St Anthony Communications have produced a short film about St Augustine of Canterbury. It is well arranged in the style of modern historical documentaries: walking across windswept landscapes while shouting to camera, that sort of thing; and makes important points about English history while showing where it all started.
Fr Marcus Holden, the parish priest of Ramsgate which includes in its boundaries the place where Saint Augustine landed, narrates the arrival of St Augustine, the conversion of King Ethelbert, the origin of Canterbury Cathedral and the destruction wrought by King Henry VIII. We also hear of the revival initiated by Augustus Welby Pugin who built the Church of St Augustine's, Ramsgate, now a national shrine.
The start of the film summarises the vision of St Gregory the Great. At a time of crisis, he did not opt for consolidation and capitulation but for evangelisation and the expansion of the Church to the bleak northern territory of the Angles. The film ends with the vision of Pugin who understood England as something spiritual, not simply a place for material prosperity. From start to finish, the film subtly prompts the viewer to consider where we are now.
You can see a trailer of the 26 minute DVD at Saint Anthony Communications and order a copy from there. (£9.95)
5 comments:
It's a great little documentary.
Mine arrived yesterday, and it went straight in the DVD player. (Well, after I'd made some tea and toast...)
I see that your favourite lining for leaking shoes is this week claiming that whoever is chosen to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury in succession to the bearded one will also be a successor to St Augustine. You have to laugh, haven't you?
Although I appreciate What Augustine did, my favorite is Saint Theodore of Tarsus and Canterbury. His influence on liturgy and spirituality endured for 500 years or more.Yet he is barely mentioned any more.
During the Great Jubilee Year 2000 in a personal letter delivered to Patriarch Bartholomew I on St Andrew’s Day by Edward Cardinal Cassidy, then President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, His Holiness formally intimated his intention to gift to the Ecumenical Patriarchate a church in Rome to be “dedicated to the worship and pastoral activities of the Greek Orthodox community in the City.”
This church was San Teodoro in Pallatino. One of the most ancient churches in the Eternal City, it was the diaconia of His Eminence (William) Theodore Cardinal Heard MA (Oxon) PhD DD DCL (all Greg, all summa cum laude) LlD (Edin).
Although named for Saint Theodore of Amasea and not Canterbury, it is well worth a visit if you are ever in Rome.
Dear Fr Tim,
This is not a comment on St Augustine...it's the only way I could think of to get in touch with you! I was wondering if you would consider promoting the new English Catholic-Link website on your blog. It has been established in Spanish for a while now and is a really good resource for anyone doing apostolate with young people. Catholic Link is here: http://en.catholic-link.com/ (the English and Spanish versions are not identical) and an interview with the founder of Catholic-Link, if you are interested, is available on my blog Recusancy at http://iwillnothidemyfaith.blogspot.co.uk/
My email address is alexmartinefarmer@gmail.com
Thanks,
Alex Farmer
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