St Augustine preaching to the King. St Augustine of Canterbury (d.604), whose feast is today 27 May, was the first bishop of Canterbury, sent by Pope Gregory the Great to evangelise the pagan English.…More
St Augustine preaching to the King.
St Augustine of Canterbury (d.604), whose feast is today 27 May, was the first bishop of Canterbury, sent by Pope Gregory the Great to evangelise the pagan English. He had been a monk of St Gregory's monastery on the Caelian Hill in Rome, and he was sent to England in 595/6 as the Abbot of a group of monks, who were to assist him in his work. He established himself at Canterbury, the capital of the then powerful Kingdom of Kent, and in due time baptised King Ethelbert. As well as sending missionaries to other kingdoms, he founded a monastery adjacent to his cathedral. The pattern of having a monastery attached to a cathedral, copied elsewhere, became a distinctive characteristic of England in the Middle Ages. Mosaic detail from the chapel of Ss Gregory & Augustine in Westminster Cathedral. St Augustine is shown in the Benedictine habit and with an icon of Christ with which he evangelised the Angles.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr
St Augustine of Canterbury (d.604), whose feast is today 27 May, was the first bishop of Canterbury, sent by Pope Gregory the Great to evangelise the pagan English. He had been a monk of St Gregory's monastery on the Caelian Hill in Rome, and he was sent to England in 595/6 as the Abbot of a group of monks, who were to assist him in his work. He established himself at Canterbury, the capital of the then powerful Kingdom of Kent, and in due time baptised King Ethelbert. As well as sending missionaries to other kingdoms, he founded a monastery adjacent to his cathedral. The pattern of having a monastery attached to a cathedral, copied elsewhere, became a distinctive characteristic of England in the Middle Ages. Mosaic detail from the chapel of Ss Gregory & Augustine in Westminster Cathedral. St Augustine is shown in the Benedictine habit and with an icon of Christ with which he evangelised the Angles.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr