Justus

ON ST. JUSTUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,

IN THE YEAR 627

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY

Justus, bishop of Canterbury. (S.)

BY H. D.

[1] St. Justus is sent to the English. Apart from those things which concern his public veneration

whatever has been handed down in writing about St. Justus is supplied by Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English [Of the more recent writers on St. Justus the chief are Wharton, Anglia sacra, vol. I, p. 92; Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. I (1861), pp. 100–110, and, better than anyone, W. Stubbs in the Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. III, pp. 592–93.] . The first mention of the holy man occurs where he relates that St. Gregory joined new helpers as companions to the priest Laurence and the monk Peter, whom Augustine had sent to Rome. "Moreover the same Pope Gregory, because Bishop Augustine had suggested to him that the harvest was great but the labourers few, sent with his aforesaid envoys several fellow-workers and ministers of the word; among whom the first and chief were Mellitus, Justus, Paulinus, Rufinianus [Hist. eccl., I, 29. We shall give the extracts from Bede from the edition of the distinguished C. Plummer.] ." It is established that this was done in the year 601 Hist. eccl., V, 24. . Three years later, Justus is appointed by Augustine bishop of Rochester (Rochester). He is appointed bishop of Rochester. "In the year of the Lord's incarnation 604, Augustine, archbishop of the Britains, ordained two bishops, namely Mellitus and Justus; Mellitus to preach to the province of the East Saxons… but Justus Augustine ordained bishop in Kent itself, in the city of Dorubrevis Read what Plummer notes at this place, vol. II, p. 79. , which the English people call Hrofæscæstrae from a former chief of it, who was called Hrof [In the synod of Hertford of the year 673 it is named the fort of the men of Kent which is called Hrofescæstir. Bede, Hist. eccl., IV, 5.] . It is distant from Doruvernis Cantuaria, Canterbury. about twenty-four miles to the west, and in it King Æthelberht built the church of the blessed apostle Andrew The monastery of St. Gregory the Pope was dedicated to St. Andrew. , and he also bestowed many gifts on the bishops of each of these churches, as on that of Doruvernis; and he added lands and possessions for the use of those who were with the bishops Hist. eccl., II, 3. ." On Augustine's death Laurence succeeded (605), who with his fellow bishops admonishes the bishops and abbots of Ireland about keeping the unity of holy Church, above all in the observance of Easter. "To our most dear lords and brothers the bishops or abbots throughout all Ireland, Laurence, Mellitus and Justus, bishops, servants of the servants of God … The same Laurence with his fellow bishops sent also to the priests of the Britons letters worthy of his rank, by which he strives to confirm them in catholic unity Hist. eccl., II, 4. ."

[2] He withdraws into Gaul. When Æthelberht, king of the men of Kent, and Sæberht, king of the East Saxons, had died, their successors returned to the worship of idols, and soon Mellitus with his people was ordered to depart Before February of the year 618. Plummer, vol. II, p. 88. . "Being driven out from there, he came to Kent, to consult with Laurence and Justus, his fellow bishops, as to what was to be done in these circumstances. And it was decreed by common counsel that it would be better for all of them to return to their own country and serve the Lord there with a free mind than to remain without fruit among barbarians in rebellion against the faith. So Mellitus and Justus departed first, and withdrew to the parts of Gaul, resolving there to await the outcome of events. But not for long did the kings who had driven the herald of truth from them serve demonic worship with impunity. For having gone out to battle against the people of the Gewisse, they all fell together with their army; yet, although the instigators had perished, the common people, once roused to wickedness, could not be corrected and recalled to the simplicity of the faith and of the charity which is in Christ Hist. eccl., II, 5. ." There was no delay: by King Eadbald, whom Laurence had converted to the faith of Christ, He is recalled from exile. both bishops are recalled from exile. "He also sent to Gaul and recalled Mellitus and Justus, and directed them to return to govern their churches freely; and they returned a year after they had gone away; and Justus indeed went back to the city of Hrof, over which he had presided; but the people of London would not receive Mellitus as bishop, preferring to serve idolatrous high priests Hist. eccl., II, 6. ." Meanwhile Laurence dies (2 February 619), "after whom Mellitus, who was bishop of London, took up the see of the church of Doruvernis, third from Augustine. But Justus, still surviving, governed the church of Rochester. And while they governed the church of the English with great care and labour, they received letters of exhortation from Boniface, pontiff of the Roman and apostolic see, who presided over the Church after Deusdedit, in the year of the Lord's incarnation 619 [Hist. eccl., II, 7. It may be understood that the letters were given in the year 619, or that Boniface (619–625) ascended the chair of Peter in that year. Plummer, vol. II, p. 90.] ." We regret that the papal letters have been lost. But since Bede calls them letters of exhortation, just as he had called Gregory's letters to Augustine written in the year 596 Hist. eccl., I, 23. , the conjecture lies ready to hand that they were given with the sole intent of strengthening the bishops in their arduous labour Plummer, vol. II, p. 90. .

