Wisdom of Saints: St Cedd

The Feast of Cedd, Missionary, Bishop of the East Saxons, 664

O GOD, our heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst call thy blessed Apostles and send them forth to preach thy Gospel of salvation unto all the nations: We bless thy holy Name for thy servant Cedd, whose labours we commemorate this day, and we pray thee, according to thy holy Word, to send forth many labourers into thy harvest; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

St Cedd is another British saint for whom little is known apart from what was recorded by St Bede in his Ecclesiastical History. He was born around 620 and died in 664. He was born into the northern kingdom of Northumbria to a noble family, the eldest of four brothers of whom one was St Chad of Litchfield, and the other two who also became priests. They were all chosen by King Oswald to become a priest and monastic to evangelize the area, and was sent to be educated in Lindisfarne at the priory there under the instruction of St Aidan who was then the bishop of Lindisfarne.

He was ordained a priest in 653 and shortly after began missionary work. The pagan East Anglian king Peada converted to Christianity in exchange for the hand of the daughter of the King of Northumbria in marriage. St Cedd was asked to travel to the kingdom to instruct the king in the Christian faith and to convert the people. He had significant success over the next year, and eventually returned to Lindisfarne.

In 654, owing to his success in converting the people of East Anglia, he was sent to Essex, where again the King of Northumbria’s political actions had opened the door for Christian missionaries. St Cedd was sent by the bishop of Lindisfarne to convert the people there. He began his mission and established two monasteries and several churches there, and upon returning to Lindisfarne again later that year was consecrated Bishop of Essex. As Bede records:

Cedd, having received the episcopal dignity, returned to his province, and pursuing the work he had begun with more ample authority, built churches in divers places, and ordained priests and deacons to assist him in the Word of faith, and the ministry of Baptism, especially in the city which, in the language of the Saxons, is called Ythancaestir, as also in that which is named Tilaburg. The first of these places is on the bank of the Pant, the other on the bank of the Thames. In these, gathering a flock of Christ’s servants, he taught them to observe the discipline of a rule of life, as far as those rude people were then capable of receiving it.

He returned south with newfound episcopal authority, ordaining deacons and priests and continuing to raise up many monks in his two monasteries. He re-established St Paul’s, London as his Cathedral, becoming only the second Bishop of London since the first, Mellitus, had been expelled from London by the East Saxon pagans in 616 shortly after establishing St Paul’s, after he himself had arrived in England with St Augustine of Canterbury in 598.

While St Cedd continued his work in the south, he made frequent return visits to the north. On one of these in 658, he was introduced to King Aethelwald of Deira who had been instructed in the Christian faith by one of St Cedd’s other brothers who had also become a monk with him at Lindisdarne. Finding St Cedd to be a godly man, the King gifted him with land at Lastingham on which he asked St Cedd to build a royal monastery and mausoleum. St Cedd ultimately agreed, but demanded that no construction begin until the area had been cleansed by prayer and fasting. He undertook himself in Lent of 658 to fast forty days, and as St Bede records:

All which days, except Sundays, he prolonged his fast till the evening, according to custom, and then took no other sustenance than a small piece of bread, one hen’s egg, and a little milk and water. This, he said, was the custom of those of whom he had learned the rule of regular discipline, first to consecrate to the Lord, by prayer and fasting, the places which they had newly received for building a monastery or a church. When there were ten days of Lent still remaining, there came a messenger to call him to the king; and he, that the holy work might not be intermitted, on account of the king’s affairs, entreated his priest, Cynibill, who was also his own brother, to complete his pious undertaking. Cynibill readily consented, and when the duty of fasting and prayer was over, he there built the monastery, which is now called Laestingaeu, and established therein religious customs according to the use of Lindisfarne, where he had been trained.

St Cedd spent much of the rest of his life living at his monastery in Lastingham, administering his see from there. He is noted to have served at the Synod at Whiby in 664, under the Abbess Hilda, and supported the Synod’s decision to adopt Romanizing customs for the Catholic Church in the Realm of England in an effort to unify the various kingdoms. Shortly after the synod, a plague broke out in England, and St Cedd died. He was buried at Lastingham.

St Cedd led a life destined for holiness. He was educated from an early age under the pious St Aidan of Lindisfarne and dedicated his life to the transmission of knowledge of God to others. He is commemorated as the evangelist of the Middle Angles and East Saxons, and played a critical role in the spread of the Christian faith throughout many of the English kingdoms, and provided a lasting example through his monastic devotion for generations to come.

