Start:Stop – Revisiting the legacy of Augustine of Canterbury

Hello and welcome to our Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, my name is Phillip Dawson.

This week we remember a man who set out from a deserted city on a dangerous journey north. No, not Dominic Cummings and his much dissected trip to Durham – but St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, who, with his mobile monastery of forty lay and ordained men, journeyed one thousand miles by sea, river and land from Rome and, on their second attempt, arrived in Canterbury, where they built a cathedral, a school and hospital and baptised thousands of new Christians; sowing the seeds of faith that would grow to become the Church of England.

Bible Reading – Matthew 13.31-33

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’

He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’

Reflection

Most of what we know about St Augustine comes from the writings of Bede, who cites the mission as being fundamental to the identity of the church in England. But according to later writers, Bede downplays Augustine’s achievements by questioning his leadership; evidenced by his first aborted attempt to reach Britain and his one surviving letter to Pope Gregory, in which he seeks advice on how to deal with a wide variety of matters as Bishop. Bede concludes his mention of Augustine by recording his ultimate failure to bring the indigenous British bishops under the authority of Rome.

Today, scholars judge Augustine’s legacy more favourably; suggesting that his mission helped to shape the future of England itself; not only re-founding the church but bringing valuable new skills of writing and manuscript production, which allowed the first laws to be recorded in English; paving the way for rules of inheritance to replace violent land-grabbing. Augustine and his monks also introduced practical skills in healthcare and knowledge of techniques that improved the efficiency of agricultural production, which led to a growth in trade.

In his recent book on Augustine, Robin Mackintosh, an Honorary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral, draws on archaeological research to help us encounter Augustine’s journey more fully; describing in detail the conditions the missionaries would have faced, including their perilous voyage from the port of Rome to the south coast of what is now France, in open topped boats crammed with cargo; covered holds not being a feature of boat design until much later.

Before setting out for Kent, Augustine was in charge of St Andrews in Rome – the monastery which Pope Gregory founded on his family estate.

Robin Mackintosh paints a picture of Rome which sounds somewhat familiar. Deserted, empty streets; devoid of the cultural activities which had brought life to so much of the city. Most wealthy members of the population had fled from the threat of barbarian attacks and the bubonic plague. Like those churches running foodbanks today, it was monasteries, like St Andrews, who offered support to the needy who remained. For the church, led by Pope Gregory, it would have seemed as though the end of times was imminent – providing an urgency to the mission to England – which, according to legend, was prompted by Gregory’s encounter with two angelic English slaves – but was more likely a response to a request for support from Queen Bertha, the Christian wife of the Anglo-Saxon King Aethelberht, when she found the response of the nearby Frankish bishops lacking.

By the time the party set off for their second attempt to reach Britain in the summer of 596, Gregory had ordered that Augustine should be consecrated as a Bishop, in Arles to provide a higher status for the mission, seen as important in winning support from the Frankish aristocracy en-route, among whom - particularly to the north - Gregory’s contacts were slight.

But Augustine was an outsider as a bishop, most of whom were from wealthy backgrounds; many had gained their positions through simony. Consecrating a monk as bishop – someone who had taken vows of poverty – was an important political statement. Had Augustine merely been tasked with paving the way for another Bishop in Canterbury, the Church of England may have developed in a very different way indeed. As a monk first, then bishop, Augustine always lived with his fellow monks in community, adjoining the cathedral he founded and working closely with them to establish a new school and sanatorium to care for the sick. This balance of pastoral care and prayerful devotion remains fundamental to the identity of the Anglican church to this day.

In hindsight, the timing of the mission proved to be fortuitous. A delay of only a few months might have made it impossible to leave the port of Rome at all. During the nine month journey, by sea, river and land, Augustine forged new alliances for Gregory amongst the ruling classes, who provided accommodation, supplies and – crucially – interpreters; none of the party who set out from Rome could speak the native language. But was this a blessing? It seems that when Augustine and his mission had to rely on the universal language of faith, hope and love, to communicate with the Anglo-Saxons, both the aristocracy and the peasant farmers responded in kind. But Augustine’s later conferences with the British bishops, conducted in their shared Latin tongue, were inconclusive.

