Saint Augustine of Canterbury

Augustine was prior of the monastery of Saint Andrew on the Caelian Hill in Rome when Pope Gregory the Great, in 596, chose him to lead a mission of about forty monks to the Anglo-Saxons of England. On the journey through Gaul the monks lost heart at reports of the dangers ahead, and Augustine returned to Rome to ask that they be released; Gregory encouraged them to go on.

In 597 they landed on the Isle of Thanet in Kent. King Æthelberht, whose Frankish wife Bertha was already a Christian, received them kindly, let them preach at Canterbury, and was himself baptized. Gregory later wrote that thousands were baptized at Christmas that year. Augustine was consecrated bishop, became the first archbishop of Canterbury, founded Christ Church Cathedral and the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, and sent missionaries to London and Rochester. He died at Canterbury on May 26, 604 or 605.

His feast is kept on May 27 in the universal calendar and on May 26 in England, where he is honored as the "Apostle of the English." Pilgrims visit the ruins of Saint Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, a World Heritage Site, and the chair of Saint Augustine is used to enthrone archbishops of Canterbury.