Image from Early British Kingdoms
Dunstan was born near Glastonbury in the southwest of England about the year 909, ten years after the death of King Alfred. During the Viking invasions of the ninth century, monasteries had been favorite targets of the invaders, and by Dunstan's time English monasticism had been wiped out. In its restoration in the tenth century, Dunstan played the leading role.
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(Glastonbury is one of the oldest Christian sites in England, and is associated in legend with King Arthur and his Court, with Joseph of Arimathea, and with other worthies. It has been said that the Holy Grail, the chalice of the Last Supper, is hidden somewhere near Glastonbury.) Under Dunstan's direction, Glastonbury became an important center both of monasticism and of learning. The next king, Edred, adopted Dunstan's ideas for various reforms of the clergy (including the control of many cathedrals by monastic chapters) and for relations with the Danish settlers. These policies made Dunstan popular in the North of England, but unpopular in the South.
Edred was succeeded by his sixteen-year-old nephew Edwy, whom Dunstan openly rebuked for unchastity. The furious Edwy drove Dunstan into exile, but the North rose in rebellion on his behalf. When the dust settled, Edwy was dead, his brother Edgar was king, and Dunstan was Archbishop of Canterbury. The coronation service which Dunstan compiled for Edgar is the earliest English coronation service of which the full text survives, and is the basis for all such services since, down to the present. With the active support of King Edgar, Dunstan re-established monastic communities at Malmesbury, Westminster, Bath, Exeter, and many other places. Around 970 he presided at a conference of bishops, abbots, and abbesses, which drew up a national code of monastic observance, the "Regularis Concordia". It followed Benedictine lines, but under it the monasteries were actively involved in the life of the surrounding community. For centuries thereafter the Archbishop of Canterbury was always a monk.
In addition, Dunstan was a musician, a bell maker, and a painter.
From the The Lectionary
PRAYER
Almighty God, who raised up Dunstan to be a true shepherd of the flock, a restorer of monastic life and a faithful counsellor to those in authority: give to all pastors the same gifts of your Holy Spirit that they may be true servants of Christ and all his people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Bet Anglo-Saxon bells were far smaller than their later counterparts. Mynsterpreost over at TA, whose parish includes St. Peter's, Barton on Humber, one of the most important surviving A/S churches, will likely know. It was noted during the 2000 new year celebrations Millenium that the church's tower is one of the few that might also have rung in the previous millenium.
ReplyDeleteDunstan is the only significant Anglo-Saxon figure I can think of who left us his self-portrait. The small figure of a monk crouches at the feet of Christ in a manuscript at the Bodleian, with an inscription above identifying it as Dunstan. FYI, have uploaded a copy to Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65454617@N00/504338962/
The stained-glass portrait that you posted has wonderful, rich colors. Enjoy the weekend. We have a crawfish festival here in town. Unlike many folks, the brains are the best part of them.
Lapin, where is the window? The site had no information about it.
ReplyDeleteThe Flickr link did not work, but I found the self-portrait here.
You suck the heads of the crawfish, don't you? I don't, but some folks around here do and agree with you.
Yes, I suck them and am not ashamed to say it. The flavo(u)r is exceedingly rich.
ReplyDeleteThat is the image that I posted AND the page where I found it when I went looking. I'll look into the non-functioning scan.
Don't know where the window is - UK presumably, but beyond that? From the style the designer may well be J.N. Comper (1864-1960).
The guy who runs the wonderful Flickr site below would almost certainly know, but I haven't worked out how to use Flickr for email. http://www.flickr.com/photos/vitrearum/
Actually, come to think about it, it's probably Vitrearum@yahoo.com. Would you like me to inquire? Happy to.
Lapin, if you'd like to take the time, please do.
ReplyDeleteOne day, when I was in London near Trafalgar Square, I heard change-ringing at St.Martin-in-the-Fields. Beautiful, just beautiful.
I had read Dorothy Sayers' The Nine Tailors, so I knew a little about change-ringing.
I traced the pix back to a history site and emailed the sitemaster as to where this was located. It has bios and pix of most of the English saints.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com
Here's the home link. Fascinating story.
ShareCropper, thanks. I had sent an email asking permission from the site to use the picture in case it was under copyright, but I never heard back, so I decided to go ahead and use it. If they tell me to take it down, I will.