[3] He succeeds Mellitus as bishop of Canterbury. In the year of the Lord 624, on the 24th of April, Mellitus died. "To him there succeeded at once in the pontificate Justus, who was bishop of the church of Rochester. For that church he consecrated Romanus as bishop in his own place, the authority of ordaining bishops having been given him by the pontiff Boniface, who, as we mentioned above, was the successor of Deusdedit; the form of which authority is this:

The letter of Pope Boniface V, To his most beloved brother Justus, Boniface. How devoutly and also how vigilantly your fraternity has laboured for the Gospel of Christ, not only the tenor of the letter you sent has shown, but still more the perfection granted from on high to your work. For almighty God has not forsaken either the mystery of his name or the fruit of your labour, since he himself faithfully promised to the preachers of the Gospel: Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. Matt. 28:20. This his clemency has shown especially in the ministry enjoined upon you, opening the hearts of the nations to receive the singular mystery of your preaching. For with a great reward he has made illustrious, by the aid of his goodness, the delightful course of your eminence Others: fatigationum vestrarum. , while, bestowing an abundant fruit on the offices of most faithful trading with the talents entrusted to you, he has prepared that which you might seal with multiplied generations. And this too has been conferred on you by that recompense whereby, persisting constantly in the ministry enjoined upon you, you have awaited Others: expectatis. with praiseworthy patience the redemption of that nation, and their salvation has been offered to them, that they might profit by your merits, as the Lord says: He who perseveres to the end, he shall be saved. Matt. 10:22; Rom. 8:24. You have therefore been saved by the hope of patience and the virtue of endurance, so that the hearts of unbelievers, purged of their natural and superstitious disease, might obtain the mercy of their Saviour. For having received the letters of King Adulualdus That is, of Eadbald, king of the men of Kent. Plummer, vol. II, p. 92. , we have found with what learning in the sacred word your fraternity has brought his mind to the belief of true conversion and undoubted faith. From which taking sure confidence in the long-suffering of the heavenly clemency, we believe that through the ministry of your preaching there will follow the fullest salvation not only of the nations subject to him, but also of those neighbouring; so that, as it is written, the reward of the completed work may be bestowed on you by the Lord, the requiter of all good things, and that the universal confession of the nations, having received the mystery of the Christian faith, may truly bear witness that their sound has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Ps. 18:4.

Moreover, moved by the zeal of kindness, we have sent to your fraternity by the bearer of these presents the pallium [Different writers have put forward different reasons for sending the pallium. Brou, S. Augustin, p. 158, n. 2; W. E. Collins, The Beginnings of English Christianity (London, 1898), p. 187. It is better for us to refrain from uncertain conjectures.] , which, namely, we have given leave to use only in celebrating the most sacred mysteries; granting you also, when occasion requires, the Lord's mercy going before, to celebrate the ordinations of bishops; so that the Gospel of Christ may be spread by the preaching of many among all the nations which are not yet converted. Let your fraternity therefore strive to keep with unblemished sincerity of mind this which it has received from the kindness of the apostolic see, considering after the likeness of what thing you have received so eminent a vestment to be borne on your shoulders. And, having implored the Lord's clemency, strive to show yourself such that you may present the rewards of the gift bestowed, not with guilt, but with profit of souls, before the tribunal of the supreme Judge who is to come.

