Saint Augustin de
Cantorbéry
Évêque (+ 604)
Augustin était prieur du
monastère de Saint-André du Mont Coelius, l'une des sept collines de Rome quand
le pape saint Grégoire le Grand vint le soustraire à la paix du cloître. Le
pape se souciait fort du salut des Anglo-Saxons, ces barbares païens qui
avaient envahi le brumeux pays des Bretons et que ces Bretons refusaient
d'évangéliser. Pour eux, ils étaient leurs occupants envahisseurs. Avec
quarante compagnons, moines comme lui, saint Augustin est envoyé par le pape en
Angleterre, avec une escale à Lérins, une à Paris et d'autres encore, car la
route est longue de Rome à Cantorbery. La mission romaine reçoit l'appui
d'Ethelbert, roi du Kent dont la femme est chrétienne. Il les installe à
Cantorbery. La ferveur et l'éloquence des moines romains impressionnent le roi
qui demande, à son tour, le baptême. Saint Augustin échoua par contre auprès
des Celtes chrétiens du pays de Galles par manque de tact selon saint Bède le
Vénérable. Lorsqu'il convoqua leurs évêques pour les amener à le reconnaître
comme primat nommé par le pape et à adopter la liturgie romaine, il crut bon de
rester sur son siège au lieu d'aller à leur rencontre. Les clercs bretons,
irrités par l'ingérence de ces moines romains dans leur pays, repartirent sans
rien céder. Saint Augustin continua d'opérer de nombreuses conversions chez les
Anglais et fonda le siège de Cantorbery dont il devient l'évêque. Il se dépense
alors pour asseoir la jeune Église d'Angleterre et multiplie les tentatives
pour réconcilier les chrétiens bretons et anglais. Il y faudra cent ans.
Life of St
Augustine of Canterbury (video en anglais) racontée d'après les
vitraux de l'église saint Augustin de Wembley Park
Mémoire de saint
Augustin, évêque de Cantorbéry en Angleterre. Envoyé avec d’autres moines
romains par le pape saint Grégoire le Grand pour annoncer l’Évangile au peuple
des Angles, il fut accueilli avec bienveillance par le roi du Kent, Éthelbert,
et imitant la vie apostolique de l’Église primitive, il convertit à la foi
chrétienne le roi lui-même et beaucoup de son peuple, et établit plusieurs
sièges épiscopaux sur cette terre. Il mourut le 26 mai, vers 604.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1228/Saint-Augustin-de-Cantorbery.html
Lettera miniata con Sant'Agostino
di Canterbury, tratta dal Beda di Leningrado
Scriptorium
de l'abbaye de Wearmouth-Jarrow Lettrines historiées HIS représentant un
portrait de Grégoire le Grand
Historiated
initial, portrait of St Gregory
SAINT AUGUSTIN de
CANTORBÉRY
Moine bénédictin et
archevêque de Cantorbéry
(+ 605)
Aux Ve et VIe siècles,
l'île de la Grande-Bretagne évangélisée dès les premiers siècles du
christianisme, était retombée dans le paganisme à la suite de l'invasion des
Saxons. Le jeune roi de ce temps, Ethelbert, épousa Berthe, princesse chrétienne,
fille de Caribert Ier, roi de Paris et petit-fils de Clovis.
Berthe consentit à ce
mariage à la condition d'avoir sa chapelle et de pouvoir observer librement les
préceptes et les pratiques de sa foi avec l'aide et l'appui d'un évêque
gallo-franc. L'âme du roi de Kent subissait la salutaire influence de sa pieuse
épouse qui le préparait sans le savoir à recevoir le don de la foi. Le pape
Grégoire le Grand jugea le moment opportun pour tenter l'évangélisation de
l'Angleterre qu'il souhaitait depuis longtemps. Pour réaliser cet important
projet, le souverain pontife choisit le moine Augustin alors prieur du
monastère de St-André à Rome.
On ne sait absolument
rien de la vie de saint Augustin de Cantorbéry avant le jour solennel du
printemps 596, où pour obéir aux ordres du pape saint Grégoire le Grand qui
avait été son abbé dans le passé, il dut s'arracher à la vie paisible de son
abbaye avec quarante de ses moines pour devenir missionnaire.
A Lérins, première étape
des moines missionnaires, ce qu'on leur rapporta de la cruauté des Saxons
effraya tellement les compagnons d'Augustin, qu'ils le prièrent de solliciter
leur rappel du pape. Augustin dut retourner à Rome pour supplier saint Grégoire
de dispenser ses moines d'un voyage si pénible, si périlleux et si inutile. Le
souverain pontife renvoya Augustin avec une lettre où il prescrivait aux
missionnaires de reconnaître désormais le prieur de St-André pour leur abbé et
de lui obéir en tout. Il leur recommanda surtout de ne pas se laisser terrifier
par tous les racontars et les encouragea à souffrir généreusement pour la
gloire de Dieu et le salut des âmes. Ainsi stimulés, les religieux reprirent
courage, se remirent en route et débarquèrent sur la plage méridionale de la
Grande-Bretagne.
Le roi Ethelbert
n'autorisa pas les moines romains à venir le rencontrer dans la cité de
Cantorbéry qui lui servait de résidence, mais au bout de quelques jours, il
s'en alla lui-même visiter les nouveaux venus. Au bruit de son approche, les
missionnaires, avec saint Augustin à leur tête, s'avancèrent
processionnellement au-devant du roi, en chantant des litanies. Ethelbert
n'abandonna pas tout de suite les croyances de ses ancêtres. Cependant, il
établit libéralement les missionnaires à Cantorbéry, capitale de son royaume,
leur assignant une demeure qui s'appelle encore Stable Gate: la porte de
l'Hôtellerie, et ordonna qu'on leur fournit toutes les choses nécessaires à la
vie.
Vivant de la vie des
Apôtres dans la primitive Eglise, saint Augustin et ses compagnons étaient
assidus à l'oraison, aux vigiles et aux jeûnes. Ils prêchaient la parole de vie
à tous ceux qu'ils abordaient, se comportant en tout selon la sainte doctrine
qu'ils propageaient, prêts à tout souffrir et à mourir pour la vérité.
L'innocence et la simplicité de leur vie, la céleste douceur de leur
enseignement, parurent des arguments invincibles aux Saxons qui embrassèrent le
christianisme en grand nombre.
Charmé comme tant
d'autres par la pureté de la vie de ces hommes, séduit par les promesses dont
plus d'un miracle attestait la vérité, le noble et vaillant Ethelbert demanda
lui aussi le baptême qu'il reçut des mains de saint Augustin. Sa conversion
amena celle d'une grande partie de ses sujets. Comme le saint pape Grégoire le
Grand lui recommanda de le faire, le roi proscrivit le culte des idoles,
renversa leurs temples et établit de bonnes moeurs par ses exhortations, mais
encore plus par son propre exemple.
En 1597, étant désormais
à la tête d'une chrétienté florissante, saint Augustin de Cantorbéry se rendit
à Arles, afin d'y recevoir la consécration épiscopale, selon le désir du pape
saint Grégoire. De retour parmi ses ouailles, à la Noël de la même année, dix
mille Saxons se présentèrent pour recevoir le baptême.
De plus en plus pénétré
de respect et de dévouement pour la sainte foi, le roi abandonna son propre
palais de Cantorbéry au nouvel archevêque. A côté de cette royale demeure, on
construisit une basilique destinée à devenir la métropole de l'Angleterre.
Saint Augustin en devint le premier archevêque et le premier abbé. En le
nommant primat d'Angleterre, le pape saint Grégoire le Grand lui envoya douze
nouveaux auxiliaires, porteurs de reliques et de vases sacrés, de vêtements
sacerdotaux, de parements d'autels et de livres destinés à former une
bibliothèque ecclésiastique.
Le souverain pontife
conféra aussi au nouveau prélat le droit de porter le pallium en célébrant la
messe, pour le récompenser d'avoir formé la nouvelle Église d'Angleterre par
ses inlassables travaux apostoliques. Cet honneur insigne devait passer à tous
ses successeurs sur le siège archiépiscopal d'Angleterre. Le pape lui donna
également le pouvoir d'ordonner d'autres évêques afin de constituer une
hiérarchie régulière dans ce nouveau pays catholique. Il le constitua aussi
métropolitain des douze évêchés qu'il lui ordonna d'ériger dans l'Angleterre
méridionale.
Les sept dernières années
de sa vie furent employées à parcourir le pays des Saxons de l'Ouest. Même
après sa consécration archiépiscopale, saint Augustin voyageait en véritable
missionnaire, toujours à pied et sans bagage, entremêlant les bienfaits et les
prodiges à ses prédications. Rebelles à la grâce, les Saxons de l'Ouest
refusèrent d'entendre Augustin et ses compagnons, les accablèrent d'avanies et
d'outrages et allèrent jusqu'à attenter à leur vie afin de les éloigner.
Au début de l'an 605,
deux mois après la mort de saint Grégoire le Grand, son ami et son père, saint
Augustin, fondateur de l'Église anglo-saxonne, alla recueillir le fruit de ses
multiples travaux. Avant de mourir, il nomma son successeur sur le siège de
Cantorbéry. Selon la coutume de Rome, le grand missionnaire fut enterré sur le
bord de la voie publique, près du grand chemin romain qui conduisait de
Cantorbéry à la mer, dans l'église inachevée du célèbre monastère qui allait
prendre et garder son nom.
Boll., Paris, éd. 1874,
tome 6, p. 193-199 -- Marteau de Langle de Cary, 1959, tome II, p. 277-279 --
l'Abbé J. Sabouret, édition 1922, p. 199-200
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_augustin_de_cantorbery.html
_-_BL_Egerton3028_f55r_(Ethelbert_baptized_by_St._Augustine).jpg)
Le baptême d'Æthelberht de Kent, détail d'une miniature d'un manuscrit du Roman de Brut abrégé, circa 1325-1350 BL Egerton3028 folio 55r : Ethelbert baptized by St. Augustine British Library
_-_BL_Egerton3028_f55r_(Ethelbert_baptized_by_St._Augustine)_(cropped).jpg)
Le baptême d'Æthelberht de Kent, détail d'une miniature d'un manuscrit du Roman de Brut abrégé, circa 1325-1350 BL Egerton3028 folio 55r : Ethelbert baptized by St. Augustine British Library
C’est cet homme qui a
fait de Cantorbéry le centre spirituel de l’Angleterre
Aliénor
Goudet - Publié le 27/05/21
Pourtant heureux de son
rôle de prieur au monastère de Saint-André de Rome, Augustin reçoit
soudainement une mission du Pape. Celle d’aller évangéliser la Grande-Bretagne.
Cette mission va donner racine au célèbre archevêché de Cantorbéry.
Grande-Bretagne, 597.
Lorsque Augustin quitte enfin la demeure d’Ethelbert, roi du Kent, un long
soupir de soulagement lui échappe. Ses quarante compagnons moines se
précipitent vers lui pour qu’il leur donne le verdict.
– N’ayez crainte, mes
frères, leur dit-il. Le roi nous permet de rester.
Bien que païen et méfiant
à l’égard des chrétiens, Ethelbert a permis aux envoyés du pape de s’installer
dans le Kent. Sans doute grâce à son épouse, la reine Berthe, fille du roi de
Paris et fervente chrétienne. On les emmène alors vers le lieu que le roi leur
a offert. Sur le chemin, Augustin laisse ses pensées retourner dans le temps.
La grande mission d’un
petit prieur
Quelle a été sa surprise
lorsque le pape Grégoire I lui-même est venu le trouver pour lui confier
l’évangélisation des Anglo-Saxons. Lui, petit prieur qui s’apprêtait à passer
le reste de sa vie au calme dans son monastère ? Le saint pontife lui avait
alors assuré que ses connaissances bibliques et ses compétences
d’administrateur étaient requises. Le Seigneur avait donc une mission pour lui.
Et par la grâce de Dieu, ce voyage de Rome à la Grande Bretagne s’est déroulé
sans trop des périls.
Lire aussi :Le
plus grand pape de l’Histoire… ne voulait pas être pape
Leur guide tire Augustin
de sa rêverie lorsqu’ils atteignent enfin les lieux. Le bâtiment que le roi leur
a offert est un vestige abandonné de l’occupation romaine. Un bon ménage ne
serait pas de trop, mais l’endroit est parfait ! De suite, les moines se
mettent au travail.
Très vite, sous la
direction d’Augustin, la petite communauté prend racine. Les moines qui suivent
la règle de saint Benoît deviennent vite indépendants. Le bâtiment est
transformé en l’église Saint-Martin, devenant ainsi la première église de
Grande Bretagne. Augustin et ses frères prennent également bien soin
d’appliquer l’Evangile qu’ils prêchent auprès des habitants du Kent. Ils
soignent les malades, aident à la récolte et nourrissent les pauvres tout en
prêchant les valeurs du Christ. Tout ça sous l’œil bienveillant d’Augustin.
Un échec pas total
Mais le contact avec le
reste des Anglo-saxons n’est pas aussi facile. Les peuples païens sont
dangereusement attachés à leurs traditions. Quant à ceux qui ont été
christianisés au IIIe siècle, ils se sont repliés dans leurs petites
communautés, coupé du reste du monde chrétien. Par conséquent, de nombreux de
petits clergés se sont formés sans liens entre eux ou avec Rome. Les contacter
demande énormément de patience et de lettres à l’envoyé du pape. Augustin passe
de longues heures à rédiger sur son bureau.
Lire aussi :Anglicans
et catholiques appelés à ne pas sous-estimer leur foi commune
Le travail acharné
d’Augustin et de ses compagnons ne passe pas inaperçus. Impressionné par le
savoir et la serviabilité des moines, le roi Ethelbert demande le baptême moins
d’un an après leur arrivée. L’influence du souverain fait que le Kent et les
provinces sous son règne ne tardent pas à se convertir. Selon les écrits du
pape Grégoire I, la mission d’Augustin entraine la conversion de plus de 10.000
bretons.
Alors qu’on érige le
monastère bénédictin Saints-Pierre-et-Paul, Augustin s’applique à unifier
l’Angleterre. Il rassemble les évêques bretons et leur prêche l’importance de
l’unité de l’Église.
– Travaillons ensemble à
l’annonce de l’Évangile de Jésus-Christ et préservons l’unité catholique.
Malheureusement, outre
les régions dépendantes d’Ethelbert, son appel reste sans réponse. Même les
renforts que lui envoie le pape ne parviennent pas à convaincre tous les bretons.
Il faudra encore du temps avant l’unification de la Grande Bretagne sous la
bannière du Christ.
Le premier archevêque de
Cantorbéry s’éteint le 26 mai 604. Mais même sans avoir vu l’Angleterre
convertie de son vivant, c’est lui qui a érigé le lieu qui deviendra la
capitale de la chrétienté en Angleterre.
Lire aussi :Saint
Thomas Becket, martyr pour l’honneur de Dieu
Lire aussi :Anselme,
le « docteur magnifique » qui faisait rayonner l’abbaye du Bec
Saint Augustin de
Cantorbéry, évêque et confesseur
A Cantorbéry, déposition
de saint Augustin, premier évêque de cette ville, le 26 mai 604 ou 605. Culte
local immédiat. Le concile de Cloveshoë décrète en 747 son natale jour férié et
l’inscription de son nom dans les litanies après celui de saint Grégoire le
Grand.
Diffusion du culte dans
le nord de la France à partir du XIe siècle.
Léon XIII introduit la
fête sous le rite double à la date du 28 mai en 1882.
Leçons des Matines avant
1960
Quatrième leçon. L’an
cinq cent quatre-vingt-dix-sept, Augustin, moine du monastère de Latran à Rome,
fut envoyé par Grégoire le Grand en Angleterre, avec environ quarante moines de
sa communauté, pour convertir au Christ les populations de cette contrée. Il y
avait alors dans le pays de Kent un roi très puissant, nommé Ethelbert. Ayant
appris le motif de l’arrivée d’Augustin, il l’invita à venir avec ses
compagnons à Cantorbéry, capitale de son royaume, et lui accorda de bonne grâce
l’autorisation d’y demeurer et d’y prêcher le Christ. Le Saint bâtit donc près
de Cantorbéry un oratoire où il résida quelque temps, et où ses compagnons et
lui menèrent à l’envi un genre de vie tout apostolique.
Cinquième leçon.
L’exemple de sa vie, joint à la prédication de la céleste doctrine que
confirmaient de nombreux miracles, gagna les insulaires, puis amena à embrasser
le christianisme la plupart d’entre eux et finalement le roi lui-même, qui
reçut le baptême, ainsi qu’un nombre considérable des gens de son entourage ;
ces faits comblèrent de joie la reine Berthe, qui était chrétienne. Il arriva
qu’un jour de Noël Augustin baptisa plus de dix mille Anglais dans les eaux
d’une rivière qui coule à York, et l’on rapporte que tous ceux qui se
trouvaient atteints de quelque maladie recouvrèrent la santé du corps, en même
temps qu’ils recevaient le salut de l’âme. Ordonné Évêque par l’ordre de
Grégoire, Augustin établit son siège à Cantorbéry dans l’église du Sauveur
qu’il avait élevée, et y plaça des moines pour seconder ses travaux ; il
construisit dans un faubourg le monastère de Saint-Pierre, qui porta même plus
tard le nom d’Augustin. Ce même Pape Grégoire lui accorda l’usage du pallium,
avec le pouvoir d’établir en Angleterre la hiérarchie ecclésiastique. Il lui
envoya aussi de nouveaux ouvriers apostoliques, parmi lesquels Méliton, Just,
Paulin et Rufin.
Sixième leçon. Les
affaires de son Église étant réglées, Augustin réunit en synode les Évêques et
les docteurs des anciens Bretons, depuis longtemps en désaccord avec l’Église
romaine par rapport à la célébration de la fête de Pâques et à d’autres
questions de rite. Mais comme il ne parvenait à les ramener à l’unité, ni par
l’autorité du siège apostolique ni par des miracles, un esprit prophétique
l’inspirant, il leur prédit leur perte. Enfin, après avoir accompli de nombreux
travaux pour le Christ et d’éclatants prodiges, après avoir préposé Méliton à
l’Église de Londres, Just à celle de Rochester, il désigna Laurent pour son
successeur, et partit pour le ciel, le sept des calendes de juin, sous le règne
d’Ethelbert. Il fut enterré au monastère de Saint-Pierre, qui devint le lieu de
sépulture des Archevêques de Cantorbéry et de plusieurs rois. Les Anglais lui
rendirent un culte fervent, et le souverain Pontife Léon XILI a étendu son
Office et sa Messe à l’Église universelle.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
Quatre cents ans étaient
à peine écoulés, depuis le départ d’Éleuthère pour la patrie céleste, qu’un
second apôtre de la grande île britannique s’élevait de ce monde, au même jour,
vers la gloire éternelle. La rencontre de ces deux pontifes sur le cycle est
particulièrement touchante, en même temps qu’elle nous révèle la prévoyance
divine qui règle le départ de chacun de nous, en sorte que le jour et l’heure
en sont fixés avec une sagesse admirable. Plus d’une fois nous avons reconnu
avec évidence ces coïncidences merveilleuses qui forment un des principaux
caractères du cycle liturgique. Aujourd’hui, quel admirable spectacle dans ce
premier archevêque de Cantorbéry, saluant sur son lit de mort le jour où le
saint pape à qui l’Angleterre doit la première prédication de l’Évangile, monta
dans les cieux, et se réunissant à lui dans un même triomphe ! Mais aussi qui
n’y reconnaîtrait un gage de la prédilection dont le ciel a favorisé cette
contrée longtemps fidèle, et devenue depuis hostile à sa véritable gloire ?
L’œuvre de saint
Éleuthère avait péri en grande partie dans l’invasion des Saxons et des Angles,
et une nouvelle prédication de l’Évangile était devenue nécessaire. Rome y
pourvut comme la première fois. Saint Grégoire le Grand conçut cette noble
pensée ; il eût désiré assumer sur lui-même les fatigues de l’apostolat dans
cette contrée redevenue infidèle ; un instinct divin lui révélait qu’il était
destiné à devenir le père de ces insulaires, dont il avait vu quelques-uns
exposés comme esclaves sur les marchés de Rome. Mais du moins il fallait à
Grégoire des apôtres capables d’entreprendre ce labeur auquel il ne lui était
pas donné de se livrer en personne. Il les trouva dans le cloître bénédictin,
où lui-même avait abrité sa vie durant plusieurs années. Rome alors vit partir
Augustin à la tête de quarante moines se dirigeant vers l’île des Bretons, sous
l’étendard de la croix.
Ainsi la nouvelle race
qui peuplait cette île recevait à son tour la foi par les mains d’un pape ; des
moines étaient ses initiateurs à la doctrine du salut. La parole d’Augustin et
de ses compagnons germa sur ce sol privilégié. Il lui fallut, sans doute, du
temps pour s’étendre à l’île tout entière ; mais ni Rome, ni l’ordre monastique
n’abandonnèrent l’œuvre commencée ; les débris de l’ancien christianisme breton
finirent par s’unir aux nouvelles recrues, et l’Angleterre mérita d’être
appelée longtemps l’île des saints.
Les gestes de l’apostolat
d’Augustin dans cette île ravissent la pensée. Le débarquement des
missionnaires romains qui s’avancent sur cette terre infidèle en chantant la
Litanie ; l’accueil pacifique et même bienveillant que leur fait dès l’abord le
roi Ethelbert ; l’influence de la reine Berthe, française et chrétienne, sur l’établissement
de la foi chez les Saxons ; le baptême de dix mille néophytes dans les eaux
d’un fleuve au jour de Noël, la fondation de l’Église primatiale de Cantorbéry,
l’une des plus illustres de la chrétienté par la sainteté et la grandeur de ses
évêques : toutes ces merveilles montrent dans l’évangélisation de l’Angleterre
un des traits les plus marqués de la bienveillance céleste sur un peuple. Le
caractère d’Augustin, calme et plein de mansuétude, son attrait pour la
contemplation au milieu de tant de labeurs, répandent un charme de plus sur ce
magnifique épisode de l’histoire de l’Église ; mais on a le cœur serré quand on
vient à songer qu’une nation prévenue de telles grâces est devenue infidèle à
sa mission, et qu’elle a tourné contre Rome, sa mère, contre l’institut
monastique auquel elle est tant redevable, toutes les fureurs d’une haine
parricide et tous les efforts d’une politique sans entrailles.
Nous plaçons ici cette
Hymne qui a été approuvée par le Saint-Siège, en l’honneur de l’apôtre de l’Angleterre.
HYMNE.
Ile féconde des saints,
célèbre ton apôtre, exalte dans tes pieux concerts le fils de Grégoire.
Rendue fertile par ses
labeurs, tu donnas une moisson abondante ; et longtemps les fleurs de sainteté
qui couvraient ton sol répandirent sur toi un éclat supérieur.
Suivi d’une troupe de
quarante moines, il débarqua sur tes rivages, ô terre des Anglais ! Il portait
l’étendard du Christ ; messager de la paix, il venait en apporter les gages.
Bientôt la croix est
plantée sur ton sol comme un éclatant trophée, la parole du salut se répand de
toutes parts ; et un roi barbare reçoit lui-même la foi d’un cœur docile.