Wisdom of Saints: St Aidan of Lindisfarne

The Feast of Aidan, Missionary, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 651

O GOD, our heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst call thy blessed Apostles and send them forth to preach thy Gospel of salvation unto all the nations: We bless thy holy Name for thy servant Aidan, whose labours we commemorate this day, and we pray thee, according to thy holy Word, to send forth many labourers into thy harvest; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

St Aidan of Lindisfarne was born in Ireland, but little else is known of the details of his early life, though St Bede later recorded in significant detail much of his later life. Whatever the exact details and when and where he was born, he ultimately became a Christian monk living in St Columba of Iona’s monastery at Iona. He would later go on to become a great missionary to Northern England, helping to bring the kingdom of Northumbria to faith.

The history of Christianity in England plays a significant role in St Aidan’s life. It had likely arrived within the first century brought by Roman soldiers who had been converted to Christianity. Over the next centuries, however, despite initially flourishing in Britain, as the Western Roman Empire suffered collapse and Roman troops were pulled out of Britain, pagan invaders began to de-Christianize Britain. While Christianity was never fully stamped out, many of the Christians in Britain lost contact with the Christians of the rest of the world, including the Celtic Christians of Scotland and Ireland.

When St Aidan was still a younger man, in 597, St Augustine of Canterbury landed in Kent on a mission from the Bishop of Rome to restore the connections with the Western Catholic Church on the continent. St Augustine began sending missionaries north from his base in Canterbury, while Iona and the Celtic Christians had been making some efforts to send missionaries into the north. The King of Northumbria, Edwin, was converted to Christianity by one of the southern missions, however after only a few years he was killed. His nephew, Oswald, had been exiled. Fortuitously, Oswald had gone to Iona to stay with the monks during his exile, before eventually returning to Northumbria to reclaim the kingdom from the pagans who had killed King Edmund.

Upon regaining the kingdom, King Oswald sought to re-Christianize it, but rather than turning to the southern missionaries from Rome who had originally brought the Gospel to his uncle, Oswald turned to the monks with whom he had resided during his exile. The first missionary sent from Iona returned in failure, though St Aidan commented that the other monk’s methods had perhaps been too strict. Citing St Paul, St Aidan argued that the English people needed milk and not just solid food (I Cor 3. 2) and sought to try a gentler approach. St Aidan replaced him and, rather than seeking to establish himself at York, as his predecessor had, St Aidan established a new monastery at Lindisfarne off the NE coast of England.

Over the years, St Aidan was able to restore Christianity in Northumbria, and eventually his missionary journeys took him as far south in England as London. He established missions all over the North, and St Bede recorded numerous stories of his works, commending his piety, humility and love of the Gospel, and commending him as model for other missionary Bishops in England.

St Bede writes:

Among other lessons in holy living, Aidan left the clergy a most salutary example of abstinence and continence; it was the highest commendation of his doctrine with all men, that he taught nothing that he did not practice in his life among his brethren; for he neither sought nor loved anything of this world, but delighted in distributing immediately among the poor whom he met whatsoever was given him by the kings or rich men of the world. He was wont to traverse both town and country on foot, never on horseback, unless compelled by some urgent necessity; to the end that, as he went, he might turn aside to any whomsoever he saw, whether rich or poor, and call upon them, if infidels, to receive the mystery of the faith, or, if they were believers, strengthen them in the faith, and stir them up by words and actions to giving of alms and the performance of good works. [Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of England III:V]

Bede commended St Aidan for his study of the Scriptures, and his encouragement to all those who followed him to do the same. He also regularly fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays. Whenever he received gifts from wealthy visitors he would distribute them to the poor and needy. St Bede also records that he would use money he received as gift to ransom slaves taken by pagans, many of whom after receiving their freedom he converted to Christianity, and in many cases instructed them and ultimately ordained them into Holy Orders.

St Aidan maintained a close relationship with King Oswald, who was himself sainted, feast day of August 5th, who was himself a holy man upon his conversion and under St Aidan’s continued influence. One story recorded by St Bede says that as they sat down to eat, a servant came and told the king that a great number of needy were outside begging for alms. King Oswald, ordered his meal to be served to the poor on its silver platter and then for the platter to be broken up and distributed to the poor as alms.