God keep you safe, most beloved brother [Hist. eccl., II, 8. Part of the letter of Pope Boniface is copied from Bede himself by the bishops of Britain in their letter to Pope Leo, in the year, as it seems, 805. Haddan-Stubbs, Councils and eccles. Documents, vol. III, p. 559.] ."

[4] by no means suspect. It is indeed remarkable, as the distinguished C. Plummer observed Vol. II, p. 92. , that the supreme pontiff in the first part of the letter addresses Justus in the plural number (your fraternity, of you, to you, etc.), but in the latter part in the singular (to thy fraternity, to thee, thine, etc.). This, the most learned man judges, can be explained in two ways. Either Boniface in the former part addresses Romanus and Justus together, and in the other Justus alone; or it is owing to the carelessness of the copyist who transcribed the register that two letters were badly stitched together, so that the former is the one which Bede had called the letter of exhortation, directed to Mellitus and Justus, the other to Justus alone Hist. eccl., II, 7. . The most erudite man himself hints that there is some boldness underlying such a conjecture, and perhaps not without reason. For the address of the letter stands against it, which is to Justus, not "to Mellitus and Justus" or "to Justus and Romanus". But any conjecture in this matter seems superfluous as well, since it is not unusual for Boniface to mix the singular with the plural, as when in the letter to Queen Æthelburh he now writes your glory, your confession, then to thee, that thou mayest be able to fulfil, of thine exhortations, and again to you, through you, of you, etc. Hist. eccl., II, 11. . We therefore judge that no doubt stands regarding the letters of Boniface adduced by Bede. Spurious, however, are the letters of the same Boniface to Justus which William of Malmesbury put forward along with nine others [Gesta pontificum, I; Haddan-Stubbs, Councils, vol. III, p. 73, cf. pp. 65–66, who put them forward as doubtful. They are rightly rejected by Plummer, vol. II, p. 92, and H. Boehmer, Die Fälschungen Erzbischof Lanfranks von Canterbury (Leipzig, 1902), pp. 47–52.] . Others certainly spurious. By common consent genuine is the charter which Æthelberht, king of Kent, gave on the 28th of April of the year 694, by which he grants land to the church of Rochester: "To thee, St. Andrew, and to thy church which is established in the city of Hrofibreuis, over which Bishop Justus is seen to preside, I hand over a little of my land. This is the boundary of my gift, etc. Kemble, Codex diplomaticus aevi Saxonici, no. 1. ." There are also other

charters given by the same Æthelberht in the year 605 to Augustine, and in the year 618 by Eadbald, in which the name of Justus, bishop of the church of Rochester, also occurs Kemble, nos. 4, 5, 6. . The distinguished W. Stubbs judges them to be of very uncertain credit Dictionary of Christian Biography, same vol., p. 593. . There is no one now who accepts them.