La nation renonce à ses
coutumes sauvages ; elle se plonge dans les eaux sanctifiées d’un fleuve, et
renaît à la vie de l’âme le jour même où le Soleil de justice se leva sur le
monde.
O Pasteur auguste, du
haut du ciel, gouverne toujours tes fils ; ramène dans les bras de la mère
désolée l’ingrat troupeau qui s’est éloigné d’elle.
Heureuse Trinité, qui
envoyez sans cesse sur votre vigne la rosée de la grâce, daignez faire renaître
l’antique foi, afin qu’elle fleurisse comme aux anciens jours.
Amen.
Vous êtes, ô Jésus
ressuscité, la vie des peuples, comme vous êtes la vie de nos âmes. Vous
appelez les nations à vous connaître, à vous aimer et à vous servir ; car «
elles vous ont été données en héritage [1] », et vous les possédez tour à tour.
Votre amour vous inclina de bonne heure vers cette île de l’Occident que, du
haut de la croix du Calvaire, votre regard divin considérait avec miséricorde.
Dès le deuxième siècle, votre bonté dirigea vers elle les premiers envoyés de
la parole ; et voici qu’à la fin du sixième, Augustin, votre apôtre, délégué
par Grégoire, votre vicaire, vient au secours d’une nouvelle race païenne qui
s’est rendue maîtresse de cette île appelée à de si hautes destinées.
Vous avez régné
glorieusement sur cette région, ô Christ ! Vous lui avez donné des pontifes,
des docteurs, des rois, des moines, des vierges, dont les vertus et les
services ont porté au loin la renommée de l’Ile des saints ; et la grande part
d’honneur dans une si noble conquête revient aujourd’hui à Augustin, votre
disciple et votre héraut. Votre empire a duré longtemps, ô Jésus, sur ce peuple
dont la foi fut célèbre dans le monde entier ; mais, hélas ! des jours funestes
sont venus, et l’Angleterre n’a plus voulu que vous régniez sur elle [2], et elle
a contribué à égarer d’autres nations soumises à son influence. Elle vous a haï
dans votre vicaire, elle a répudié la plus grande partie des vérités que vous
avez enseignées aux hommes, elle a éteint la foi, pour y substituer une raison
indépendante qui a produit dans son sein toutes les erreurs. Dans sa rage
hérétique, elle a foulé aux pieds et brûlé les reliques des saints qui étaient
sa gloire, elle a anéanti l’ordre monastique auquel elle devait le bienfait du
christianisme, elle s’est baignée dans le sang des martyrs, encourageant
l’apostasie et poursuivant comme le plus grand des crimes la fidélité à
l’antique foi.
En retour, elle s’est
livrée avec passion au culte de la matière, à l’orgueil de ses flottes et de
ses colonies ; elle voudrait tenir le monde entier sous sa loi. Mais le
Seigneur renversera un jour ce colosse de puissance et de richesse. La petite
pierre détachée de la montagne l’atteindra à ses pieds d’argile, et les peuples
seront étonnés du peu de solidité qu’avait cet empire géant qui s’était cru
immortel. L’Angleterre n’appartient plus à votre empire, ô Jésus ! Elle s’en
est séparée en rompant le lien de communion qui l’unit si longtemps à votre
unique Église. Vous avez attendu son retour, et elle ne revient pas ; sa
prospérité est le scandale des faibles, et c’est pour cela que sa chute, que
l’on peut déjà prévoir, sera lamentable et sans retour.
En attendant cette
épreuve terrible que votre justice fera subir à l’île coupable, votre
miséricorde, ô Jésus, glane dans son sein des milliers d’âmes, heureuses de
voir la lumière, et remplies pour la vérité qui leur apparaît, d’un amour
d’autant plus ardent, qu’elles en avaient été plus longtemps privées. Vous vous
créez un peuple nouveau au sein même de l’infidélité, et chaque année la moisson
est abondante. Poursuivez votre œuvre miséricordieuse, afin qu’au jour suprême
ces restes d’Israël proclament, au milieu des désastres de Babylone,
l’immortelle vie de cette Église dont les nations qu’elle a nourries ne
sauraient se séparer impunément.
Saint apôtre de
l’Angleterre, Augustin, votre mission n’est donc pas terminée. Le Seigneur a
résolu de compléter le nombre de ses élus, en glanant parmi l’ivraie qui couvre
le champ que vos mains ont ensemencé. Venez en aide au labeur des nouveaux envoyés
du Père de famille. Par votre intercession, obtenez ces grâces qui éclairent
les esprits et changent les cœurs. Révélez à tant d’aveugles que l’Épouse de
Jésus est « unique », comme il l’appelle lui-même [3] ; que la foi de Grégoire
et d’Augustin n’a pas cessé d’être la foi de l’Église catholique, et que trois
siècles de possession ne sauraient créer un droit à l’hérésie sur une terre
qu’elle n’a conquise que par la séduction et la violence, et qui garde toujours
le sceau ineffaçable de la catholicité.
[1] Psalm. II.
[2] Luc. XIX, 14.
[3] Cant. VI, 8.
Bhx Cardinal
Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Cette fête fut introduite
dans le calendrier par Léon XIII, et, dans l’intention de ce grand Pontife,
elle était comme un cri d’immense amour et un tendre appel de l’Église Mère à
cette glorieuse île Britannique jadis si féconde en saints. Saint Augustin était
un moine romain, et il fut envoyé en Angleterre par saint Grégoire le Grand,
avec quarante de ses compagnons, pour convertir ce royaume à la foi. Le succès
surpassa de beaucoup l’attente du Pape, car Dieu authentiqua la prédication
d’Augustin par un si grand nombre de miracles qu’on semblait revenu au temps
des Apôtres. Le roi de Kent, Ethelbert, accompagné des grands de sa cour, reçut
le baptême des mains du Saint qui, un jour de Noël, baptisa dans un fleuve des
milliers de personnes. A ceux qui étaient malades, les ondes baptismales
donnèrent la santé du—corps en même temps que celle de l’âme. Sur l’ordre de
saint Grégoire, Augustin fut consacré premier évêque des Anglais par Virgile
d’Arles. Revenu ensuite dans la Grande-Bretagne, il consacra des évêques pour
d’autres sièges, et il établit sa chaire primatiale à Cantorbéry où il érigea
aussi un célèbre monastère. Il mourut le 26 mai 609 et reçut immédiatement le
culte des saints.
De même que durant sa vie
saint Grégoire avait partagé la consolation de son disciple Augustin lors de la
régénération chrétienne de tout ce florissant royaume, après sa mort il fut
aussi associé à ses mérites, et c’est surtout par les Anglais qu’il fut
proclamé l’Apôtre de l’Angleterre ; ce titre honorifique se trouve même dans
l’épigraphe tombale de saint Grégoire :
AD • CHRISTVM • ANGLOS •
CONVERTIT • PIETATE • MAGISTRA
ADQVIRENS • FIDEI •
AGMINA • GENTE • NOVA
Les Anglais attribuent
aussi la gloire de leur conversion au patriarche saint Benoît dont la Règle fut
introduite chez eux par Augustin et ses compagnons. Voici comment s’exprime à
ce sujet saint Aldhelm : Huius (Benedicti) alumnorum numéro glomeramus ovantes
… A quo iam nobis baptismi gratia fluxit Atque Magistrorum (Augustin et les 40
moines) veneranda caterva cucurrit. La lecture de l’Apôtre est tirée de la Ire
Épître aux Thessaloniciens (II, 2-9). Saint Paul rappelle en quelles
circonstances il avait commencé sa prédication dans leur ville ; quel avait été
son infatigable labeur durant ces premiers jours, la pureté de sa doctrine et
enfin son désintéressement puisqu’il avait renoncé à recevoir des fidèles même
ce modeste entretien corporel auquel d’ailleurs le prédicateur évangélique a
droit. Une si grande pureté d’intention et un labeur si difficile ne doivent
pourtant pas être inutiles ; c’est pourquoi il faut que les fidèles gardent
avec un grand zèle ce dépôt de foi catholique qui leur fut confié jadis.
Le répons-graduel est
tiré du psaume : « Je revêtirai ses prêtres de salut, et ses saints exulteront
dans la joie. ». « Là je ferai paraître la puissance de David, et je tiendrai
allumé un flambeau devant mon Oint. »
Ces splendides promesses
messianiques sont appliquées par l’Église aux saints Pontifes, en tant qu’ils
participent à la dignité du sacerdoce du Christ. Ce sacerdoce catholique sera
pour beaucoup comme un vêtement de salut éternel, car ils assureront leur
prédestination par la fidélité avec laquelle ils correspondront à leur
vocation. Et que comporte donc cette vocation sacerdotale ? La vertu commune ne
suffit pas ; une seule chose est requise : sainteté, et sainteté éminente.
La lecture évangélique,
en la fête de ce grand apôtre de l’Angleterre, ne peut être autre que celle qui
se présente lors de la solennité des premiers compagnons des apôtres : Marc,
Luc, Tite, etc.
La prédication
d’Augustin, comme celle des premiers Apôtres à qui Jésus, dans l’Évangile de ce
jour, ordonne de faire des miracles et de guérir les malades, fut authentiquée
par le Seigneur par de nombreux prodiges. La renommée de ceux-ci parvint
jusqu’à saint Grégoire à Rome et on aime voir le très humble Pontife, écrivant
à son disciple, l’exhorter à conserver la vertu d’humilité malgré la grandeur
des miracles qu’il opérait [4].
Les deux collectes avant
l’anaphore et après la Communion sont les suivantes :
Sur les oblations. — «
Nous vous offrons, Seigneur, le Sacrifice en la fête du bienheureux pontife
Augustin, vous suppliant de faire que les brebis séparées retournent l’unité de
la foi et participent ainsi à ce banquet de salut. » Claire allusion à la
conversion, tant désirée par l’Église, de l’Angleterre à la foi de ses pères,
et à l’invalidité de l’Eucharistie et des Ordinations chez les Anglicans.
Après la Communion. — «
Après avoir participé à la Victime du salut, nous vous prions, par les mérites
de votre bienheureux pontife Augustin, de permettre que cette même Hostie vous
soit offerte toujours et partout. » — La pensée est empruntée à Malachie, mais
l’allusion concerne la grande île Britannique.
Nous ne saurions nous
séparer aujourd’hui de saint Augustin sans évoquer la scène suggestive et
impressionnante de son premier atterrissage en Angleterre. Tandis que les
Barbares mettaient sens dessus dessous l’Italie, brûlaient les églises et
massacraient les évêques, Grégoire le Grand décide un coup audacieux. Il envoie
ses pacifiques troupes conquérantes dans la lointaine Bretagne, là où les
Césars eux-mêmes n’avaient jamais pu établir solidement les aigles romaines. Le
groupe psalmodiant des quarante moines missionnaires pose donc, courageux, le
pied sur le sol anglais, et en prenant possession au nom de l’Église
catholique, il se met en ordre de procession. Le pieux cortège est précédé
d’une croix d’argent et d’une image du Divin Sauveur suivies par Augustin et
les moines, qui chantent cette belle prière romaine de la procession des
Robigalia : Deprecamur te, Domine, in omni misericordia tua, ut auferatur furor
tuus et ira tua a civitate ista et de domo sancta tua, quia peccavimus tibi.
Y eut-il jamais conquête
plus pacifique que celle-là ?
[4] Registr. xi, Ep. 28.
P. L., LXXVII, col. 1138.
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide
dans l’année liturgique
Pour le retour des
Anglicans.
Saint Augustin. — Jour de
mort : 26 mai 604. — Tombeau : dans le monastère Saint Pierre, à Cantorbéry.
Image : On le représente en Bénédictin et en évêque. Vie : Le saint était moine
au monastère de Saint-André, près du Latran, à Rome. Le pape saint Grégoire 1er
le chargea, en 597, avec 40 compagnons, d’aller évangéliser les Anglo-Saxons.
Le roi Ethelbert l’accueillit amicalement et lui permit de s’établir dans le
voisinage de Cantorbéry. Bientôt, il put baptiser le roi et 10.000 de ses
sujets. Augustin fut alors nommé par le pape primat d’Angleterre et reçut le
pallium. Il mourut le 26 mai 604 et fut enterré dans le monastère de
Saint-Pierre, qui fut désormais le lieu de sépulture des évêques de Cantorbéry.
Pratique : Nous avons
devant les yeux, aujourd’hui, l’Apôtre de l’Angleterre. Malheureusement, ce
pays est en grande partie, aujourd’hui, séparé de l’unité de l’Église, tout en
gardant toujours des sentiments religieux profonds. Les Anglicans ont, par
exemple, un bréviaire laïc avec la récitation quotidienne des psaumes et la
lecture de la bible ; ils ont un idéal liturgique semblable au nôtre. L’oraison
du jour demande que ce peuple religieux revienne à l’unité de l’Église.
La messe (Sacerdotes) est composée en partie de textes du commun et en partie de textes propres. Nous avons devant nous l’évêque (Intr., Grad., Alléluia) et le missionnaire (Ép. et Évang.). L’Évangile est celui des saints missionnaires qui sont les successeurs des 72 disciples que le Seigneur envoie devant lui. L’Épître est très belle. Saint Paul y décrit, d’une manière touchante, en s’adressant aux Thessaloniciens, ses travaux, pastoraux. Avec les paroles de l’Apôtre, saint Augustin décrit son zèle pour les âmes : « Vous le savez, nous avons été pour chacun de vous comme est un père pour ses enfants, vous priant, vous exhortant et vous adjurant ». L’évêque Augustin a été le serviteur vigilant que le Seigneur au moment de la mort a trouvé veillant Qu’il en soit ainsi pour nous aujourd’hui et à l’heure de notre mort !
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/28-05-St-Augustin-de-Cantorbery#nh1
Saint Augustin de
Cantorbéry
Le saint Pape Grégoire le
Grand avait toute sa vie rêvé de s'en aller porter l'Évangile en Angleterre
mais, attaché au service du Pape Pélage dont il fut le successeur, il ne put y
aller. Monté sur le trône pontifical (590), il choisit, pour cette mission,
Augustin, prieur du monastère Saint-André, dont on ne sait rien avant son
départ pour l'Angleterre.
Comme l'affirment
Tertullien et Origène, la Grande-Bretagne avait jadis été christianisée, mais
les invasions saxonnes avaient repoussé les chrétiens (Bretons) en Cornouailles
et dans le Pays de Galles sans que l'on pût espérer la conversion des
envahisseurs, jusqu'à ce que le jeune roi du Kent, Ethelbert, chef de la
confédération des royaumes saxons, épousât une princesse catholique, Berthe,
fille de Caribert I° Roi de Paris.
Au printemps 596, à la
tête d'une quarantaine de moines missionnaires, Augustin s'en alla au monastère
de Lérins pour étudier la langue et les mœurs des Saxons. Les descriptions
furent si horribles que la peur prit le pas sur le zèle et que les
missionnaires renvoyèrent leur chef à Rome pour qu'il obtînt du Pape d'être
déchargé de cette impossible mission.
Grégoire le Grand
accueillit fraîchement Augustin et pendant le temps où il le retint auprès de
lui, souffla le chaud et le froid, maniant tour à tour les menaces et les
encouragements jusqu'à ce qu'il acceptât de repartir. On lui conféra la dignité
abbatiale et, dûment nanti de lettres pour les évêques, les princes et la reine
Brunehaut, on le renvoya en Gaule.
Merveilleusement
accueilli par l'évêque d'Arles qui était alors le légat pontifical pour la
Gaule, Augustin retourna chercher ses moines qu'il installa en Arles.
L'Archevêque leur fournit des professeurs enthousiastes de saxon et les envoya
à travers la Gaule en leur faisant remonter le Rhône. Ils étaient à Autun
pendant l'hiver puis ils longèrent la Loire, passèrent à Orléans, à Tours et
s'embarquèrent à l'embouchure de la Loire pour débarquer à l'île de Thanet
(proche de Ramsgate), au printemps 597.
A peine touché le sol du
Royaume du Kent, au chant des litanies, les missionnaires formèrent une
procession devant Augustin, crosse en main et mitre en tête. Ainsi arrivé
devant le roi Ethelbert, Augustin fit son premier sermon, écouté avec
bienveillance ; il n'obtint pas encore la conversion du Roi mais l'autorisation
de prêcher et de construire sous la protection de la Reine.
Les résultats ne se
firent guère attendre puisque, dès la Pentecôte 597, on inaugura la cathédrale
de Cantorbéry (capitale du Royaume) où le Roi lui-même s'installa parmi les
fidèles enthousiasmés par les pompes et les chants de la liturgie romaine.
L'Église du Kent étant
constituée, selon les ordres du Pape Grégoire, Augustin s'en retourna en Arles
où l'évêque lui donna la consécration épiscopale.
Au comble de la joie,
enthousiaste, le Pape envoya vers l'Angleterre courrier sur courrier et conçut
un vaste plan d'organisation ecclésiastique qu'on mit quelques siècles à
réaliser.
De nouveaux moines furent
dépêchés dans le Kent et l'on commença l'évangélisation de l'Essex. Or, si
Augustin, évêque de Cantorbéry et primat d'Angleterre, réussit à merveille chez
les païens Saxons, il eut contre lui l'antique église celtique qui refusait de
le reconnaître et d'adopter les coutumes et les usages romains.
Ayant posé les solides
bases du catholicisme romain en Grande Bretagne, Augustin mourut en son
archevêché le 26 mai 604.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/05/27.php
Sculpture
of St. Augustine of Canterbury, the first archbishop of Canterbury, on
Canterbury Cathedral in England.
Sculpture
de St. Augustin de Cantorbéry, premier archevêque de Cantorbéry, sur la
Cathédrale de Cantorbéry en Angleterre.
Also
known as
Apostle to the
Anglo-Saxons
Apostle to the English
Austin of Canterbury
28 May on
some calendars
Profile
Monk and abbot of
Saint Andrew’s abbey in Rome, Italy.
Sent by Pope Saint Gregory
the Great with 40 brother monks,
including Saint Lawrence
of Canterbury to evangelize the
British Isles in 597.
Before he reached the islands, terrifying tales of the Celts sent him back
to Rome in
fear, but Gregory told
him he had no choice, and so he went. He established and spread the faith throughout England;
one of his earliest converts was King AEthelberht
who brought 10,000 of his people into the Church.
Ordained as a bishop in Gaul (modern France)
by the archbishop of Arles.
First Archbishop of Canterbury, England.
Helped re-establish contact between the Celtic and Latin churches, though he
could not establish his desired uniformity of liturgy and practices between
them. Worked with Saint Justus
of Canterbury. Anglican Archbishops
of Canterbury are still referred to as occupying the Chair of Augustine.
Born
26 May 605 in Canterbury, England of
natural causes
relics interred
outside the church of Saints Peter and Paul, Canterbury,
a building project he had started
in England
Southwark, archdiocese of
–
Personal
Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
In
God’s Garden, by Amy Steedman
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Our
Island Saints, by Amy Steedman
Saints
and Their Symbols, by E A Greene
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
The
Child’s Name, by Julian McCormick
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
MLA
Citation
“Saint Augustine of
Canterbury“. CatholicSaints.Info. 28 May 2024. Web. 27 May 2025. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-augustine-of-canterbury/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-augustine-of-canterbury/
Book of
Saints – Augustine of Canterbury
Article
AUGUSTINE of CANTERBURY
(Saint) Bishop (May 26) (7th century) Saint Augustine shares with Saint Gregory
the Great the title of Apostle of the English. Saint Gregory himself, hefore
his advancement to the Papal See, set out to convert the English, but was
recalled to Rome. Five years after his election to the Pontifical Chair, he
sent forth a band of forty monks from the monastery of Saint Andrew in Rome, under
their Prior Augustine, to begin a mission in England. They landed at or near
Ebbsfleet in the Isle of Thanet, where they were received and listened to by
King Saint Ethelbert, who received Baptism and established the holy
missionaries at Canterbury (A.D. 597). Saint Augustine was consecrated the
first Archbishop of Canterbury, it is said, by Virgilius, the Metropolitan of
Aries. Saint Gregory, on hearing of the success of the mission, sent the
pallium (an ornament distinctive of Archbishops) to Augustine, together with a
reinforcement of labourers, among whom were Mellitus, Paulinus and Justus.
These were appointed to the Sees of London, York and Rochester. Saint Augustine
died within a short time of Saint Gregory (A.D. 604). He was buried in the
Abbey church without the walls of Canterbury, which he had founded.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Augustine of Canterbury”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 4
August 2012.
Web. 27 May 2025. <http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-augustine-of-canterbury/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-augustine-of-canterbury/
St. Augustine of
Canterbury
In the year 596, some 40 monks set out from Rome to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons
in England. Leading the group was Augustine, the prior of their monastery in
Rome. Hardly had he and his men reached Gaul (France) when they heard stories
of the ferocity of the Anglo-Saxons and of the treacherous waters of the
English Channel. Augustine returned to Rome and to the pope who had sent them—
Pope St. Gregory the Great —only to be assured by him that their fears were
groundless.
Augustine again set out and this time the group crossed the English Channel and
landed in the territory of Kent, ruled by King Ethelbert, a pagan married to a
Christian. Ethelbert received them kindly, set up a residence for them in
Canterbury and within the year, on Pentecost Sunday, 597, was himself baptized.
After being consecrated a bishop in France, Augustine returned to Canterbury,
where he founded his see. He constructed a church and monastery near where the
present cathedral, begun in 1070, now stands. As the faith spread, additional sees
were established at London and Rochester.
Work was sometimes slow and Augustine did not always meet with success.
Attempts to reconcile the Anglo-Saxon Christians with the original Briton
Christians (who had been driven into western England by Anglo-Saxon invaders)
ended in dismal failure. Augustine failed to convince the Britons to give up
certain Celtic customs at variance with Rome and to forget their bitterness,
helping him evangelize their Anglo-Saxon conquerors
Laboring patiently, Augustine wisely heeded the missionary principles—quite
enlightened for the times—suggested by Pope Gregory the Great: purify rather
than destroy pagan temples and customs; let pagan rites and festivals be
transformed into Christian feasts; retain local customs as far as possible. The
limited success Augustine achieved in England before his death in 605, a short
eight years after he arrived in England, would eventually bear fruit long after
in the conversion of England. Truly Augustine of Canterbury can be called the “Apostle
of England.”
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/st-augustine-of-canterbury/
The
right light of the south window of the south transept of All Saints Church,
Roffey, Horsham, West Sussex. It was made by Michael Farrar Bell in 1936.
St. Augustine of
Canterbury
Feastday: May 27
Death: 605
At the end of the sixth
century anyone would have said that Augustine had found his niche in
life. Looking at this respected prior of
a monastery, almost anyone would have predicted he would spend his last days
there, instructing, governing, and settling even further into this sedentary
life.
But Pope St. Gregory the
Great had lived under Augustine's rule in that same monastery. When he decided
it was time to
send missionaries to Anglo-Saxon England, he didn't choose those with restless
natures or the young looking for new worlds to conquer. He chose Augustine and
thirty monks to make the unexpected, and dangerous, trip to England.
Missionaries had gone to
Britain years before but the Saxon conquest of England had forced these
Christians into hiding. Augustine and his monks were to bring these Christians
back into the fold and convince the warlike conquerors to become Christians
themselves.
