Boxing Day is celebrated on December the 26th in the UK, and it's a bank holiday. Traditionally it was a day when wealthier Brits gave a box containing gifts, money and/or food to their servants. We packed ourselves into the car and headed to Canterbury, a two hour drive east.
Canterbury was high on my list of places to visit.
Historically, Canterbury Cathedral has been a place of pilgrimage, to visit the tomb of the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. Chaucer described the pilgrimage in Canterbury Tales, written in the late 1300s.
As Archbishop, Thomas Becket had conflicts with King Henry II over the rights and privileges of the church.
King Henry II wanted less clerical independence and a weaker connection with Rome, he was able to convince all the higher clergy except Becket.
Six years later in 1170, following lots of excitement including two years of exile in a Cistercian abbey in France, four knights arrived at the Cathedral and asked Thomas to come with them to Winchester to account for himself.
He refused. The knights left the cathedral and retrieved their weapons which they had left outside.
They returned as Thomas Becket was entering the main hall for vespers. Edward Grimm, who was wounded in the attack, wrote an account of the murder.
It is a gruesome and riveting story.
Two years later there were many stories of miracles associated with Thomas Becket and he was canonized by Pope Alexander III.
Do not miss the crypt. There is a sculpture "Transport" by Anthony Gormley hanging above the place where Thomas Becket's tomb was located, before being destroyed in the reformation.
It is made from old nails preserved from the cathedral roof restoration. This photo is from Art News website, no photos are allowed in the crypt. Speaking about the sculpture Anthony Gormley said,
During our visit the boys choir was practicing, filling the huge building and my head with their voices.
I was so happy to have William and Anna with us for a while.
If you don't want to watch this entire video, skip ahead to 2:05 and watch from there.
Firebolts of love from England!
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| Jet lagged and holiday lagged. |
Historically, Canterbury Cathedral has been a place of pilgrimage, to visit the tomb of the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. Chaucer described the pilgrimage in Canterbury Tales, written in the late 1300s.
As Archbishop, Thomas Becket had conflicts with King Henry II over the rights and privileges of the church.
King Henry II wanted less clerical independence and a weaker connection with Rome, he was able to convince all the higher clergy except Becket.
Six years later in 1170, following lots of excitement including two years of exile in a Cistercian abbey in France, four knights arrived at the Cathedral and asked Thomas to come with them to Winchester to account for himself.
He refused. The knights left the cathedral and retrieved their weapons which they had left outside.
They returned as Thomas Becket was entering the main hall for vespers. Edward Grimm, who was wounded in the attack, wrote an account of the murder.
 |
| The sight of Thomas Becket's murder. Photo from Wikipedia. |
Then, with another blow received on the head, he remained firm. But with the third the stricken martyr bent his knees and elbows, offering himself as a living sacrifice, saying in a low voice, "For the name of Jesus and the protection of the church I am ready to embrace death."
It is a gruesome and riveting story.
Two years later there were many stories of miracles associated with Thomas Becket and he was canonized by Pope Alexander III.
 |
| The Holy Trinity. |
Do not miss the crypt. There is a sculpture "Transport" by Anthony Gormley hanging above the place where Thomas Becket's tomb was located, before being destroyed in the reformation.
“The body is less a thing than a place; a location where things happen. Thought, feeling, memory and anticipation filter through it sometimes staying but mostly passing on, like us in this great cathedral with its centuries of building, adaptation, extension and all the thoughts, feelings and prayers that people have had and transmitted here. Mind and body, church and state are polarities evoked by the life and death of Thomas Becket. We are all the temporary inhabitants of a body, it is our house, instrument and medium; through it all impressions of the world come and from it all our acts, thoughts and feelings are communicated, I hope to have evoked this in the most direct way possible”.
During our visit the boys choir was practicing, filling the huge building and my head with their voices.
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| Sitting outside the quire, the boys were singing on the other side of the gate. |
I was so happy to have William and Anna with us for a while.
 |
| Big trees abound in England. |
If you don't want to watch this entire video, skip ahead to 2:05 and watch from there.
Firebolts of love from England!
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