Wolf Howling: Canterbury

Showing posts with label Canterbury. Show all posts

Saturday, December 29, 2012

The 5th Day Of Christmas - Feast of St. Thomas a Becket

Today is the fifth day of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

The Feast of St. Thomas a Becket is celebrated this day. One of the overarching issues of the Medieval world was where the authority of the Papacy ended and the authority of kings began. It was an issue that would consume St. Thomas.

Thomas a Becket was born into 12th century England. As Chancellor to King Henry II, he came to be a close confidant of the King. He even accompanied the King to war, reportedly acquitting himself well in battle. But then, in 1161, when Henry appointed Becket to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, Becket became a defender of Papal authority. At particular issue was the Papacy's claim of right to try felonious monks and other lawless clergy in Church courts. Henry wanted to end this custom and subject criminal clergy to Royal courts. Becket was intransigent, even going so far as to excommunicate other English bishops who supported Henry on the issue. Henry, in a rage, famously asked “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?”

Four of Henry's knights took it upon themselves to do just that. Travelling to Canterbury on this date in 1170, with their weapons in hand, they confronted Becket and demanded he lift the excommunications. Becket refused, then “commended himself and the cause of the Church to God, St. Mary, and the blessed martyr St. Denis.” His assassins put Becket to the sword, spilling his brains on the Cathedral floor.

Much of the medieval world erupted in horror at Becket's murder. Pilgrimages to the site followed soon thereafter with numerous miracles occurring that were attributed to Becket. The Church canonized Becket in 1173. King Henry presented himself at the tomb of Becket to make public penance, allowing himself to be scourged by the local clerics.

Canterbury became the third greatest site of pilgrimage in all of Europe.

The first great work of literature composed in English, Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," is set against the backdrop of travelers on a pilgrimage to Becket's shrine.

St. Thomas is, today, the patron saint of priests.

Tweet

Friday, December 28, 2012

The 4th Day Of Christmas - The Slaughter Of The Innocents, The Coventry Carol & The Poor Man's Bible

Today is the fourth day of the twelve days of Christmas.

On the fouth day is celebrated the Feast of the Holy Innocents. This feast honors those children slaughtered on the order of King Herod, as told in the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. The Magi had passed through Jerusalem and let it be known they were going to visit the newborn King. Herod, hearing of this, called his advisors together, one of whom informed Herod of a prophecy that a child would be born in Bethlehem who would become “a ruler who is to shepherd the people of Israel.” When later the Magi later refused to tell Herod where they had found Jesus, Herod ordered the slaughter of all children under two years of age living in Bethlehem. It is estimated that, in the small town of Bethlehem, that this would have meant slaughtering about 25 children. And it is their martyrdom that the Feast of the Holy Innocents honors.

The Coventry Carol, performed below by Alison Moyet, tells the story.

This 15th century carol has an interesting back story. In Medieval Europe, few people were literate and most copies of the bible where in Latin, so the local clergy used alternative methods to teach the bible. One was through the use of the “poor man's bible” - stained glass windows which contained images from biblical stories, sort of a millennium old precursor to the modern comic books. One of the most famous “poor man's bible” is the 14th century window in Canterbury Cathedral shown here on the right.

A second method of teaching the bible was through Mystery plays that told biblical stories in the vernacular and, often, included song. These plays were performed by the clergy outside of the Church until the 12th century, when the conduct of the plays were turned over to town guilds. It is from one of these plays performed in 15th century Coventry, England that the Coventry Carol comes down to us.

The traditional way to celebrate today is to turn over rule of the house to the youngest child. It is the youngest who decides the day's foods, drinks, music, entertainments, etc. Also traditional is a red desert, especially a pudding or ice cream with a red sauce, such as raspberry.

Tweet

Thursday, December 29, 2011

On The Fifth Day Of Christmas . . .

Reposted from 2010:

Today is the fifth day of the twelve days of Christmas.

The Feast of St. Thomas a Becket is celebrated this day. One of the overarching issues of the Medieval world was where the authority of the Papacy ended and the authority of kings began. It was an issue that would consume St. Thomas.

Thomas a Becket was born into 12th century England. As Chancellor to King Henry II, he came to be a close confidant of the King. He even accompanied the King to war, reportedly acquitting himself well in battle. But then, in 1161, when Henry appointed Becket to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, Becket became a defender of Papal authority. At particular issue was the Papacy's claim of right to try felonious monks and other lawless clergy in Church courts. Henry wanted to end this custom and subject criminal clergy to Royal courts. Becket was intransigent, even going so far as to excommunicate other English bishops who supported Henry on the issue. Henry, in a rage, famously asked “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?”

Four of Henry's knights took it upon themselves to do just that. Travelling to Canterbury on this date in 1170, with their weapons in hand, they confronted Becket and demanded he lift the excommunications. When Becket refused, it was soon clear beyond doubt that he would be killed. Moments after Becket “commended himself and the cause of the Church to God, St. Mary, and the blessed martyr St. Denis,” his assassins put him to the sword, spilling his brains on the Cathedral floor.

Much of the medieval world erupted in horror at Becket's murder. Pilgrimages to the site followed soon thereafter with numerous miracles occurring that were attributed to Becket. The Church canonized Becket in 1173. King Henry presented himself at the tomb of Becket to make public penance, allowing himself to be scourged by the local clerics.

Canterbury became the third greatest site of pilgrimage in all of Europe.

The first great work of literature composed in English, Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," is set against the backdrop of travelers on a pilgrimage to Becket's shrine.