Every step of the way
they heard the horrid stories of the cruelty and barbarity of their future
hosts. By the time they
had reached France the
stories became so frightening that the monks turned back to Rome. Gregory had
heard encouraging news that England was far more ready for Christianity than
the stories would indicate, including the marriage of King Ethelbert of
Kent to a Christian princess,
Bertha. He sent Augustine and the monks on their way again fortified with
his belief that
now was the time for
evangelization.
King Ethelbert himself
wasn't as sure, but he was a just king and curious. So he went to hear what the
missionaries had to say after they landed in England. But he was just as afraid
of them as they were of him! Fearful that they would use magic on them, he held
the meeting in the open air. There he listened to what they had to say about
Christianity. He did not convert then but was impressed enough to let them
continue to preach -- as long as they didn't force anyone to convert.
They didn't have to --
the king was baptized in 597. Unlike other kings who
forced all subjects to be baptized as soon as they were converted, Ethelbert left
religious a free choice. Nonetheless the following year many of his subjects
were baptized.
Augustine was
consecrated bishop of
the English and more missionaries arrived from Rome to
help with the new task. Augustine had to be very careful because, although the
English had embraced the new religion they
still respected the old. Under the wise orders of Gregory the Great, Augustine
aided the growth from the ancient traditions to the new life by
consecrating pagan temples
for Christian worship
and turning pagan festivals
into feast days of martyrs. Canterbury was
built on the site of an ancient church.
Augustine was more
successful with the pagans than with the Christians. He found the ancient
British Church, which had been driven into Cornwall and Wales, had strayed a
little in its practices from Rome. He met with them several times to try to
bring them back to the Roman Church but the old Church could not forgive their
conquerors and chose isolation and bitterness over community and
reconciliation.
Augustine was only in
England for eight years before he died in 605. His feast day is celebrated
on May 26 in England and May 28 elsewhere. He is also known as Austin,a name
that many locations have adopted.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=25
James William Edmund Doyle (1822–1892) and
Edmund Evans (1826–1905), engraver, Augustine of Canterbury preaches
to Æthelberht of Kent,"The Saxons"
in A Chronicle
of England: B.C. 55 – A.D. 1485, London:
Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green, pp. p. 25
St. Augustine of
Canterbury
First Archbishop of Canterbury, Apostle of
the English; date of
birth unknown; d. 26 May, 604. Symbols: cope,pallium,
and mitre as Bishop of Canterbury,
and pastoral
staff and gospels as missionary. Nothing is known of
his youth except that he was probably a Roman of the better class,
and that early in life he become a monk in
the famous monastery of St.
Andrew erected by St.
Gregory out of his own patrimony on the Cælian Hill. It was thus amid
the religious intimacies of the Benedictine
Rule and in the bracing atmosphere of a recent foundation that
the character of the future missionary was
formed. Chance is said to have furnished the opportunity for the
enterprise which was destined to link his name for
all time with that of his friend andpatron, St.
Gregory, as the "true beginner" of one of the most
important Churches in Christendom and
the medium by which the authority of the Roman
See was established over men of the English-speaking race.
It is unnecessary to dwell here upon Bede's well-known
version of Gregory's casual
encounter with English slaves in the Roman market
place (H.E., II, i), which is treated under GREGORY
THE GREAT.
Some five years after his
elevation to the Roman
See (590) Gregory began
to look about him for ways and means to carry out the dream of his
earlier days. He naturally turned to the community he had ruled more
than a decade of years before in the monastery on
the Cælian Hill. Out of these he selected a company of about forty and
designated Augustine, at that time Prior of St. Andrew's,
to be their representative and spokesman. The appointment, as will appear later
on, seems to have been of a somewhat indeterminate character; but from
this time forward until his death in 604 it is
to Augustine as "strengthened by the confirmation of
the blessed Father Gregory (roboratus confirmatione beati patris
Gregorii, Bede,
H. E., I, xxv) that English, as distinguished from British, Christianity owes
its primary inspiration.
The event which
afforded Pope
Gregory the opportunity he had so long desired of carrying out his
greatmissionary plan in favour of the English happened in the year
595 or 596. A rumour had reached Rome that
thepagan inhabitants
of Britain were ready to embrace the Faith in great
numbers, if only preachers could be found to instruct them. The first plan
which seems to have occurred to the pontiff was to take measures for
the purchase of English captive boys of seventeen years of age
and upwards. These he would have brought up in the Catholic Faith with idea of ordaining them
and sending them back in due time as apostles to their own people. He
according wrote to Candidus, a presbyter entrusted
with the administration of a small estate belonging to the patrimony of
the Roman
Church in Gaul,
asking him to secure revenues and set them aside for this purpose.
(Greg., Epp., VI, vii in Migne,
P.L., LXXVII.) It is possible, not only to determine approximately
the dates of these events, but also to indicate the particular
quarter of Britain from which the rumour had
come. Aethelberht became King of Kent in 559 or 560, and in
less than twenty years he succeeded in establishing an overlordship that
extended from the boulders of the country of
the West Saxons eastward to the sea and as far north as
the Humber and the Trent. The Saxons of Middlesex and
of Essex, together with the men of East Anglia and of Mercia, were
thus brought to acknowledge him at Bretwalda, and he acquired a political
importance which began to be felt by the Frankish princes
on the other side of the Channel. Charibert of Paris gave
him his daughter Bertha in marriage,
stipulating, as part of the nuptial agreement, that she should be
allowed the free exercise of her religion. The condition was
accepted (Bede, H. E., I, xxv) and Luidhard, a Frankish bishop,
accompanied the princess to her new home in Canterbury,
where the ruined church of
St. Martin, situated a short distance beyond the walls, and dating from
Roman-British times, was set apart for her use (Bede, H. E., I, xxvi).
The date of this marriage, so important in its results to the
future fortunes of Western
Christianity, is of course largely a matter of conjecture; but from the
evidence furnished by one or two scattered remarks in St.
Gregory's letters (Epp., VI) and from the circumstances which attended
the emergence of the kingdom of the Jutes to a position of
prominence in the Britain of this period, we may safely assume that
it had taken place fully twenty years before the plan of
sending Augustine and his companions suggested itself to the pope.
The pope was obliged to
complain of the lack of episcopal zeal among Aethelberht Christian neighbours.
Whether we are to understand the phrase ex vicinis (Greg., Epp., VI) as
referring to Gaulish prelates or
to the Celtic bishops of
northern and western Britain, the fact remains that neither Bertha's piety,
nor Luidhard's preaching, nor Aethelberht's toleration, nor the
supposedly robust faith of British or Gaulish neighbouring
peoples was found adequate to so obvious an opportunity until a Roman
pontiff, distracted with the cares of a world supposed to be
hastening to its eclipse, first exhorted forty Benedictines of Italian blood
to the enterprise. The itinerary seem to have been speedily, if
vaguely, prepared; the little company set out upon their long journey in the
month of June, 596. They were armed with letters to the bishops and Christian princes
of the countries through which they were likely to pass, and they were further
instructed to provide themselves with Frankish interpreters
before setting foot in Britain itself. Discouragement, however,
appears early to have overtaken them on their way. Tales of the uncouth
islanders to whom they were going chilled their enthusiasm, and some of their
number actually proposed that they should draw back. Augustine so far
compromised with the waverers that he agreed to return in person
to Pope
Gregory and lay before him plainly the difficulties which they might
be compelled to encounter. The band of missionaries waited for him in
the neighbourhood of Aix-en-Provence. Pope
Gregory, however, raised the
drooping spirits of Augustine and sent him back without
delay to his faint-hearted brethren, armed with more precise, and as
it appeared, more convincing authority.
Augustine was named abbot of
the missionaries (Bede, H. E., I, xxiii) and was furnished with
fresh letters in which the pope made
kindly acknowledgment of the aid thus far offered by Protasius, Bishop of Aix-en-Provence,
by Stephen, Abbot of Lérins,
and by a wealthy lay official of patrician rank called Arigius
[Greg., Epp., VI (indic. xiv) num. 52 sqq.;sc. 3,4,5 of the Benedictine series]. Augustine must
have reached Aix on his return journey some time in August;
for Gregory's message
of encouragement to the party bears the date of
July the twenty-third, 596. Whatever may have been the real source of the
passing discouragement no more delays are recorded.
The missionaries pushed on through Gaul, passing up through the
valley of the Rhone to Arles on their way
to Vienne and Autun, and thence northward, by one of several
alternatives routes which it is impossible now to fix with accuracy, until they
come to Paris.
Here, in all probability, they passed the winter months; and here, too, as is
not unlikely, considering
the relations that existed between the family of
the reigning house and that of Kent, they secured the services of the
local presbyters suggested
as interpreters in the pope's letters
to Theodoric and Theodebert and to Brunichilda, Queen of the Franks.
In the spring of the
following year they were ready to embark. The name of the port at which they
took ship has not been recorded. Boulogne was at that time a place of
some mercantile importance; and it is not improbable that they directed their
steps thither to find a suitable vessel in which they could complete the last
and not least hazardous portion of their journey. All that we know for certain is
that they landed somewhere on the Isle of Thanet (Bede, H. E.,
I, xxv) and that they waited there in obedience to King Aethelberht orders until
arrangements could be made for a formal interview. The king replied to their
messengers that he would come in person from Canterbury,
which was less than a dozen miles away. It is not easy to decide at this date between
the four rival spots, each of which has claimed the distinction of being the
place upon which St.
Augustine and his companions first set foot. The Boarded Groin,
Stonar, Ebbsfleet, and Richborough — last named, if the present
course of the Stour has not altered in thirteen hundred years, then forming
part of the mainland — each has its defenders. The curious in such matters may
consult the special literature on the subject cited at the close of
this article. The promised interview between the king and
the missionaries took place within a few days. It was held in the
open air, sub divo, says Bede (Bede,
H.E., I, xxv), on a level spot, probably under a spreading oak in deference to
the king's dread of Augustine's possible incantations. His fear,
however, was dispelled by the native grace of manner and the
kindly personality of
his chief guest who addressed him through an interpreter. The message told
"how the compassionate Jesus hadredeemed a
world of sin by
His own agony and
opened the Kingdom
of Heaven to all who would believe" (Aelfric,
ap. Haddan and Stubbs, III, ii). The king's answer, while gracious in its
friendliness, was curious lyprophetic of
the religious after-temper of his race. "Your words and promised
are very fair" he is said to have replied, "but as they are new to us
and of uncertain import, I cannot assent to them and give up what I have long
held in common with the whole English nation. But since you have come
as strangers from so great a distance, and, as I take it, are anxious to have
us also share in what you conceive to be both excellent and true,
we will not interfere with you, but receive you, rather, in
kindly hospitality and take care to provide what may be necessary for
your support. Moreover, we make no objection to your winning as
many converts as you can to your creed". (Bede, H.E., I,
xxv.)
The king more than
made good his words. He invited the missionaries to take up
their abode in the royal capital of Canterbury,
then a barbarous and half-ruined metropolis,
built by the Kentish folk upon the site of the old Roman military
town of Durovernum. In spite of the squalid character of the city,
the monks must
have made an impressive picture as they drew near the abode "over against
the King.' Street facing the north", a detail preserved in William
Thorne's (c. 1397) "Chronicle of the Abbots of St.
Augustine's Canterbury," p. 1759, assigned them for a dwelling. The striking
circumstances of their approach seem to have lingered long in popular
remembrance; for Bede,
writing fully a century and a third after the event, is at pains to describe
how they came in characteristic Roman fashion (more suo) bearing
"the holy cross together with a picture of the Sovereign
King, Our
Lord Jesus Christ and chanting in unison
this litany", as they advanced: "We beseech thee, O Lord,
in the fulness of thy pity that Thine anger and
Thy holy wrath be turned away from this city and from
Thy holy house, because we have sinned: Alleluia!"
It was an anthem out of one of the many "Rogation"litanies then
beginning to be familiar in the churches of Gaul and
possibly not unknown also at Rome.
(Martène, "De antiquis Ecclesiae ritibus", 1764, III, 189; Bede,
"H.E.", II, xx; Joanes Diac., "De Vita Gregorii",
II, 17 in Migne,
P.L., LXXXV; Duchesne's ed., "Liber
Pontificalis", II, 12.) The building set apart for their use must have
been fairly large to afford shelter to a community numbering fully forty. It
stood in the Stable Gate, not far from the ruins of an old heathen temple;
and the tradition in Thorn's day was that the parish church of
St. Alphage approximately marked the site (Chr. Aug. Abb., 1759).
Here Augustine and his companions seemed to have established without
delay the ordinary routine of the Benedictine
rule as practiced at the close of the sixth century; and to it they
seem to have added in a quiet way the apostolic ministry of
preaching. The church dedicated to St. Martin in the
eastern part of the city which had been set apart for the convenience
of Bishop Luidhard and Queen Bertha's followers
many years before was also thrown open to them until the king should permit a
more highly organized attempt at evangelization.
The evident sincerity of
the missionaries, their single-mindedness, their courage under
trial, and, above all, the disinterested character of Augustine himself
and the unworldly note of his doctrine made
a profound impression on the mind of the king. He asked to be
instructed and his baptism was
appointed to take place at Pentecost. Whether the queen and her Frankish bishop had
any real hand in the process of this comparatively sudden conversion, it
is impossible to say. St.
Gregory's letter written to Bertha herself,
when the news of the king's baptism had
reached Rome,
would lead us to infer, that, while little or nothing had been done before Augustine's arrival,
afterwards there was an endeavor on the part of the queen to make up for past
remissness. The pope writes:
"Et quoniam, Deo volente, aptum nunc tempus est, agate, ut divina
gratia co-operante, cum augmento possitis quod neglectum est
reparare". [Greg. Epp., XI (indic., iv), 29.] The remissness does seem to
have been atoned for, when we take into account the Christian activity
associated with the names of this royal pair during the next few
months. Aethelberht's conversion naturally gave a great
impetus to the enterprise of Augustine and his companions. Augustine himself
determined to act at once upon the provisional instruction he had
received from Pope
Gregory. He crossed over to Gaul and
sought episcopalconsecration at
the hands of Virgilius, the Metropolitan of Arles.
Returning almost immediately to Kent, he made preparations for that more
active and open form of propaganda for which Aethelberht's baptism had
prepared a way. It is characteristic of the spirit which
actuated Augustine and his companions that no attempt was made to
secure converts on a large scale by the employment of force. Bede tells
us that it was part of the king's uniform policy "to compel no man to
embrace Christianity"
(H. E., I, xxvi) and we know from
more than one of his extant letters what the pope though
of a method so strangely at variance with the teaching of theGospels. On Christmas
Day, 597, more than ten thousand persons were baptized by
the first "Archbishop of the English". The great ceremony probably
took place in the waters of the Swale, not far from the mouth of the Medway.
News of these extraordinary events was at once dispatched to the pope,
who wrote in turn to express his joy to
his friend Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria,
to Augustine himself, and to the king and queen. (Epp., VIII, xxx;
XI, xxviii; ibid., lxvi; Bede,
H. E., I, xxxi, xxxii.) Augustine's message to Gregory was
carried by Lawrence the Presbyter, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury,
and Peter one of the original colony of missionary monks.
They were instructed to ask for more Gospel labourers, and, if we
may trust Bede's account
in this particular and the curious group of letters embodied in his narrative,
they bore with them a list ofdubia, or questions, bearing upon several points
of discipline and ritual with regard to
which Augustineawaited the pope's answer.
The genuineness of
the document or libellus, as Bede calls
it (H.E., II, i), in which the pope is
alleged to have answered the doubts of
the new archbishop has
not been seriously called in question; though scholars have felt the force of the
objection which St.
Boniface, writing in the second quarter of the eighth century, urges,vis,
that no trace of it could be found in the official collection of St.
Gregory's correspondence preserved in the registry of the Roman
Church.(Haddan and Stubbs, III, 336; Dudden, "Gregory the Great",
II, 130, note; Mason, "Mission of St. Augustine", preface, pp. viii
and ix; Duchesne, "Origines", 3d ed., p. 99, note.) It contains
nine responsa, the most important of which are those that touch upon the
local differences of ritual, the question of jurisdiction,
and the perpetually recurring problem of marriage relationships.
"Why", Augustinehad asked "since the faith is
one, should there be different usages in different churches; one way of
sayingMass in
the Roman
Church, for instance, and another in the Church
of Gaul?" The pope's reply
is, that while "Augustine is not to forget the Church in which
he has been brought up", he is at liberty to adopt from the
usage of other Churches whatever is most likely
to prove pleasing to Almighty
God. "For institutions", he adds, "are not to be loved for
the sake of places; but places, rather, for the sake of institutions".
With regard to the delicate question of jurisdiction Augustine is
informed that he is to exercise no authority over the churches of
Gaul; but that "all the bishops of Britain are
entrusted to him, to the end that the unlearned may be instructed, the wavering
strengthened by persuasion and the perverse corrected with authority".
[Greg., Epp., XI (indic., iv), 64; Bede,
H. E., I, xxvii.] Augustine seized the first convenient opportunity
to carry out the graver provisions of this last enactment. He had already
received the pallium on
the return of Peter andLawrence from Rome in
601. The original band of missionaries had also been reinforced by
fresh recruits, among whom "the first and most distinguished"
as Bede notes,
"were Mellitus, Justus, Paulinus,
andRuffinianus". Of these Ruffinianus was afterwards
chosen abbot of
the monastery established
by Augustine in honour of St.
Peter outside the eastern walls of the Kentish capital. Mellitus became
the first English Bishop of London; Justus was
appointed to the new see of Rochester, and Paulinus became
the Metropolitan of York.
Aethelberht,
as Bretwalda, allowed his wider territory to be mapped out into dioceses,
and exerted himself in Augustine's behalf to bring about a meeting with
the Celtic bishops of
Southern Britain. The conference took place in Malmesbury, on the
borders of Wessex, not far from the Severn, at a spot long described in
popular legend as Austin's Oak. (Bede,
H.E., II, ii.) Nothing came of this attempt to introduce ecclesiastical uniformity. Augustine seems
to have been willing enough to yield certain points; but on three important
issues he would not compromise. He insisted on an unconditional surrender on
the Easter
controversy; on the mode of administering the Sacrament
of Baptism; and on the duty of
taking active measures in concert with him for the evangelization of
the Saxon conquerors. The Celtic bishops refused
to yield, and the meeting was broken up. A second conference was afterwards
planned at which only seven of the British bishops convened.
They were accompanied this time by a group of their "most
learned men" headed by Dinoth, the abbot of
the celebrated monastery of
Bangor-is-coed. The result was, if anything, more discouraging than before.
Accusations of unworthy motives were freely bandied on both
sides. Augustine's Roman regard for form, together with his
punctiliousness for personal precedence as Pope
Gregory's representative, gave umbrage to the Celts.
They denounced the Archbishop for
his pride,
and retired behind their mountains. As they were on the point of withdrawing,
they heard the only angry threat that is recorded of the saint:
"If ye will not have peace with the brethren, ye shall have war from
your enemies; and if ye will not preach the way of life to
theEnglish, ye shall suffer the punishment of death at their hands".
Popular imagination,
some ten years afterwards, saw a terrible fulfilment of
the prophecy in the butchery of the Bangor monks at
the hands of Aethelfrid the Destroyer in the great battle won by him
at Chester in
613.
These efforts toward Catholic unity with the Celtic bishops and the constitution of a well-defined hierarchy for the Saxon Church are the last recorded acts of the saint's life. His death fell in the same year says a very early tradition (which can be traced back to Archbishop Theodore's time) as that of his beloved father andpatron, Pope Gregory. Thorn, however, who attempts always to give the Canterbury version of these legends, asserts — somewhat inaccurately, it would appear, if his coincidences be rigorously tested — that it took place in 605. He was buried, in true Roman fashion, outside the walls of the Kentish capital in a grave dug by the side of the great Roman road which then ran from Deal to Canterbury over St. Martin's Hill and near the unfinished abbey church which he had begun in honour of Sts. Peter and Paul and which was afterwards to bededicated to his memory. When the monastery was completed, his relics were translated to a tomb prepared for them in the north porch. A modern hospital is said to occupy the site of his last resting place. [Stanley, "Memorials of Canterbury" (1906), 38.] His feast day in the Roman Calendar is kept on 28 May; but in the proper of the English office it occurs two days earlier, the true anniversary of his death.
Sources
Bede, Hist. Eccl. I and II; Paulus Diaconus, Johannes Diaconus, and St.
Gall MSS., Lives of St. Gregory in P.L., LXXV; Epistlae
Gregorii, ibid.; Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, ibid.,
LXXI; Goscelin, Life of St. Gregory in Acta SS., May, VI, 370 sqq.; Wm.
Thorne, Chron. Abbat. S. Aug. in Twysden's Decem Scriptores (London,
1652), pp 1758-2202; Haddan and Stubbs, Councils and Ecclesiastical
Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland (Oxford, 1869-1873, 3
vols.); Mason (ed.), The Mission of St. Augustine according to the
Original Documents (Cambridge, 1897); Dudden, Gregory the Great, His
Place in the History of Thought (London, New York, Bombay, 1905); St
Gallen MS., ed, Gasquet (1904) ;Stanley, Memorials of
Canterbury (London, 1855, 1906); Bassenge, Die Sendung Augustins zur
Bekehrung d. Angelsachsen (Leipzig, 1890); Brou, St. Augustin de
Canterbury et ses Compagnons (Paris, 1897); Lévèque, St Augustin de
Canterbury, in Rev. des Quest. Hist. (1899), xxi, 353-423;
Martielli, Récits des fêtes célébrées a l'occ. du 13e centenaire de l'arrivée
de St. Aug. en Angleterre (Paris, 1899)
Clifford,
Cornelius. "St. Augustine of Canterbury." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1907. 27
May 2017 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02081a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Rev. Dave Maher. Dedicated to
Rev. Louis McCorkle.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02081a.htm
Golden Legend –
Life of Saint Austin
Of Saint Austin that
brought Christendom to England.
Saint Austin was a holy
monk and sent in to England, to preach the faith of our Lord Jesu Christ, by
Saint Gregory, then being pope of Rome. The which had a great zeal and love
unto England, as is rehearsed all along in his legend, how that he saw children
of England in the market of Rome for to be sold, which were fair of visage, for
which cause he demanded licence and obtained to go into England for to convert
the people thereof to christian faith. And he being on the way the pope died
and he was chosen pope, and was countermanded and came again to Rome. And
after, when he was sacred into the papacy, he remembered the realm of England,
and sent Saint Austin, as head and chief, and other holy monks and priests
with him, to the number of forty persons, unto the realm of England. And as
they came toward England they came in the province of Anjou, purposing to have
rested all night at a place called Pounte, say a mile from the city and river
of Ligerim, but the women scorned and were so noyous to them that they drove
them out of the town, and they came unto a fair broad elm, and purposed to have
rested there that night, but one of the women which was more cruel than the
other purposed to drive them thence, and came so nigh them that they might not
rest there that night. And then Saint Austin took his staff for to remove from
that place, and suddenly his staff sprang out of his hand with a great
violence, the space of three furlongs thence, and there sticked fast in the
earth. And when Saint Austin came to his staff and pulled it out of the earth,
incontinent by the might of our Lord, sourded and sprang there a fair well or
fountain of clear water which refreshed him well and all his fellowship. And
about that well they rested all that night, and they that dwelled thereby saw
all that night over that place a great light coming from heaven which covered
all that place where these holy men lay. And on the morn Saint Austin wrote in
the earth with his staff beside the well these words following: Here had
Austin, the servant of the servants of God, hospitality, whom Saint Gregory the
pope hath sent to convert England.
