We awoke early to the “caw” of
ravens outside our windows and stumbled out of our comfortable beds,
trying to shake off our jet leg. Down the long staircase and to
matins, Mass and lauds at Ealing Benedictine Abbey, a very long
parish church in a western suburb of London. The monks here are most
gracious hosts and allowed us to sit with them in choir as we chanted
the office. This abbey is only a hundred and fifty years old as it
wasn't until the middle of the 19th century that the
Catholic Church was allowed some legal provisions again in Great
Britain.
A bit of breakfast tea, yogurt and
some delicious Nutella on toast and it was off for the day. First
things first, today was dedicated to the survey of the birth of
Christianity on this Island, so naturally we headed to Canterbury,
south east of London. The bus followed virtually the same route as
those pilgrims, made famous by Geoffrey Chaucer's 1387 book
Canterbury Tales, had taken.
We went through some very old towns, and rolling green hills spotted
with sheep when our
eyes finally caught a glimpse of that most iconic tower of Canterbury
Cathedral looming over the trees and quaint row houses of the town.
The city is one of the oldest in England and was originally settled
by the Romans as a military outpost. In the centuries to follow it
became a great trading center as the only stop between London and
the English Channel. Charles Dickens stayed here for a while as he
wrote his most famous novel David Copperfield,
which took place in this same city. A point of interest for
Americans: it was here that the Mayflower was originally commissioned
by the puritans. Today Canterbury's population is made up of
merchants, students and tourists.
In
the 6th
century Pope Gregory the Great saw some fair skinned English slaves
in the streets of Rome and remarked “They are not Anglos but
Angels.” The saintly successor of Peter's love for this people was
made most evident when he sent the reluctant Augustine (not of Hippo)
to re-evangelize the pagan Island. Although he faced much adversity
in Normandy, Augustine eventually established the first Cathedral
here in Canterbury. The Benedictine abbey and Cathedral were home to
some famous bishops such as Saint Anselm and B. Lafranc but most
beloved of them all is Saint Thomas Becket. Sir Thomas was Lord
Chancellor and friend to the Norman King Henry II. The King wanted
to install a Bishop that would be more favorable toward his own
political endeavors. Thomas however took his appointment much more
seriously and worked hard against his royal pal to defend the rights
of the Church, all of which to Henry's disappointment. The King
apparently asked in passing “who will rid me of this meddlesome
priest,” but some of his entourage took his words seriously. So at
4:00 in the evening on December 29th
1170A.D. the King's men brutally murdered Bishop Thomas on the
sanctuary steps. It became the fourth most visited pilgrimage shrine
in all of Europe until another conflict between another King Henry
and another Sir Thomas. During the English Reformation the tomb of
St. Thomas Becket was destroyed. Now only a single candle sits where
this majestic shrine once stood - perhaps as a sign of hope that one
day a true successor of Saint Thomas will again sit on his cathedra.
Posted by David Gockowski
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