St. Justus, Archbishop of Canterbury, Confessor


HE was a Roman by birth, and a learned and virtuous monk of St. Gregory’s monastery, by whom he was sent into England in 601, to assist St. Austin in preaching the faith there. In 604, he was consecrated the first bishop of Rochester, and in 624, upon the death of St. Mellitus, translated to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. Pope Boniface accompanied the pall which he sent him, with a letter in which he admired the fruit of his labours, in the great number of souls which he had initiated in the faithful service of God; and extolled his patience and zeal, exhorting him to persevere to the end, lest he should lose his crown. St. Justus ordained St. Romanus his successor at Rochester, and St. Paulinus the first archbishop of York, and went to receive his reward at the hands of the Prince of pastors on the 10th of November, in 627. He was interred with his two predecessors, and is named on this day in the Roman and English Martyrologies.	1