JUSTUS of CANTERBURY, saint. – Most probably of Roman origin and a Benedictine monk in the monastery on the Caelian, 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 to England in 601 to assist St. Augustine, who had been preaching there since 597.
In 604, he was consecrated by St. Augustine himself at Canterbury as bishop of the new see of Rochester in Kent, whose cathedral of St. Andrew was endowed with territorial grants by King Æthelberht. 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, and in 624 succeeded Mellitus as the fourth bishop of Canterbury; that same year he received the pallium from Pope Boniface V, together with a letter of congratulation for the work accomplished. Feast day: 10 November.