Mellitus

ON SAINT MELLITUS,

FIRST BISHOP OF LONDON, AND THIRD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY IN ENGLAND.

IN THE YEAR 624.

Mellitus, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, in England (St.)

By G. H.

That Saint Bishop Mellitus ended his life on this April 24 of the year 624 is clear from the Life below, which we give collected from the English History of the Venerable Bede, and illustrate with several notes. On the aforesaid day he is everywhere inscribed in all the ecclesiastical fasti, and in the first place Bede in his genuine Martyrology has these things: Memory in the sacred fasti. "On the 8th day before the Kalends of May, the deposition of Mellitus, Bishop in Britain." Rabanus and Usuard have the same, but the latter writes "Archbishop." Ado adds these: "Who third after Augustine received the Church of Canterbury, which he ruled for five years, buried in the monastery in the church of St. Peter, on the 8th day before the Kalends of May, in the year from the Incarnation of the Lord 624." Notker and the later writers commonly have similar things. In the modern Roman Martyrology this eulogy is found: "In England, the deposition of Saint Mellitus, Bishop, who, sent by Saint Gregory into England, converted the East Saxons and their King to the faith."

Certain relics of Saint Mellitus were formerly kept in the church of St. Paul in London, in silver arms, Relics, as from the Inventories made in the year 1298, and reported by William Dugdale in the History of the Church of St. Paul, Mabillon relates in volume 2 of the Acts of the Benedictine Order in his eulogy of Saint Mellitus, whom he himself, Dignity of Abbot, after Trithemius and other Benedictine Martyrologists, ascribes to his religion. Saint Gregory too calls him Abbot: but Mabillon doubts for what cause: whether he was Abbot of the monastery of St. Andrew, or of the Lateran Patriarchate assigned to the Cassinese monks, or only Abbot or Prelate of those whom Gregory delegated as assistants to Augustine. Miracles.

We append to the Acts collected from Bede a few miracles, by Capgrave in the Legend of England formerly printed; to which it seems could be added what is not found in Bede and is commonly narrated by others: namely, that the church of London was dedicated by St. Peter, on the last night before Saint Mellitus was to consecrate it. That history is told at length by Ealred in the Life of Saint Edward the King and Confessor, chapter five, according to our division of the Life, illustrated on January 5. The same is brought forth by William of Malmesbury, book 2 On the English Pontiffs, and eight other authors produced in volume 1 of Monasticon Anglicanum, from page 55, whom the kindly reader can find there.

LIFE

From the Ecclesiastical History of the Venerable Bede.

Mellitus, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, in England (St.)

FROM Bede.

[1] Pope ^a Gregory, to Augustine ^b the Bishop (because he had suggested to him that, while his harvest was indeed great, the laborers were few), sent with his ^c legates many co-workers and ministers of the word; of whom the first and chief were Mellitus, ^d Justus, Paulinus, and Ruffinianus. Sent by St. Gregory to England, And through them, generally, all things which were needful to the worship and service of the church — namely, sacred vessels and vestments for the altars, ornaments also of churches, and priestly or clerical garments, and also relics of the holy Apostles and Martyrs, and very many books. Book I, ch. 29 He also sent letters, in which he signifies that he had dispatched the pallium to him.

[2] But while the aforesaid legates were departing, the blessed Father Gregory sent after them letters worthy of memory, in which he openly shows how zealously he watched over the salvation of our people, writing thus: Saluted by letters sent by him, "To his most beloved son Mellitus the Abbot, Gregory, Servant of the servants of God. ch. 30, After the departure of our congregation which is with you, we have been kept in great suspense, because it has happened that we have heard nothing of the prosperity of your journey. When therefore Almighty God has brought you to the most reverend man our brother Augustine the Bishop, say to him what I, long pondering with myself concerning the cause of the English, have thought out: namely, that the temples of idols should by no means be destroyed in that same people, but that the idols themselves which are in them should be destroyed; let holy water be sprinkled in the same temples, altars be built, relics be placed... May God keep you safe, most beloved son. Given on the 15th day before the Kalends of August, in the nineteenth year of the reign of our lord Mauritius Tiberius, the most pious Augustus, in the eighteenth year after the Consulate of the same Lord, in the fourth Indiction." ^e

