The Missionaries (300 CE – 600 CE)
Encounter the saints who carried the Gospel beyond the Roman world - to Ireland, Britain, and the barbarian kingdoms. As the Empire transformed, these missionaries laid the foundations for Christian Europe.
Spreading the Faith ina Changing World
The period from 300 to 600 CE saw Christianity transformed from a persecuted faith to the official religion of the Roman Empire - and then carried far beyond its borders. As the Western Empire collapsed and new kingdoms arose, missionary saints brought the Gospel to peoples who had never heard it, planting seeds that would flower for centuries.
Here you will meet St Patrick, the former slave who returned to Ireland as its apostle and transformed a pagan island into a beacon of Christian faith and learning. You will encounter St Martin of Tours, the soldier-turned-monk whose example inspired generations of missionaries. You will learn of St Augustine of Canterbury, sent by Pope St Gregory the Great to evangelise the Anglo-Saxons.
This era also produced great bishops and teachers who shaped the faith of new Christian peoples: St Ambrose, St Jerome, St Augustine of Hippo, and Pope St Leo the Great. Their writings and leadership helped define what it meant to be Catholic in an age of transition.
At a Glance
“Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me.”
St Patrick
The Breastplate of St Patrick
Faith Without Borders
The missionary saints of this era remind us that the Gospel is for all peoples. They left comfort and safety behind to bring Christ to those who had never heard his name.