Augustine of Canterbury

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Augustine of Canterbury
Born	, Rome?
Died	26 May 604
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy
Feast	27 May
Saints Portal

Augustine of Canterbury (birth unknown, died May 26, 604) was the first Archbishop of Canterbury, sent to Ethelbert of Kent by Pope Gregory the Great in 597. He was accompanied by Laurence of Canterbury, the second archbishop.

Ethelbert's wife Bertha, daughter of Charibert, one of the Merovingian kings of the Franks, had brought a chaplain (Liudhard) with her. Together, in Canterbury, they either built a new church or restored a church that dated from from Roman times - dedicating it to St. Martin of Tours (possibly St. Martin's). St. Martin was a major patronal saint for the Merovingian royal family. Ethelbert himself was a pagan, but allowed his wife to worship God her own way. Probably under influence of his wife, Ethelbert asked Pope Gregory I to send missionaries.

Ethelbert permitted the missionaries to settle and preach in his town of Canterbury and before the end of the year he was converted and Augustine was consecrated bishop at Arles. At Christmas 10,000 of the king's subjects were baptised, in what is now referred to as the 'Miracle at Canterbury' or the 'Baptismal miracle at Canterbury'.

Augustine sent a report of his success to Gregory with certain queries concerning his work. In 601 Mellitus, Justus and others brought the pope's replies, with the pallium for Augustine and a present of sacred vessels, vestments, relics, books, and the like. Gregory directed the new archbishop to ordain as soon as possible twelve suffragan bishops and to send a bishop to York, who should also have twelve suffragans — a plan which was not carried out, nor was the primatial see established at London as Gregory intended. Augustine consecrated Mellitus Bishop of London and Justus Bishop of Rochester.

More practicable were the pope's mandates concerning heathen temples and usages: the former were to be consecrated to Christian service and the latter, so far as possible, to be transformed into dedication ceremonies or feasts of martyrs, since 'he who would climb to a lofty height must go up by steps, not leaps' (letter of Gregory to Mellitus, in Bede, i, 30).

Augustine reconsecrated and rebuilt the church at Canterbury as his cathedral and founded a monastery in connection with it. He also restored a church and founded the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul outside the walls. He is claimed to have founded The King's School, Canterbury, which would make it the world's oldest school; however there may be little more to this than the fact that some teaching took place at the monastery.

Religious Posts
Preceded by None	Archbishop of Canterbury 597–604	Succeeded by Laurence of Canterbury

[edit] External Links

• Documentary - The Making of England: St. Augustine
• St. Benedict's Abbey - Benedictine Brothers and Fathers in America's Heartland
• The Holy Rule of St. Benedict - Online translation by Rev. Boniface Verheyen, OSB, of St. Benedict's Abbey
• Benedictine College - Dynamically Catholic, Benedictine, Liberal Arts, and Residential

[edit] Sources

This article includes content derived from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914, which is in the public domain.

Persondata
NAME	Augustine of Canterbury
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Saint Augustine of Canterbury
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Christian saint, first Archbishop of Canterbury
DATE OF BIRTH	unknown
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH	May 26, 604
PLACE OF DEATH