On the morn when the holy
men were departed, the dwellers of the coasts thereby which saw the light in
the night tofore, came thither and found there a fair well, of the which they
marvelled greatly. And when they saw the scripture written in the earth then
they were greatly abashed because of their unkindness, and repented them full
sore of that they had mocked them the day before. And after, they edified there
a fair church in the same place in the worship of Saint Austin, the which the
bishop of Anjou hallowed. And to the hallowing thereof came so great multitude
of people that they trod the corn in the fields down all plain, like unto a
floor clean swept, for there was no sparing of it. Notwithstanding, at the time
of reaping, that ground so trodden bare more corn and better than any other
fields beside, not trodden, did. And the high altar of that church standeth
over the place where Saint Austin wrote with his staff by the well, and yet
unto this day may no woman come in to that church. But there was a noble woman
that said that she was not guilty in offending Saint Austin, and took a taper
in her hand and went for to offer it in the said church; but the sentence of
almighty God may not be revoked, for as soon as she entered the church her
bowels and sinews began to shrink and she fell down dead in ensample of all
other women; whereby we may understand that injury done against a saint
displeaseth greatly almighty God.
And from thence Saint
Austin and his fellowship came into England and arrived in the isle of Thanet
in East Kent, and king Ethelbert reigned that time in Kent, which was a noble
man and a mighty. To whom Saint Austin sent, showing the intent of his coming from
the court of Rome, and said that he had brought to him right joyful and
pleasant tidings, and said that if he would obey and do after his preaching
that he should have everlasting joy in the bliss of heaven, and should reign
with almighty God in his kingdom. And then king Ethelbert hearing this,
commanded that they should abide and tarry in the same isle, and that all
things should be ministered to them that were necessary, unto the time that he
were otherwise advised. And soon after, the king came to them in the same isle,
and he being in the field, Saint Austin with his fellowship came and spake with
him, having tofore them the sign of the cross, singing by the way the litany,
beseeching God devoutly to strengthen them and help. And the king received him
and his fellowship, and in the same place Saint Austin preached a glorious
sermon, and declared to the king the christian faith openly and the great merit
and avail that should come thereof in time coming. And when he had ended his
sermon the king said to him: Your promises be full fair that ye bring, but
because they be new and have not been heard here before, we may not yet give
consent thereto; nevertheless, because ye be come as pilgrims from far
countries, we will not be grievous ne hard to you, but we will receive you
meekly and minister to you such things as be necessary, neither we will forbid
you, but as many as ye can convert to your faith and religion by your preaching
ye shall have licence to baptize them, and to accompany them to your law. And
then the king gave to them a mansion in the city of Dorobernence, which now is
called Canterbury. And when they drew nigh the city they came in with a cross
of silver, and with procession singing the litany, praying almighty God of
succour and help that he would take away his wrath from the city and to inflame
the hearts of the people to receive his doctrine. And then Saint Austin and his
fellowship began to preach there the word of God, and about there in the
province, and such people as were well disposed anon were converted, and
followed this holy man. And by the holy conversation and miracles that they did
much people were converted and great fame arose in the country. And when it
came to the king’s ear, anon he came to the presence of Saint Austin and
desired him to preach again, and then the word of God so inflamed him, that
incontinent, as soon as the sermon was ended, the king fell down to the feet of
Saint Austin and said sorrowfully: Alas! woe is me, that I have erred so long
and know not of him that thou speakest of, thy promises be so delectable that I
think it all too long till I be christened, wherefore, holy father, I require
thee to minister to me the sacrament of baptism. And then Saint Austin, seeing
the great meekness and obedience of the king that he had to be christened, he
took him up with weeping tears and baptized him with all his household and
meiny, and enformed them diligently in the christian faith with great joy and
gladness. And when all this was done Saint Austin, desiring the health of the
people of England, went forth on foot to York; and when he came nigh to the
city there met him a blind man which said to him: O thou holy Austin, help me
that am full needy. To whom Saint Austin said: I have no silver, but such as I
have I give thee; in the name of Jesu Christ arise and be all whole, and with
that word he received his sight and believed in our Lord and was baptized. And
upon Christmas day he baptized, in the river named Swale, ten thousand men
without women and children, and there was a great multitude of people resorting
to the said river, which was so deep that no man might pass over on foot, and
yet by miracle of our Lord there was neither man, woman, ne child drowned, but
they that were sick were made whole both in body and in soul. And in the same
place they builded a church in the worship of God and Saint Austin. And when
Saint Austin had preached the faith to the people and had confirmed them
steadfastly therein, he returned again from York, and by the way he met a leper
asking help, and when Saint Austin had said these words to him: In the name of
Jesu Christ be thou cleansed from all thy leprosy, anon all his filth fell
away, and a fair new skin appeared on his body so that he seemed all a new man.
Also as Saint Austin came
in to Oxfordshire to a town that is called Compton to preach the word of God,
to whom the curate said: Holy father, the lord of this lordship hath been
ofttimes warned of me to pay his tithes to God, and yet he withholdeth them,
and therefore I have cursed him, and I find him the more obstinate. To whom
Saint Austin said: Son, why payest thou not thy tithes to God and to the
church? Knowest thou not that the tithes be not thine but belong to God? And
then the knight said to him: I know well that I till the ground, wherefore I
ought as well to have the tenth sheaf as the ninth, and when Saint Austin could
not turn the knight’s entent, then he departed from him and went to mass. And
ere he began he charged that all they that were accursed should go out of the
church, and then rose a dead body and went out in to the churchyard with a
white cloth on his head, and stood still there till the mass was done. And then
Saint Austin went to him and demanded him what be was, and he answered and
said: I was sometime lord of this town, and because I would not pay my tithes
to my curate he accursed me, and so I died and went to hell. And then Saint
Austin bade bring him to the place where his curate was buried, and then the
carrion brought him thither to the grave, and because that all men should know
that life and death be in the power of God, Saint Austin said: I command thee
in the name of God to arise, for we have need of thee, and then he arose anon,
and stood before all the people. To whom Saint Austin said: Thou knowest well
that our Lord is merciful, and I demand thee, brother, if thou knowest this
man? and he said: Yea, would God that I had never known him, for he was a
withholder of his tithes, and in all his life an evil doer, thou knowest that
our Lord is merciful, and as long as the pains of hell endure let us also be
merciful to all christians. And then Saint Austin delivered to the curate a
rod, and there the knight kneeling on his knees was assoiled, and then he
commanded him to go again to his grave, and there to abide till the day of
doom; and he entered anon into his grave and forthwith fell to ashes and
powder. And then Saint Austin said to the priest:
How long hast thou lain here? and he said a hundred and fifty years; and then
he asked how it stood with him, and he said: Well, holy father, for I am in
everlasting bliss; and then said Saint Austin: Wilt thou that I pray to
almighty God that thou abide here with us to confirm the hearts of men in very
belief? And then he said: Nay, holy father, for I am in a place of rest; and
then said Saint Austin: Go in peace, and pray for me and for all holy church,
and he then entered again into his grave, and anon the body was turned to
earth. Of this sight the lord was sore afeard, and came all quaking to Saint
Austin and to his curate, and demanded forgiveness of his trespass, and
promised to make amends and ever after to pay his tithes and to follow the
doctrine of Saint Austin.
After this Saint Austin
entered into Dorsetshire, and came in to a town whereas were wicked people who
refused his doctrine and preaching utterly and drove him out of the town,
casting on him the tails of thornbacks, or like fishes, wherefore he besought
almighty God to show his judgement on them, and God sent to them a shameful
token, for the children that were born after in that place had tails, as it is
said, till they had repented them. It is said commonly that this fell at Strood
in Kent, but blessed be God at this day is no such deformity. Item in another
place there were certain people which would in no wise give faith to his
preaching ne his doctrine, but scorned and mocked him, wherefore God took such
vengeance that they burned with fire invisible, so that their skin was red as
blood, and suffered so great pain that they were constrained to come and ask
forgiveness of Saint Austin, and then he prayed God for them that they might be
acceptable to him and receive baptism and that he would release their pain, and
then he christened them and that burning heat was quenched and they were made
perfectly whole, and felt never after more thereof. On a time, as Saint Austin
was in his prayers, our Lord appeared to him, and comforting him with a gentle
and familiar speech, said: O thou my good servant and true, be thou comforted
and do manly, for I thy Lord God am with thee in all thine affection, and mine
ears be open to thy prayers, and for whom thou demandest any petition thou
shalt have thy desire, and the gate of everlasting life is open to thee, where
thou shalt joy with me without end. And in that same place where our Lord said
these words he fixed his staff into the ground, and a well of clear water
sourded and sprang up in that same place, the which well is called Cerne, and
it is in the country of Dorset, whereas now is builded a fair abbey, and is
named Cerne after the well. And the church is builded in the same place whereas
our Lord appeared to Saint Austin. Also in the same country was a young man
that was lame, dumb, and deaf, and by the prayers of Saint Austin he was made
whole, and then soon after he was dissolute and wanton, and noyed and grieved
the people with jangling and talking in the church. And then God sent to him
his old infirmity again, because of his misguiding, and at the last he fell to
repentance, and asked God forgiveness and Saint Austin. And Saint Austin prayed
for him and he was made whole again the second time, and after that he
continued in good and virtuous living to his life’s end.
And after this Saint
Austin, full of virtues, departed out of this world unto our Lord God, and
lieth buried at Canterbury in the abbey that he founded there in the worship
and rule, whereas our Lord God showeth yet daily many miracles. And the third
day before the nativity of our Lady is hallowed the translation of Saint
Austin. In which night a citizen of Canterbury, being that time at Winchester,
saw heaven open over the church of Saint Austin, and a burning ladder shining
full bright, and angels coming down to the same church. And then him thought
that the church had burned of the great light and brightness that came down on
the ladder, and marvelled greatly what this should mean, for he knew nothing of
the translation of Saint Austin; and when he knew the truth, that on that time
the body of the glorious saint was translated, he gave laud and thankings to
almighty God, and we may verily know by that evident vision that it is an holy
and devout place; and as it is said that of old time, ancient holy men that
used to come thither would at the entry of it do off their hosen and shoes and
durst not presume to go into that holy monastery but barefoot, because so many
holy saints be there shrined and buried. And God hath showed so many miracles in
that holy place for his blessed saint, Saint Austin, that if I should write
them here it should occupy a great book. Then let us pray unto Saint Austin,
father and apostle of England, by whom this land was converted unto the
christian faith, and by his ordinance bishops were ordained to minister the
sacraments, that he be moyen unto our Lord Jesu Christ, that we may here so
live according to his doctrine that after this life we may come to everlasting
bliss in heaven. Amen.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-life-of-saint-austin/
Saint
Augustine of Canterbury. Line engraving by A. Lommelin
Augustine (Austin) of
Canterbury B (RM)
Born in Rome; died on May 26, 604-607; feast day formerly May 26.
"God, in his
promises to hear our prayers, is desirous to bestow Himself upon us; if you
find anything better than Him, ask it; but if you ask anything beneath Him, you
put an affront upon Him, and hurt yourself by preferring to Him a creature
which He framed: Pray in the spirit and sentiment of love, in which the royal
prophet said to Him, 'Thou, O Lord, are my portion.' Let others choose to
themselves portions among creatures, for my part, You are my portion, You alone
I have chosen for my whole inheritance."
--Saint Austin.
Saint Augustine was a
Roman, the prior of Saint Andrew's monastery on the Coelian Hill in Rome. In
596, Pope Saint Gregory the Great sent him with 30-40 of his monks to
evangelize the English. By the time they had reached southern France, they were
frightened by stories of the brutality of the Anglo-Saxons and the dangerous
nature of the Channel crossing and his company wanted to return to
civilization.
Augustine sought help
from the pope, who sent encouragement. Gregory said, "It is better never
to undertake any high enterprise than to abandon it once it has started."
He added, "The greater the labor, the greater will be the glory of your
eternal reward." Gregory also persuaded some French priests to aid the
mission and the group landed near Ebbsfleet near Ramsgate on the isle of Thanet
in 597. They were welcomed by King Ethelbert of Kent, then the most
sophisticated of the Anglo- Saxon kingdoms. Ethelbert's wife Bertha was the
daughter of the king of Paris and already a Christian, which made it much
easier for the missionaries to gain a foothold in the land. The king himself
was baptized within a year of their arrival. Augustine would later help
Ethelbert to write the earliest Anglo-Saxon laws to survive.
Augustine went to France
to be consecrated bishop of the English by Saint Virgilius, metropolitan of
Arles, and upon his return to England was so successful in making converts that
he sent to Rome for more assistance. Among those who responded were Saint
Mellitus, Saint Justus, and Saint Paulinus, who brought with them sacred
vessels, altar cloths, and books.
Augustine rebuilt a
church and laid the foundation for what would become the monastery of Christ
Church. On land given to him by the king, he built a Benedictine monastery at
Canterbury, called SS. Peter and Paul (later called Saint Augustine's).
He was unable to convince
the bishops in Wales and Cornwall to abandon their Celtic rites and adopt the
disciplines and practices of Rome. He invited leading ecclesiastics to meet him
at Wessex, known as "Augustine's Oak." He urged them to follow Roman
rites and to cooperate with him in the evangelization of England, but fidelity
to local customs and resentment against their conquerors made them refuse. A
second conference, at which Augustine is said to have failed to rise upon the
arrival of the ecclesiastics, drove them further apart.
He was never able to
extend his authority to the existing Christians in Wales and southwest England
(Dumnonia). These Britons were suspicious and wary, Augustine was perhaps
insufficiently conciliatory, and the British bishop refused to recognize him as
their archbishop.
He spent the rest of his
life spreading the word, and he established sees at London and Rochester. He
was the first archbishop of Canterbury and was called the "Apostle of the
English" (as opposed to Roman Britain), though his comparatively short
mission was perforce confined to a limited area. That he was a very conscientious
missionary is clear from the pages of Bede, who gives what purports to be the
text of Pope Gregory's answers to Augustine's requests for direction on various
matters arising out of his mission.
He adapted a gradual
course of conversion outlined for him by Pope Saint Gregory. The holy father
has asked him not to destroy pagan temples and allowed that innocent pagan
rites could be incorporated into Christian feasts, operating under the belief
that "He who would climb to a lofty height must go by steps, not
leaps."
Augustine's patience
became well known, as is illustrated by an episode that occurred in
Dorsetshire, when a town of seafaring people attached fishtales to the backs of
the Italians' robes. He was buried in the unfinished church of the monastery
that would one day bear his name (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Deanesly,
Delaney, White).
In art, Saint Augustine
is portrayed as a bishop baptizing the king of Kent (Roeder), in the black
habit of the order, with a pen or book (one of his own works), or obtaining by
prayer a fountain for baptizing (White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0527.shtml
Pictures of English History
(1868), Plate V - Saint Augustine and the Saxons - Saint Augustine of Canterbury
- Saxons in art - Paintings of Augustinus
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint Augustine of Canterbury
Article
Confessor of
the Faith, apostle of the English, first Archbishop of Canterbury,
born Rome; died Canterbury, England, 604.
From the monastery of
Saint Andrew, in Rome, Pope Gregory I, learning that the pagans in
Britain were disposed to embrace the Faith, sent Augustine and his Benedictine brethren
to instruct them. Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet and was hospitably
welcomed by AEthelberht, King of Kent, who, though pagan,
was married to a Christian, Bertha. AEthelberht soon embraced the Faith, and on
Christmas Day 10,000 of his people were baptized.
Augustine went to Gaul to
receive episcopal consecration from the Archbishop of
Arles, and on his return, at a spot still called Augustine’s Oak in
Malmesbury, he convoked a synod of the Celtic bishops of southern Britain, in
an unsuccessful attempt to introduce ecclesiastical uniformity in Britain. His
remains were interred outside the church of Saints Peter and Paul, Canterbury,
which he had begun. Feast,
Roman Calendar, 28
May.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Augustine of
Canterbury”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 30
July 2012.
Web. 27 May 2025. <http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-augustine-of-canterbury/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-augustine-of-canterbury/
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Augustine, Apostle of England
Article
Augustine was prior of
the monastery of Saint Andrew on the Coelian, and was appointed by Saint
Gregory the Great chief of the missionaries whom he sent to England. Saint
Augustine and his companions, having heard on their journey many reports of the
barbarism and ferocity of the pagan English, were afraid, and wished to turn
back. But Saint Gregory replied, “Go on, in God’s name! The greater your
hardships, the greater your crown. May the grace of Almighty God protect you,
and give me to see the fruit of your labor in the heavenly country! If I cannot
share your toil, I shall yet share the harvest, for God knows that it is not
good-will which is wanting.” The band of missionaries went on in obedience.
Landing at Ebbsfleet,
between Sandwich and Ramsgate, they met King Ethelbert and his thanes under a
great oaktree at Minster, and announced to him the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Instant and complete success attended their preaching. On Whit Sunday, 596,
King Ethelbert was baptized, and his example was followed by the greater number
of his nobles and people. By degrees the faith spread far and wide, and
Augustine, as Papal Legate, set out on a visitation of Britain. He failed in
his attempt to enlist the Britons of the west in the work of his apostolate,
through their obstinate jealousy and pride; but his success was triumphant from
south to north. Saint Augustine died after eight years of evangelical labors.
The Anglo-Saxon Church, which he founded, is still famous for its learning,
zeal, and devotion to the Holy See, while its calendar commemorates no less
than 300 Saints, half of whom were of royal birth.
Reflection – The work of
an apostle is the work of the right Hand of God. He often chooses weak
instruments for His mightiest purposes. The most sure augury of lasting success
in missionary labor is obedience to superiors and diffidence in self.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saint Augustine, Apostle of England”. Pictorial
Lives of the Saints, 1889. CatholicSaints.Info.
14 August 2018. Web. 27 May 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-augustine-apostle-of-england/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-augustine-apostle-of-england/
The
first south aisle window of St Mary the Virgin Church, East Grinstead, West
Sussex. It was made by Geoffrey Webb in 1916.
Catholic
Heroes . . . St. Augustine Of Canterbury
May 24, 2016
By CAROLE BRESLIN
A Celtic cross erected in 1884 marks the spot in Ebbsfleet, Thanet, East Kent, where St. Augustine of Canterbury is said to have landed in 597.
While some form of Christianity in England may be traced back to the times of the Roman occupation, it did not become a strong presence until the arrival of St. Augustine, who came at the invitation of King Ethelbert who asked him and his monks to come to please his Christian wife, Bertha. Up until that time, what remained of the Christian presence was quite isolated from the Roman Church and in need of holy priests to administer the sacraments and preach to the people.
The life of St. Augustine began in Rome in the mid-sixth century, where he was most likely born of wealthy and noble parents. As a youth, he became a monk at the St. Andrew monastery on Caelian Hill erected by Pope St. Gregory I, who used his personal resources for the project. The monastery was based on the rule of St. Benedict (480-547).
(This monastery is now known today as San Gregorio Magno al Celio and is occupied by the Camaldolese monks, a part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities. It is located about three miles southeast of the Vatican.)
Thus when Augustine attended this monastery, he became a close associate of Pope St. Gregory I — a relationship that would facilitate the growth of one of the most influential Catholic churches of the English-speaking world.
Pope St. Gregory was particularly drawn to converting the young English slaves whom he saw in the Rome marketplace. When he became Pope in 590, he prepared to carry out that dream, searching for priests who would be fit for the task of going to England. Pope Gregory turned to the monastery on the Caelian Hill, one which he had ruled for ten years.
Pope Gregory, who was prior of St. Andrew’s at the time, went to the peaceful domain of prayer and study to meet the monks and, after careful deliberation, he selected forty men and appointed St. Augustine to be their representative. Pope Gregory had left Augustine in charge of the administration and spiritual direction of the monks so he was well aware of his abilities as a leader. In addition, Augustine must have been well educated, since Gregory had written to Ethelbert about Augustine’s great knowledge of the Bible.
The men received little instruction or direction as they waited for their opportunity to leave for England — it would take several years before they left Rome. Pope Gregory still had much to do before missionaries could be sent to England.
The first part of Pope Gregory’s plan was to purchase males slaves from England who were at least 17 years old and who would be formed in the faith. When these men had successfully completed the course, they would be ordained priests and then return to England to evangelize their countrymen.
To finance this endeavor, Pope Gregory enlisted the support of King Theuderic II of Burgundy, King Theudebert II of Austrasia, and their grandmother Brunhild, who were related to King Ethelbert in Kent. Finally, the Pope received an invitation from King Ethelbert, a pagan, who sent a request to the Pope for men to come and preach to his people. His wife was a devout Christian and had pleaded with her husband to find some spiritual directors for her and her family.
In 595 the group of men left for England, but when they reached Gaul, they learned of perils that lay ahead so they returned to Rome. When the Pope’s letters were delivered and King Ethelbert sent his invitation, St. Augustine and his men left Rome in the spring of 597 and landed on the Isle of Thanet.
The men were well received by King Ethelbert of Kent who provided quarters for them in Canterbury. There, St. Augustine later set up his episcopal see at St. Martin’s Church. Here they preached and evangelized the people, bringing many into the Church, including King Ethelbert.
In the fall of 597 Augustine was consecrated as bishop of the English people by St. Virgilius at Arles. Vatican archives reveal a letter written in 601 by Pope Gregory to King Ethelbert and his wife. The Pope addressed the king as “his son” and also mentioned the king’s Baptism.
Besides preaching and administering the sacraments, Augustine founded the
Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul on land donated by the king. This abbey was
the first Benedictine abbey founded outside of Italy.
Although parts of the Abbey of Saints Peter and Paul were destroyed in 1538
during of the English Reformation, the ruins and remains of the structure have
been preserved for their historical value. It is now known as St. Augustine’s
Abbey.
After more than 10,000 conversions, Augustine sent Lawrence of Canterbury back to Rome with word of their accomplishments and with questions regarding their work. These questions dealt with marriages, punishments for offenses, Baptisms, and who could receive Holy Communion.
With his response, the Pope sent even more missionaries to Kent as well as a pallium for St. Augustine, sacred vestments, and books. The Pope also gave directions to Augustine to ordain 12 bishops to serve in London and another 12 to serve in York, nearly 200 miles north of London. In 604 Augustine consecrated bishops for two new sees: Bishop Mellitus in London and Bishop Justus in Rochester.
Although the Pope also instructed Augustine to move his episcopal see to London, the transfer never happened — perhaps because London was not part of Elbert’s kingdom.
Because of a diplomatic misunderstanding at a meeting called by King Ethelbert south of the Severn, on the western side of England, the Christians in Wales and Dumnonia refused to obey Pope Gregory’s decree that they should submit to Augustine. This conflict included differences on the observance of Easter, the reception of tonsure, and differences in asceticism, not to mention the political and social differences as well.
In addition to the above tasks, Augustine also established what is said to be the oldest operating school in the Western Hemisphere: King’s School Canterbury. It was founded with the intention of preparing men who would serve the East Anglia Mission.