Despite their delays en route, the timing of Augustine’s arrival in Kent was apposite. King Aethelberht, nearing the end of his rule, may have had an eye on his legacy. Whilst Bede records the King’s careful and diplomatic words on first meeting Augustine (in the “open air” – to avoid the danger of being cast under a magic spell), it was not long before Aethelberht was baptised – and became the first Christian King in Anglo-Saxon England; many of his court followed suit.

As he set to work building the kingdom in Kent, Augustine had questions – of faith and of practical matters - which he put to Pope Gregory in writing. Bede appears to see this as a weakness, but this view is challenged by Robin Mackintosh, who asks ‘which effective leader doesn’t know when to ask for help?’ Whether a natural talent or a skill he acquired, Augustine certainly seems to have been able to motivate and lead a diverse team; bringing together his own monks; lay and ordained, Frankish priests and interpreters and new Anglo-Saxon converts. Under Augustine’s influence they grew the Christian faith through prayer and acts of loving service, amidst the decaying Roman ruins and the fragile peace which existed between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. As the parables in the gospel of Matthew remind us; effective working relationships are a vital component of the kingdom; the mustard seed will only flourish with a human hand to sow it; yeast must be mixed with flour in appropriate quantities to leaven the bread.

Many believe our church, St Stephen Walbrook, owes its existence to the nearby pagan Temple of Mithras. Augustine's pragmatism in encouraging the re-purposing of pagan sites like this, to encourage the growth of the church at a time of limited physical resources, has led Robin Mackintosh to suggest that Augustine didn’t only provide spiritual leadership and necessary practical skills that encouraged law-making and improved agriculture for the benefit of the emerging English nation, but helped to form the English character itself. It is thanks to Augustine, he says, that we believe even pragmatism can serve the purposes of God!

May we remember and be ever inspired by Augustine’s leadership – his firm belief in the eternal values of our faith, but also his pragmatism, as we all face important decisions about our own journeys in the days and weeks ahead.

Prayer

Let us pray.

We remember St Augustine and his missionary party, who set off from a deserted city under threat from the plague on a dangerous journey by sea, river and land to England.

We pray for all who risk their lives in the service of others.

Lord protect all those on dangerous journeys. Making perilous sea crossings in uncomfortable and insanitary conditions. Strengthen the faith of those who live in fear. We pray for an end to violence and peace throughout the world.

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

Augustine arrived in a land whose language he could not speak, but made himself understood through the gifts of the Spirit, by actions of faith, hope and love; educating the poor and bringing relief to the sick. May his example be an inspiration to us all.

Be present, merciful God, with all who are sick and those caring for them. We remember especially Patrick, Anthony, Ian, Martin and Sam, Melvyn, Dorothy, Brenda, Rowland, Amelia and for all those known only to us.

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

Augustine succeeded in leading a diverse team of missionaries who converted the King of Kent and many thousands of others to the faith, built a new cathedral, school and sanatorium. But he failed to win the support of the British bishops.

Lord we bring before you all our unfinished tasks and unresolved problems, our unfulfilled hopes, knowing that only those things which you bless will prosper. Let us remember always that it is thy will not my will be done.

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

Blessing

Let us go now,

not to serve ourselves,

but to serve others,

not to seek our own glory,

but the glory of God the Father,

and so may all we are and all we do

make him known,

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen.

Thank you for joining me for this week’s Start:Stop reflection. Please join us every Wednesday at 9am for Morning Prayer by free telephone conference call and check out our website for our weekly Sung Eucharist which you can follow online. We are delighted that Choral Classics has returned, with fifteen minutes of divine Choral Music every Monday lunchtime at 1pm. Catch up with recent editions online. Start Stop will return next week.

Links

Augustine of Canterbury – Leadership, Mission and Legacy by Robin Mackintosh is published by Canterbury Press

This website has a digitised copy of the Gospel brought by Augustine to England. If true, this manuscript has been in England longer than any other book.