Thursday, January 16, 2014

Day 26

January 16th, 2014

Yesterday, we had to be at the bus, for a field trip, at 7:30 am. uh. Camille packed up our backpack with treatsies for the day, since we wouldn't be home till 9 that night.



It was nice to get out of the city for the day, and seeing the rolling English hills,





Here is the little write up I did on St. Albans Cathedral if you'd care to learn the history on this beautiful church:

Alban, was a Romano-British Pagan, who lived around the end of the 3rd century, in the Roman town of Verulamium. He hid and sheltered a Christian priest named Amphibalus in his home, during a religious persecution of Christians brought on by the Roman Soldiers. During this time Alban and Amphibalus would talk and share their religious beliefs. Alban was so impressed and touched by Amphibalus’ words and teachings that he converted to the Christian faith. When the Romans eventually discovered Amphibalus’ hiding place they seized Albans house. To cover for his new friend, Alban turned himself over to the Romans, claiming to be Amphibalus, wearing his cloak.

Alban was brought before a judge at the Pagan Temple. He was found out to be himself, and not Amphibalus causing an outrage. He was demanded to renounce his new found faith in Christianity or be sacrificed to the Pagan Gods. Alban stood his ground and the now famous words still used in prayer at St. Albans Cathedral today, “I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things.” This statement and testimony caused Alban to be sentenced to death, by being beheaded. His death is known for being Britain’s first Christian Martyr. Allegedly, the site of this execution was on a steep hill and legend has it that his head rolled down the hill after being cut off and that a well sprang up at the point where it stopped. The tomb of of Saint Alban and St Amphibalus in the cathedral.


In its originality it consists of a monastery, a cathedral and a parish church. The present church began in 1077, and was the largest building in the land at the time. It replaced Benedictine Abbey, founded by King Offa in 793 AD. The Cathedral has the longest nave of any cathedrals in England at 276 ft.


Within the boundary walls of the abbey there was a small town, with stores with almost every daily necessity, run by the senior monks and aided by servants and craftspeople. Though, their main priorities were to pray and worship, the abbey also had a center for art and literature. St. Albans flourished particularly from the 12th to the 14th centuries. The church’s interior was adorned with painting on the walls and beautified.

In 1500’s the Abbey fell into debt.  The remaining forty monks were pensioned off and the buildings were looted. All gold, silver and gilt objects were carted away with all other valuables; stonework was broken and defaced and graves opened to burn the contents.  The present abbey church and gatehouse are the only original remaining buildings.

In 1553 the Chapel became a school, the Great Gatehouse a town jail, some other buildings passed to the Crown, and the Abbey Church was sold to the town for £400 in 1553 by King Edward VI to be the church of the parish.
From that point on the Abbey was struck with more and more hardship, causing damage to the buildings and poor preservation due to lack of funds.
Finally, in the 19th century major actions were taken to bring back the abbey, begin preserving the remaining artifacts and rebuild the abbey to its originality. During this century the name St Albans Abbey was given to one of the town's railway stations.
In 1970s, a new visitors centre was proposed and was given one million pounds to construct it. It stands on the south side of the cathedral, close to the site of the original chapter house, giving it the name “Chapter House. The main building material is 500,000 replicas of roman bricks. It officially opened in 1982 by Queen Elizabeth.
The abbey church, although legally a cathedral church, achieving its Cathedral status in 1877, differs in certain particulars from most of the other cathedrals in England: it is also used as a parish church, of which the dean is rector. He has the same powers, responsibilities and duties as the rector of any other parish.






Prayer candle for Don and Chrissi



St Albans Shrine. There was a sign that said "For over 1700 years pilgrims have visited this place where Alban was executed and buried. They have prayed here at the Shrine for healing for themselves, for others and for the world. The prayer and pilgrimage continue today." Camille and I lit another candle and said a prayer for the Brenier family. We love you guys so much. 






The tomb of St. Alban


Stained glass of St. Alban being beheaded. 






After, we walked through the same town to the Verulamium museum. 
















Then, we drove another hour and a half to Cambridge. Cambridge is magical. It looks like Hogwarts and I even saw one man wearing a black cloak. It's like magic!








If you look closely you can see that this King is holding a wooden chair leg. Legend has is that school boys climbed up and stole the golden specter, replacing it with this less than luxury one. Also, take a look at the "lions" below him. The artist was told to sculpt lions, but had never seen one only heard what they looked like. That was the end result. 





This is a tree, grown from a branch from the tree Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under when he was hit with that famous apple. Newton went to cambridge and the tree stands next to where he lived while a student here (see picture below). This tree isn't very fruitful and only grew three apples last year. 






Our Scottish tour guide, Ian. 








This clock is made out of gold and cost 1 million pounds. There are only 3 in the world. An insects stands on top of the clock and its feet move the clock around. His mouth opens as he walks, representing death eating our life and time here on Earth. 

I saw this pillow in a window case, and really wanted to buy it. Shout out to Dooney. 


This is a wall with names of soldiers who died in war. Notice the space where no name is. Legend goes that the artist put in a name when a voice told him that the man hadn't actually died yet. He removed the name by creating a small indent that is hard to see unless you are standing right under it. 


The name J.C. Smith, at the top, is known as the Unknown Soldier. The J.C. stands for Jesus Christ and Smith for the most common English name at the time. It is for all the other soldiers who they didn't have record on. 



When we walked into this Cathedral Camille said, "Stained glass never gets old." It's true! I am in awe of the beauty and magnificence of stained glass windows. 


We got to listen to Evensong that evening in this gorgeous Cathedral. It was a beautiful ceremony, with the school boys singing, reading psalms and praying. I'm thankful to be able to see other religions sacred ceremonies and be welcomed into their worship. 


xx Jac


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