After nearly 10 years of hard labor for the Church, Augustine died on May 26, 604. Before his death, he had consecrated Lawrence of Canterbury to be his successor. Augustine’s remains were buried in the abbey, but were lost in the destruction of the Reformation. His feast day is celebrated on May 27.
Dear St. Augustine, strengthened by a life of prayer and education, you spread
the word of God, and expanded His Kingdom in a predominantly pagan culture.
Guide us by your intercession so that we may pray every day, seeking direction
in converting our pagan culture that has lost its direction. Amen.
(Carole Breslin home-schooled her four
daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan Catholic Home Educators for
eight years. For over ten years, she was national coordinator for the Marian
Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
SOURCE : https://thewandererpress.com/saints/catholic-heroes-st-augustine-of-canterbury/
St. Augustine, Apostle of the English, Bishop and Confessor
From Bede, b. 1, c. 23, &c., and the letters
and life of St. Gregory.
A.D. 604.
THE SAXONS, English, and
Jutes, pagan Germans, who in this island began in 454 to expel the old Britons
into the mountainous part of the country, had reigned here about one hundred
and fifty years, when God was pleased to open their eyes to the light of the
gospel. 1 St..
Gregory the Great, before his pontificate, had desired to become himself their
apostle; but was hindered by the people of Rome, who would by no means suffer
him to leave that city. This undertaking, however, he had very much at heart,
and never ceased to recommend to God the souls of this infidel nation. When he
was placed in the apostolic chair, he immediately turned his thoughts towards
this abandoned part of the vineyard, and resolved to send thither a select
number of zealous labourers. For this great work none seemed better qualified
than Augustine, then prior of St. Gregory’s monastery, dedicated to St. Andrew
in Rome. Him, therefore, the pope appointed superior of this mission, allotting
him several assistants who were Roman monks. The powers of hell trembled at the
sight of this little troop, which marched against them armed only with the
cross, by which they had been stripped of their empire over men. Zeal and
obedience gave these saints courage, and they set out with joy upon an
expedition, of which the prize was to be either the conquest of a new nation to
Christ, or the crown of martyrdom for themselves. But the devils found means to
throw a stumbling-block in their way. St. Gregory had recommended them to
several French bishops on their road, of whom they were to learn the
circumstances of their undertaking, and prepare themselves accordingly. But
when the missionaries were advanced several days’ journey, probably as fair as
Aix in Provence, certain persons, with many of those to whom they were
addressed, exaggerated to them the ferocity of the English people, the
difference of manners, the difficulty of the language, the dangers of the sea,
and other such obstacles, in such a manner that they deliberated whether it was
prudent to proceed: the result of which consultation was that Augustine should
be deputed back to St. Gregory to lay before him these difficulties, and to beg
leave for them to return to Rome. The pope, well apprized of the artifices of
the devil, saw in these retardments themselves greater motives of confidence in
God; for where the enemy is most active, and obstacles seem greatest in the
divine service, there we have reason to conclude that the work is of the
greater importance, and that the success will be the more glorious. Souls are
never prepared for an eminent virtue and the brightest crowns but by passing
through great trials. This, though often immediately owing to the malice of the
devil, is permitted by God, and is an effect of his all-wise providence to
raise the fervour of his servants for the exceeding increase of their virtue.
St. Gregory, therefore, sent Augustine back with a letter of encouragement to
the rest of the missionaries, representing to them the cowardice of abandoning
a good work when it is begun; exhorting them not to listen to the evil
suggestions of railing men, and expressing his desire of the happiness of
bearing them company, and sharing in their labours had it been possible. The
temptation being removed, the apostolic labourers pursued their journey with
great alacrity, and, taking some Frenchmen for interpreters along with them, 2 landed
in the Isle of Thanet, on the east side of Kent, in the year 596, being, with
their interpreters, nearly forty persons. From this place St. Augustine sent to
Ethelbert, the powerful king of Kent, signifying that he was come from Rome,
and brought him a most happy message, with an assured divine promise of a
kingdom which would never have an end. The king ordered them to remain in that
island, where he took care they should be furnished with all necessaries,
whilst he deliberated what to do. This great prince held in subjection all the
other English kings who commanded on this side the Humber; nor was he a
stranger to the Christian religion; for his Queen Bertha, a daughter of
Caribert, king of Paris, was a Christian, and had with her Luidhard, bishop of
Senlis, for her director and almoner. After some days, the king went in person
to the isle, but sat in the open air to admit Augustine to his presence; for he
had a superstitious notion that if he came with any magical spell, this would
have an effect upon him under the cover of a house, but could have none in the
open fields. The religious men came to him in procession, “carrying for their
banner a silver cross, and an image of our Saviour painted on a board; and
singing the litany as they walked, made humble prayer for themselves, and for
the souls of those to whom they came.” Being admitted into the presence of the
king, they announced to him the word of life. His majesty listened attentively;
but answered, that their words and promises indeed were fair, but new, and to
him uncertain: however, that since they were come a great way for his sake,
they should not be molested, nor hindered from preaching to his subjects. He
also appointed them necessary subsistence, and a dwelling-place in Canterbury,
the capital city of his dominions. They came thither in procession, singing,
and imitated the lives of the apostles, serving God in prayer, watching, and
fasting; despising the things of this world, as persons who belonged to
another, and ready to suffer or die for the faith which they preached. There
stood near the city an old church of St. Martin, left by the Britons. In this
was the queen accustomed to perform her devotions, and in it the apostolic
preachers began to meet, sing, say mass, preach, and baptize, till the king being
converted, they had license to repair and build churches every where. Several
among the people were converted, and received the holy sacrament of
regeneration; and in a short time the king himself, whose conversion was
followed by innumerable others
Bede says that St. Augustine after
this went back to Arles to Etherius, bishop of that city, from whose hands he
received the episcopal consecration; but for Etherius we must read Virgilius,
who was at that time archbishop of Arles, Etherius being bishop of Lyons. 3 The
reason why he went so far, seems to have been because the Archbishop of Arles
was not only primate, but apostolic legate in Gaul; and Augustine probably
wanted his advice in many things. The saint had baptized the king, and was
himself ordained bishop before October, 597, within the space of one year; for
the letter of St. Gregory to encourage the missionaries in France to proceed,
was dated on the 10th of August, 596. In 598 the same pope wrote to Eulogius,
patriarch of Alexandria, that Augustine had been ordained bishop, with his
license, by the German prelates; so he calls the French, because they came from
Germany. He adds: “In the last solemnity of our Lord’s nativity, more than ten
thousand of the English nation were baptized by this our brother and
fellow-bishop.”
St. Augustine, immediately after his
return into Britain, sent Laurence and Peter to Rome to solicit a supply of
more labourers, and they brought over several excellent disciples of Pope
Gregory; among whom were Mellitus, the first bishop of London; Justus, the
first bishop of Rochester; Paulinus, the first archbishop of York; and
Rufinianus, the third abbot of Augustine’s. “With this colony of new
missionaries, the holy pope sent all things in general for the divine worship
and the service of the church, viz. sacred vessels, altar-cloths, ornaments for
churches, and vestments for priests and clerks, relics of the holy apostles and
martyrs, and many books,” as Bede writes. 4 St.
Augustine wrote frequently to St. Gregory, whom he consulted in the least
difficulties which occurred in his ministry; which shows the tenderness of his
conscience; for in many things which he might have decided by his own learning and
prudence, he desired to render his conscience more secure by the advice and
decision of his chief pastor. The same pope wrote to the Abbot Mellitus, 5 directing
the idols to be destroyed, and their temples to be changed into Christian
churches, by purifying and sprinkling them with holy water, and erecting
altars, and placing relics in them; thus employing the spoils of Egypt to the
service of the living God. He permits the celebration of wakes on the
anniversary feasts of the dedications of the churches, and on the solemnities
of the martyrs, to be encouraged among the people, the more easily to withdraw
them from their heathenish riotous festivals.
The good King Ethelbert laboured
himself in promoting the conversion of his subjects during the twenty remaining
years of his life; he enacted wholesome laws, abolished the idols, and shut up
their temples throughout his dominions. He thought he had gained a kingdom when
he saw one of his subjects embrace the faith, and looked upon himself as king
only that he might make the King of kings be served by others. He built Christ
Church, the cathedral in Canterbury, upon the same spot where had formerly
stood a heathenish temple. He also founded the abbey of St. Peter and Paul
without the walls of that city, since called St. Augustine’s, the church of St.
Andrew in Rochester, &c. He brought over to the faith Sebert, the pious
king of the East Saxons, and Redwald, king of the East Angles, though the
latter, Samaritan-like, worshipped Christ with his idols. Ethelbert reigned
fifty-six years, and departed to our Lord in 616. He was buried in the
abbey-church of SS. Peter and Paul, which himself had founded. He had been
baptized in the church of St. Pancras, which St. Augustine had dedicated, and
which had been a pagan temple, on that very spot where he built soon after
Christ Church, as is mentioned in an old manuscript preserved in the Library of
Trinity Hall in Cambridge, quoted by Spelman 6 and
Tyrrel. St. Ethelbert is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the 24th of
February.
St. Gregory, in the year 600, sent,
with many noble presents, a letter of congratulation and of excellent advice to
king Ethelbert. He in the same year sent to St. Augustine the archiepiscopal
pall, with authority to ordain twelve bishops, who should be subject to his
metropolitan see; ordering that when the northern English should have embraced
the faith, he should ordain a bishop of York, who should likewise be a
metropolitan with twelve suffragan bishops. But particular circumstances
afterwards required some alterations in the execution of this order. The fame
of many miracles wrought by St. Augustine in the conversion of the English
having reached Rome, St. Gregory wrote to him, 7 exhorting
him to beware of the temptation of pride or vain-glory, in the great miracles
and heavenly gifts which God showed in the nation which he had chosen.
“Wherefore,” says he, “amidst those things which you exteriorly perform, always
interiorly judge yourself, and thoroughly understand both what you are
yourself, and how great a grace is given in that nation for the conversion of
which you have even received the gift of working miracles. And if you remember
that you have ever at any time offended your Creator either by word or deed,
always have that before your eyes, to the end that the remembrance of your
guilt may crush the vanity rising in your heart. And whatever you shall receive
or have received in relation to the working of miracles, esteem the same not as
conferred on you, but on those for whose salvation it hath been given you.” He
observes to him, that when the disciples returned with joy and said to our
Lord, In thy name be the devil subject unto us, they presently
received a rebuke: rejoice not in this, but rather that your names are
written in heaven.
St. Augustine ordained St. Mellitus
bishop of the East Saxons in London, and St. Justus bishop of Rochester; and
seeing the faith now to do spread wide on every side, he took upon him, by
virtue of his metropolitan and legatine authority, which the pope had conferred
upon him over all the bishops of Britain, to make a general visitation of his
province. He desired very much to see the ancient Britons, whom the English had
driven into the mountains of Wales, reclaimed from certain abuses which had
crept in among them, and to engage them to assist him in his labours in
converting the English. But malice and an implacable hatred against that nation
blinded their understandings and hardened their hearts. However, being on the
confines of the Wiccians and West-Saxons, that is, on the edge of
Worcestershire, not far from Wales, he invited the British bishops and doctors
to a conference. They met him at a place which was called at the time when Bede
wrote, Augustine’s Oak. 8 The
zealous apostle employed both entreaties and exhortations, and required of them
three things: First, That they should assist him in preaching the gospel to the
pagan English: Secondly, That they should observe Easter at the due time: and,
Thirdly, That they should agree with the universal Church in the manner of
administering baptism. But they obstinately refused to comply with his desires.
Whereupon St. Augustine proposed, by a divine impulse, that a sick or impotent
person should be brought in, and that their tradition should be followed, as
agreeable to God, by whose prayer he should be cured. The condition was
accepted, though very unwillingly; and a blind man was brought, and presented
first to the British priests, but found no benefit by their prayers or other
endeavours. Then Augustine bowed his knees to God, praying that by restoring
the sight to this blind man, he would make his spiritual light shine on the
souls of many. Upon which the blind man immediately recovered his sight, and
the Britons confessed that they believed that the doctrine which Augustine
preached was the truth; but said, that without the general consent of their
nation they could not quit their ancient rites and customs. Wherefore they
desired that a general synod of their country should be held. Accordingly a
second more numerous council was assembled, in which appeared several British
bishops (their annals say seven) and many learned men, especially from the
monastery of Bangor, which stood in Flintshire, not far from the river Dee; not
in the city of Bangor in Carnarvonshire. A little before they came, they sent
to consult a famous hermit among them, whether they should receive Augustine or
reject his admonitions, and retain their ancient usages. He bade them, so to
contrive it, that Augustine and his company should come first to the place of
the synod, and said, that if he should arise when they approached they should look
upon him as humble, and should hear and obey him; but if he should not rise to
them that were more in number, then they should despise him. They took this
ignorant and blind direction, and instead of weighing the justice and equity of
the archbishop’s demands, his right, and the truth of his doctrine, committed
this important decision to a trifling casual circumstance or punctilio. They
had before confessed that he taught the truth, and he had convinced them both
by reasons and a miracle, that he only required of them what charity and
obedience to the church in points of discipline obliged them to; nevertheless,
revenge and malice against the English made them still stand out and have
recourse to the most idle pretence. 9 Strong
endeavours wrong God usually punishes with success. It so happened that when
they entered the place of the synod, Augustine did not rise from his seat;
whether this was done by inadvertence, or because it might be the custom of the
countries where he had been not to use those compliments in public places, or
at least in synods, any more than in churches. But whatever was the occasion,
nothing could be more unreasonable than the conclusion which the Britons drew
from this circumstance. Had the inference been just, the archbishop did not
lose his right, nor was his doctrine the less true. His humility and charity
were otherwise conspicuous. He was come so far for their sake, and out of
humility was accustomed to travel on foot. Nor did he in this conference
mention his own dignity or authority: he seems even to have waived the point of
his primacy; which from his charity we cannot doubt but he would have been glad
to have procured leave to resign to their own archbishop of St. David’s, had
the Britons been willing on such terms to have conformed to the discipline of
the universal church, and lay aside their rancour against the English. However,
upon this ridiculous pretence did that nation remain obstinate in their malice. 10 Which
St. Augustine seeing, he foretold them, that “if they would not preach to the
English the way of life, they would fall by their hands under the judgment of
death.” This prediction was not fulfilled till after the death of St.
Augustine, as Bede expressly testifies, 11 when
Ethilfrid, king of the northern English, who were yet Pagans, gave the Britons
a terrible overthrow near Caer-legion or Chester, and seeing the monks of
Bangor praying at a distance, he cried out after the victory: “If they pray
against us they fight against us by their hostile imprecations.” And rushing
upon them with his army, he slew twelve hundred of them, or, according to
Florence of Worcester, two thousand two hundred. For so numerous was this
monastery that being divided into seven companies, under so many superiors,
each division consisted of at least three hundred monks, and whilst some were
at work others were at prayer. Their obstinate refusal of the essential
obligation of charity towards the English was a grievous crime, and drew upon
them this chastisement; but we hope the sin extended no further than to some of
the superiors. This massacre was predicted by St. Augustine as a divine
punishment; but those who accuse him as an instigator of it are strangers to
the spirit and bowels of most tender charity, which the saint bore towards all
the world, who knew no other arms against impenitent sinners and persecutors
than those of compassion, and tears and prayers for their conversion. And long
before the accomplishment of this threat and prophecy in 607, St. Augustine was
translated to glory, 12 as
appears from several circumstances related by Bede himself, though the year of
his death is not expressed by that historian, nor in his epitaph, which seems
composed before the custom of counting dates by the æra of Christ was
introduced in this island, though it began to be used at Rome by Dionysius Exiguus,
an abbot, in 550.
St. Augustin, whilst yet living,
ordained Laurence his successor in the see of Canterbury, not to leave at his
death an infant church destitute of a pastor. 13 He
died on the 26th of May; and as William Thorn says, from a very ancient book of
his life, in the same year with St. Gregory, viz. 604; which Mr. Wharton proves
from several other authorities. 14 Goscelin,
a monk of Canterbury in 1096, besides two lives of St. Augustine, compiled a
book of his miracles wrought since his death, and a history of the translation
of his relics in 1091, which was accompanied with several miracles, to which
this author was an eye-witness. This work is given at length by Papebroke on this
day. The second council of Cloveshoe, that is, Cliffe in Kent, in 747, under
archbishop Cuthbert, Ethelbald king of Mercia being present, commanded 15 his
festival to be kept a holiday by all the clergy and religious, 16 and
the name of St. Augustin to be recited in the Litany immediately after that of
St. Gregory.
The body of St. Augustine was
deposited abroad till the church of SS. Peter and Paul near the walls of
Canterbury, which king Ethelbert built for the burying-place of the kings and
archbishops, was finished; when it was laid in the porch, with this epitaph,
which is preserved by Camden in his Remains, 17 and
by Weever in his Funeral Monuments. 18 “Here
rests lord Augustine, first archbishop of Canterbury, who being sent hither by
the blessed Gregory bishop of Rome, and by God upheld by the working of
miracles, 19 brought
king Ethelbert and his nation from idolatry to the faith of Christ, and having
completed the days of his office in peace, died on the seventh day before the
calends of June, in the reign of the same king.” In the same porch were
interred also the six succeeding archbishops, Laurence, Mellitus, Justus,
Honorius, Deusdedit, and Theodorus; these in their epitaph are called the seven
patriarchs of England. The porch being by that time full, and the custom
beginning to allow persons of eminent dignity and sanctity to be buried within
churches, St. Brithwald the eighth archbishop, was interred in the church of
this abbey in 731; and near him his successor St. Tatwin. Weever says, besides
the first archbishops and the kings of Kent, thousands of others were here
interred; but by the demolition of this monastery, “not one bone at this time
remains near another, nor one stone almost on another, the tract of this most
goodly foundation no where appearing.” One side of the walls of king
Ethelbert’s tower, the gates, houses, and some ruins of the out-buildings are
still standing; but the site of the abbey cannot be traced, and the ground is a
cherry orchard. This was the great abbey which some time after changed the name
of SS. Peter and Paul for that of St. Augustine’s. But the remains of our saint
were afterwards removed hence into the north porch of the cathedral of Christ
Church within the city; and on the 6th of September, 1091, leaving in that
place some part of the ashes and lesser bones, abbot Wido translated the
remainder into the church; where they lay for some time in a strong urn in the
wall under the east window. In 1221 the head was put into a rich shrine
ornamented with gold and precious stones; the rest of the bones lay in a marble
tomb enriched with fine carvings and engravings till the dissolution. 20
Cuthbert, the eleventh archbishop,
was the first person buried in Christ Church in 759, since which time it had
been the usual burying-place of the archbishops, till the change of religion;
for none of the Protestant archbishops have hitherto been there interred. In
the cathedral of Christ Church were the shrines of St. Thomas, St. Wilfride,
(whose relics were translated from Rippon by Odo,) St. Dunstan, St. Elphege,
St. Anselm, St. Odo, St. Blaise bishop, St. Owen archbishop of Rouen, St.
Salvius bishop, St. Woolgam, St. Swithun, &c. Battely 21 and
Dr. Brown Willis 22 justify
the monks of Christ Church from the crimes laid to their charge at the
dissolution; but say the riches of their church were their crime. Also the
ingenious Mr. Wharton, under the name of Antony Harmer, in his Specimen of
Errors in B. Burnet’s History of the Reformation, p. 48. takes notice, that
whereas the monks of Christ Church in Canterbury and those of Battel-abbey were
principally charged with enormous irregularities at the dissolution of abbeys,
their innocence in both places, especially the former, is notorious from
several evident circumstances. Christ Church at Canterbury was rated at the
dissolution at two thousand three hundred and eighty-seven pounds per annum;
St. Augustine’s in the same place at one thousand four hundred and thirteen
pounds, according to Dugdale.
Note 1. The Saxons are placed by Ptolemy,
when they became first known to the Romans, at the back of the Cimbrians.
Grotius, in his history of the Goths, proves them to have been originally Getæ
or Goths, who passed from Sweden into Germany: he also shows that the Scythian
Getæ founded the Gothic nation; and it is evident from the English Saxon, the
Mæsogothic, and other Grammars, printed by Dr. Hicks, that the English Saxon
language is derived from the Gothic, or that of the Scythian Getæ, which was
Celtic in its ground. That the Celtic language was brought from Scythia in
Asia, in the migrations of the first colonies, and was the ground and original
of the Teutonic and all the other languages anciently used in Gaul,
Scandinavia, Britain, and almost all Europe, is very well proved by Pelloutier,
(Hist, des Celtes, l. 1, c. 15, p. 155.) Mallet only excepts the Sarmatian, the
Grecian (derived in part from the Egyptian,) and the Roman, (partly derived
from the Grecian.) This language remains most entire in those countries which
were never subject to the Romans, chiefly in Ireland and the north of Sweden.
The Teutonic or Gothic of the fourth and fifth centuries has an affinity with
the Welsh tongue, and that of Lower Brittany and Biscay, and seems to have some
with the Irish. The ancient Etruscan is supposed to have been a dialect of the
Celtic. The modern French and Spanish, though dialects of the Latin, still
retain many Celtic words. The Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish are evidently
dialects of the Celtic, and are allied to the German, especially that used in
Lower Germany. The Asiatic Scythian colony which Odin or Woden settled in the
southern provinces of Scandinavia and the northern of Germany, introduced a
softer dialect of the Celtic, with some new words and new terminations. This
was the English Saxon tongue. See Mallet, Introd. à l’Histoire de Dannemarc, l.
