SAINT JUSTUS OF CANTERBURY. — Most probably of Roman origin and a Benedictine monk in the monastery of the Caelian Hill, he died at Canterbury on 10 November 630. Together with Abbot Mellitus, Paulinus, and Rufinianus, he was part of the second mission sent by St Gregory the Great in 601 to England to assist St Augustine, who had been preaching there since 597.
In 604, consecrated bishop of the new see of Rochester in Kent by St Augustine himself at Canterbury, the cathedral of St Andrew was endowed by King Æthelberht with territorial concessions. The death of Æthelberht (616) and the restoration of paganism promoted by Eadbald forced J. to leave Rochester and flee among the Franks (618). He was recalled the following year; in 624 he succeeded Mellitus as the fourth bishop of Canterbury and in the same year received the pallium from Pope Boniface V, along with a letter of congratulation for the work accomplished. Feast day: 10 November.