Aidan of Lindisfarne
In Aidan gets my vote I suggested St Aidan was a more appropriate patron saint for England than St George. Thinking about that again on this year's St Aidan's Day (31 August), I think he would make a suitable saint for all Britain - except perhaps Wales. The photo above is of part of the statue of Aidan on Holy Island in Northumberland. Originally from Ireland, Aidan came from his monastery on the island of Iona in Scotland as a missionary to the Angles and other peoples of Northumbria in northern England. He got sent there after Corman had returned from his unsuccessful mission reporting that the Northumbrians were too uncivilised and stubborn to be converted. It would seem that Aidan was more gifted than Corman at getting alongside people, even when he did not speak their language. Here is what the Venerable Bede wrote about him "He neither sought nor loved anything of this world, but delighted in distributing immediately to the poor whatever was given him ...