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Wed Sept 17. Canterbury.

 Lovely having lots of time here. Back to the Cathedral for morning prayer followed by communion and evensong tonight. Plus a good chunk of time spent with the stained glass. Some very eager, very knowledgeable volunteers were happy to give detailed explanations.

Here is one of the stories told by the stained glass. About five years after Becket’s death (as recorded by the monk Benedict at that time), two poachers were caught hunting in a royal preserve (see them on the right). Since the poachers knew the penalty could be death, they shot at the gamekeepers, one of whom got an arrow through his neck (far left).


Bandaged up in bed, the gamekeeper was brought the special healing water (from a spring in the cathedral, mixed with a tiny bit of Becket’s blood) to drink.  


Recovering, he was told that he must go to the cathedral to pray on Becket’s tomb (some other glass panels insist on the importance of bringing along some money as a donation too). So finally here he is at the tomb. Note the holes in the bottom of the tomb for pilgrims to reach in with their hands (or their head) to be closer to Becket’s body.

lol

Here is one last panel showing the spirit of Becket (in the air wielding a sword) threatening plague victims who aren’t showing sufficient gratitude for having been saved.


Many many stories in this cathedral. Walking through Aosta (northern Italy) on my first Via Francigena walk, I had been surprised to see a plaque saying that Anselm, a Benedictine monk from Aosta, had become the Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1093. Well, today a volunteer explained that this gorgeous marble altar was sculpted recently from a block of marble donated a few years ago by the town of Aosta in memory of Anselm.  Unfortunately, although Anselm died in Canterbury, it is no longer known where his body lies.


I will be sad to leave my lovely lodgings next to the Cathedral and head on down the path to Dover tomorrow. The path will pass the ruined St Augustine’s Priory, so I visited it today. Not much to see, but here is what can be seen of the tomb of St Augustine, sent to Britain in 595 to help convert the island.  He became the first Archbishop of Canterbury (there is another more famous
 St Augustine of Hippo who appeared on the Italian part of the Via Francigena).  Augustine and his monks weren’t thrilled at the thought of coming to Britain - Bede, a contemporary chronicler, said they turned around and tried to wheedle out of the mission…


This is how splendid Augustine’s Priory had become by the time Henry VIII expelled everyone and had the buildings destroyed.


Comments

  1. BevSeptember 19, 2025 at 8:35 AM

    oh my goodness. What reason at all would you destroy a beautiful building like that??? Sacrilege

    ReplyDelete

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