MELLITUS, Saint. - Born in the second half of the 6th century, died on April 24, 624. Of noble origin, he was a monk and abbot in Rome, probably of the monastery of St. Andrew ad clivum Scauri.

In 601 M. was appointed by St. Gregory the Great to lead a band of monks and sent to Britain to preach the Gospel to the East Saxons; he established his residence in London and was consecrated bishop of that city by St. Augustine of Canterbury.

Around 616, after the death of King Sebert, he was driven out by the king's sons and forced to take refuge in Gaul. Having returned again to England, in February 619 he succeeded Laurence in the see of Canterbury, where he consecrated a church to the Virgin in the monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. Feast day April 24.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: I. Mabillon, Acta Sanctorum Benedictinorum, II, 2nd ed., Venice 1733, pp. 84-87; Acta SS. Aprilis, III, Paris-Rome 1866, pp. 283-85; A. W. Hadden - W. Stubbs, Consuls and ecclesiastical documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, III, Oxford 1871, pp. 62-71; R. Stanton, A Metrology of England Wales, London 1887; W. Stubbs, s.v. in Dictionary of Christian biography, III pp. 900-900; Martyr, Romanum, p. 154.

Emanuele Romanelli

@incollection{ec8_mellito_santo, author = {Romanelli, Emanuele}, title = {Mellito, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {649}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/mellito-santo} }

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Mellitus, Saint

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