King Oswald was killed in battle a few years later, and recognizes as a martyr, and succeeded by St Oswin, another man who followed St Aidan’s teachings, though not without some need for correction. In another story told by St Bede, St Oswin gifted St Aidan with a horse and cart, which St Aidan gave to a beggar. St Oswin, upon hearing this, chastised him saying that had he known St Aidan was going to give the gift away there were plenty of more common horses in the stable suited for a beggar. St Aidan chastised the King, asking him if he considered the foal of a mare more highly than a son of God. King Oswin wept tears of repentance and promised never again to criticize St Aidan’s acts of charity.

His faith, piety, gentleness, charity and earnestness is living out the Gospel that he so cherished and preached throughout his missionary journeys made him an extremely successful missionary, helping to establish Christianity throughout England.

Wisdom of Saints: St Hilda of Whitby

Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680

O GOD Most High, the creator of all mankind, we bless thy holy Name for the virtue and grace which thou hast given unto holy women in all ages, especially thy servant Hilda; and we pray that the example of her faith and purity, and courage unto death, may inspire many souls in this generation to look unto thee, and to follow thy blessed Son Jesus Christ our Saviour; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

Details of St Hilda’s life are few and far between, with most of the account coming from St Bede’s history of the English Church in which he devotes a chapter to her life (Book 4, Chapter 23). Her story is notable for her piety, devotion to Scripture, her wisdom and role in the Synod at Whitby and finally by virtue of the fact that as a woman she retained the respect and influence that she did in seventh century Christendom.

St Hilda was born in 614 in Northumbria in England. Her father was Prince Hereric of Deira and her mother Lady Bregswith. Her father was the nephew of King Edwin of Northumbria. Born pagan, King Edwin was converted to Christianity around 627 and the royal household followed suit, with St Hilda being baptised that year at the age of thirteen.

While there is justifiable scepticism over whether or not someone has truly come to faith when they are converted to Christianity as the result of a monarch of head of their household being converted, St Hilda demonstrated throughout her life a profound commitment to Christ, and deep wisdom that comes from God (Jas 1. 5; 3. 17). St Bede records that when Hilda was still young and at a point when they were living in exile under Cedric, king of the Britons, her mother, Lady Bregswith, had a dream in which her husband, Hereric, was taken away from her and she was searching for him. No matter where she looked, she couldn’t find him. Finally she found a necklace and as she examined it the necklace blazed with bright light that filled all Britain with its brilliance. The dream is considered prophetic of St Hilda’s life, as her love of Christ, the wisdom she gave and the exemplar life she lived shone forth Christ’s light throughout Britain.

While she is viewed as having a devout and chaste youth, it wasn’t until she had reached maturity that she became determined to fully dedicate her life to Christ. At the age of 33, St Hilda chose the consecrated life, having become a nun in the Benedictine order. She had originally sought to travel to the continent. St Bede describes her determination, saying she sought, “to live an exile for our Lord’s sake… so that she might the more easily attain her eternal heavenly home.” St Bede goes on to record that St Aidan of Lindisfarne, known as the Apostle of Northumbria due to his missionary work throughout Northumbria, called on St Hilda to establish monasteries in Northumbria rather than simply living abroad. While himself a bishop, St Aidan was firmly rooted in the monastic Celtic traditions which had Christianised Britain from Iona in the north, rather than in the Roman tradition which had begun at Canterbury in the south.

St Hilda remained in Northumbria, and her noble upbringing aided in her establishment of a number of successful monasteries throughout the region. She was first made Abbess of the monastery called Heruteu (modern Hartlepool). There she earned an even greater reputation for piety and devotion to God. While she herself was Benedictine, she organized the monsastery using the traditions of St Columba and the Rule of the Irish Church. After some time as Abbess there, she established a new double monastery called Streanaeshalch, known more commonly as Whitby in 657. It was established under the same strict disciplines and Rule of Life as her previous monastery had been governed, but in this case the double monastery provided both for monks and nuns. Hilda as Abbess was considered both just, fair and wise, and as her reputation, particularly for wisdom, grew she began to be sought out for counsel by all manner of people, from bishops to kings.

She was extremely devoted to the study of Holy Scripture—a notable commonality among many of the wisest of saints—and it should be no surprise that no less than five of the monks who entered her monastery would eventually go on to ordination and consecration as bishops.

It should be noted that as an Abbess in the Celtic tradition, she was the supreme authority in the area, above even the bishops. This historical development stemmed from the missionary reality that bishops were based in cities which were connected by roads, whereas when St Patrick arrived in Ireland there were no cities or roads and so it was the monasteries that he formed which became central to the administration and maintenance of faith. When St Columba brought to the faith to Iona, that monastic-based form of Christianity began to spread throughout Britain, and was the tradition in which St Hilda had been raised.

