained vernacular (Old English) translations of parts of scripture: the ten commandments, chapters from the book of Exodus and part of Acts 15. He thus emphasised to the English the importance of reading the scriptures in their own language.
It is possible that Alfred personally translated the first 50 psalms into English, and he certainly sponsored a great work of translation of various ecclesiastical and philosophical works into English, as well as promoting the study of English and Latin texts.