Monk and Bishop (d. 604)
His life
+ Italian by birth, Augustine was a monk of St. Andrew’s Abbey in Rome.
+ In 597, Augustine, along with 39 companions, was sent to England by Pope Saint Gregory the Great, who named Augustine archbishop of Canterbury.
+ With the assistance of King Ethelbert, whom Augustine had baptized, Augustine successfully established three dioceses and a monastery dedicated to Ss. Peter and Paul at Canterbury.
+ Augustine labored as missionary-bishop for ten years and is honored with laying the foundations of the Church in England.
+ Following his death in 604, Saint Augustine was buried in the monastery he founded at Canterbury, which later became known as St. Augustine’s Abbey.
+ Because he maintained regular contact with the Church of Rome, seeking advice and instruction, Augustine has come to be regarded as an important ecumenical patron of the dialogue between the Church of England and Rome.
For prayer and reflection
Live, according to what you have learned and accepted,
what you have heard me say or seen me do,
and the God of peace will be with you.—1 Corinthians 1:10
Spiritual bonus
On this day we also remember Blessed Sixto Alonso Helva. A seminarian for the archdiocese of Oviedo, Spain, he was martyred at the age of 21 as part of the anti-Catholic violence of the Spanish Civil War. Blessed Sixto was beatified with other martyrs in 2019.
Prayer
O God, who by the preaching
of the Bishop Saint Augustine of Canterbury
led the English people to the Gospel,
grant, we pray, that the fruits of his labors
may remain ever abundant in your Church.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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