This placed St Hilda in an important position when her monastery played host to the Synod at Whitby in 664, a synod convened to seek to determine the future of the Church in the region and whether it would continue in the Celtic tradition or would seek to adopt the more Roman styled Christianity which had arrived in Kent. St Hilda herself was a supporter of her own tradition, though the Synod ultimately sided with Rome.

In 673 and for the remainder of her life, she was afflicted with a painful illness. St Bede described it, saying God gave:

her holy soul the trial of a long infirmity of the flesh, to the end that, according to the Apostle’s example, her virtue might be made perfect in weakness. Struck down with a fever, she suffered from a burning heat, and was afflicted with the same trouble for six years continually; during all which time she never failed either to return thanks to her Maker, or publicly and privately to instruct the flock committed to her charge; for taught by her own experience she admonished all men to serve the Lord dutifully, when health of body is granted to them, and always to return thanks faithfully to Him in adversity, or bodily infirmity.

Her ability to endure and rejoice in suffering and her continued faith and rejoicing in the midst of great physical pain was an example to many, and again helped to bring many to faith in Christ by her example.

St Hilda was a patron of the arts and writing, beyond promoting learning, particularly study of the Scriptures, and some of the only words of her own in existance are a poem attributed to her, which if not written by the saint herself, certainly exemplifies her faith and teachings:

Trade with the gifts God has given you.
Bend your minds to holy learning,
that you may escape the fretting moth of
littleness of mind that would wear out your souls.

Brace your wills to action
that they may not be the spoils of weak desires.

Train your hearts and lips to song
which gives courage to the soul.
Being buffeted by trials, learn to laugh.
Being reproved, give thanks.
Having failed, determine to succeed.

On the Church of England

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth: We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Whereas last week’s entry spoke to the origins of the Ecclesia Anglicana, the English Church, this week’s entry takes place in the 16th century, discussing the ending of communion between the English Church and Rome and the origin of the modern Church of England.

While the history of the English Church is relatively unknown in popular terms, particularly among non-Anglicans who focus purely on the idea of King Henry VIII replacing the pope as the head of the church in order to grant himself a divorce, it is at least relatively straight forward. The same cannot be said for the true history behind the English Church’s break with Rome and subsequent development into the modern Church of England and Anglican Communion. One of the reasons for this is that this portion of the Church of England’s history mixes together influences of both theology and politics.

The history of Christianity is replete with politics interfering with the governance of the Church, dating back to the early 4th century when the legalization of Christianity allowed early Christians, and their leaders, to focus on more than merely their own survival. Emperor Constantine the Great himself called the Council of Nicaea as a way of hopefully resolving some of the debates which had sprung up among the bishops throughout the Empire, and in doing so established the beginning of a precedent of civil interference in religious matters, a precedent which was not lost on many of the bishops who attended the council. In following years, the pro-Arian Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia used his influence with Emperor Constantine to attack various anti-Arian bishops including Saint Athanasius and have them exiled. He further exerted influence with the Emperor to appoint Arian clergy and promote Arian doctrines in the Church in opposition to the Nicene Creed and Trinitarian formula that had been adopted by the Council of Nicaea.

The political influence of the Pope has a long history that dates back to the 4th century when the Roman Empire began to be split. Rome, Antioch and Alexandria were among the foremost cities in the Empire (to which was later added Constantinople). While Rome was originally the capital, under Constantine and subsequent Emperors, the capital was moved and the Empire often split between the leadership of a number of co-leaders. For many years, then, the Bishop of Rome was the senior most authority in Rome, and the Roman people looked to him not simply for spiritual leadership, but civic leadership as well. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Bishop’s authority grew even greater as civic authority was disbanded. The powerful Roman Bishop easily moved into the vacuum created by the fall of the Western Empire, and over the centuries the religious and civic authority of the Pope was solidified to the point where in the 16th century the Pope was not just the leader of Western Christianity, but his own state and quite often a well-heeded advisor of numerous European monarchs.

Other examples are found of political influence in every era of the church. By the 16th century, however, perhaps the best example of this confluence of religion and politics was the Pope himself, who was not merely the head of the Catholic Church, but also the Head of State of the Papal States and an important political player in European statecraft. Pope Leo X had allied himself with King Henry and his allies a number of times over the years. Notably, perhaps, in exchange for a sum of money to support Leo’s ambitions of obtaining political authority for his relatives in the tumultuous Italian peninsula, Leo joined the Papal forces in an alliance with Spain and England against France. Ultimately, with Henry’s financial support for a military campaign, Leo’s nephew was confirmed as the Duke of Urbino.

