LORENZO of CANTERBURY, archbishop, saint. — The date and place of his birth are unknown; he died on 2 Feb 1619 at Canterbury. In 595 he went from Rome to England to preach the Catholic faith.
His aim was to replace the old Celtic usages with Roman usages and to blend the Celtic element with the Anglo-Saxon. In 601 he went to Rome to ask Pope Gregory the Great for new missionaries. On his return to Canterbury he worked in concert with St AUGUSTINE of CANTERBURY, and from this collaboration there arose that monastic character which the Catholic Church in England preserved until Henry VIII. On 26 Apr. 604 he was consecrated by St AUGUSTINE as second archbishop of Canterbury. Among the conversions that helped to consolidate his work was that of EADBALD, son of St ETHELBERT.