Saint Augustine of Canterbury

In the year 586, Saint Gregory was walking past the slave market in Rome, when he saw some blond-haired children. He asked them where they were from and was told they were Anglo-Saxons. Gregory replied, 'Not Angles, but Angels, if they were but Christians.'

Following waves of pagan invasion, Christianity had almost disappeared in Britain. When he became Pope, Gregory sent Augustine to England with forty Benedictine monks. Their mission was to spread the Christian faith in England.

In 597 Augustine landed in Kent, and was welcomed by the Saxon King Ethelbert, who's wife Bertha was a Christian. The King himself soon became a Christian, and on Christmas Day that same year over ten thousand people were baptised in the River Swale.

Using Canterbury as a base, the monks travelled throughout the land spreading the Christian message.

Augustine died on 26th May 605, and he is remembered in the U.K. on this date each year.

Go to "Catholic Online Saints" website for more information about St. Augustine, and other saints.