27 May - St Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop

St Augustine was an Italian Benedictine monk in Rome and the prior of a monastery. His safe, quiet and comfortable life was upended when Pope Gregory the Great chose him in AD 596 to lead a mission to Britain to evangelise the pagan Anglo-Saxons. That he did to some success, and eventually he was made a bishop. Augustine died in AD 605, only eight years after he arrived in England. Although he only worked for a short time, his efforts began the eventual conversion of England. He is considered the “Apostle of the English” and is the Patron Saint of England.