ReplyDeleteI've emailed the address I think is the right one & will let you know when/if I hear back. The priest I mentioned above has rings of eight bells in two churches in town.
ReplyDeleteI dabbled with change-ringing when I was a student and was advised, very seriously, to quit because the position I persisted in adopting - head forward and down - placed me at serious risk of tangling my neck in the rope and smashing my skull against the ceiling above. Or so I was told.
Or so I was told.
ReplyDeleteLapin, I know that it could not possibly have been because you were lacking in skill.
MadPriest is back.
ReplyDeleteMadPriest is back.
ReplyDeleteWell, ain't this the second coming! Thanks for the word, Dennis.
Mimi, thanks for this lovely post. I appreciate your keeping me current with the saints of the day (as well as so many other things) so today I stopped in at St. Dunstan's church in Canterbury and said a prayer for you and your blog-ministry. This is a 1000-year-old church near the city wall where pilgrims have stopped for centuries enroute to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in the Cathedral. It is also the burial place of the head of St. Thomas More, as it was the parish church of his daughter Margaret's family, the Ropers. The bell connection is interesting, because one of the things I enjoy most about living near St. D's is that on Friday evenings they practice ringing the bells for more than an hour. I open my windows and feel wrapped in glory.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely, Mary Clara, that you prayed for me at St. Dunstan's. Thank you. More and more, I look upon the blog as a ministry. Maybe I'm deluding myself, but if I am, then God will gently turn me away from my delusion. I truly believe that.
ReplyDeleteBecket, Thomas Moore, St. Dunstan, and more, because you are near Canterbury, all close by! How blessed you are to be surrounded by the churches commemorating those exemplary saints who stand with the clouds of witnesses.
What a wonderful picture/window of Dunstan.
ReplyDeleteAnd that cope! That cope!!
Mimi: "I look upon the blog as a ministry."
Nothing wrong with *your* vision, Mimi.
God forbid you should ever feel "turned away" from this.
Mary Clara: Is it a sin for me to be filled with envy? :
"I open my windows and feel wrapped in glory."
David Charles Walker, I judge you not that I be not judged. My big pit of envy is: I wish I were a musician, especially a singer or an organist. So there you are. But then, how can anything ultimately be finer than just *hearing* the music? And in Canterbury Cathedral, I can sit in the pew two feet away from the choir and be even more wrapt in glory.
ReplyDeleteMimi, I am very big on the priesthood of all the baptized, which can take so many forms, from emptying bedpans to doing biblical scholarship. In the past I think most lay ministry has been relatively private and even inarticulate. One of the great things about the internet and the blogosphere is that many more of us in the lay order can readily join in the theological conversation, offer homilies or reflections on the daily lectionary, post worship materials, comment on and issues worthy of attention, and so on. We are finding our voices. Our ordained clergy and bishops are our 'specialists' with their unique vocation and training and their sacramental role. In terms of preaching and teaching, they are like the paid professional soloists in many church choirs who help maintain the level of a parish's liturgical music. Backing them up are the unpaid volunteer singers, many of them also gifted and well-trained, who make up the bulk of the choir. Finally there are those who swell the sound from the congregation. Not a perfect analogy, but you see my point: All should take part, and together we should be able to make fine music! Our clergy in their lonely and risky work (see Elizabeth Kaeton's latest post as well as Lauren Gough's recent comments on several blogs) should be surrounded by a host of supportive voices (and under 'support' I include honest debate and disagreement, as well as poking fun) and by many writing hands sharing the work.
This is a time for all hands to be on deck, both in our beloved church and inour beloved country, and you, Mimi, are doing your part!
Bet Anglo-Saxon bells were far smaller than their later counterparts. -- lapinbizarre
ReplyDeleteAll right. Nobody else has said it, so I will.
I bet the Anglo Saxons would fight you over those words, saying their bells are as large as need be. And they're well- ... well, never mind.
Great post, Mimi! "There were bells, all around, but I never heard them ringing, no I never heard them at all 'till there was your post."
Pay me no never mind. I have a touch of bronchitis or something, and I think I'm running a fever.
Pat, sorry you are not feeling well. I said a prayer that you get better.
ReplyDeleteYou gave me a good laugh. The song - it's the perfect touch. What a compliment! My post made you hear the bells. Yes, you do sound a little feverish.
Regarding the big bells and the little bells - I'm not going there.