5, p. 236. It may be added, that ancient Saxons brought into England the
religion and idols of the Goths, the same with the Danes, Swedes, and
Norwegians, who all descended from the Goths, likewise worshipped; as Thor, the
god of thunder, like the Roman Jupiter, from whom Thursday takes its name:
Woden, the chief god and the god of war, from whom Wednesday is derived: Friga
or Frea, his wife, the goddess of love, like Venus, from whom comes the name of
Friday. Tuesday seems called, not from the peculiar god of the Germans, Tuisco,
as Verstigan imagines, but either from Tys, a son of Woden, from whom the
Islanders call it Tysdag, or rather from Dysa or Thisa, the wife of Thor, the
goddess of justice, to whom several temples were built among the Swedes and
Danes. See on the mythology and divinities of the Celtes, Schedius de Diis
Germanis; Pelloutier, Hist. des Celtes, t. 2, l. 3, Mallet, Introd. à l’Hist.
de Dannem. l. 2, p. 48, and his comments on the Edda or Islandic mythology,
compiled by Snorro Sturleson; Sammes, Antiq. of Brit. &c. The Swedes,
Danes, Gauls, and all the Celtes sacrificed men to Thor before any great
enterprise. The Saxons, crossing the Weser, acquired a new settlement near the
coast towards Friseland, and by their piracies grew terrible to the Romans in
the fourth and fifth centuries, as appears from Ammianus Marcellinus, the poet
Claudian, and Orosius. The Angles seem to have been a tribe of the Cimbrians;
and the Jutes (so called from their ancestors the Getæ) inhabited Jutland. All
the Danish, Swedish, and Saxon writers say that Woden was a Goth, who,
returning with an army of adventurers from the Asiatic Scythia or Georgia,
beyond the Palus Mœotis, settled with his people in Jutland, and was a great
conqueror in those parts, about seventy years before Christ. From this Woden
all the first English Saxon kings who founded the Heptarchy in England, are
said to have descended. Their pedigrees are published by Dr. Gale, at the end
of his last volume. Mallet suspects that as Odin or Woden, the Asiatic Scythian
conqueror of the North, took the name of the ancient god of the country, which
was favourable to his ambitious views, so other princes seem to have made this
a name of dignity. But we must allow that all the first English Saxon kings
were descended from the same conqueror who bore that name. Hengist, the first
king of Kent, was only the fifth from Woden. The Britons being abandoned by the
Romans, who had drained the country of its soldiery and strength, and being
cowardly, vicious, full of mutual contentions, and extremely addicted to
drunkenness and debauchery, were unable to withstand the Picts and Scots, and
implored the succour of the Saxons, who, under Hengist and Horsa, two brothers,
defeated the Picts in Lincolnshire, and received for their recompense of King
Vortigern a settlement in Kent. But seeing the cowardice and weakness of the
Britons, they invited over their countrymen from Germany, and seized the
country of the Britons, whom they drove into the mountains of Wales, though
after the death of the vicious British kings, Vortigern and Vortimer, Aurelius
Ambrosius, (who from the command of the army was advanced to the throne,) and
afterwards King Arthur, during the reign of twenty-seven years, made a glorious
stand. Hengist arrived in Britain in 449, but was only chosen king of Kent
eight years after, in 457; Ethelbert, his fourth descendant, came to the crown
in 561. From the Jutes came the inhabitants of Kent, Hampshire, and the Isle of
Wight; from the Saxons, the East-Saxons, South-Saxons, and West-Saxons; and
from the Angles, the East-Angles, Mercians, and Northumbrians. The kingdom of
the South-Saxons contained Sussex, Surry, and the Isle of Wight: that of the
East-Saxons, Essex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire: that of the
West-Saxons or Gevissians, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire,
Somersetshire, and Devonshire: that of Kent, the county of that name: that of
the East-Angles, Norfolk, Suffolk, the Isle of Ely, and part of Hertfordshire:
that of the Mercians, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire,
Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire,
Rutlandshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire,
Worcestershire, Herefordshire, and Gloucestershire: that of the Northumbrians,
subdivided into the provinces of Deira to the south, and Bernicia to the north,
comprised Yorkshire, Lancashire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Durham,
Northumberland, and part of Scotland as far as the Frith. See Sammes, Antiq.
Brit. Tyrrell; Joannis Georgii Eccardi de Origine Germanorum eorumque Coloniis
et Migrationibus, &c. Studio Christ. Lud. Scheidii, Goettingæ, 1750, in
4to. [back]
Note
2. The
Franks and English Saxons were equally German nations; the former came one
hundred and thirty years earlier from beyond the Rhine; the latter from the
countries about the mouths of the Rhine and the Elbe, and about Holstein, or
the continent of Denmark, still called Jutland. Hence the French and English
both had the same language, as Bishop Godwin observes from this circumstance.
This is confirmed by other clear proofs by the learned and judicious William
Howel, in his Institution of General History, t. 4, p. 435. [back]
Note 3. See the Benedictins in their life of
St. Gregory; also Mrs. Eliz. Elstob. Wharton thinks St. Augustine was ordained
in France before he went over into England, because St. Gregory, in his letter
to Queen Brunechilde, in October, 597, styles him his brother and
fellow-bishop. But the express testimony of Bede is not to be so easily set
aside; and had St. Augustine been first sent over bishop, he would have rather
been ordained before he left Rome. He might have baptized the king and made his
journey to Arles within the space of one year. Which account best agrees with
the letters of St. Gregory, as the Benedictins remark. [back]
Note
4. Bede,
Hist. b. 1, c. 29. [back]
Note 5. Ib. c. 30. [back]
Note
6. Conc.
Brit. t. 1. [back]
Note 7. Bede, b. 1, c. 31. [back]
Note
8. This
conference was held after St. Austin was consecrated archbishop; consequently
after the year 601. Spelman thinks the place to have been Ausric, that town
being situated on the edge of Worcestershire, towards Herefordshire; for
Augustine’s-ric in the English Saxon language signifies Austin’s patrimony or
country. [back]
Note 9. The Britons might have suspended
their submission to Augustine as their new metropolitan, without questioning
the pope’s authority. St. Gregory knew he had power to alter the metropolitical
jurisdiction of particular churches when circumstances made such an alteration
necessary, or exceedingly expedient. We have of this several instances in the
history of the church in those very ages. Thus Pope Zozimus declared the
Archbishop of Arles to be primate of Gaul by ancient right, out of respect to
St. Trophimus. (See de Marca de Primat. p. 169.) Yet Boniface I. and Celestine
I. both exempted the whole province of Narbonne from any obedience or
subjection to the church of Arles; and Leo I. declared the Archbishop of Vienna
primate; till after the death of St. Hilary he restored the primacy of part of
those provinces to Arles; and St. Gregory the Great, Vigilius, Pelagius,
Symmachus, &c., maintained the primacy of Arles. Not that the pope is at
discretion to infringe the privileges of churches, which he is bound to
maintain; neither is the jurisdiction of churches to be altered but upon cogent
reasons of public necessity and utility. Such St. Gregory thought the
reformation of the Britons to be, who, by the testimony of Gildas, were sunk
into the lowest degree of ignorance and barbarism, so as to retain little more
than the name of Christians. Yet that the Britons might deny the necessity of
such change, and be tenacious of their ancient hierarchy is no way surprising,
and what others might have done for some time. But their true reason appears to
have been their implacable hatred against the English, which betrayed them into
glaring injustice and impiety.
The Welsh manuscript printed by Spelman makes them disclaim any
foreign supremacy; but is an evident piece of forgery, not so old as the
Reformation, as is demonstrated by Mr. Turberville (Manual of Controversies, p.
406,) and Dr. Hawarden, (Preface to Church of Christ showed, t. 2, p. 20.) Nor
was there at that time any archbishop of Caer-leon upon Usk; the metropolitan
see having been translated from that city to Landaff by St. Dubritius; and soon
after by St. David to Menew, almost fourscore years before the arrival of St.
Augustine. [back]
Note
10. That
the British Christians agreed in faith with the universal church is clear,
First, From St. Augustine, who demanded of them only three things, namely,
charity towards the English, and conformity in two points of discipline. Any
difference in faith would have been mentioned in the first place: Secondly, The
Britons confessed that the faith of Augustine was the truth, as Bede testifies:
Thirdly, They had lived in a perpetual intercourse and communion with the
churches of Gaul, Rome, &c. Pope Celestine sent St. Palladius to preach to
the Scots, and St. Patrick to the Irish. St. Ninion, a Briton, studied at Rome
before he preached in his own country, where he died in 432: Fourthly, The
primitive Christians were so watchful and jealous in preserving the purity of
the faith derived from Christ and his apostles, that the least adulteration or
change introduced by any bishop or private person was immediately observed and
corrected, or punished by excommunication, as all the writings of the fathers,
the councils, and all the ancient monuments of the church evince: Fifthly,
Gildas and Bede testify that the faith remained untainted, and without the least
division in Britain, till the Arian heresy, under Constantius shot its baneful
sprouts in this island; which were, however, extirpated. Pelagianism had no
sooner infected this church, but the Gaulish bishops deputed hither SS.
Germanus and Lupus, who checked the growing evil, and preserved this flock.
Pope Celestine had vested St. Germanus with the legatine authority for this
purpose, as St. Prosper testifies in his chronicle. Lastly, Gildas, who was a
learned divine, and lived many years in Britain and abroad, always in communion
with the universal church, and has left us the most severe invectives against
the vices of the Britons, bears testimony to the purity of their faith, which
had suffered no alteration, except from these attempts of Arianism and
Pelagianism. He therefore accuses them only for their crimes of tyranny,
murders, extortions, adulteries, impurities, sacrilegious marriages under
religious vows. (L. de Excidio Britan. Bibl. Patr. t. 5, part 3, p. 681, ed.
Colon.) As to their clergy, he censures them as unchaste, drunkards, slothful,
haters of reading, seldom offering sacrifice, seldom standing at the altar with
a pure heart. (Corrupt, in Clerum, ib. p. 682.) [back]
Note 11. Hist. l. 2, c. 2. [back]
Note
12. See
this demonstrated by Wharton, Anglia Sacra; Tyrrell, t. 1, &c. [back]
Note 13. Neither gratitude nor the great
veneration which our ancestors have ever paid to the memory of St. Augustine,
have been able to protect his name in our times from the envenomed darts of
slander; and, among others, Rapin has disgraced several pages of his history
with the most bitter invectives against our apostle. Had any actions of this
saint appeared equivocal, the law of equity and charity would have obliged us
to construe them in a favourable sense. We judge of actions and intentions in
ambiguous cases by the known character and steady conduct of the person. But by
these envenomed writers, the very virtues of a saint have been transformed into
vices. It is said, that he betrayed an excessive pusillanimity in Gaul. But he
only suffered himself to be persuaded by those French bishops to whom he had
been referred by St. Gregory, for immediate intelligence about the English
nation, that the undertaking was not prudent; and upon this information he
consulted St. Gregory, and governed himself by his advice, because he sought
only the will of God. If any pusillanimity could be here laid to his charge,
his zeal certainly made a speedy amends. It is secondly urged, that the English
were previously disposed to receive the faith by Queen Bertha. But the French
bishops were unacquainted with such an inclination in that people; and
apprehended the mission to be most dangerous, and success impossible. The
English were perfidious, and the fiercest and most savage of all the barbarians
of that age, as our own historians call them, and as their actions show; yet
these men Augustine civilized by his preaching, and rendered mild, humble, and
patient, despisers of the goods of the world, and in fervour and sanctity
surpassing all the nations of the earth.
These
authors urge that he converted only Kent; but many other English provinces owed
their faith to his labours, or to others who preached under his direction,
though the conversion of Kent alone was an abundant field for his zeal. Rapin,
indeed, omits the most severe censure of Archbishop Parker, that St. Augustine
did not oblige the English Saxons to restore the whole country to the Britons.
By which principle our Norman gentry would be obliged to resign their lands to
God knows who, the Scots theirs to the old Caledonians; all nations in the
world would be unhinged, and the unanimous conduct of the apostles of the
Franks, Vandals, Goths, &c., and that of the bishops and saints of all ages
equally condemned. For public peace and tranquillity being the chief end of
civil government, by the law of nations, prescription, when of so long
standing, hath been always allowed to give a right. And this the public peace
and tranquillity of the whole world make necessary: which general peace and
weal of the community, is the great end of society and government to which
inferior motives and rules are to give place. According to the principle of
Archbishop Parker, the Romans themselves ought to have been also ousted, and
the poor descendants of the old Aborigines every where sought out, and made the
lords of the country. In cases of settlements of whole nations, restitution
becomes in a little time impossible, and the law of nations then gives a right
for the sake of public peace and necessity.
If
we judge of the sanctity of St. Augustine and his fellow-labourers by the
wonderful fruit which their zealous labours produced, we must entertain the
highest idea of their virtue. The English before their arrival were a barbarous
nation, ambitious, avaricious, fierce, perfidious, and utter strangers to the
very names of the sciences and liberal arts. When they came first into Britain
they seem not so much as to have known the use of letters, but to have borrowed
their first alphabet from the Irish. The Northumbrians, according to
Malmesbury, sold their own children for slaves, surpassing in barbarism and
fierceness the negroes at this day. But receiving readily the holy faith, they
became at once new men, meek, patient, humble, chaste, mortified: in a word, a
church of saints. The converts being mightily taken with the powerful preaching
and exemplary lives of their teachers, set themselves with so great ardour both
to learn and practise the most perfect maxims of salvation, as entirely to
despise the world. The princes and nobles were very zealous in building and
endowing churches and religious houses. To form a judgment of their liberality
in this respect, it is sufficient to mention one or two instances. Ina, the
religious and victorious king of the West-Saxons, after having reigned
thirty-two years, and acquired great glory by many warlike triumphs, and
settled the public peace by wholesome laws, (extant in Spelman, conc. t. 1,)
being arrived at the highest pitch of human felicity, abdicated his crown in
728, and went to Rome with his queen, not to show himself to the world, but to
hide himself from it, being there shorn a monk, and growing old in the
austerities and mean habit of that profession, whilst his queen put on a
religious veil in the same city. This king gave two thousand six hundred and
forty pounds weight of silver to make a chapel at Glastenbury; two hundred and
sixty-four pounds of gold for the altar; the chalice and paten had ten pounds
of gold; the censer eight pounds and twenty mancs of gold; the candlesticks
twelve pounds of silver; the covers of the book of the gospels twenty pounds
and forty mancs or marks of gold; the vessels of the altar seventeen pounds of
gold; the basins eight pounds of gold; the vessel for the holy water twenty
pounds of silver; the images of our Lord, St. Mary, and the twelve apostles,
one hundred and seventy-five pounds of silver, and thirty-eight pounds of gold;
the altar and priestly vestments were all interwoven with gold and precious
stones. (Stevens, vol. 1, p. 422, from 15 scriptor. vol. 1, p. 311; Reyner,
vol. 1, p. 44; Henschenius ad 6 Febr. in vitâ Inæ.) King Athelstan gave
thirty-six towns to the church of Exeter. (Monast. Angl. vol. 1, p. 225.) The
sanctity of many of these kings gives a lustre to the ages in which they lived.
The royal dignity being attended with honour, power, and riches, though often
beset with secret thorns, has attractives so strong in the minds of worldlings,
that before Christianity made such examples frequent, it was unheard of that a
king, out of mere greatness of soul, should lay down a crown, to obtain which,
many spared not parents or children. Dioclesian indeed had done it, influenced
by the base motive of cowardice. But a lively faith taught the English kings to
despise crowns, and to exchange them for a poor monk’s cowl. In Speed’s history
of Great Britain, (pp. 243, 244,) mention is made of eight kings and two queens
who renounced the world, and put on the religious habit. The learned and exact
author of the preface to the Monasticon testifies, (p. 9,) that within two
hundred years, thirty English Saxon kings and queens, in the midst of peace and
prosperity, resigned their crowns to embrace the monastic state.
How
saintly the deportment of the clergy and monks at that time was; with what zeal
they applied themselves to the functions of the ministry, and the care of
souls; how perfect was their spirit of poverty and disinterestedness; how
mortified and recollected were their lives, we may gather from Bede, (l. 3, c.
20; l. 4, c. 27,) &c. Even so late as the year 824, Vetin, the monk of
Richenou, in the account of his visions, is said to have been taught by an
angel that the monastic life flourished in its perfection, with true poverty of
spirit, beyond the seas, which in that age could not be understood but of
England, (Apud Canis. Lect. Ant. Mabill. sæc. Ben. 4, et Fleury, l. 46, p. 220,
t. 10,) which, at least, shows the reputation of the English monks abroad. This
Order furnished England with its most illustrious lights of piety and learning,
and produced apostolic men, to whose zeal the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden,
Norway, and almost all the North, were principally indebted for their
conversion to the faith.
Though
before their conversion utterly illiterate, the English were no sooner
enlightened by the faith but they applied themselves with incredible ardour to
cultivate their minds by studies, especially sacred learning. Bede is an early
instance with what success. Many even among the nobility travelled to Rome and
other foreign parts to improve themselves in the sacred sciences. And what is
of much greater importance, their fervour in practising all the maxims of
Christian perfection kept pace with, or was superior to their ardour in
learning them; curiosity and vanity having no share in these studies. Their holy
ambition was, not to appear to men, but to be in their hearts and deportment
perfect Christians. To promote sacred literature the great monasteries had
their public schools before universities were established, and in them the
youth of the nobility and clergy were most frequently trained up. The art of
printing not being then known, each monastery had its Scriptorium for those who
were employed in transcribing books; which was the usual Occupation of the
greater part of the monks for the hours allotted to manual labour; each
monastery had also its library. There were one thousand seven hundred MSS. in
the library at Peterborough. (See Gunton’s Peterborough.) The library of the
Grey Friars in London, built by Sir Richard Whittington, was one hundred and twenty-nine
feet long and thirty-one feet broad, and well filled with books. (Leland,
Collect. vol. 1, p. 109; Stow’s Survey of London.) Ingulf tells us, that when
the library of Croyland was burnt in 1091, they lost seven hundred books. The
great library at Wells had twenty-five windows on each side of it, as Leland
informs us. (Leland, Itin. vol. 3, p. 86.) At St. Augustine’s at Canterbury
prayers were always said for the benefactors to the library both alive and
dead. (Will. Thorn. inter 10 script. and Tanner. Not. Monast. Præf. p. 40.) In
the other monasteries the like libraries were preserved; and in those of the
greater monasteries were deposited the acts of parliament after the coming of
the Normans; and under the English Saxons the principal decrees of the Whittena
Gemote, or Mycel Gemote, i. e. great council or general assembly of
the states; likewise the acts of Gemote, or assemblies of lesser districts, as
of hundreds. In several monasteries registers of the kings and public
transactions were compiled and preserved, some of which have escaped the
flames, as the Saxon Annals or Chronicles published by Edmund Gibson, at
Oxford, in 1692. From such monastic chronicles, Florence of Worcester and
William of Malmesbury declare that they compiled their histories. The
destruction of these monuments are an irreparable loss in our history. Of which
Tyrrell writes thus (Tyrrell’s Hist. of Engl. p. 152): “From the conversion of
the Saxons most of the laws made in the Wittena Gemote, or great councils, were
carefully preserved, and would have been conveyed to us more entire, had it not
been for the loss of so many curious monuments of antiquity, at the suppression
of monasteries, in the reign of King Henry VIII.” Fanaticism, and more than
Gothic rage did not even spare the libraries of the two universities,
especially the two most noble public libraries at Oxford, the one founded by
Richard of Burg or Richard Aungerville, lord treasurer of England and bishop of
Durham in the reign of Edward III. who spared no cost or pains to render this
collection complete; the other furnished with books by Thomas Cobham, bishop of
Worcester, in 1367, and exceedingly augmented by King Henry IV., his sons, and
by the addition of the library of the most noble Prince Humfrey, duke of Gloucester,
filled with curious manuscripts, got, at any rates, from foreign parts. Of the
havoc there made, Chamberlain (Present State of England, part 3, p. 450,)
complains in the following words: “These men, under pretence of rooting out
Popery, superstition, and idolatry, utterly destroyed these two noble
libraries, and embezzled, sold, burnt, or tore in pieces all those valuable
books which those great patrons of learning had been so diligent in procuring
in every country of Europe. Nay, their fury was so successful as to the
Aungervillian library, which was the oldest, largest, and choicest, that we
have not so much as a catalogue of the books left. Nor did they rest here. They
visited likewise the college-libraries, and one may guess at the work they made
with them, by a letter still kept in the archives, where one of them boasts,
that New-College quadrangle was all covered with the leaves of their torn
books, &c. The university thought fit to complain to the government of this
barbarity and covetousness of the visitors, but could not get any more by it
than one single book, given to the library by John Whethamsted, the learned
abbot of St. Alban’s, wherein is contained part of Valerius Maximus, with the
commentaries of Dionysius de Burgo; and to this day there is no book in the
Bodleian library besides this and two more which are certainly known to have
belonged to either of the former libraries. Nay, and the university itself,
despairing ever to enjoy any other public library, thought it advisable to dispose
of the very desks and shelves the books stood on, in the year 1555.” Some few
books indeed were accidentally redeemed out of the hands of the grocers; and
Archbishop Parker afterwards rescued gleanings of many valuable manuscripts,
which treasure he bequeathed partly to the university library, but principally
to Bennet-College in Cambridge. At Oxford, Sir Thomas Bodley, by a noble
munificence, never to be sufficiently extolled, founded a new public library,
which was opened in 1602; and his example has been imitated by others. But
their diligence was not able to retrieve many valuable manuscripts which were
no more.
To return to St. Augustine, the greater the fervour of the English
was for the first ages after they were called to the faith, the more criminal
was the fall of those who afterwards degenerated from that sanctity,
notwithstanding the powerful influence of such examples. This their ingratitude
drew upon them heavy chastisements by the inroads of the Danes, and other
calamities that succeeded. [back]
Note
14. Anglia
Sacra, t. 1, p. 89. [back]
Note 15. Wilkins, Concil. Britan. t. 1, p.
97. [back]
Note
16. What
faith St. Augustine brought into our island is plain from Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History, who says, that those monks imitated the lives of the apostles in
frequent prayers, fastings, and watchings, serving God and preaching the word
of life with all diligence. By going barefoot the soles of St. Augustine’s feet
were become callous. They taught religious vows; the excellency of perpetual
chastity; confession of sins to a priest, with absolution and satisfaction; a
precept of fasting on Fridays, and in Lent; veneration of relics, which
devotion God confirmed with divers miracles; invocation of saints, and many
miracles wrought through their intercession; purgatory, praying for the dead,
which King Oswald practised with his last breath; holy water, and holy oil,
both recommended by miracles; altars of stone, chalices, altar-cloths, the
sacrifice of the mass, a number of lights burning day and night at saints’
shrines, and other holy places; pictures of our Saviour; of our Lady; crosses
of gold and silver; the holy eucharist reserved, and called the true body of
Christ; exorcisms, blessing with the sign of the cross; the supremacy of the
pope, to whom all the greater causes were referred, by whose authority bishops
went to preach to heathens, and whom Bede calls Bishop of the whole World. The
same venerable historian styles St. Peter the First Pastor of the Church; calls
him by the ordinary name of Prince of the Apostles, &c. See these points
shown at large in the book entitled England’s Old Religion, from Bede’s own
words; also in England’s Conversion and Reformation compared. The same might be
easily demonstrated from St. Gregory’s works. After this we need not inquire
any further why Rapin and many other Protestants discover so much rancour
against this holy apostle of our country. [back]
Note 17. Ib. p. 350. [back]
Note
18. Ib. p. 244. [back]
Note 19. A Deo operatione miraculorum
suffultus. [back]
Note
20. The reason why the burying-place was
first built without the city was an ancient inviolable custom both of the East
and West, never to suffer any one to be interred in towns; which the heathens
looked upon as a sacrilege. Among the Romans it was a law of the twelve tables:
“Intra pomœria ne sepelito neve comburito.” It were to be wished that this law
had never been transgressed; for by repeated experiments it is demonstrated,
that burials multiplied within towns, especially in churches, extremely infect
the air, and render the place unwholesome, and sometimes poisonous. On which
may be read the late curious dissertations of several very eminent French
surgeons. To this day the consecration of churches shows they are not intended
for burying places; whereas both the name cemetery and the form used in
blessing a church-yard, direct this to be the place designed for that purpose.
Anciently great personages were buried in the porches, as Constantine the Great
was in that of the apostles’ church at Constantinople, &c. Whence St.
Chrysostom writes, (Hom. 26, in 2 Cor.) that emperors esteemed it an honour to
be buried near the porches of the apostles. None but the bodies of martyrs and
saints were allowed to be placed in churches, till about the ninth century persons
of eminent sanctity were allowed that privilege; and the law being once broken
into, and a gap made, the liberty soon became general, though several canons
were framed to check the abuse. See l. 1, capitul. cap. 158, and l. 2, c. 48.
