When Gregory the Great, in 596, sent St. Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons, the saint, on landing in the Isle of Thanet, sent messengers to Ethelbert, the Saxon King, to say he was the bearer of joyful tidings. The King, however, stipulated that their first interview should be in the open air, as he had a fear of charms and spells. So the King crossed the river Stour, and waited under an oak in the middle of the Isle of Thanet. To make a deeper impression, Augustine came up from the shore in solemn procession, preceded by a verger carrying a large silver cross, and followed by one bearing aloft, on a board, a well-gilt picture of the Saviour. Then came the rest of the brethren and the choir chanting a solemn litany for the eternal welfare of the Saxon people. On their meeting, the saint could not speak Anglo-Saxon, and the King could not speak Latin, but the priests interpreted the conversation. The saint told of the Son of God having left His heavenly throne to come to the world, where He died for the sins of the guilty. The King listened fairly, and confessed that the tidings were new and full of significance. He would not at once engage to change the customs of his people, but he promised hospitality and kindness to the strangers, and agreed that none of his people should be prohibited from adopting the new religion. The saint was pleased at this success, and with his companions again formed a procession and crossed the river to Canterbury (which was then a rude place surrounded with thickets, and the capital of the kingdom), chanting all the way their solemn litanies. The missionaries took up their abode, waiting till the King made up his mind, and they devoted themselves to prayers and fasting. Their conduct made a great impression; and Ethelbert, a year after the first interview, avowed his acceptance of Christianity and was baptised. Augustine, soon after, returned to France, and was consecrated at Arles the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
METHODIUS PREACHES IN THE NATIVE LANGUAGE (A.D. 862).
In Moravia, King Swatopluk and his Queen having been converted to the new faith, applied, about 862, to the Emperor Michael to send them some Christian teachers, and two missionaries named Cyril and Methodius were sent. They took with them a relic, supposed to be the body of St. Clement of Rome, a martyr. They obtained great success, for the ordinary practice of the time was to use the Greek and Latin tongues; whereas these men saw that nothing could be done without first mastering the language of the country. They set about learning the Slavonic tongue, compiled an alphabet, and rapidly spread a knowledge of the truth, which led to the building of churches and great interest in the new doctrines, so that they were summoned to Rome, charged with some kind of heretical error. But they proved their orthodoxy, and the Pope consecrated Methodius as Archbishop of the Moravians. At a later date he was again cited before the Pope for using the Slavonic tongue in the Liturgy. But he again overcame all opposition, and showed that the praises of the Lord were not confined to the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages, for St. Paul said, “Let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord,” and it was a scriptural command, “Praise the Lord, all ye nations.” It was said that Methodius afterwards met some heathen dukes at the King’s table; and after talking to them, one of the dukes asked what he might expect to gain by becoming a Christian. The answer given was that the change would exalt him above all kings and princes; whereupon the savage chiefs were all there and then baptised. It seemed that after the death of Methodius, about 885, the orthodox people still professed antipathy to the Slavonic liturgy as an innovation; but it lasted at least to the fall of the Moravian kingdom in 908.
GALLUS, THE APOSTLE OF SWITZERLAND (A.D. 630).
One of the Abbot Columban’s favourite scholars who went with him from Ireland to France was Gallus, who died 646. The party, on settling in the old castle in Bregenz, found three gilded images of Pagan idols; and at the first discourse preached to a large company by Gallus, he in his zeal dashed the idols in pieces, which made a great impression on the congregation. Gallus, besides being a zealous preacher, was expert at gardening and weaving nets, and was so successful in fishing that he not only supplied the monks’ table, but made gifts to guests and strangers. Gallus was too sick to accompany Columban from France to Italy; and when left behind he took a few friends and ranged the forests, which abounded in wild beasts, and looked out for a settlement. They came to a stream full of fish. These Gallus caught with ease, and they broiled them on the banks, and with some bread out of their knapsack made a meal. Gallus then went into the bush to pray, and was so pleased with the situation that he suddenly became satisfied that there he should settle. He made a cross with a small twig, thrust it in the ground, and hung up some relics, and the party knelt in prayer. On this spot was founded the great monastery called by his name, St. Gall. There he trained many monks and spread the light of the Gospel among the surrounding people. He preached in Latin, and one of his scholars translated the discourse into German.
ST. ELIGIUS DENOUNCING PAGAN SUPERSTITIONS (A.D. 650).
St. Eligius is said to have rebuked the superstitions of his time, such as fortune-telling. He said, “Attend not to omens, to sneezing, the flight of birds, or strange creatures met in journeys; but whatever you do sign yourself in the name of Christ, and say the Creed and Paternoster with faith and devotion, and then no enemy can hurt you. Let no Christian attend to the day or to the moon for beginning any work. Practise no Pagan buffooneries, believe in no charms, for these are diabolical works; for the sun and moon are the creatures of God, and serve the necessities of men by His order. Let the sick have no recourse to magicians, but let them trust in the sole mercy of God. Adore not the heavens, or the stars, or the earth, or any other creature, because God has made and disposed them all. High indeed are the heavens, vast the earth, immense the sea, beautiful the stars, but more immense and beautiful is He who created them. And if those things that we see are so incomprehensible—that is, the various sights of the earth, the beauty of flowers, the diversity of fruits, the races of animals, the prudence of the bees, the winds and the dew, and the lightning and the succession of the seasons, all which things no human mind can fully comprehend,—if these things are such which we behold, what must be those heavenly things which have not yet been seen? or what their Maker, whose hand created them, or by whose will they are all governed? Brethren, Him you must fear, adore, and love; hold to His mercy, and never despair of His goodness.”
ANSCHAR, THE APOSTLE OF THE NORTH (A.D. 825).
Anschar was born in 801, near Amiens, his mother being noted for her piety, but dying while he was in his fifth year. One night, in his schooldays, he had a vision and an ecstasy. He dreamt that he stood on a slippery precipice, and could see no way of extricating himself; but on a pleasant meadow not far off a shining group of white-robed females attracted his eye; and in scanning them he beheld his own mother in the crowd, which was led on by the Virgin Mary as Queen. The Virgin kindly saluted him, and asked if he would not come to his mother. He answered that he would gladly do so if he could; whereon the Queen replied, “If you wish to join us, you must eschew vanity and diligently take heed to your ways.” From that time a change came over him. He joined the convent of Corbie, and there he had another vision and ecstasy. He dreamt that he was transported to the assembly of the blessed, and saw and heard what filled him with inexpressible delight—a company of angels surrounded with glorious colours; and Peter and John came to be his guides, when suddenly a voice issued from the centre of light, full of sweetness and majesty. It said, “Go hence, and return to Me with a crown of martyrdom.” Two years afterwards he had a third vision, in which he beheld the glorified figure of Christ, who invited him to confess his sins, that he might receive forgiveness, at which he knelt down and made confession. From that time Anschar felt that he was consecrated to be a missionary. As a monk he became known to the Jutland King, Harold, who had just been baptised at the monastery near the Rhine, and who wished to take home with him a Gospel preacher. Anschar was selected, and for forty years he laboured incessantly in Denmark and Sweden, and became a great civiliser of men. When at last a mortal sickness attacked him, his only regret was that he had not been thought worthy to die a martyr, instead of being tended by loving hands all the days he lay on his bed (in 865).
ST. NEOT, THE CORNISH SAINT (A.D. 890).