Glastonbury – Part 2 | Fr. Joseph Huneycutt

Visiting the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, I was encouraged to check out the only building still fully standing: The Chapel of St Patrick. (The tower of St John Church can be seen in the distance.)

Inside the simple Chapel of St Patrick the walls have been restored to period.

Portrayed on the North Wall: St David [of Wales] holding a model of the early Abbey; Ss Phagan and Deruvian, second century missionaries; St Dunstan, Glastonbury’s most significant abbot; and, Abbot Richard Whiting – who was hung, drawn and quartered during the Dissolution of Monasteries (1539).

St Patrick graces the South Wall, snakes not withstanding.

The oddest image of the lot: St Mary Magdalene representing the Seven Deadly Sins. According to the visitor’s guide she is Pride with the other six (Anger, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth) tethered to her. [The rest of the info given seems to confuse Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany.] Since Our Lord cast from her seven demons, I guess I understand the representation — but peculiar, nonetheless.

St Joseph of Arimathea is portrayed in the chancel; according to the visitor’s guide: bearing the church he was told to build by the Archangel Gabriel.

O my. An image of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The East Window: Panel 1, bottom – St Joseph of Arimathea holding the cruets representing the blood and sweat of Christ, with the sunrise behind symbolizing the beginning of Christianity in this country. Panel 2: St Patrick, with snakes below, holding a shamrock. Panel 3: St Dunstan grabbing the devil by the nose — the dress falling off to illustrate the devil’s disguise as a woman. Panel 4: Above – St Michael with the multicolor wings on top of Glastonbury Tor and detail of the dragon within the body of the Tor; Below – St Brigid with her bowl of fire, reed cross and milking stool. Borders are entwined with snakes and shamrocks in each corner.

The image within the piscina on the south wall near the altar is based upon the Lily Crucifixion at Godshill, St Lawrence, which dates from 1450 onwards.

Abbot Richard Whiting, hung, drawn and quartered on Glastonbury Tor, is portrayed holding a reliquary containing a thorn from Our Lord’s crucifixion crown.

This is a model of what Glastonbury Abbey looked like before its destruction under Henry VIII.

What it might have been like for the monks back in the day.

It was the longest monastic house in all of England.

When it was destroyed, the only thing left standing (other than the Abbot’s Kitchen) was the older building which formed the far western half of the Abbey, St Mary’s Chapel (which is dedicated to St Joseph of Arimathea).

Our guide was “Brother David” — a retired school teacher. (I was also dressed in cassock and must have looked like his Byzantine understudy!)

One of the descendants of Joseph’s Staff — the Glastonbury Thorn.

Brother David accentuates the point of the Staff’s planting with his umbrella.

Here he uses his “staff” to decipher the life of Mary, the Nativity of Jesus, and the Killing of the Innocents.

And here, on another archway, is what happens — so they guess — when you run out of money for the stone artisans.

I will let the next several images speak for themselves. Click to enlarge.

Looking west toward the entry of the church, St Mary’s Chapel, from the place of the altar.

The Abbot’s Kitchen.

The sign speaks for itself.

Inside the Kitchen are fire pits and prep tables. The monks ate no meat, but were allowed eggs and fish each day, a pound of bread and a gallon of beer. (A gallon!)

The lay of the land.

The markings on the ground indicate where the walls were before destruction.

The Glastonbury Thorn blooms twice a year — old Christmas and Easter.

Later, in a restaurant, I faced this painting for sale. It is of the Tor and is called Escape from Eden. Notice there is no St Michael Tower on the hill.

The last spot on my agenda was St John Church which, according to the website, is open for visitors until 4PM. I rushed there at 3:30PM … only to find a wedding in progress. Oh well …

But I was able to visit their own descendent of Joseph’s Staff — the Glastonbury Thorn.