Task 4. Fill in the gaps while viewing

Britain today on paper is a 1)……… country. Christianity has played a great part in making British identity. One man did more than any other to bring Christianity to the British shores. Celts and Anglo-Saxons 2)… ……… (поклонялись) pagan (языческим) Gods* for centuries. All this was about to change in 597 because 3)…. ……. decided to bring the Christian Gospel to 4)….. England. He wanted the pagan English and their king Aethelberht to become Christian. The Venerable Bede* wrote that a Benedictine monk (монах) Augustine* was selected to go to Britain to convert the pagan king Aethelberht. 5)………. must have been impressive because King Aethelberht allowed him 6).. …… (проповедовать) the Gospel of Christ to his men. Augustine also baptized (крестил) the king before the year 597 was out. He also 7) …….. thousands of his men in what is known as the baptismal miracle at Canterbury.

But Anglo-Saxon pagan gods were still popular, so Augustine carefully incorporated pagan feasts into the Christian 8)……... Mid-winter solstice (солнцестояние) became associated with the birth of Jesus Christ and was called 9)………. Oistra, an Anglo-Saxon (Celtic Eostra) goddess, who symbolized spring, represented rebirth, new life and 10)…..’s fertility (плодовитость) gave name to 11)…… festival. Over the coming centuries Christianity became more and more widespread. Christian faith (вера) and a local parish church (приходская церковь) became a major root of Britishness. Christianity was here to stay, and Christian rituals have marked the key moments in human life - birth, marriage and death - ever since. Today 71 per cent of British still claim to be Christian. Augustine built Canterbury Cathedral* and became the first archbishop of Canterbury.

The most famous Archbishop of Canterbury became Thomas Becket. He had a major falling out with King Henry II and was brutally murdered in the Cathedral. He became the most famous martyr in England. Pilgrims began to come to his tomb.