It was under Pope Leo X that Martin Luther initiated what would become the Protestant Reformation. While the Reformation is perhaps best remembered today for opening the way to major theological expansion, Luther’s original goals were more limited to the reform of abuses being perpetrated by the Roman Church and by various clerics under Roman authority, most notably concerning the practice of indulgences. Indulgences were a form of remission of temporal punishment associated with an already forgiven sin. It was associated with alms during the early church, but as the practice grew in popularity during the medieval period, it became little more than a tax used to support various projects including the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica by Pope Leo X, which ultimately prompted Luther’s opposition.

Luther published his famous Ninety-Five Theses protesting various abuses of the Roman Church, sparking the Protestant Reformation. Pope Leo X’s response was to reject Luther’s demands for reform, and in this he was supported by his political ally King Henry VIII who, for his support of the Pope, was awarded the title Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) by Pope Leo X just prior to his death in December 1521.

It was under Pope Clement VII that communion between Rome and England ended. By 1527 Henry was becoming so concerned with the failure of his wife, Catherine of Aragon, to bear him a male heir that he took the matter to Pope Clement VII asking for an annulment on the basis of Leviticus 20. 21. At the time, however, Rome was besieged by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and nephew of Catherine of Aragon. Faced with the political pressure of Charles’ sacking of Rome in May 1527, Clement VII refused Henry’s request and a number of subsequent requests for an annulment. Over the course of the next three years it became clear to Henry and his advisors that no annulment would be forthcoming.

The politics of Pope Clement VII were making him an unreliable ally to the still staunchly Catholic Henry VIII. Papal supremacy was looking less like the spiritual primacy of the Bishop of Rome, and more like the political supremacy of a foreign and not necessarily friendly or reliable European state leader. In 1532, with the political support of King Francis I of France, Henry married Anne Boleyn and by the next year had his marriage and annulment of his marriage Catherine of Aragon recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. When news of the marriage reached Pope Clement VII, he excommunicated both Henry VIII and Thomas Cranmer from the Roman Catholic Church. Over the next few years and with Henry’s support, the English Parliament passed a number of laws that redefined the relationship between the Pope and the English crown and state, curbing the Pope’s political authority in England.

The 1534 Act of Supremacy marks the full break of the English Church with Rome, declaring the King to be the supreme head of the Church of England. Supremacists argued that the Pope’s actions were being dictated by civil and political considerations rather than religion, and thus if the Church of England was to have a civil authority over it, it should rightly be an English, and not foreign, one. It should be noted that while there had been a political divorce from Roman authority, Henry VIII remained dogmatically inclined to Rome and following a visit by a number of Lutheran theologians in 1538, Henry had Parliament pass the Act of Six Articles, a precursor to the current Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, which maintained complete orthodoxy with Roman Catholic belief.

The Church of England’s independence from Rome stemmed from Reformation issues, but rather than being based in theology, it dealt primarily with abuses of political authority rather than religious authority. The Roman Catholic Church, in its counter-reformation Council of Trent in the mid-16th century, recognized these issues explicitly with respect to indulgences, defending the theological value of indulgences while condemning the temporal abuses through the sale of indulgences. The Act of Supremacy is often cited as the start of the English Reformation, a period of significant instability in England. Not everyone accepted the King’s actions, and not everyone supported Henry’s retention of Roman Catholic doctrine. To this day, Henry VIII is not commemorated in the Anglican Communion. It would take until the Restoration in the 1660s before the issues of doctrine had been finally settled to the point where they would be able to remain intact to the present day and the current formulation of the Church of England would become recognizable with the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion published therein.

On the English Church

The Seventh Sunday after Trinity

LORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Where should a blog like this begin? There are so many issues in Anglicanism that are in the news, either in the Anglican Journal or even in secular newspapers, that it's difficult to know what to comment on first. The reality is that this blog is not simply a mouthpiece for commentary on topical controversies. Any opinion that could be expressed here has probably been expressed elsewhere, and in a more eloquent and theologically grounded way to boot.

Rather, this blog will seek to express something of a journey of understanding of the Anglican tradition from the perspective of a Calgarian of the Anglo-Catholic persuasion. In that sense, the best place to start is not with what is in the news, but rather with the beginning. What is the English Church?

