Saint Peter of Canterbury

Memorial

• 6 January
• 30 December at Saint Augustine’s, Canterbury, England

Profile

Benedictine monk at Saint Andrew’s monastery in Rome, Italy. Chosen by Pope Gregory the Great to work with Saint Augustine of Canterbury and others as missionaries to England in 596. First abbot of the monastery of Saint Peter and Paul at Canterbury, England in 602. Died en route to Rome to report on the success of the mission.

Died

• drowned c.607 at Ambleteu, near Boulogne, France
• legend says that the locals buried him in unhallowed ground, but later re-interred the body when lights hovered over the grave each night

Canonized

• 1915 Pope Benedict XV (cultus confirmed)

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

MLA Citation

• “Saint Peter of Canterbury“. Saints.SQPN.com. 13 January 2013. Web. 21 May 2013. <>