October 12 -- St. John of Beverly

A geocacher's version

A portrait in Beverly Minster

By works, St. John of Beverly is a worthy enough saint, though not one who would catch anybody's eye. He studied with some big names (St. Aidan, St. Theodore), made bishop (Hexam, then York), and founded a monastery (Beverly). Worked some miracles, retired to a contemplative life, blah blah blah. The difference between him and a legion of other holy men is one student, a kid called Bede. Years later, when that student was Venerable, he wrote a history of the English Church, in which his old teacher was kindly treated.

Lesson to Major: Be nice to these kids now. One of them may be charting the course of your reputation.