King of Kent in England, he welcomed Augustine of Canterbury's mission, influenced by his Christian queen Bertha. After his baptism he protected the Church without forcing faith on his people and helped establish churches at Canterbury.
Life
Saint Ethelbert of Kent was king of Kent in southeastern England from the late sixth into the early seventh century. His wife Bertha was a Christian Frankish princess who, at her marriage, was allowed to keep practicing her faith and came to Kent with a Frankish bishop, Liudhard.
When Saint Augustine and his monks, sent by Pope Gregory the Great, arrived in Kent in 597, Ethelbert received them and allowed them to stay in Canterbury and preach the Gospel. He was soon baptized, becoming the first Anglo-Saxon king to become a Christian, and he supported the Church without forcing his people to convert. He died in 616.
Spirituality
Ethelbert's spirituality is the humility to welcome truth with an open heart. Rather than distrusting the foreign missionaries, he listened to them, and respecting his wife's faith he came to God alongside her. He opened the way of faith to his people not by force but by example and protection.
Reflection
The quiet faith of his wife Bertha played a large part in Ethelbert's coming to faith. Are you showing your faith by your life more than your words to family members who do not yet believe?