Saint Adrian of Canterbury (635-710) Image Courtesy: EBK
(EWTN) Though St. Adrian turned down a papal request to become Archbishop of Canterbury England, Pope Vatalian, accepted the rejection on the condition that Adrian serve as the Holy Father’s assistant and advisor, Adrian accepted but ended up spending most of his life and doing most of his worl in Canterbury.
Born in Libya, Adrian was serving as an Abbot in Italy when the new Archbishop of Canterbury appointed him Abbot of the Monastery of Saint’s Peter and Paul in Canterbury. Thanks to his leadership skills, the faculty became one of the most important centers for learning, attracting many outstanding scholars from far and wide and produced numerous future Bishops and Archbishops–students reportedly learned Greek and Latin, speaking Latin as their own native languages.
Adrian taught at the school for 40 yrs, died there and was buried in the Monastery. Several hundred years later when reconstruction was being done, Adrian’s body was discovered in an incorrupt state, as word spread people flocked to his tomb which became famous for miracles–Rumor had it, that young schoolboys in trouble with their masters, made regular visits there.
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