Died 627. Justus came to England with the second band of Roman priests
sent by
Saint Gregory the Great (f.d. September 3)
in 601 to reinforce
the mission to the Anglo-Saxons. In 604
Saint Augustine of Canterbury (f.d. May 27)
consecrated him the first bishop of Rochester. He fled to
Gaul with
Saint Mellitus (f.d. April 24)
during the heathen reaction
after the death of
King Ethelbert of Kent (f.d. February 25)
in 616, but
soon returned.
In 624, Justus became the fourth archbishop of Canterbury, succeeding
Saint Laurence (f.d. February 3).
It was Justus who consecrated
Saint Paulinus (f.d. October 10)
when Paulinus accompanied
Saint Ethelburga of Kent (f.d. April 5)
to her marriage with
King Saint Edwin (f.d. October 12)
of Northumbria. When sending him the pallium, the badge of his new
office, Pope Boniface V wrote of Justus's known constancy and vigilance
in the cause of Christ's Gospel.
The Saint Justus (f.d. October 18)
or
Just (f.d. August 12)
whose name
occurs in two Cornish parishes has not been adequately identified
(Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney).
(
Attwater,
Benedictines,
Delaney).
Another Life
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08586a.htm
St. Justus
Fourth Archbishop of Canterbury; died 627 (?). For the particulars of
his life we are almost entirely dependent on Venerable Bede's "Historia
Ecclesiastica", the additions of medieval writers, such as William of
Malmesbury or Elmham, possessing no authority. Justus was one of the
second band of missionaries sent by St. Gregory the Great, the company
which arrived in 601 to reinforce St. Augustine and which conveyed the
relics, books, sacred vessels, and other gifts sent by the pope. It is
not certain whether he was a secular priest or a monk. St. Bede is
silent on the point and only later monastic writers from Canterbury
claim him as one of their own order. In 604 he was consecrated by St.
Augustine as first Bishop of Rochester, on which occasion King Ethelbert
bestowed on the new see, by charter, a territory called Priestfield and
other lands. Other charters in which his name occurs are of dubious
authenticity. After the death of Augustine, Justus joined with the new
Archbishop, St Laurence, and with Mellitus of London in addressing
letters to the recalcitrant British bishops, but without effect. During
the heathen reaction which followed the death of Ethelbert, Justus was
expelled from his see and took refuge in
Gaul for a year, after which he was recalled by Eadbald who had been
converted by St. Laurence. On the death of St. Mellitus (24 April, 624)
who had succeeded St. Laurence as archbishop, St. Justus was elected to
the vacant primacy. The letter which Pope Boniface addressed to him when
sending him the pallium is preserved by Venerable Bede (H. F., II, 8).
He was already an old man, and little is recorded of his pontificate except
that he consecrated Romanus as Bishop of Rochester and St. Paulinus as
Bishop for the North. His anniversary was kept at Canterbury on 10
November, but there is uncertainty as to the year of his death, though
627, the commonly received date, would appear to be correct, especially
as it fits in with the period of three years usually assigned by the
chroniclers to his archiepiscopate. He was buried with his predecessors
at St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, and is commemorated in the English
supplement to the Missal and Breviary on 10 November.