The Last of the Gregorian Missionaries
Honorius was a Roman by birth and is generally counted among the missionaries sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons. The first party of this mission reached England in 597; Honorius is thought to have come with a later contingent, likely arriving around 601, though the precise date is uncertain.
He outlived all his companions in the enterprise, and at his death in 653 he was the last surviving member of the original Gregorian mission. His long career thus formed a living link between the founding generation of Roman missionaries and the maturing Church they had planted.
Archbishop of Canterbury
Honorius succeeded Justus as the fifth Archbishop of Canterbury. He was consecrated in 627 by Paulinus of York at Lincoln. His tenure lasted approximately twenty-six years, until his death on 30 September 653.
Concerned to guarantee the continuity of the English episcopate, Honorius wrote to Pope Honorius I requesting that York be raised to the status of an archbishopric. Under this arrangement either the archbishop of Canterbury or the archbishop of York could consecrate a successor should the other die, ensuring that apostolic succession would not lapse in England.
Consolidating the English Church
Honorius actively supported the spread of the faith beyond Kent. He aided the missionary Felix in East Anglia, and is thought to have consecrated him as the first bishop of the East Angles around 631.
After King Edwin of Northumbria was killed in October 633 and Paulinus was forced to flee south, Honorius appointed him to the bishopric of Rochester. He later consecrated Ithamar as bishop of Rochester — the first native Anglo-Saxon to be raised to the episcopate in England, a milestone in the establishment of an indigenous English hierarchy.
Honorius kept generally cordial relations with the Irish missionaries then working in the north of England, and is recorded to have held Aidan of Lindisfarne in particular esteem.
Relics & Shrines
Honorius was buried at St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury. His relics were translated to a new tomb in 1091, and around the same time a hagiography of his life was composed by Goscelin. In the 1120s his relics were still the object of veneration at St Augustine's.
Veneration
Honorius is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches, with a feast day on 30 September. As his cult predates the establishment of the formal Roman canonization process, his recognition as a saint is described as pre-Congregation.