[5] Paulinus is ordained by Justus. Besides what we have said, very little about the deeds of St. Justus has come down to us. On the 21st of July of the year 625 he ordained Paulinus bishop Hist. eccl., II, 9. On St. Paulinus, Act. SS., Oct. vol. V, pp. 102–114. . "At about the same time the church of Rochester had no pastor at all, because Romanus, its prelate, sent as envoy by Archbishop Justus to Pope Honorius, had been swallowed up by the waves of the Italian sea; and for this reason the aforesaid Paulinus, at the invitation of the prelate Honorius and of King Eadbald, took up its care and held it until he too in his time ascended to the heavenly kingdoms with the fruit of glorious labour Hist. eccl., II, 20. ." Honorius, however, was raised to the Roman see in the month of November of the year 625. The death and burial of St. Justus. Soon another Honorius was substituted for Justus: "Meanwhile Archbishop Justus was raised up to the heavenly kingdoms on the fourth day of the Ides of November, and Honorius was elected to the prelacy in his place Hist. eccl., II, 18. ." Bede is silent about the year; codex E of the Saxon Chronicle states 627, and no certain reason is opposed to its testimony Haddan-Stubbs, Councils, vol. III, p. 73; Plummer, op. cit., vol. II, p. 110. . St. Justus was buried in the northern porch of the church of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul at Canterbury Hist. eccl., II, 3. . The epitaph which Thomas Elmham reports was certainly not inscribed on the saint's tomb before the eleventh century.

The epitaph of Justus.

This tomb holds Justus, just in merits and in name, To whom, given by right as the fourth, the pontificate fell. For the merits of Justus, comely in holy gravity, Divine grace gives divine healing here Historia monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis, V, 17, Hardwick, p. 170. .

[6] Of his Life by Goscelin The Life of St. Justus was written in the eleventh century by Goscelin of Thérouanne, a monk of Saint-Bertin, then of Ramsey and finally of Canterbury, the compiler of many books, especially hagiographical ones [On him read the Histoire litteraire de la France, vol. VIII, pp. 660–77; Dictionary of National Biography, vol. XXII, pp. 253–54. His hagiographical works are listed in the BHL, second edition of the Supplement, p. 335.] . He copied Bede diligently, expanded him, contracted him, adding a few things from the letter of St. Gregory to Eulogius Reg. VIII, 29, Hartmann, vol. II, p. 30. about the miracles of Augustine and of those who were sent with him; for since Justus is among the chief of those who were sent with Augustine or to him, he judges that he too was famous for miracles. But it escaped the good man that St. Gregory's letter was given in the year 598, whereas Justus did not arrive in Britain until three years later. He touches briefly at the end of the little book on the translation of the relics of St. Justus and of the other fathers. It was therefore not written before September of the year 1091 Act. SS., May vol. VI, p. 415. .

codices. We have found the Life of St. Justus in three codices.

1 = The British Museum Cotton codex Vesp. B. XX, of parchment, of 288 folios, 0.245 m × 0.155, written in full lines by various hands of the twelfth century. Almost the whole of it concerns the saints of England, especially the bishops of Canterbury. Fols. 214–217: On St. Justus the archbishop = BHL 4601.

2 = The British Museum codex Harley 652, of parchment, of 4 + 216 folios, 0.34 m × 0.24, written in two columns in the twelfth century. It is a book of homilies through the course of the year, to which are subjoined lessons on the saints of England. Fols. 213–214: On St. Justus the archbishop, or the Life BHL 4601, divided into eight lessons, the brief exhortation with which it closes in the other codices being omitted.

3 = The British Museum codex Harley 105, of parchment, of 205 folios, 0.275 m × 0.20, written in full lines in the twelfth century. Wholly about the saints of England. Fols. 244–246v: On St. Justus the archbishop = BHL 4601. Capgrave, or rather John of Tynemouth, inserted the little book, with many things cut away, into his Legenda BHL 4602. . It is worth noting that the letter of Pope Boniface to Justus, abridged by Goscelin, is reported by John in a fuller text. For the rest, there is nothing in this epitome, nor yet in that which is annexed to the Cologne Golden Legend BHL 4603. , that deserves to be read after Goscelin.