Also can. 15, causa 13, qu. 2. The council of Rouen in 1581, that of Rheims in
1583, &c. Custom hath now derogated from the law so far, as to authorize
the practice; though it were to be wished, that for great cities a decent
burying place were built out of the walls, as that for the great hospital out
of Milan, with a chapel in the middle. For the monuments of illustrious
persons, anciently cloisters were built near great churches, as those near the
cathedral of Vienne in Dauphiné, &c. The most finished model is the Campo
Santo at Pisa. [back]
Note 21. Antiquities of Canterbury. [back]
Note
22. T. 1, p. 39. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler
(1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/lives-of-the-saints/volume-v-may/st-eleutherius-pope-and-martyr
Glass inlay mosaic — Saints Augustine and
Gregory, "Non Angli sed Angeli si Christiani..."
At
Chapel of St Gregory and St Augustine, Westminster Cathedral — London.
Sant' Agostino di
Canterbury Vescovo
- Memoria Facoltativa
m. 26 maggio 604
Abate benedettino a Roma,
fu invitato da San Gregorio Magno ad evangelizzare l'Inghilterra, ricaduta
nell'idolatria sotto i Sassoni. Qui fu ricevuto da Etelberto, re di Kent
che aveva sposato la cattolica Berta, di origine franca. Etelberto si convertì,
aiutò Agostino e gli permise di predicare in piena libertà. Nel Natale
successivo al suo arrivo in Inghilterra, più di diecimila Sassoni ricevettero
il battesimo. Il Papa inviò altri missionari e nominò arcivescovo e primate
d'Inghilterra Agostino, che cercò di riunire la Chiesa bretone a quella sassone
senza riuscirci perché troppo forte era il rancore dei bretoni contro gli
invasori sassoni. Suo merito però è stato quello di aver convertito quasi tutto
il regno di Kent.
Etimologia: Agostino =
piccolo venerabile, dal latino
Emblema: Bastone
pastorale
Martirologio Romano: Sant’Agostino, vescovo di Canterbury in Inghilterra, che fu mandato dal papa san Gregorio Magno insieme ad altri monaci a predicare la parola di Dio agli Angli: accolto con benevolenza da Edilberto re del Kent, imitò la vita apostolica della Chiesa delle origini, convertì il re e molti altri alla fede cristiana e istituì in questa terra numerose sedi episcopali. Morì il 26 maggio.
(26 maggio: A Canterbury in Inghilterra, deposizione di sant’Agostino, vescovo,
la cui memoria si celebra domani)
La Gran Bretagna, evangelizzata fin dai tempi apostolici (il primo missionario a sbarcarvi sarebbe stato, secondo la leggenda, Giuseppe di Arimatea), era ricaduta nell'idolatria in seguito all'invasione dei Sassoni nel quinto e nel sesto secolo. Quando il re del Kent, Etelberto, sposò la principessa cristiana Berta, figlia del re di Parigi, questa domandò che fosse eretta una chiesa e che alcuni sacerdoti cristiani vi celebrassero i santi riti. Appresa la notizia, il papa S. Gregorio Magno giudicò maturi i tempi per l'evangelizzazione dell'isola. La missione fu affidata al priore del monastero benedettino di S. Andrea sul Celio, Agostino, la cui dote precipua non doveva essere il coraggio, ma in compenso era tanto umile e docile.
Partito da Roma alla testa di quaranta monaci nel 597, fece tappa nell'isola di Lerino. Le notizie sul temperamento bellicoso dei Sassoni lo spaventarono al punto che se ne tornò a Roma a pregare il papa di mutargli programma. Per incoraggiarlo, Gregorio lo nominò abate e poco dopo, quasi ad invogliarlo al passo decisivo, appena giunto in Gallia, lo fece consacrare vescovo. Il viaggio procedette ugualmente a brevi tappe. Finalmente, con l'arrivo della primavera, presero il largo e raggiunsero l'isola britannica di Thenet, dove il re in persona, spintovi dalla buona consorte, andò ad incontrarli.
I missionari avanzavano verso il corteo regale in processione al canto delle litanie, secondo il rituale appena introdotto a Roma. Fu per tutti una felice sorpresa. Il re accompagnò i monaci fino alla residenza già fissata, a Canterbury, a mezza strada tra Londra e il mare, dove sorse la celebre abbazia che prenderà il nome di Agostino, cuore e sacrario del cristianesimo inglese. L'opera missionaria dei monaci ebbe un esito insperato, poiché lo stesso re domandò il battesimo, spingendo col suo esempio migliaia di sudditi ad abbracciare la religione cristiana.
A Roma la notizia venne accolta con gioia dal papa, che espresse la sua soddisfazione nelle lettere scritte ad Agostino e alla regina. Insieme con un gruppo di nuovi collaboratori, il santo pontefice inviò ad Agostino il pallio e la nomina ad arcivescovo primate d'Inghilterra, ma al tempo stesso lo ammoniva paternamente a non insuperbirsi per i successi ottenuti e per l'onore che l'alta carica gli conferiva. Seguendo le indicazioni del papa per la ripartizione in territori ecclesiastici, Agostino eresse altre due sedi vescovili, quella di Londra e quella di Rochester, consacrando vescovi Mellito e Giusto. Il santo missionario morì il 26 maggio del 604 e fu sepolto a Canterbury nella chiesa che porta il suo nome.
Autore: Piero Bargellini
Pronunciare il proprio sì
al Signore significa anche accettare di essere inviati là dove non si vorrebbe
andare, se a chiedertelo è il Papa in persona. Lo sa bene Agostino, che passa
così dalla sua vita tranquilla di priore del Monastero benedettino di
Sant’Andrea al Celio, a Roma, a intraprendere un lungo viaggio verso terre
sconosciute e per di più ostili. Ma Agostino ha fatto, tra gli altri, il voto
dell’obbedienza.
Lo stato delle cose, al di là del mare
Non era dei migliori il
contesto della Britannia tra il quinto e sesto secolo. Precedentemente
cristianizzata dai missionari celti peninsulari che avevano fatto un ottimo
lavoro con i Bretoni, questi erano stati poi cacciati dall’arrivo di Sassoni,
Angli e Juti, popoli germanici pagani che iniziano a invadere questo territorio
a partire dal 596. I Bretoni, rifugiatisi tra le montagne del Galles, erano a
loro volta ricaduti nell’idolatria. Tuttavia il re juto del Kent, Etelberto,
che era riuscito a estendere la sua influenza nell’Essex, nel Sussex e nell’Est
Anglia – tutte terre assoggettate dai Sassoni – non si mostra ostile al
cristianesimo, tanto da sposare Berta, una principessa cristiana figlia del re
di Parigi, e acconsente perfino alla richiesta di lei di costruire una chiesa
cristiana nel Kent. Papa San Gregorio Magno, dunque, capisce che i tempi sono
maturi per una nuova evangelizzazione di queste terre. Rimasto colpito dalla
bellezza e dalla mitezza di alcuni schiavi angli portati a Roma, tanto da
averli paragonati ad angeli, concepisce l’idea di creare in Inghilterra una
nuova Chiesa dipendente da quella di Roma, come già era quella francese, e di
usare proprio la Francia come trampolino di lancio.
Inizia il viaggio: la tappa francese
Per portare a termine
questo incarico, il Pontefice decide di mettere a capo di 40 monaci il
benedettino Agostino, che all’epoca è priore del convento sul Celio a Roma. Non
è certamente il coraggio la sua principale caratteristica, ma sicuramente lo
sono l’umiltà e la docilità: infatti dice subito di sì. La spedizione parte nel
597 e fa tappa in Francia, nell’isola di Lérins. Qui i monaci, accolti nei
monasteri della zona, ascoltano i racconti spaventosi di ogni nefandezza
commessa dalle popolazioni in cui stavano per immergersi, tanto che Agostino ha
paura, torna immediatamente dal Papa e lo scongiura di cambiargli incarico. San
Gregorio Magno non molla: per incoraggiarlo lo nomina abate e appena questi
torna in Gallia lo consacra anche arcivescovo di Arles. Finalmente il viaggio
riprende e i monaci sbarcano in Inghilterra, sull’isola di Thenet.
L’evangelizzazione della Britannia
Ad accogliere la comunità
di monaci ci sono il re del Kent e la consorte, cristiana, che li accompagnano
fino a Canterbury, città a metà tra Londa e il mare, scelta come luogo di
partenza della nuova missione: portare la Parola di Dio tra gli Angli. All’inizio
la resistenza della gente è tanta, perciò Agostino sceglie una via di
evangelizzazione più morbida, disponibile ad accogliere alcune tra le più
radicate tradizioni pagane. Sarà un successo. In appena un anno sono oltre
diecimila i Sassoni battezzati, praticamente l’intero regno del Kent, compreso
il re (che un giorno sarà Santo) che ora appoggia Agostino apertamente. Il
Papa, per ringraziarlo, nel 601 gli manda il pallio e lo costituisce
Metropolita d’Inghilterra. Prima di riposare per l’eternità, Agostino riesce a
consacrare altre due sedi vescovili oltre a quella di Canterbury: Londra e
Rochester, i cui presbiteri sono rispettivamente Mellito e Giusto. Alla sua
morte, nel 604, viene seppellito a Canterbury, nella chiesa che ora porta il
suo nome ed è venerato da cattolici e anglicani.
Fonte : Vatican News
volte il coraggio manca e si prova paura di fronte ai pericoli, tanto da indurre alla rinuncia e alla fuga. Fa parte della fragilità umana. Anche i santi hanno sperimentato questo sentimento, come Sant’Agostino di Canterbury, nato a Roma nel 534 d.C. circa, priore del monastero romano di Sant’Andrea sul Celio. Il re sassone del Kent (Inghilterra) Etelberto, pur essendo pagano, sposa Berta, cristiana cattolica, figlia del re dei Franchi, il merovingio Cariberto. Il sovrano è buono e asseconda i desideri della moglie che gli fa costruire una chiesa a Canterbury, capitale del suo regno, dedicata a San Martino di Tours, patrono dei Merovingi. Etelberto è talmente affascinato dalla religione di Berta da inviare al papa in persona la richiesta di mandare in Inghilterra dei missionari da Roma.
Papa Gregorio I, detto Magno (futuro santo), affida questa importante missione all’umile e docile Agostino e ai suoi monaci benedettini. Agostino ubbidisce a malincuore e, titubante, si mette in viaggio. Arrivato in Provenza (Francia), però, torna indietro perché impressionato dai racconti sui Sassoni, descritti come bellicosi e crudeli. A Roma, papa Gregorio Magno convince il pauroso Agostino, che intende rinunciare all’incarico, a ripartire; lo incoraggia e gli dice che è lo stesso re anglosassone Etelberto, marito della cattolica Berta, ad avergli chiesto di inviare religiosi. Agostino ascolta le parole del pontefice e, rincuorato, assieme a quaranta monaci, raggiunge l’isola britannica di Thanet. Qui lo accoglie il re del Kent Etelberto in persona, su consiglio della moglie Berta, e lo accompagna nella capitale del regno sassone, a Canterbury, affidandogli la Chiesa di San Martino di Tours.
In seguito la missione dei monaci si dimostra talmente efficace (poiché essi con il loro esempio “praticavano quello che predicavano”), che nel Natale successivo lo stesso re sassone e più di diecimila sudditi si fanno battezzare. Il missionario benedettino viene nominato Primo Arcivescovo di Canterbury, suggestiva città medievale, prima diocesi cristiana della Gran Bretagna, ancora oggi considerata il centro della cristianità inglese. Agostino, su indicazione di papa Gregorio Magno, fonda altre sedi vescovili a Londra e a Rochester, consacrando vescovi i monaci Mellito e Giusto. Muore nel 604 e viene sepolto nell’Abbazia Santi Pietro e Paolo di Canterbury, ora a lui intitolata.
Autore: Mariella Lentini
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/27500
Detail
of the middle light of the second south aisle window of All Saints Church,
Danehill, East Sussex, depicting St Augustine of Canterbury. It was made in
1892 by the Kempe studio.
AGOSTINO di Canterbury,
santo
di Ubaldo Mannucci
Enciclopedia Italiana
(1929)
Era abate del monastero
dedicato da S. Gregorio Magno nella sua casa paterna a S. Andrea ad clivum
Scauri, in Roma allorché fu prescelto dal papa per la missione agli
Anglo-sassoni rimasti pagani. Partito nel 596 con 39 monaci, con lettere di
presentazione per abati e vescovi franchi, approdò l'anno seguente all'isola di
Thanet. Il re Etelberto del Kent - che già 20 anni prima, sposando la cattolica
Berta di Francia aveva dovuto permetterle il libero esercizio della sua
religione e di condur seco un vescovo, che officiava nella città regia di
Canterbury (anticamente Durovernum) la chiesa bretone di S. Martino - accolse
con benevola tolleranza i nuovi missionarî; interessante è la narrazione che
Beda fa della processione con cui essi diedero inizio all'opera loro. Questa fu
così efficace che già a Pentecoste del 597 il re ricevette il battesimo, e nel
Natale successivo ben 10 mila persone furono pubblicamente battezzate. Il papa
Gregorio espresse la sua gioia per tali successi in lettere a Berta (XI, 29) e
al patriarca Eulogio di Alessandria (VIII, 30); volle poi che Virgilio vescovo
di Arles consacrasse vescovo Agostino, che fissò la sua cattedra nella chiesa
di S. Pietro in Canterbury; nel 601 gli inviò anche il pallio, ordinando la
costituzione gerarchica delle regioni conquistate alla fede in dodici
episcopati suffraganei.
Agostino si adoperò anche
grandemente per amalgamare l'elemento celta o britanno con l'anglo-sassone;
benché le differenze religiose si riducessero a cose secondarie (rito del
battesimo, ciclo pasquale, forma della tonsura, ecc.) vide frustrati i suoi
tentativi dalla tenacia dei Bretoni. Morì il 26 maggio del 604, lo stesso anno
della morte di S. Gregorio. La sua missione segnò l'inizio della chiesa
anglosassone, che tanta importanza ebbe per tutto il Medioevo, e spiega, con
l'importazione della regola benedettina, il carattere prevalentemente monastico
che la chiesa d'Inghilterra conservò fino a Enrico VIII.
Bibl.: Cfr. S. Greg.
M., Reg., Epist., IX; Beda, Hist., II, 2-4; Acta SS., 26 maggio;
G. F. M(aclear), in Dict. of christ. Biogr, I, col. 225; J. Mason, The
Mission of St. Augustine according to the original documents, Cambridge 1897;
J. Brou, S. Augustin de Cant. et ses compagnons, Parigi 1897; F.
Cabrol, L'Angleterre chrétienne avant les Normands, 2ª ed., Parigi 1909;
U. Berlière, L'Ordine monastico, trad. ital., Bari 1928.
© Istituto della
Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani - Riproduzione riservataS
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/agostino-di-canterbury-santo_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/
St
George, Bickley - Stained glass window London Borough of Bromley
AGOSTINO di Cantorbery,
santo
di Raoul Manselli
Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani - Volume 1 (1960)
Preposito del monastero
di S. Andrea sul Monte Celio, fondato da Gregorio Magno prima della sua
elevazione al pontificato, da questo fu scelto per l'opera di missione fra gli
Angli e i Sassoni. Sbarcato in Provenza, si fermò prima al monastero di Lérins,
di là dirigendosi a Marsiglia, per incontrarvi Arigio, patrizio della Gallia, e
ad Aix-en-Provence per avere dal vescovo Protasio informazioni sulla situazione
inglese. Ma ben poco incoraggiamento ed aiuto dovette trovare se, spinto dai
suoi compagni e, come sembra, scoraggiato egli stesso dalle difficoltà
dell'impresa, tornò a Roma per chiedere a Gregorio di essere esonerato. Ma il
pontefice volle che la missione fosse tentata. A., perché con maggior autorità
potesse essere a capo degli altri compagni, venne nominato abate ed al momento
della sua partenza (fine di luglio del 596)ricevette da Gregorio lettere che lo
raccomandavano alle più alte autorità spirituali e temporali della Gallia e dei
Franchi.
Ritornato ad Aix per
Arles, Vienne e Lione giunse ad Autun, il cui vescovo Siagrio aveva promesso al
papa collaborazione. Trattenutosi in quella città piuttosto a lungo, nel
riprendere il viaggio verso il nord, A. incontrò Lotario II, re di Neustria,
che gli fu largo d'aiuti. Nella primavera del 597,giunto all'isola di Thanet
con un gruppo di quaranta missionari ed interpreti, annunciò al re Etelberto,
che aveva moglie cristiana, la sua venuta, chiedendogli di consentire la
predicazione a lui ed ai suoi compagni. Il re si impegnò ad aiutare i
missionari nelle loro necessità, concedendo loro un alloggio a Cantorbery. Qui
A. organizzò subito un monastero, giovandosi anche di altre chiese cristiane
preesistenti, sia che fossero già in funzione, come quella di S. Martino,
cappella della regina Berta, sia che, ormai in rovina, fossero da lui
ricostruite.
A. riuscì ben presto ad
ottenere un grande numero di conversioni che culminarono con quella dello
stesso re Etelberto (il giorno di Pentecoste, 2 giugno 596,secondo i dati
tradizionali). A. allora, secondo quanto Gregorio Magno gli aveva promesso in
caso di successo, ebbe la consacrazione episcopale, che gli fu conferita ad
Arles, da Virgilio, primate della Gallia e legato del papa. Il giorno di Natale
del 597poté battezzare diecimila Angli.
Nel 598mandò a Roma il
monaco Pietro: solo tre anni dopo, Gregorio poté inviare un gruppo di
missionari, che recava, tra l'altro, una lettera in cui si proponeva una
divisione in diocesi della Chiesa inglese, organizzata sulla base di due
metropoliti, uno a Londra ed uno a York, ciascuno con dodici suffraganei. Ma
A., invece di quella organizzazione, che si richiamava a divisioni già
dell'epoca romana, preferì, in piena autonomia, fissare la sua sede a
Cantorbery, proprio nel cuore dello stato di Etelberto, stabilendo due sole
diocesi suffraganee, a Londra la prima e l'altra a Rochester.
Questa autonomia di A.
non incise affatto sulle relazioni con Gregorio; anzi a questo egli si rivolse
per la soluzione di molti dubbi relativi a difficoltà incontrate
nell'attuazione del suo ministero episcopale; tra queste specialmente delicate
quelle sulle differenze liturgiche fra Chiesa franca e Chiesa romana e sui
rapporti da intrattenere con i vescovi franchi e bretoni (A. era stato
consacrato vescovo appunto da un vescovo franco). Gregorio Magno gli consigliò
prudenza, ma anche risolutezza nel sostenere la sua autonomia verso i vescovi
franchi e nell'affermare la propria autorità nei confronti dei vescovi bretoni.
Nell'organizzazione della
Chiesa in Inghilterra, A. si trovò contro l'opposizione dei Britanni, che
risultò insormontabile, nonostante ogni tentativo di conciliazione: A. restò
quindi solo con i suoi nell'opera di conversione di Angli e Sassoni. Consacrò
quindi Mellito, vescovo di Londra, affidandogli come terra di missione l'Essex,
mentre l'altro suo compagno, Giusto, veniva consacrato vescovo di Rochester
(604). Aveva provveduto anche al suo successore Lorenzo, quando morì il 26
maggio d'un anno incerto, da porre tra il 604 ed il 609.
Uomo di fiducia di
Gregorio Magno, che più volte nelle sue lettere ne elogiò le doti di cultura,
di docilità e di zelo, lanciato solo con i suoi compagni in un opera di
evangelizzazione irta di difficoltà, mentre tenne stretto e vivo il legame tra
Roma e Chiesa d'Inghilterra, non riuscì a risolvere il problema dei rapporti
con quelli che già eran cristiani e che, organizzati con loro diocesi e propria
liturgia, non intendevano mutar nulla per obbedire all'inviato di Roma; anche
tra i nuovi convertiti sorsero difficoltà dalle tenaci tradizioni e
consuetudini pagane. Ma se A. non riuscì a dominare questa situazione così
complessa, il cristianesimo da lui predicato mise in Inghilterra radici mai più
distrutte.
Fonti e Bibl.: Gregori
I Epistolae, l. XI, nn. 36, 39, 56a, a cura di G. Ewald e di L. M.
Hartmann, in Monumenta Germ. Hist., Epistolae, II, Berolini 1909,
pp.305-308, 311-313, 331-343; si veda anche l'indice a p. 477del II vol.;
Venerabilis Bedae, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, a cura di
C. Plummer, Oxonii 1896, passim (indice pp. 414-415); Acta
Sanctorum Maii, VI, Antverpiae 1688, pp. 373 ss.; E. Bassenge, Die
Sendung Augustins zur Bekehrung der Angelsachsen, Leipzig 1890; A. J.
Mason, The Mission of st. Augustine to England..., Cambridge 1897;
Brou, Saint Augustin de Cantorbéry et ses compagnons, Paris 1897; F.
Cabrol, L'Angleterre chrétienne avant les Normands, Paris 1909, pp.
53-93; S. Brechter, Die Quellen zur Angelsachsenmission Gregors des
Grossen. Eine historiographische Studie, Münster i. W. 1941; K. D.
Schmidt, Die Bekehrung der Germanen zum Christentum, II, Gottingen
1942, pp. 111 ss.; F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford 1947,
pp. 104-112; D. Knowles, The Monastic Order in England, Cambridge
1949, pp. 21, 323, 547, 575-576, 619-621; D. Jerrold, An Introduction to
the History of England from the earliest times to 1204, London 1949, pp.
225, 228, 237-240, 246, 249, 424; P. H. Blair, An Introduction to
Anglo-Saxon England, Cambridge 1956, pp. 116-120; Dict. of National
Biography, I, pp. 727-729; Encicl. Ital., I, p. 928; Dict.
d'Hist. et de Géogr. Ecclés., V, coll. 427-432; Encicl.
Cattolica, I, coll. 513-514.
© Istituto della
Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani - Riproduzione riservata
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/agostino-di-cantorbery-santo_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
Den hellige Augustin av
Canterbury (d. 604)
Minnedag:
27. mai
Den hellige Augustin
(Austin) ble født en gang på 500-tallet i Italia. Vi vet ikke noe om hans
tidlige liv, men en tradisjon sier at han kom fra Sicilia og at han tok navnet
Augustin ved konfirmasjonen etter den hellige Augustin av Hippo (354-430).
En annen tradisjon sier at han var et hode høyere enn andre i sin omgangskrets.
Han skal ha begynt på et seminar på Sicilia og var muligens elev av biskop
Felix av Messina, som kalles en consodolis (ledsager) av Augustin.
Men han kan også ganske enkelt ha vært fra Roma.
Det som er sikkert, er at
han ble benediktinermunk (Ordo Sancti Benedicti – OSB) i klosteret St
Andreas (Sant’Andrea) som den hellige pave Gregor I den store (590-604)
hadde etablert i sitt eget familiehjem på Celio-høyden i Roma. Han ble senere
subprior i dette klosteret. Da Gregor var blitt pave, sendte han i 596 Augustin
med tretti benediktinermunker for å forkynne evangeliet for de hedenske
angelsakserne i England. Mye tyder på at Gregor selv ville ha tatt på seg
oppdraget om han ikke hadde blitt valgt til pave. Forfatteren av den eldste
kjente biografien om Gregor, en munk i Whitby i Nord-England som skrev rundt
710, men brukte eldre kilder, gjengir den berømte anekdoten som sier hvordan
den senere paven ble interessert i England: (Den seriøse historikeren Beda den ærverdige (ca
673-735) passer på å understreke at dette var «en anekdote som var blitt
overlevert gjennom muntlig tradisjon»).
