Today the Church honors and remembers the other Augustine, St. Augustine of Canterbury.
Augustine was a Benedictine monk and the first Archbishop of Canterbury, England.
He was the prior of a monastery in Rome when in 595 Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, asked Augustine to lead a mission to Britain to Christianize King Ethelberht of Kent. Gregory wrote of having sent Augustine and his companions “to the ends of the earth.” Kent was probably chosen because it was near the Christian kingdoms in Gaul and because Ethelberht had married a Christian princess, Bertha, daughter of Charibert I the King of Paris who was expected to exert some influence over Ethelberht.
Before reaching Kent, Augustine considered turning back, but Gregory urged him on and, in 597, Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet and proceeded to Canterbury.
King Ethelberht converted to Christianity and allowed the missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a monastery outside the city walls. Augustine was consecrated bishop of the English and converted many of the king’s subjects, including thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597.
Augustine died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint.
Let us pray: O Lord our God, who by your Son Jesus Christ called your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless your holy name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all whom you call and send may do your will, and bide your time, and see your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially Pat Tate and the tornado victims in the mid-west, especially Joplin, Missouri.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
Augustine was a Benedictine monk and the first Archbishop of Canterbury, England.
He was the prior of a monastery in Rome when in 595 Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, asked Augustine to lead a mission to Britain to Christianize King Ethelberht of Kent. Gregory wrote of having sent Augustine and his companions “to the ends of the earth.” Kent was probably chosen because it was near the Christian kingdoms in Gaul and because Ethelberht had married a Christian princess, Bertha, daughter of Charibert I the King of Paris who was expected to exert some influence over Ethelberht.
Before reaching Kent, Augustine considered turning back, but Gregory urged him on and, in 597, Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet and proceeded to Canterbury.
King Ethelberht converted to Christianity and allowed the missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a monastery outside the city walls. Augustine was consecrated bishop of the English and converted many of the king’s subjects, including thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597.
Augustine died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint.
Let us pray: O Lord our God, who by your Son Jesus Christ called your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless your holy name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all whom you call and send may do your will, and bide your time, and see your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially Pat Tate and the tornado victims in the mid-west, especially Joplin, Missouri.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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