[7] A poem. There is also in the Lambeth codex 159, of paper, of 279 folios, 0.285 m × 0.205, written in full lines in the sixteenth century "The book of Dom James Hartey, monk of Christ Church, Canterbury." , among Lives of the archbishops of Canterbury composed in elegiac verse, at fol. 226, a brief Life of St. Justus, comprised in twenty-two limping little verses, which, as being unedited, we subjoin to Goscelin, although it offers nothing that is not very well known. That the anonymous writer asserts that St. Justus sat for three years he seems to have taken from William of Malmesbury Gesta Pontificum, I, Hamilton, p. 6. . We shall not linger at all over what that William Ibid. II, 1, pp. 140–41. , and Gervase of Canterbury Actus pontificum, Stubbs, vol. II, p. 332. , and also Thomas of Elmham Historia monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis, Hardwick, pp. 271–72. wrote about Justus, since in the end they flow back into Bede, even with error mixed in, as when Thomas indicates that Justus had a part in founding St. Peter's at Westminster.

[8] The translation of the relics. On the 13th of September of the year 1091, when the old cathedral church of Canterbury was to be demolished on account of a new building, the bodies of the holy bishops Justus, Honorius and Deusdedit were removed from the place where they had lain until then. The history of this translation, at which he himself was present as a witness, was written by Goscelin in the books on the Translation of St. Augustine BHL 781, nos. 21, 25. , which we have already given at the 26th of May Act. SS., May vol. VI, pp. 417, 419. . Our predecessors also touched on the matter in passing at the 15th of July, where they treat of St. Deusdedit Act. SS., July vol. IV, p. 49. , and more fully at the 30th of September, where they treat of St. Honorius Act. SS., Sept. vol. VIII, p. 699. . Recently, moreover, the place where St. Justus had first been laid was uncovered, with the shape of his bier impressed in the lime [W. St. John Hope, Recent Discoveries in the Abbey Church of St. Austin at Canterbury, London, 1916. Cf. Anal. Boll., vol. XLII, p. 207.] . That the anniversary of all the saints whom Abbot Wido translated to another place together with Augustine in one week was celebrated on the thirteenth of September we have from calendars and martyrologies We cite one, the Altemps. Sollerius, Martyrologium Usuardi, p. 532. . In the Customs of the monastery of St. Augustine at Canterbury, the feast of the translation of St. Augustine is often mentioned [E. M. Thompson, Customary of the Benedictine Monasteries of St. Augustin, Canterbury and St. Peter, Westminster, vol. I (London, 1902), pp. 196, 377; vol. II, pp. 233, 261.] , Commemoration in the calendars. but also the translation of St. Augustine, apostle of the English, and of his companions, namely eleven confessors and monks Ibid., vol. I, p. 432; cf. vol. II, pp. 282, 290, 311, 314. . At Canterbury the deposition of St. Justus was celebrated with a double rite Ibid., vol. II, pp. 287, 312. on the ninth day of November, on which he died, as the English calendars testify. In the most ancient Irish missal, which they usually call the Stowe Missal, among many names inserted in the diptychs or canon there are found G. F. Warner, The Stowe Missal, vol. II (London, 1915), p. 16. :

laurenti dagani

melleti etc.

iusti

aedo

That Daganus is the Irish bishop of whom mention is made in the letter of Laurence, Mellitus and Justus Bede, Hist. eccl., II, 4; above, no. 1, p. 532. , and he seems to have drawn after him the British bishops who inscribed the same names Warner, same vol., p. XXVIII. .

I. LIFE OF ST. JUSTUS BY GOSCELIN THE MONK

Justus, bishop of Canterbury. (S.)

BHL Number: 4601

From the British Museum codices Cotton Vespas. B. XX (= 1), Harley 652 (= 2), Harley 105 (= 3). Cf. Preliminary Commentary, no. 6.

On St. Justus the archbishop.

