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Mass at Glastonbury Abbey

On Saturday, 15th November 1539, Richard Whiting Abbot of Glastonbury together with two of his monks John Thorne and Roger James, were dragged on hurdles through the streets of Glastonbury up to Glastonbury Tor. There they were hanged, drawn and quartered. On the same day, Abbot Hugh Cook of Reading Abbey and two of his priests John Eynon and John Rugg suffered the same brutal execution.

Last Saturday, 15th November, 469 years later one of our parishioners was privileged to attend Mass of the Martyrs, celebrated in the crypt of the Lady Chapel at Glastonbury Abbey.

The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey are extensive enough for the visitor to gain an appreciation of just how magnificent and noble this Abbey would have been before its dissolution and vandalisation. Of the buildings, only the Abbot's Kitchen and St Patrick's Chapel remain intact. St Patrick's Chapel is currently being repaired and renovated funded partly by a lottery grant.

The Lady Chapel exists as a roofless, floorless husk, reminiscent of some of the bombed churches that were a common sight in our cities after the Second World War. The photograph shows the length of the Chapel looking from the South. To the East, steps lead to the Nave.

The second photograph (below, left) shows the steps into the Nave looking East from the Lady Chapel. Through the door further away, the entrance to the Choir can be seen. Of the Nave, only part of the South Wall remains as can be seen in the third photograph (below, centre).

Nave Entrance

The fourth photograph (above, right) is taken from a position East of the High Altar, looking West towards the Nave and Lady Chapel.

The High Altar itself is roped off with black fence posts, and the people in the middle distance are grouped around King Arthur's Tomb.

According to tradition, King Arthur was said to have been buried the cemetery on the south side of the Lady Chapel, at Glastonbury Abbey. In 1191 prompted by hints and rumours, the monks excavated this same spot in the cemetery. They dug down sixteen feet, to find an oaken coffin. At a depth of seven feet they found a stone beneath which was a leaden cross with an inscription Hic iacet inclitus Arturius in insula Avalonia - variously interpreted to read 'Here lies Arthur, famous in the island of Avalon' The coffin contained two bodies - a great man and a woman, whose golden hair was still intact, until touched, when it crumbled away. The bodies were assumed to be those of Arthur and Guinevere.

A century later in 1278 the bones were placed in caskets and during a state visit by King Edward I, they were transferred to a black marble tomb before the High Altar in the great Abbey Church. There they remained until the Abbey was vandalised after the dissolution in 1539. No one has seen, or heard anything of them since. (This account is taken from the Abbey's excellent website)

The remnants of the Great Church consisting only of some pillars, some doorways, steps, groups of stones tracing where the Nave, the Choir, the High Altar once stood, give mute testimony to the utter destruction of England's patrimony wrought by the Reformation.

Mass Ready

The crypt of the Lady Chapel is open to the skies, but at the eastern end, there is a small undercroft, where a new altar has been erected. Since Vatican 2, Catholics have had permission to celebrate Mass from time to time, either in the crypt or in St Patrick's Chapel. There have also been annual pilgimages. On this occasion, it had rained in the night and the flagstones were wet.

The Mass celebrated was a Low Mass, of the Usus Antiquor, also known as the Tridentine Mass. Richard Whiting would have recognised this Mass.

The celebrant was the local Parish Priest, Fr Kevin Knox-Lecky who is the Parish Priest at the Church and Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury. About 60 people attended, including a number of non Catholics and an Orthodox Priest.

In spite of the open air, the wet ground and the chill wind, the rigour and simplicity of the Mass of Ages gave a real sense of occasion, dignity and Communion with the Saints. At the end of Mass everyone sang the Salve Regina.

At the end of Mass, the Orthodox Priest invited people to Orthodox Vespers on the Tor at 4 pm. Sadly, time did not permit.

Blessed Richard Whiting, Blessed John Thorne and Blessed Roger James, pray for us!