En dag fikk Gregor se
noen gutter som skulle selges som slaver på Forum. De hadde lys hudfarge, fine
trekk og lyst, vakkert hår. Han forhørte seg om fra hvilket land de var kommet.
«De kommer fra øya Britannia, hvor alt folket har denne hudfargen». Han spurte
så om øyboerne var kristne, eller om de fremdeles var uvitende hedninger. «De
er hedninger.» «Akk,» sa Gregor med et inderlig sukk. «Hvor sørgelig at folk
med slike lyse ansikter ennå er i Mørkets fyrstes klør, og at slike yndefulle
trekk skjuler ånder som mangler Guds nåde! Hva kalles dette folkeferd?» «De
kalles anglere». Gregor svarte: «Disse guttene er ikke anglere, men
engler». (Non Angli, sed Angeli) (Not Angles, but angels!)
Sørøst-England hadde
tidlig vært kristent. Ifølge tradisjonen ble evangeliet forkynt der av den
hellige Josef av
Arimatea, som ga sin grav til Jesus. Mange av de romerske soldatene som var
stasjonert i England, var kristne. Etter at de romerske legionene trakk seg
tilbake fra sin provins Britannia i 410 for å forsvare hovedstaden mot goterne
og deres konge Alarik, ble innbyggerne på øya etterlatt alene for å forsvare
seg mot angrepene fra de hedenske anglerne og sakserne. Før romerne trakk seg
ut, hadde Britannia blitt omvendt til kristendommen. Landet sendte tre biskoper
til konsilet i Arles i 314, og en gallisk biskop dro til øya i 396 for å bidra
til å avgjøre disiplinære saker. Det finnes vitnesbyrd om et økende nærvær av
kristne til minst rundt 360.
Etter at de romerske
legionene dro fra Britannia, slo hedenske stammer seg ned i den sørlige delen
av øya, mens det vestlige Britannia, bortenfor de angelsaksiske kongerikene,
forble kristne. Denne innfødte britiske Kirken utviklet seg i isolasjon fra
Roma under innflytelse av misjonærer fra Irland og var sentrert rundt klostre i
stedet for bispedømmer. Andre karakteristiske særtrekk var deres beregning av
påsken og formen på klerikernes tonsur. Bevis for kristendommens overlevelse i
den østlige delen av Britannia på denne tiden inkluderer overlevelsen av kulten
for den hellige Alban og forekomsten av stedsnavn med eccles, avledet fra
latin ecclesia (kirke). Det finnes ingen bevis for at disse innfødte
kristne prøvde å omvende angelsakserne. I stedet var de romerske og keltiske
kristne blitt drevet inn i Wales og Skottland, Cumbria og Cornwall. Invasjonene
utryddet de fleste restene av romersk sivilisasjon i de områdene som var
erobret av sakserne og andre stammer, inkludert de økonomiske og religiøse
strukturene.
Pave Gregor den store
brukte som argument for å sende misjonærer til England, at de frankiske
biskopene på den andre siden av kanalen hadde forsømt å ivareta omsorgen for
sine trosfeller. Augustin og hans tretti munker dro vel fra Roma i mai eller
juni 596. Underveis til England hørte Augustin og hans menn mange historier om
de barske engelskmennene og deres brutalitet, og ikke minst om den livsfarlige
kryssingen av Den engelske kanal. Til slutt mistet de motet i Provençe i Gallia
og ville bare vende tilbake til sivilisasjonen. Augustin vendte tilbake til
Roma og ba om å bli løst fra sin oppgave, mens resten av gruppen ventet i
Aix-en-Provençe. Men pave Gregor ville ikke høre på det øret og sa at det var
bedre aldri å ta fatt på en oppgave enn å avbryte den rett etter at den var
påbegynt. Han sa også at jo hardere arbeidet var, jo større ville den evige
belønning bli. Han sendte Augustin ut igjen med oppmuntringer og gode råd, men
samtidig definerte han hans autoritet klarere og utnevnte ham til abbed for
gruppen (Beda, Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, I, xxiii).
Noen kilder sier at paven
også viet ham til biskop for England (Anglorum Episcopus), men det er
mulig han ble bispeviet først i Reims på vei til England eller i Arles i 601.
Gregor overtalte også ti galliske prester til å slutte seg til følget som
tolker, så nå hadde Augustin førti ledsagere. Han ble utstyrt med nye brev hvor
paven uttrykte takknemlighet for den hjelpen som var blitt gitt så langt av
biskop Protasius av Aix-en-Provençe, av abbed Stefan av Lérins og av en
velstående leg tjenestemann av patrisierrang ved navn Arigius. Augustin må ha
kommet tilbake til Aix en gang i august, for pave Gregors oppmuntrende budskap
til gruppen er datert den 23. juli 596. Etter dette nevnes ingen flere
forsinkelser.
På grunn av
introduksjonsbrevene de var utstyrt med, kan vi spore deres reiserute: Lérins,
Aix-en-Provençe, Arles, Vienne, Lyon, Autun og Tours. Paven hadde anbefalt
Augustin og hans førti ledsagere til den hellige biskop Syagrius av Autun (d.
599/600), som mottok dem gjestfritt i 596. De bodde hos ham vinteren over, og
deretter fulgte han dem helt til England. Fra Tours dro de trolig landeveien
nordover. Noen mener at de tilbrakte vintermånedene i Paris. På grunn av
forbindelsene mellom den frankiske kongefamilien og kongefamilien i Kent i
Sør-England er det ikke usannsynlig at de knyttet til seg lokale prester som
var foreslått som tolker i pavens brev til de to unge brødrene og kongene
Theodebert II av Austrasia (595-612) og Theoderik II av Burgund (595-613) og
Austrasia (612-13) og deres farmor Brynhilda (ca
543-613), frankernes dronning.
I Gallia fikk Augustin
høre at dronning Bertha,
som var gift med den hedenske kong Ethelbert av Kent (Æthelberht),
var en kristen frankisk prinsesse, datter av frankerkongen Karibert I av Paris
(561-67), og han satte derfor kursen mot Kent. De seilte ut fra Boulogne eller
Quentavic og ankom i år 597 til Ebbsfleet nær Ramsgate på Isle of Thanet i Kent
(Beda, H. E., I, xxv). Augustin sendte straks beskjed til kong Ethelbert om at
de var kommet fra Roma for å forkynne det glade budskap. Da kongen hørte dette,
ba han dem vente på Thanet på hans bekostning inntil han hadde bestemt seg hva
han skulle gjøre med dem.
På Thanet ventet de i
henhold til kong Ethelberts ordre inntil et formelt møte kunne organiseres.
Ethelbert var konge av Kent og overherre over de andre angelsaksiske stammene
sør for Humberbukten. Bertha og hennes kapellan, den hellige Liudhard, virker ikke å
ha spilt noen viktig rolle i kristningen av Kent, som da var det mektigste og
mest utviklede av de syv angelsaksiske kongedømmene.
Kong Ethelbert kom selv
til Thanet for å møte dem. Han var vennlig og imøtekommende overfor dem, men
han var likevel reservert og insisterte på et møte under åpen himmel, ifølge
Beda den ærverdige fordi han var redd for trolldom og ville ha fluktmulighetene
åpne. Etter å ha hørt grundig på misjonærene, erklærte han at han var ute av
stand til å anta den kristne tro og oppgi sitt folks urgamle tro. Men han
anerkjente deres oppriktighet, ga dem et hus i sin hovedstad Canterbury
(Cantwaraburh; det romerske Durovernum Cantiacorum) og ga dem tillatelse til å
forkynne.
Der brukte de en
romansk-britisk kirke, viet til den hellige Martin av Tours, kanskje av
Liudhard. Den nåværende kirken St Martin’s i Canterbury står på samme sted.
Augustin kunne snart melde om store fremganger. Han misjonerte med hell i sitt
nye land, og juledag 597 skal han ha døpt mer enn tusen hedninger og gitt syke
og lidende håpet og sunnheten tilbake. I juli 598 skrev pave Gregor
gledestrålende til patriark Eulogius av Alexandria at 10 000 engelskmenn
var blitt døpt. Selv om antallet er overdrevet, er det klart at et stort antall
av Ethelberts undersåtter ble kristne før han selv ble det.
Blant Augustins ledsagere
som ankom i 597, var den hellige Laurentius (ca
550-619), som skulle bli Augustins etterfølger på erkebispesetet i Canterbury,
og den hellige Peter (d.
ca 606/08), som skulle bli abbed for klosteret St Augustin i Canterbury. Den
hellige Honorius (d.
653), som skulle bli den femte erkebiskop av Canterbury, en Johannes, som
skulle bli abbed for klosteret St Augustin, og en Romanus (d. ca 624), som
skulle bli den andre biskop av Rochester, kom enten i 597 eller i 601.
Augustin sendte munkene
Laurentius og Peter tilbake til Roma for å gi full rapport om misjonen og for å
be om visse råd og om flere hjelpere. Augustin ba pave Gregor om råd i en rekke
spørsmål, inkludert hvordan kirken skulle organiseres, straffen for
kirkeranere, veiledning om hvem som hadde lov til å gifte seg med hvem og
konsekrasjonen av biskoper. Andre temaer var forholdet mellom kirkene i
Britannia og Gallia, barnefødsler og dåp og når det var lovlig for folk å motta
kommunion og for en prest å feire messe.
601 ble Augustins store
år. Da døpte han kongen sammen med flere tusen landsmenn, selv om tradisjonen
hevder at det skjedde allerede i pinsen i juni 597. Samtidig ankom en ny gruppe
misjonærer fra Roma, ledet av de hellige Mellitus (d. 624),
senere biskop av London og deretter den tredje erkebiskop av Canterbury, Paulinus (ca
575-644), senere biskop av York, og Justus (d. ca 627),
den første biskop av Rochester og senere den fjerde erkebiskop av Canterbury. I
tillegg var en Rufianus (d. ca 638), senere tredje abbed for klosteret St
Augustin, med i den nye gruppen i 601, mens vi ikke vet når Gratiosus (d. 638)
og Petronius (d. ca 654), senere abbeder for klosteret St Augustin, samt den
hellige Jakob
diakonen (d. ca 671) ankom misjonen.
Den andre gruppen av
munker hadde med seg bøker, relikvier og alterkar. Pave Gregor sendte også
palliet som hederstegn til Augustin som erkebiskop for engelskmennene, og
knyttet dem dermed entydig til paven i Roma. Augustin dro ifølge Beda til
Arles, hvor han ble vigslet til Englands erkebiskop av den hellige
erkebiskop Virgilius.
Ethelberts omvendelse var avgjørende for kristningen av Kent og senere England,
men i motsetning til mange nydøpte monarker da og senere, prøvde han ikke å
tvinge sine undersåtter til å følge sitt eksempel. I stedet ga han misjonærene
all mulig hjelp og oppmuntring til fredelig forkynnelse av evangeliet, og han
hjalp Augustin med å gjøre om et hedensk tempel til en kirke, som ble viet til
den hellige Pancratius.
Augustins politikk var å
konsolidere seg på et lite område heller enn å spre seg over mest mulig. Han
opprettet sitt erkebispesete i Canterbury i stedet for i London, som pave
Gregor hadde ventet. Der bygde han den berømte Christ Church på samme sted som
den nåværende katedralen, påbegynt i 1070 av den salige erkebiskop Lanfranc (1070-89).
Katedralen ble betjent både av gifte klerikere og prester. Han grunnla også
klosteret Ss Peter og Paulus (som senere ble kalt St Augustins kloster) like
utenfor bymurene. I dedikasjoner og arkitekturstil brukte han samtidens Roma
som forbilde, og de første kirkene i Kent ble viet til romerske martyrer som
Pancratius og De fire
kronede martyrer, og deres relikvier kan godt ha blitt sendt til England
sammen med forsterkningene i 601.
Kort før sin død
opprettet Augustin to nye bispeseter, ivrig støttet av kong Ethelbert, et i
London for østsakserne og et i Rochester, som da het Hrofescaestir etter en
tidlig høvding ved navn Hrof. Ethelbert bygde katedralen St Andreas i Rochester
og var medvirkende i å omvende nabokongen, kong Sabert av Essex, østsaksernes
rike (604-616), og i hans territorium bygde han den første katedralen St Paul’s
i London.
Men Augustin hadde ikke
hellet med seg i forsøket på å utvide sin autoritet til allerede eksisterende kristne
som var fordrevet av sakserne til Wales og til Devon og Cornwall (Dumnonia) i
det sørvestlige England. Britene som bodde der var mistenksomme og forsiktige
folk, og de ville ikke anta de nye romerske når det gjaldt tidfestingen av
påsken, dåpsritene og formen på tonsuren, men holde fast ved sine keltiske
skikker. Augustin inviterte dem til et møte på et sted i Wessex som fortsatt i
Beda den ærverdiges tid var kjent som Augustine’s Oak, men de ble ikke
enige. Augustin var kanskje ikke tilstrekkelig smidig, for det synes som om han
mot pave Gregors råd forsøkte å tvinge på dem de romerske skikkene.
De møttes på en ny
mislykket konferanse i Aust ved elven Severn i 603. Det heter at de britiske
biskopene før møtet konsulterte en eremitt med ry for visdom og hellighet og
spurte ham: «Skal vi akseptere denne mannen som leder eller ikke?» Eremitten
svarte: «Hvis han når dere møtes reiser seg for å hilse dere, aksepter ham, men
hvis han forblir sittende, er han arrogant og ikke egnet til å lede, så da bør
dere avvise ham». Da de kom til møtet, valgte Augustin ikke å reise seg, og
dermed avgjorde de at han manglet ydmykhet og ville verken høre på ham eller
anerkjenne ham som sin erkebiskop. Det er imidlertid ingen grunn til å tro at
feilen var utelukkende hans. En generasjon senere var disse problemene glemt.
Det tok imidlertid seksti år før bruddet var leget.
Helt fra gammel tid er
Augustin blitt æret som apostel for det angelsaksiske England (i motsetning til
det romerske Britannia), skjønt hans relativt korte virke nødvendigvis måtte
innskrenke seg til et begrenset område. Av Beda den ærverdiges beskrivelse
fremgår det at Augustin var en svært samvittighetsfull misjonær, og Bedas
skildring gjengir det som angivelig er pavens svar på Augustins spørsmål og ønsker
om veiledning i hans misjon.
Tidlige skribenter
understreket at det heller var pave Gregor den store enn Augustin som var
«engelskmennenes apostel». Deres bevarte korrespondanse viser da også Augustin
som den stedlige representant som utfører sin overordnedes ønsker, og den viser
også pave Gregors klokskap og Augustins uerfarenhet. Men det var Augustins
imponerende prekener og miraklene som ofte ble knyttet til hans navn, som
gjorde et så varig inntrykk på folkene i det sørlige England. Pave Gregor ga ham
betydelig frihet. Han kunne følge galliske eller andre liturgiske skikker for
sitt eget bruk, han var uavhengig av biskopene i Gallia, men hadde heller ikke
noen autoritet over dem.
Augustin fikk tilsendt
palliet som erkebiskop for de sørlige provinsene, med myndighet til å etablere
et nordlig metropolittsete i York, begge med tolv suffraganbiskoper. Som en del
av pave Gregors plan forventet han at Augustin flyttet sitt erkebispesete til
London. Dette skjedde imidlertid aldri, og ingen samtidige kilder sier noe om
årsaken. Pavens planer ble aldri fullt ut gjennomført, men de skapte historie i
kirkeorganisering og misjonsteknikk. Det samme viste pave Gregors brev til
Mellitus, der han ga anvisninger til Augustin. De viste stor beherskelse og
klokt storsinn i vurderingen av nasjonale egenarter og hedenske forestillinger.
Han ba misjonærene gå langsomt og forsiktig frem, og ikke rive hedenske
templer, men bare ødelegge avgudsbildene, og i stedet vigsle templene og ta dem
i bruk som kristne kirker. Harmløse riter kunne overtas og brukes til feiring
av kristne fester, for alle feiltakelser kunne ikke utryddes med ett slag.
Augustin hjalp kong
Ethelbert med å trekke opp de eldste angelsaksiske skrevne lovene som er
bevart. Han grunnla også en skole i Canterbury, som både mottok og produserte
bøker. Et 500-talls uncialmanuskript, som kalles St Augustins Evangelium, kan
ha blitt brakt til England av ham. Det er nå i Corpus Christi College i
Cambridge og blir brukt ved innsettelsen av anglikanske erkebiskoper av Canterbury.
Men de såkalte «Ethelberts chartre», med Augustin som vitne, er en
forfalskning.
Før sin død konsekrerte
Augustin Laurentius til biskop for å bli hans etterfølger som den andre
erkebiskop av Canterbury (ca 604). Dette var en irregulær fremgangsmåte, men
var ikke uten presedens og ble godtatt. Trolig gjorde han det for å sikre en
ordnet overføring av embetet. Augustin døde etter syv år i England en 26. mai –
datoen bevitnes av konsilet i Clovesho i 747 – sannsynligvis i år 604,
eventuelt 605 eller 607 eller til og med så sent som 609. Ifølge Mabillon døde
han i 607, mens bollandistene mener 608. Han ble opprinnelig gravlagt i portiko
i det uferdige klosteret Ss Peter og Paulus, men ble flyttet inn i
klosterkirken åtte år senere. Klosterkirken ble deretter et valfartsmål.
Etter den normanniske
invasjonen i 1066 ble Augustins kult aktivt fremmet. I 1091 ble hans relikvier
høytidelig overført (translasjon) til et annet og mer prominent sted i den
sterkt utvidete klosterkirken. Hans skrin sto i et av de aksiale kapellene,
flankert av skrinene til hans etterfølgere Laurentius og Mellitus. Kong Henrik
I av England (1100-35) innvilget klosteret St Augustin i Canterbury et seks
dagers marked rundt den datoen hans relikvier ble overført til deres nye skrin,
fra 8. september til og med translasjonsdagen 13. september.
Augustin hadde ry som
undergjører mens han levde, og miraklene fortsatte ved hans grav. Både skrinet
og relikviene ble ødelagt under reformasjonen på 1500-tallet. I Canterbury er
han blitt feiret siden 747, da konsilet i Clovesho bestemte at hans navn skulle
tas opp i Allehelgenslitaniet rett etter Gregor den store, men han ble ikke
oppført i den romerske kalenderen før i 1882. Etter restaureringen av det
katolske hierarkiet i England i 1850 ble hans navn tatt inn i den universelle
Kirkens liturgi.
Tidligere ble Augustin
(som tidligere vanligvis ble kalt Austin på engelsk) minnet på dødsdagen den
26. mai, som han fortsatt blir i England og hos benediktinerne, hos
anglikanerne og de ortodokse, mens resten av Kirken minnes ham den 27. mai,
ettersom dødsdagen 26. mai er opptatt av den hellige Filip Neri. 28. mai har
også på et tidspunkt vært hans minnedag, og i kalenderen for den ekstraordinære
form av den romerske ritus feires han på den datoen (utenfor England). I
Canterbury feires også hans translasjonsfest den 13. september. 10. november
nevnes også som en minnedag.
Hans navn sto i det
førkonsiliære Martyrologium Romanum den 26. mai:
Cantuariae, in Anglia,
natalis sancti Augustini, Episcopi et Confessoris; qui, una cum aliis, a beato
Gregorio Papa missus, genti Anglorum sacrum Christi Evangelium praedicavit,
ibique, virtutibus et miraculis gloriosus, obdormivit in Domino. Eius tamen
festivitas quinto Kalendas Junii recolitur.
I Canterbury i England,
[den himmelske] fødselsdagen til den hellige Augustin, biskop og bekjenner, som
sammen med andre ble sendt av den salige pave Gregor for å forkynne evangeliet
om Kristus til den engelske nasjonen, og der, etter strålende dyder og
mirakler, sovnet han inn i Herren. Hans festdag er fem dager før den første
juni.
I den nyeste utgaven av
Martyrologium Romanum (2004) nevnes han også den 26. mai:
Cantuáriæ in Anglia,
deposítio sancti Augustíni, epíscopi, cuius memóriæ cras ágitur.
I Canterbury, i England,
dødsfallet til den hellige Augustin, biskop, hvis minne feires i morgen.
Men hans egentlige notis
står nå under 27. mai:
Sancti Augustíni,
epíscopi Cantuariénsis in Anglia, qui una cum áliis mónachis a sancto Gregório
papa Magno missus ad verbum Dei Anglórum genti prædicándum, ab Ædilbérto rege
Cántiæ benévole accéptus, apostólicam primitívæ Ecclésiæ vitam ímitans, regem
ipsum multósque ad fidem christiánam convértit et nonnúllas hac in terra sedes
constítuit episcopáles. Die vero vigésima sexta maii óbiit.
Den hellige Augustin,
biskop av Canterbury i England, som ble sendt av den hellige pave Gregor den
store sammen med andre munker for å forkynne Guds ord til anglernes folk, de
ble mottatt med vennlighet av Ethelbert, konge av Kent, imiterte det
apostoliske livet til den tidlige kirken, omvendte kongen og mange andre til
den kristne tro, og etablerte mange bispeseter i dette landet. Han døde den 26.
mai.
En biografi om Augustin
ble skrevet av hagiografen Goscelin rundt 1090, men denne biografien
portretterer Augustin i et annet lys enn Bedas beretning. Goscelins biografi
har lite nytt historisk innehold og er hovedsakelig fylt av mirakler og tenkte
taler. Bygd på denne beretningen fortsatte senere middelalderske forfattere å
legge til nye mirakler og historier om Augustins liv, ofte temmelig
fantasifulle. Blant disse forfatterne var William av Malmesbury, som hevdet at
Augustin grunna Cerne Abbey i Dorset.
Avbildninger av Augustin
er sjeldne. I kunsten fremstilles han ofte som en biskop med pallium, stav og
mitra som døper kong Ethelbert av Kent. Han avbildes også i svart
benediktinerdrakt, gjerne med en penn eller en bok (et av hans egne verker),
eller han får en kilde til å strømme frem ved sine bønner for å skaffe vann til
å døpe hedninger i.
Augustin kalles sammen
med sine seks etterfølgere i Canterbury, de hellige Laurentius, Mellitus,
Justus, Honorius, Deusdedit (d.
664) og Theodor (ca
602-90), som alle var kommet dit fra Roma, «Englands syv patriarker».
Kilder: Attwater (dk),
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Jones, Bentley, Lodi, Butler, Butler
(V), Benedictines, Delaney, Bunson, Green 2, Mackintosh, Engelhart, Schnitzler,
Schauber/Schindler, Gorys, Dammer/Adam, MR2004, KIR, CE, CSO,
CatholicSaints.Info, Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon, santiebeati.it,
en.wikipedia.org, nominis.cef.fr, Butler 1866, ODNB, britannia.com,
celt-saints, oca.org, zeno.org, heiligen-3s.nl - Kompilasjon og
oversettelse: p. Per
Einar Odden
Opprettet: 25. juli 2007;
Oppdatert: 23. august 2017
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/cantbury