Saint Honorius of Canterbury
On the thirtieth of September, the Holy Orthodox Church commemorates Honorius, an Italian monk who was one of the OG Gregorian missionaries to England and to the court of Saints Æþelberht and Berhte, and also the man who likely did the most to indigenise the English Church’s ecclesiastical hierarchy.
Little is known of Honorius’s life before he was hand-chosen by Pope Saint Gregory to accompany the mission to England – but even the date of his arrival in England is unclear, as he may have been sent to England in 601 after the first mission had been established. The Anglican rector Alban Butler relates to us that he was chosen for this mission on account of ‘the experience which he had of his great virtue, and skill in sacred literature’. It may be assumed with some safety that once he arrived in Kent, he shared in all the setbacks, trials and triumphs of the early mission there, and those of his monastic brethren and superiors: Saint Augustine, Saint Laurence, Saint Mellitus, Saint Justus and Saint Paulinus.
There were, in those early years, quite a few more setbacks than triumphs. The logistical limitations posed by travel time and distance from Rome; the incessant political conflicts between the English princes both Christian and heathen; the issue of the calendar which divided the Celtic churches from the Orthodox Roman one – all made themselves felt in one way or another. We can see some of these in the life of Saint Honorius: after the blessed repose of Saint Justus, there were no valid clergy in Canterbury, in London or in Rochester to perform the consecration of a new archbishop! It was left to Saint Paulinus (former bishop of Rochester) to break off his missionary work among the Northumbrians, come south from York and make the still-treacherous journey through heathen Mercian and East Anglian territory to Lincoln, where he met with Saint Honorius. Paulinus lay hands on Honorius and consecrated him without the explicit consent of the Pope – something he was not quite yet authorised to do. Only afterward did Paulinus and Honorius write to Rome formally requesting an omophor. Not only was the vestment granted, but the Archbishops of York and Canterbury were also formally given permission to consecrate each other’s successors in the event of untimely death.
At this time, Saint Óswald and Saint Aidan were busy traipsing about Northumbria on foot and successfully spreading the Gospel, both in English and Gaelic, both by word and meek example. Not to be outdone, Saint Honorius sent for Saint Felix the Burgundian and commended him to Sigeberht King of the East Angles, who had requested just such a missionary to spread the Word of Life among his own folk.
Saint Honorius was equally devout in his entirely-Orthodox conviction that the English should take charge of their own spiritual life in a way best suited to them: that the English Church should be its own local organ, and not merely a cultural appendage of Rome. He took the lead in consecrating English monks and priests to the hierarchy. He consecrated Saint Iþamar as bishop of Rochester. And he appointed two native-born English bishops of East Anglia after the repose of Saint Felix: the first, Thomas, had been a deacon in Mercia; the second, Beorhtgils (or Boniface) had been a Kentish priest prior to his elevation.
But he did not make appointments merely on the grounds of ethnic background – no, not in the least! Reverend Butler makes it clear that Saint Honorius was particularly attentive to the spiritual gifts and character of the men he appointed to clerical positions: ‘ His care in filling all places with pastors truly dead to the world and all worldly interests or views, and his own zealous labours and shining example contributed exceedingly, with the divine blessing, to so wonderful an increase [in the spread of the Faith].’
It seems therefore meet and fitting, after Archbishop Saint Honorius met his blessed repose on the thirtieth of September in the Year of our Lord 653, that his office should, some eighteen months later, be filled by a native-born Englishman of great spiritual gifts and devotion: Saint Deusdedit. The relics of Saint Honorius were laid to rest in the honour they were due, at Saint Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury. Holy Hierarch Honorius of Canterbury, right-believing missionary and servant of God in all things, pray unto Christ our Lord to grant us His great mercy!
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