To many an outsider, the Church of England was formed by Henry VIII who wanted to make himself an English Pope so he could divorce and remarry (a few times). The reality of the English Church is much more complex, and far older. The entire history of the Church of England cannot be detailed in one post, so in this first part, the history of the English Church from the 3rd century through to the start of the 16th century will be detailed. The 16th century and the formation of the modern Church of England will be dealt with next week.

The origin of the English Church dates much further back than the early 16th century, and is fact noted to have existed in the 3rd and 4th centuries. St Alban's martyrdom in the 3rd century is recorded in St Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Records of the Council of Arles in 314 held in France list the names of the Bishop of York, the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Cærleon-on-Usk all in attendance from the British Province. Three more British bishops were also noted to have attended the Council of Ariminum in 360, and although they didn't attend the Council of Nicaea, the Nicene Creed's anti-Arian position was accepted by the British bishops, speaking to reasonably strong organization and contact with the rest of Western Christianity. A number of Celtic missionaries, notably St Patrick in Ireland and St Ninian in Scotland, were also active in the 4th and 5th centuries, establishing what would become the Celtic Christian tradition in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which itself would have a significant influence on the English Church. It wasn't until 597 that a missionary arrived from Rome under the authority of the Pope.

As a Roman province, Britain was not exempt from the political turmoil unfolding on the continent. The Roman armies were withdrawn from Britain in the late 4th and early 5th centuries in order to defend the Empire on the continent from increasing barbarian activity. This had the effect of leaving the Roman province defenceless to barbarians arriving from northern Germany. Britain faced attacks from the Germanic Angles, Saxons and Jutes who largely destroyed the organization of the early Roman-English church in England as these three tribes carved out their own kingdoms in England. Contact between Britain and the continental church was largely lost during this period of strife and was not re-established until the arrival of St Augustine of Canterbury in 597.

As a result of the invasions, generally in south-eastern and central England, Roman Britons fled west to Wales and the Celtic lands where a distinctive brand of Christianity formed as British Christian traditions were fused with pagan Welsh practices, creating its own distinctive Welsh Christianity. While there was initially no effort to evangelize the Germanic invaders, that would change under evangelical monastic influence. Born to British parents, St Patrick eventually studied the monastic life in France before coming to Ireland where he evangelized the Irish people, establishing a number of monasteries and bishoprics throughout Ireland. Because of St Patrick's own monastic origins and due to the lack of previous contact with the continent where civil organization was strongly related to ecclesiastical organization of bishoprics, monasteries and abbots where the fundamental units of Celtic Christianity in Ireland. The evangelical nature of the monasteries led eventually to waves of missions to the mainland. St Columba arrived in Scotland in 563, and began a wave of conversions starting in the north of Britain and working south, such that when St Augustine arrived in 597 and began a second wave of conversions, there existed already many Christians in Britain.

St Augustine had been sent by the Pope, St Gregory the Great, to re-establish contact with Britain and convert the locals, particularly the Jute King of Kent, to Christianity. When St Augustine met with King Æthelbert, he found that the Queen was already Christian, and the King welcomed and supported St Augustine after his own conversion. In addition to his missional work, St Gregory is remembered for his liturgical revisions and standardizations. In acknowledgement of the existing status of Christianity in Britain, however, St Augustine was allowed to simply maintain a modified local liturgy, which was based primarily on the liturgy of St John, rather than of St Peter which was used in Rome. St Augustine founded a monastery at Canterbury which would become the eventual seat of British Christianity. Over the next century the waves of Christianizing influence would largely cover all of Britain to the point that conflicts between Christians and pagans soon began to be supplanted by conflicts between the northern Celtic Christians and the southern Roman Christians.

In 664 the Synod of Whitby was held in Northumbria to resolve some of the local differences between the Celtic and Roman traditions. A major consequence of the Synod was the establishment of the secondary seat of power of the Archbishop of York. While the Roman tradition had essentially won out at the Synod, the Celtic monastic tradition was allowed to continue.

The three streams of Christian history in England (the early Romano-British Church, preserved to a degree in Welsh Christianity, the Celtic monastic tradition and the later Roman tradition) had been fused to create what became termed the Ecclesia Anglicana, the English Church.

While the Church remained in full communion with the Pope and recognized his authority up until the 16th century, the English Church never lost its unique identity. Following the Great Schism in 1054, it would be common for English Christians to identify, as did other Western Christians, as being Catholic or Roman as opposed to Eastern Orthodox, but at no point did this change the reality of a distinctive English Church in communion with Rome, as opposed to what one might today think of as the Roman Catholic Church in England.