[1] Justus is sent from Rome to England. The man of the Lord Augustine, having been ordained to the apostolate of England by Etherius, archbishop of Arles, and having returned to Britain, at once sent to Rome the most holy Laurence the priest and Peter the monk, to report to the blessed pontiff Gregory that the king and the people of the English had received the faith of Christ and that he himself had been made bishop, at the same time asking his counsel concerning the questions that seemed necessary. Without delay he received answers suited to the question Bede, Hist. eccl., I, 24, Prel. Comm. no. 1. . And above all, when Augustine suggested corrected, at first suggerente 2. that the harvest was indeed great for him but the labourers few, the most holy pope adds that he should pray the Lord of the harvest to direct his counsel as to which fit labourers he should send into his harvest. So, by the inspiration of providence on high, there are dispatched with the aforenamed envoys men of outstanding virtues, Mellitus, Justus, Paulinus, Rufinianus H. E., I, 29, ibid. , as heralds of the four Gospels. They are accompanied by no untrained band of evangelical ministers and fellow-workers, who in terrible battle-array should plunder the camps of the demons.

[2] He is set over the church of Rochester. So blessed Augustine ordained as bishops Mellitus for London and Justus for the church of Rochester Rofensi 2 and thereafter. . For in London King Æthelberht, where Sæberht Saeberto 3, and thereafter. his nephew reigned under him, founded the church of blessed Paul, and in Rochester the church of the blessed apostle Andrew; and he also offered many gifts to the bishops of each church, as to that of Canterbury, and added lands and possessions ibid.; Plummer, op. cit., vol. I, p. 85. . But so that room might lie open to the devil for tempting, and the crown of victory might increase for the saints, when blessed Augustine and the most Christian kings Æthelberht and Bede; is missing in the codd. Sæberht Soeberto corrected, at first Saberto 2, and thereafter. had been taken up to the heavenly kingdoms, Eadbald the son of Æthelberht and the three sons of Sæberht, apostatising from their fathers' piety, surrendered with their peoples to idolatry. Mellitus, driven out of London, came into Kent to blessed Laurence and Justus; From exile it was resolved in common that they should rather flee a burning Sodom than benefit neither themselves nor the salvation rebellibus salutis (saluti 3) codd. of the rebels. O the martyrdoms of the saints, how often heavier

are the wounds in the mind than they would be in the flesh. With what grief they left those whose salvation they had sought with so great and so long a labour, and how much more willingly they would have died for them than have left them, had they hoped for any progress in them H. E., II, 5, Prel. Comm. no. 2. .

[3] recalled, So blessed Laurence, about to follow Mellitus and Justus, exiles for Christ who had suffered persecution for justice' sake, spends the whole night in laments and groans que above the line by the first hand 2. in the church of the princes of the apostles and of the resting-place of blessed Augustine, praying that the eternal Shepherd would not forsake his Church. Taught by the blessed apostle Peter omits 2. in person not to abandon the sheep entrusted to him, he shows his wounds to King Eadbald. He, greatly terrified, profanes the idols, delivers himself to Christ, and recalls Mellitus and Justus to their sees H. E., II, 7, ibid. . He takes up the bishopric of Canterbury. When the most holy Laurence had been received into the joys above, Mellitus succeeds, third from the first, Augustine. When after five years he had followed Laurence by the starry at first sidere 2. way Ibid. , Justus, worthy of his name, full of justice and grace, is substituted as the fourth after the patriarch Augustine himself, so that he to whom he was sent as a help, and who had ordained him as his suffragan, now has him as the heir-son of his dignity. For his former church of Rochester he consecrated Romanus bishop in his own place, the authority of ordaining bishops having been given him by the pontiff Boniface, who also sent him the pallium with letters of commendation, in which he exhorts him as to how he ought to conduct himself among his own H. E., II, 8, Prel. Comm. no. 3. . Having received the pallium from the same Roman pontiff, he ordained at first ordinanavit 3. his holy colleague Paulinus, who had been sent with him by blessed Gregory, as bishop for the people of the Northumbrians. Having ordained him, he sent him with the virgin Æthelburh, sister of King Eadbald, to King Edwin; but he himself rather intended with his whole mind to call the people to whom he was going to the knowledge of the truth H. E., II, 9. .

