The story of St. Cuthbert, who is buried under the high altar at Durham Cathedral, is an inspiring one in many ways. When he died, his body was brought from Lindisfarne through a circuitous route through Northumberland to Durham (see map above). The story goes that when he arrived, they opened the casket and his body was preserved inviolate. There was no decay. The picture above is of a cast sculpture of the saints carrying his body to Durham. Durham of course is also famous for its other saint buried in the Cathedral Galilee Chapel, namely the venerable Bede, the preserver of learning in the dark ages of church history. The rest of the pictures are of Durham cathedral this spring, I use the word spring loosely as you can see from the snow on the moss on the wall. I also throw in a picture of St. Mary’s chapel door, one of the pilgrimage chapels along the way which has the wonderful zigzag arch like the cathedral itself, typical of Norman architecture. I also give you the very most recent stained glass window added to the cathedral…. I will let you surmise which Biblical story it depicts. No doubt about Durham is a holy city…. full of saints and saintly history.
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