[3] In the year of the Lord's incarnation 604, Augustine, Archbishop of the Britains, ordained two Bishops, He is ordained Bishop by St. Augustine, namely Mellitus and Justus: Mellitus to preach to the province of the East Saxons, who are separated from Kent by the river Thames, and themselves border on the Eastern sea, whose metropolis is the city of London, ^f situated on the bank of the aforesaid river, itself the emporium of many peoples coming by land and sea: in which people at that time ^g Saberetus reigned, nephew of ^h Ethelbert through his sister Ricula, though placed under the authority of the same Ethelbert, who governed all the English peoples up to the limit of the river Humber. Book 2, ch. 3, And when this province also received the word of truth at Mellitus's preaching, King Ethelbert built in the city of London a church of St. Paul the Apostle, in which he and his successors should have the seat of the Episcopal See. The see erected at London, Justus, however, Augustine ordained as Bishop in Kent itself, in the city of Doroverni (which the English people, from a certain chief man of it who was called Rof, surname Rofechester; and it is distant from Doroverni about twenty-four miles to the west), in which King Ethelbert built a church of blessed Andrew the Apostle. He also offered many gifts to the Bishops of both these churches, as also to the one of Doroverni; and added territories and possessions for the use of those who were with the Bishops.

[4] Afterwards, when Augustine had died, Mellitus, Bishop of London, came to Rome to deal with the Apostolic Pope ⁱ Boniface ^k concerning the necessary matters of the Church of the English. And when the same most reverend Pope was gathering a Synod of the Bishops of Italy, to ordain concerning the life and repose of the monks, Returning to Rome, he attends a Synod: Mellitus himself also sat among them in the eighth year of the reign of Phocas, ^l the 13th Indiction, on the third day before the Kalends of May: that, subscribing with his own authority, he might confirm whatever had been regularly decreed, and returning to Britain might carry with him the commands of the Church of the English to be observed; together with the letters which the same Pontiff directed to the beloved-of-God Archbishop Laurence and the whole clergy, likewise to King Ethelbert and the English people.

[5] But after the death of ^m Ethelbert, when his son Eadbald had taken up the rule of the kingdom, there was great harm to the still tender growths of the Church there. For not only had he refused to receive the faith of Christ, but he was also polluted by such fornication He is afflicted by succeeding idolatrous Kings: as the Apostle testifies was not even heard among the gentiles, that he had his father's wife: by which twofold crime he gave occasion to those who under the rule of his father, either from royal favor or from fear, had accepted the rights of faith and chastity, to return to their former vomit. Nor were the scourges of heavenly severity lacking to chastise or correct the perfidious King: for he was pressed by frequent madness of mind and the invasion of an unclean spirit. But the death of Saberet, King of the East Saxons, increased this storm of disturbance: for when he, seeking the eternal kingdoms, had left his three sons, who had remained pagan, as heirs of the temporal kingdom, they soon began openly to serve idolatry, which while he lived they had seemed somewhat to lay aside, and to give free license to their subject peoples of worshipping idols. And when they saw the Bishop, after the solemnities of Masses celebrated in the church, giving the Eucharist to the people, they said to him, as is commonly reported, puffed up with barbarous foolishness: He refuses them the sacred Eucharist: "Why do you not give us also the shining bread which you used to give to our father Saba (for so they were accustomed to call him), and still do not cease to give to the people in the church?" To whom he answered: "If you are willing to be washed in that saving font in which your father was washed, you can also be partakers of the holy bread in which he shared. But if you despise the laver of life, you can by no means receive the bread of life." But they said: "We are unwilling to enter that font, because we know we have no need of it: but still we wish to be refreshed with that bread." And when they had been diligently and often admonished by him that it could by no means be that anyone should communicate in the most holy oblation without the sacred purification, at length, moved by fury, they said: "If you will not agree to us in so easy a matter as that which we ask, you cannot now remain in our province," and expelled him, and ordered him to go from their kingdom with his own. Being thence expelled, he came to Kent, Expelled from the See he goes to Gaul: to deal with Laurence and Justus, his fellow-Bishops, what should be done in these things. And it was decreed by common counsel that it would be better that all, returning to their fatherland, should serve the Lord there with a free mind, than to dwell among the rebels of the faith — the barbarians — without fruit. First therefore Mellitus and Justus departed and withdrew to the parts of Gaul, there arranging to await the end of affairs. But not long after, the Kings, who had expelled from themselves the herald of truth and were serving demoniac worships with impunity, going forth into battle against the nation of the ⁿ Gewisse, all fell with their soldiery; nor even so, although the authors were destroyed, could the common folk — stirred up to crimes — be corrected, and recalled to the simplicity of faith and the charity which is in Christ.

