St. Augustine of Canterbury

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Augustine of Canterbury.

During the year 596, over 40 monks were sent from Rome to evangelize to all the Anglo-Saxons who were located in England. The person who was in charge of leading the group was St. Augustine, who was the prior of their monastery during that time.

St. Augustine barely had the amount of men needed to reach Gaul. Eventually when they were told the stories of the ferocity of the Anglo-Saxons and of the treacherous waters that were in the English Channel. St. Augustine returned to Rome and went back to Pope Gregory the Great who was the pope who had sent him and the other men on the mission. When St. Augustine spoke to the Pope he was assured by him that their fears were groundless.

Therefore due to the fact that St. Augustine was a very obedient and trustworthy men they set out again. However, during this attempt the group was able to cross the English Channel and they landed in the territory of Kent, which was ruled at the time by King Ethelbert, who was a pagan who married to a Christian, named Bertha.

King Ethelbert had received them kindly, and he set up a residence for them which was located in Canterbury and during that year he changed greatly. During the Pentecost Sunday of the year 597, King Ethelbert was baptized.

After St. Augustine was consecrated a bishop in France, St. Augustine decided to return to Canterbury, where he was able to found his see. St. Augustine constructed a very beautiful church and monastery which was located near where the present cathedral is, this construction began during the year 1070, and it still stands. Eventually as the faith spread, additional sees were established in London and Rochester.

St. Augustine may have been successful but he faced many difficulties, work was sometimes slow and St. Augustine was not always successful. St. Augustine tried many times to reunite the Anglo-Saxon Christians with the original Briton Christians, who had been driven into western England by Anglo-Saxon invaders, however this was extremely difficult for St. Augustine to do on his own. St. Augustine unfortunately failed to convince the Britons to give up certain Celtic customs at variance with Rome and he failed to help them forget their bitterness.

St. Augustine made sure that he worked patiently, and he wisely heeded the missionary principles which were quite enlightened for the times they were suggested by the Pope at the time who was Pope Gregory, some of the principles included; teach rather than destroy pagan temples and customs; let pagan rites and festivals be slowly and patiently transformed into Christian feasts; retain all of the local customs as well as possible.

The limited success that St. Augustine was able to achieve in England before he passed away on May 26, 605, would eventually greatly impact and bear fruit long after in the conversion of England.

St. Augustine can truly be called the “Apostle of England.” St. Augustine’s feast day is celebrated on May 27 and he is the patron saint of England.

Prayer to St. Augustine

St. Augustine intercede that we may be able to guide more people to Christ by being patient and kind people. Help us to be able to be better and more loving people to everyone even those who have done wrong to us. St. Augustine help us to be more obedient and do the will of the lord.

Amen

St. Augustine pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works Cited

Information (read from, not taken):

Franciscan Media. "Saint Augustine of Canterbury. ”Saint Augustine of Canterbury | Franciscan Media. Accessed 27, May 2021.

Images:

Saint Augustine of Canterbury. May 27, 2021. Saint Augustine of Canterbury - Google Search.