[4] The most just Justus, then, strove with all his efforts to magnify the Lord, wonderful in his saints and always triumphant through them, After tribulation, gladness. who after darkness gives light, after fear confidence, after tribulation gladness. Ps. 67:36. For who would have believed that England, turned back to its vomit through idolatrous and execrable kings, having come to detest the faith of Christ it had received and taking delight in its own sickness, could now receive recipere posse 2. any remedy, when they not only abhorred their physicians but even banished exterminarentur 1, 2. them from their borders? But in so great a storm and shipwreck of unbelief, Christ, roused by the prayers of the saints, commands the winds and the waves, and an unhoped-for calm returns with all speed. Matt. 8:26. Not only are they recalled to added above the line 2. the pontificate from which they had been cast out, but they are even enthroned at the highest summit of the hierarchy. Mellitus blushed at this divine favour towards himself. Justus was most deeply gratissime 3. astonished at this done to himself after so many wayward perils. Then indeed he weighed with a loftier spirit why he had come from Rome, why he had returned here from Gaul, why at last he shone before all; and so that he might not have run in vain but might profit all, he laboured as debtor to all. Hence he spread the wings of holy charity towards all, he flew to all with prayer, rebuke, promise of glory, terror of hell, and, travailing with the bowels of charity for sons of adoption, he converted innumerable people to Christ. To those whom he had brought back from apostasy he said lovingly: "My little children, of whom I am in labour again until Christ be formed in you." Gal. 4:19.

[5] The letter of Pope Boniface V. It must be reckoned a testimony of no small holiness, among his other praises, that the most holy Pope Boniface, fourth from the eminent Gregory, commends blessed Justus in apostolic letters and ascribes to his merits and to the rewards of heaven the conversion … sionem on an erasure 3. of the nations. This will shine out more pleasingly from the letter itself, partly set down here H. E., II, 8, Prel. Comm. no. 3. .

[6] "To his most beloved brother Justus, Boniface. How devoutly and also how vigilantly your fraternity has laboured for the Gospel of Christ, not only the tenor of the letter you sent has shown, but still more the perfection granted from on high to your work. For almighty God has not forsaken either the mystery of his name or the fruit of your labour, since he himself faithfully promised to the preachers of the Gospel: Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the age. Matt. 28:20. This his clemency has shown especially in the ministry enjoined upon you, opening the hearts of the nations to receive the singular mystery of your preaching. For with a great reward he has made illustrious, by the aid of his goodness, the delightful course of your eminence, while, bestowing an abundant fruit on the offices of most faithful trading with the talents entrusted to you, he has prepared that which you might seal with multiplied kinds. And this too has been conferred on you by that recompense repensatione 2. , you who, persisting constantly in the ministry enjoined upon you, await with praiseworthy patience the redemption of that nation; and their omits 3. salvation has been offered to them, that they might profit by your merits, as the Lord says: He who perseveres to the end, he shall be saved. Matt. 10:22. You have therefore been saved by the hope of patience and the virtue of endurance, so that the hearts of unbelievers, purged of their natural and superstitious disease, might obtain the mercy of their Saviour. Rom. 8:24. For having received the letters of our son King Eadbald Adulualdi, Adelualdi Bede. , we have found with what learning in the sacred word and with what long-suffering omits Bede. your fraternity has brought his mind to the belief of true conversion and undoubted faith. From which taking sure confidence in the long-suffering of the heavenly clemency, we believe that through the ministry of your preaching there will follow the fullest salvation not only of the nations subject to him, but also of those neighbouring; so that, as it is written, the reward of the completed work may be rendered to you by the Lord, the requiter of all good things, and that the universal confession of the nations, having received the mystery of the Christian faith, may truly bear witness that their sound has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Ps. 18:4. Moreover, moved by the zeal of kindness, we have sent to your fraternity by the bearer of these presents the pallium, which, namely, we have given leave to use only in celebrating the most sacred mysteries; granting you also, when occasion requires, the Lord's mercy going before, to celebrate the ordinations of bishops; so that the Gospel of Christ may be spread by the preaching of many among all the nations which are not yet converted." Read what has been said in the Prel. Comm. no. 6, at cod. 3.

