May. 27 Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Opt Mem of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop; Ember Wednesday, Opt. Mem.
Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury (d. 605), who was born in Rome and died in Canterbury, England, in 604. When Pope Gregory I heard that the pagans of Britain were disposed to accept the Catholic Faith, he sent the prior of St. Andrew, Augustine, and forty of his Benedictine brethren to England. Despite the great difficulties involved in the task assigned to him, Augustine and his monks obeyed. The success of their preaching was immediate. King Ethelbert was baptized on Pentecost Sunday, 596, and the greater part of the nobles and people soon followed his example. St. Augustine died as the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