[6] Afterwards, however, King Eadbald, having anathematized every worship of idolatry, having renounced an unlawful marriage,

Recalled, he is not received in London, received the faith of Christ, and being baptized, took care, so far as he was able, to help and favor the affairs of the Church in all things. He sent also into Gaul, and recalled Mellitus and Justus, and commanded them to return and freely establish their churches. They returned after a year from their departure: and Justus indeed returned to the city of Rochester over which he had presided; but the Londoners refused to receive Mellitus as their Bishop, preferring rather to serve idolatrous pontiffs. For his power over the kingdom was not as great as his father's had been, so that even against unwilling and opposing pagans he could not restore the Bishop to his Church. He dedicates a church at Westminster, Nevertheless, he himself with his people, from the time when he was converted to the Lord, studied to submit himself to the divine precepts. Finally, also in the monastery of the most blessed prince of the Apostles, he built a church of the holy Mother of God, which Archbishop Mellitus consecrated.

[7] While this King was still reigning, the blessed Archbishop Laurence ascended to the heavenly kingdom, and in the church and monastery of the holy Apostle Peter, near his predecessor Augustine, was buried on the fourth day before the Nones of February. ^o After him Mellitus, who was Bishop of London, Is made Archbishop of Canterbury: received the See of the Church of Canterbury from Augustine; but Justus, still surviving, was ruling the Church of Rochester. While they were governing the English Church with great care and labor, they received exhortatory writings from [p] Boniface, the Pontiff of the Roman and Apostolic See, who after Deusdedit presided over the Church, in the year 618 of the Lord's incarnation. Mellitus was indeed burdened with bodily infirmity — that is, with gout; but sound in the paces of the mind, he eagerly transcended all earthly things, and ever flew to the heavenly kingdoms, always to be loved, sought, and searched out. He was noble by origin of the flesh, but nobler by the summit of his mind. Finally (to relate one testimony of his virtue, from which the rest may be understood), at a certain time the city of Canterbury, seized by fire through the fault of carelessness, began to be consumed with increasing flames, against which no one could make resistance by any casting on of water, and already no small part of the city was devastated, and the furious flame spread itself to the [q] Episcopium. The Bishop, trusting in divine help where human help was wanting, By his prayers he extinguishes a fire: ordered himself to be carried out to meet the raging globes of fire flying here and there. Now, in that place where the onset of the flames was most violent, there was a chapel of the blessed Four Crowned martyrs. Thither therefore the Bishop, borne by the hands of his attendants, began, though infirm, to drive away by prayer the danger which the firm hand of the strong had been unable, with much labor, to remove. Without delay, the wind, which blowing from the south had scattered the fires over the city, bent back against the south, first withdrew the force of its fury from the damage of the places that were opposite, and soon, completely subsiding, restrained the flames which were at the same time suppressed and quenched. And because the man of God was ardently burning with the fire of divine charity, he dies April 24 in the year 624, who was accustomed to drive back the tempests of the aerial powers from the injury of himself and his people by frequent prayers or exhortations, he could deservedly prevail over worldly winds and flames, and obtain that they should not harm himself and his people. And this one also, therefore, after he had ruled the church for five years, with Eadbald reigning, migrated to heaven, and was buried with his Fathers in the oft-mentioned monastery and church of the most blessed prince of the Apostles, in the year from the incarnation of the Lord 624, on the 8th day before the Kalends of May.