[7] The illustrious merits of St. Justus. From these and the other testimonies of the most blessed pope which the same letter goes on to give, it is to be weighed magnificently of how great merit and how great holiness so holy and just a summit of the churches judged this most blessed Justus to be: that he laboured so devoutly and so vigilantly for the Gospel of Christ; that the Lord made his delightful course illustrious with the great reward of the heights above, while he prepared for himself manifold an abundant fruit by the offices of most faithful trading with the talents entrusted to him; that by the merits of his praiseworthy patience and perseverance to the end the salvation of this nation was offered to it; that he suffered exile for justice' sake, and brought a persecuting king by his learning and long-suffering to the belief of undoubted faith. Him, after many contests and many struggles with savage nations, the venerable historian of the English, Bede, sends triumphant to heaven. "Blessed omits Bede. Justus the archbishop," he says, "was taken up to the heavenly kingdoms on the fourth day of the Ides of November"; and his body was laid in the monastery of the apostles Peter and Paul H. E., II, 18; II, 3. Prel. Comm. no. 5. . But amid all this, if anyone asks for signs by which the merits of this saint may be declared, let him hear the irrefragable testimony of the supreme Gregory, written to the holy patriarch Eulogius Reg. VIII, 29, Hartmann, vol. II, p. 30. . "With such great miracles," he says, "do either Augustine himself or those who were sent with him shine among the English people, that they seem to imitate the powers of the apostles in the signs which they display." It is established, then, that blessed Justus was illustrious among the chief of those who were sent with him or to blessed Augustine himself, and we believe him to have shone with miracles as with merits [When Gregory's letter was given, Justus had not yet arrived in Britain. Prel. Comm. no. 6.] . Nor is it fitting to pass over in silence that at the recent translation of him, as also of the other fathers, when his sarcophagus was opened, all the bystanders were filled with a wonderful sweetness of fragrance. Yet where there is the apostolic life, merits lose nothing, even if apostolic signs are lacking here 2 ends. .

[8] Col. 537E Exhortation Let us imitate with all our strength the life, justice, equity and meekness of this most blessed saint, let us avoid wicked and unlawful works, so that by his merits, every omnis 1, 3. stain of sin having been rooted out of us, we may deserve to receive with him the rewards of eternal life, with the help of him who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for all ages of ages. Amen.

II. POEM ON ST. JUSTUS

Justus, bishop of Canterbury. (S.)

From the Lambeth codex 159. Cf. Prel. Comm. no. 7.

St. Justus, fourth archbishop Heading in the margin. .

Just in name et adds, then deletes, the cod. and in deed, Justus straightway succeeds that Mellitus, a worthy prelate of equal honour. He was prelate of Rochester, but, a pastor assiduous to guard the fold, he spread the faith everywhere. He himself gave to the church of Rochester one Romanus by name, whose sacred teachings shine; and he had also entrusted Paulinus to York, by whom King Edwin too had been born again. For here above the line Paulinus the father is anointed by Justus the father St. Paulinus the bishop is anointed by St. Justus the archbishop in the margin. , in the church of Christ, in the time of the Lord, in the year six hundred and also twenty-sixth, when the aforesaid had reached its end. Here King Edwin rules over the West Saxons King Edwin rules over the West Saxons in the margin. , and then, reigning tunc estque cod. , he and his people worshipped idols. The sister of Eadbald is then joined to Edwin note well in the margin. , with whom Paulinus crosses over and guides her. The king is converted to the faith through the sacred washing King Edwin converted to the faith through Paulinus the bishop in the margin. , through you, Paulinus, excellent prelate of God. This father Justus, however, sat for three years St. Justus sat for three years, is buried with his fathers in the margin. ; raised up by Christ, he now shines in the citadel of heaven. Justus, by your merits extinguish our guilt, and lay open to your servants the help of salvation. Amen end of the life of St. Justus, fourth archbishop of Canterbury adds the cod. .