St. Thomas is, today, the patron saint of priests.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

On The Fourth Day Of Christmas . . .

Reposted from 2010:

Today is the fourth day of the twelve days of Christmas.

On the fouth day is celebrated the Feast of the Holy Innocents. This feast honors those children slaughtered on the order of King Herod, as told in the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. The Magi had passed through Jerusalem and let it be known they were going to visit the newborn King. Herod, hearing of this, called his advisors together, one of whom informed Herod of a prophecy that a child would be born in Bethlehem who would become “a ruler who is to shepherd the people of Israel.” When later the Magi later refused to tell Herod where they had found Jesus, Herod ordered the slaughter of all children under two years of age living in Bethlehem. It is estimated that, in the small town of Bethlehem, that this would have meant slaughtering about 25 children. And it is their martyrdom that the Feast of the Holy Innocents honors.

The Coventry Carol, performed below by Alison Moyet, tells the story.

This 15th century carol has an interesting back story. In Medieval Europe, few people were literate and most copies of the bible where in Latin, so the local clergy used alternative methods to teach the bible. One was through the use of the “poor man's bible” - stained glass windows which contained images from biblical stories, sort of a millennium old precursor to the modern comic books. One of the most famous “poor man's bible” is the 14th century window in Canterbury Cathedral shown here on the right.

A second method of teaching the bible was through Mystery plays that told biblical stories in the vernacular and, often, included song. These plays were performed by the clergy outside of the Church until the 12th century, when the conduct of the plays were turned over to town guilds. It is from one of these plays performed in 15th century Coventry, England that the Coventry Carol comes down to us.

The traditional way to celebrate today is to turn over rule of the house to the youngest child. It is the youngest who decides the day's foods, drinks, music, entertainments, etc. Also traditional is a red desert, especially a pudding or ice cream with a red sauce, such as raspberry.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

On The Fourth Day Of Chrismas . . . The Feast Of The Holy Innocents

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Multicultural Fool of Canterbury

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the priest who recently supported allowing some form of Sharia law in Britain, is a fool who has no business whatsoever as the clerical head of the Anglican Church. He is an inveterate marxist and a pure multiculturalist who sees Western society and America as destructive forces, while accepting Islam non-judgmentally.

In his latest idiocy, the Archbishop has stated that "Christians in the Middle East are facing persecution because of British and American foreign policy," and more particularly, that the "indigenous Christian community throughout the [Middle East] have suffered from being associated with the American global project . . ." In other words, he blames America for the murderous rampages of radical Islamists while absolving them of responsibility for their actions.

Archbishop Williams might wish to educate himself as to the actual dogma of the radical Islamists - any post by Tawfiq Hamid would be a good start. Radical Sunni and Shia Islamists seek regional and global domination with nary a mention of America's "global project." He also might wish to map out where these radical Islamists hold sway - it happens to be all of the same locales where Christians are being persecuted. As to the "global project" of America, we are clearly having an effect on religious intolerance in the Middle East, it is just not the one this fool of an Archbishop is positing.

The above is Michael Yon's iconic photo from Baghdad of Christians and Muslims placing a cross back on top of a Church in Baghdad. The story that goes with that photo is here. And Williams might also want to test his hypothesis by discussing it with Rev Canon Andrew Whit, the Anglican Priest for Iraq, who seems of a different mind. And indeed, the American Project seems to be having a similar effect in the larger world, as the radical sects of Islam are weakened.

In parting, let me ask, who will rid us of this troublesome - and supremely misguided - priest?

(H/T Dinah Lord)

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Insanity Of Biblical Proportions

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has seen fit to sharply criticize the U.S. for imperialism to an appreciative audience of Muslims. He also criticized the U.S. for having done nothing to rebuild Iraq's physical or political infrastructure. As to Western civilization as a whole, he muses to this audience that"“[o]ur modern western definition of humanity is clearly not working very well. There is something about western modernity which really does eat away at the soul.”

As to any criticism of Islam - i.e., the most imperialistic force in history that has left nearly every country in which it has become ascendent a medieval backwater, and not to mention that it has been the driving force responsible for untold carnage in the world over the past two decades - he had words of praise for the Muslim habit of praying 5 times a day. You will find the article here.

Rather than question the Archbishop's sanity, let alone his grasp on reality, it is probably better just to make this brief but wholly appropriate reply in which, I am sure, most Americans will join:

[scroll down]

Update: Victor David Hanson felt a bit more loquacious:

ONE, who is clearing the decks and moving on? And who are the "other people" putting Iraq back together? Iran? Saudi Arabia? China? The British in Basra? First, we read from the anti-war Left that the US is wasting a trillion dollars and thousands of its lives in Iraq, and yet now that we are clearing the decks and not putting it back together? Which is it?

. . . THREE, he should also tally up the amount of money the U.S. has spent for civic and economic development in Iraq over four years, and then compare that to what Britain invested in any four-year period in their centuries-long occupation of India.

. . . FIVE, if he is worried about the soul of civilization in general, and the U.S. in particular, he might equally ask his Muslim interviewers about the status of women in the Muslim world, polygamy, female circumcision, the existence of slavery in the Sudan, the status of free expression and dissent, and religious tolerance (i.e., he should try to visit Mecca on his next goodwill, interfaith tour) .

SIX, all Williams will accomplish is to convince Episcopalians in the U.S. not to follow the Anglican Church, and most Americans in general that, if they need any reminders, many of the loud left-wing British elite, nursed on envy of the US, still petulant over lost power and influence, and scared stiff of the demographic and immigration trends in its own country, are well, unhinged.

Read it here.