ANNOTATIONS.

MIRACLES

From the English Legend of John Capgrave.

Mellitus, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, in England (St.)

BHL Number: 5897

[1] An old woman negligently tending the light at the sepulchre, A certain old woman of honest life, most devoted to Saint Augustine and his companions, was accustomed frequently to be present, to pray, to kindle lights, and to keep the coverings of the holy bodies clean and bright. But on a certain day, when, weary from prayer, she began to sleep, a lighted candle before Saint Augustine, carelessly extinguished, was giving off a foul smell, and with its light spent, was smoking. And behold, in a vision she saw blessed Mellitus Is warned by St. Mellitus appearing: rising from the tomb, and with great indignation rebuking her and saying, "Whence comes this boldness to you, that you should sleep here and leave our Patron Augustine and us, his colleagues, without the honor of light?" And with hand extended he gave a mighty slap to the sleeping woman. When, at the blow inflicted, she awoke, she saw with open eyes the Saint returning from her and entering his tomb. But so red were the marks of the fingers and palm of the one who struck her, that they were as if marked with fresh blood.

[2] The gouty and the chiragric are healed: A certain woman, bound by the infirmity of gout and chiragra, unable to step forth with her feet, to rise from her bed, to lift her hands to her mouth, pouring forth prayer to blessed Mellitus, moribund, suddenly returned to life, put off all pain, put on health, and gave thanks and joyfully returned to her own.

[3] Held by a grave disease, A certain soldier held by a grave disease saw Mellitus clothed in pontifical vestments standing by him and saying: "He," he said, "to whom the power of healing you has been given, now commands you to rise safe from this bed of sickness." At this voice the soldier, made whole, inquired who had deigned to come to his aid. And he said: "I am Mellitus, who succeeded Augustine as third in the Pontificate."

[4] A certain young man at Canterbury, simple and harming no one, and distributing of his possessions to the poor, held blessed Mellitus in great veneration. Being at length compelled by friends to take a wife, through the whole night he afflicted his mind with cares and complaints, By the command of the one appearing, virginity is preserved, why he had put on these bonds, who was free, and had done this without the counsel of his Lord and Patron Mellitus. Leaving the Virgin untouched, early he demanded from Saint Mellitus, with many prayers and sighs, a saving answer. At last, when he had fallen asleep, the holy Mellitus stood by him, exhorted and commanded him that, having returned the due dowry, he should restore his bride untouched to her parents, and himself strive to hold the way of chastity to the end. When the young man awoke, he hastened as quickly as possible to fulfill what had been commanded.

[5] But five hundred years after, the body of Saint Augustine and his Companions being translated, a certain soldier, whose eye a carbuncle had taken possession of, stretching forth his arm among the dense throngs, with the tips of his fingers touched the extreme part of the bar, The carbuncle of the eye is cured. by which the bier of blessed Mellitus was being carried; and that very touch, as though collyrium and the best ointment, he rubbed on his diseased eye: and at once the pestilent matter flowed away, and sudden health drove away all pain, as light drives away darkness. But after the celebration of the Masses, worthy priests are joined to Augustine: first Laurence on the right hand, second Mellitus on the left.