In the Archdiocese of Birmingham, today is kept as the feast of St Birinus, Bishop of Dorchester-on-Thames. A Benedictine monk, he was originally from France and was sent by Pope Honorius I to the then kingdom of Wessex in about the year 634. He preached the Gospel in parts of Britain that had never heard it before, establishing churches throughout Wessex. He died in 650.

With so many in our own day never having heard the Gospel of Christ, let us ask the prayers of St Birinus, and may God bless you this day.