Saint of the day – 27 May
Saint Augustine of Canterbury (died c. 604) was a Benedictine monk who became the “Apostle to the English.” Sent by Pope Gregory the Great on a daring, uncertain mission to convert the Anglo-Saxons, Augustine founded the See of Canterbury, established the structural roots of the English Church, and served as its very first Archbishop.
Monastic Roots and the Call
Before his historic journey, Augustine was a monk—and eventually the prior—of the Monastery of Saint Andrew in Rome. This monastery had been founded on the Caelian Hill by Gregory the Great before his election to the papacy.
In 595, Pope Gregory turned his focus toward the far edges of the former Roman Empire. He conceived the Gregorian Mission: a systematic effort to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons of Britain to Christianity. Gregory selected his trusted prior, Augustine, to lead a band of roughly forty fellow Benedictine monks on this epic overland journey.
The Terrifying Journey and Arrival in England
The mission nearly failed before it truly began. As Augustine and his monks travelled through Gaul, they were bombarded with terrifying rumours about the ferocity of the Anglo-Saxon tribes and the treacherous nature of the English Channel. They were paralyzed with fear and wanted to return home. Augustine actually travelled all the way back to Rome to beg the Pope to call off the mission.
The pope, in reply, sent them a letter of exhortation, persuading them to set forth to the work of the Divine Word, and rely on the help of God.
In 597, Augustine and his companions finally landed at Ebbsfleet on the Isle of Thanet, on the coast of Kent.
The King, the Queen, and the Royal Welcome
- King Æthelberht was a pagan, but he was the powerful bretwalda (overlord) of southern England.
- Queen Bertha was a Christian Frankish princess. As a condition of her marriage to Æthelberht, she had brought her own chaplain, Bishop Liudhard, to England and was already worshiping inside a ruined, late-Roman church dedicated to St. Martin just outside the walls of Canterbury.
King Æthelberht received the monks warily, insisting on meeting them in the open air because he feared they might use witchcraft to manipulate him. Augustine and his monks approached the king in a solemn liturgical procession, carrying a silver cross and an icon of Christ, chanting Gregorian litanies.
Impressed by their peaceful demeanor and holy lifestyle, Æthelberht granted them freedom to preach and gave them a residence in his capital city of Canterbury. It is told that, as they drew near to the city, after their manner, with the holy cross, and the image of our sovereign Lord and King, Jesus Christ, they sang in concert this litany: “We beseech thee, O Lord, for Thy great mercy, that Thy wrath and anger be turned away from this city, and from Thy holy house, for we have sinned. Hallelujah.”
The Baptism of Kent and the First Archbishop
Augustine’s mission bore rapid fruit. The monks’ simple lifestyle, constant prayer, and charity deeply moved the local populace.
- The Royal Conversion: On Pentecost Sunday in 597 King Æthelberht himself accepted baptism. His conversion triggered a massive wave of baptisms across the kingdom. According to letters written by an ecstatic Pope Gregory, on Christmas Day in 597, over 10,000 Anglo-Saxons were baptized in Kent.
- Consecration: Following this initial triumph, Augustine traveled back to Gaul, where he was formally consecrated as the Archbishop of the English by the Archbishop of Arles.
Upon his return, Augustine laid the physical foundations of English Christianity:
- He restored the old Roman church of St. Martin’s (which stands today as the oldest continuously operating church in the English-speaking world).
- He founded the Christ Church Cathedral in Canterbury, which became his archiepiscopal seat.
- He established the Abbey of Saints Peter and Paul (later renamed St. Augustine’s Abbey) outside the city walls as a burial place for the kings of Kent and the archbishops of Canterbury.
Challenges, the Celtic Conflicts, and Death
Augustine’s mission was not without profound frustration. When he attempted to unite his new Roman-Saxon church with the pre-existing Celtic Christian bishops who had survived the Anglo-Saxon invasions in western Britain, major cultural rifts emerged.
At a famous meeting on the borders of Wessex, the Celtic bishops rejected Augustine’s authority. This split was partly due to differences in liturgical customs (such as the dating of Easter and the style of the tonsure) but was largely fuelled by deep political resentment: the Celtic Christians were understandably unwilling to join a church structure that required them to preach to and embrace their fierce Anglo-Saxon conquerors.
Augustine spent his final years establishing sister dioceses in London and Rochester to secure the future of the mission. He died on May 26, 604 and was buried at the abbey in Canterbury.
Sources:
The Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of England
Wikipedia