Augustine of Canterbury is the saint we
celebrate today. I love learning about
the saints, because there is something precious we can learn from each one of
them. Augustine left the comfortable and
contemplative confines of his monastery in Rome in the late sixth century to be
one of the first missionaries to be sent to bring the Good News to the Anglo
Saxons in present-day England. Augustine
felt that he was not up to the task of bringing Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons,
but Pope Gregory the Great believed that he was the man for the job. In fact, at one point in his journey across
Gaul on his way to England, Augustine panicked and returned to Rome when he
heard stories about the ferocious Anglo-Saxons. Augustine overcame his fears,
becoming the head of the Anglo-Saxon Church in England. The monastery he founded is on the site of
the present-day cathedral in Canterbury.
It was not always smooth sailing for Augustine, as he met failure in
trying to reconcile the Anglo-Saxons with the others Christians who were
present in England, and he certainly made mistakes along the way. Yet, he labored patiently in his missionary
endeavors, trying to adapt Christianity to the traditions of the people. He died in the year 605, only 8 years after
arriving in England, yet his missionary efforts eventually bore great fruit for
the Christian faith in England.
In one of his letter providing
encouragement to Augustine of Canterbury, Pope Gregory the Great wrote, “He who
would climb to a lofty height must go by steps, not leaps." May the witness of Augustine of Canterbury
give us courage, fortitude, and strength in our own journeys of faith.
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