Gloucester Cathedral (Part Five)

Non-Italic Text and Photos from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia,
unless otherwise accredited.

Italic Text and Photos from Gloucester Cathedral Web-Site at http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk
(Unless otherwise accredited, Photos of Gloucester Cathedral are taken by
Angelo Hornak, Richard Cann, Chris Smith, Esther Platten, Gloucester Cathedral and Gilmere Ltd)

Gloucester Cathedral (Lady Chapel, looking towards the Choir)

From Wikimedia Commons

Photo taken by Mattana

January 2008

ARCHITECTURE

Although all periods of Mediaeval Church architecture are represented at Gloucester Cathedral, its two main building phases – Romanesque and Perpendicular, are of outstanding interest and importance.

THE ROMANESQUE ABBEY

The Romanesque East End is not just the earliest surviving of any great English Church, but also has the oldest extant ambulatoried chancel in either Normandy or England  -  Alan Brooks.

Built by Abbot Serlo, the foundation stone was laid in 1089. The Eastern Arm was ready for dedication in 1100, and the nave was probably completed about 1130. A very great deal of this Romanesque Church survives, including the entire crypt, much of the East End above it, the great nave piers and most of the North Aisle. The Norman chapter house also mostly survives.

Gloucester Cathedral (Edward II Tomb)

From Wikimedia Commons

Taken by Auximines

March 2001

The Early-English Style is represented by the nave vault of 1242 and the screen at the North End of the North Transept. Window tracery in the South Aisle is typical of the Decorated Style, as are the thousands of carved ball-flowers and the elaborate stonework of the tomb of Edward II.

THE BIRTH OF PERPENDICULAR

The remodelling of the East End at Gloucester was carried out between 1331 and about 1355 and arose from the burial in the Abbey of King Edward II. The courtiers who surrounded the young Edward III, and the pilgrims who came to the shrine-like tomb, provided the funds to make it possible.

The French “Rayonnant” Style had graduations of tracery which followed a vertical line through window and gallery openings. It seems likely that this came to London through Kentish masons and was tried at St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster, and in the Chapter House of Old St Paul’s (neither building still surviving).

These design experiments developed into “full-blown Perpendicular” at Gloucester, where the South Window of the South Transept can be seen as the oldest surviving Perpendicular window anywhere. The first four-centred arch (which later became so popular as the “Tudor Arch”) is also found here. The magnificent Quire and Presbytery were then remodelled in what became the standard English Style of architecture for more than 200 years.

Gloucester’s other great contribution to English architecture is fan-vaulting, which is now believed to have been invented here in the 1350s. The fan-vaulted cloisters, built for the monks to live and study in, are now open every day for all to enjoy.

King Edward II's Coat of Arms

He is buried in Gloucester Cathedral.

Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II. Between the strong reigns of his father, Edward I, and son, Edward III, the reign of Edward II was considered by some to be disastrous for England, marked by alleged incompetence, political squabbling and military defeats.

Widely rumoured to have been either homosexual or bisexual, Edward also fathered at least five children by two women. His inability to deny even the most grandiose favours to his male favourites (first a Gascon knight, named Piers Gaveston, later, a young English lord, named Hugh Despenser) led to constant political unrest and his eventual deposition.

Edward I had pacified Gwynedd and some other parts of Wales and the Scottish Lowlands, but never exerted a comprehensive conquest. However, the army of Edward II was devastatingly defeated at Bannockburn, freeing Scotland from English control and allowing Scottish forces to raid unchecked throughout the North of England.

In addition to these disasters, Edward II is remembered for his probable death in Berkeley Castle, allegedly by murder, and for being the first monarch to establish colleges at Oxford and Cambridge: Oriel College at Oxford and King's Hall, a predecessor of Trinity College, at Cambridge.

Gloucester Cathedral's Cloister Garth

From Gloucester Cathedral Web-Site at http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk
(Unless otherwise accredited, Photos of Gloucester Cathedral are taken by
Angelo Hornak, Richard Cann, Chris Smith, Esther Platten, Gloucester Cathedral and Gilmere Ltd)

THIS CONCLUDES THE ARTICLE ON GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL

Gloucester Cathedral (Part Four)

Non-Italic Text and Photos from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia,
unless otherwise accredited.

Italic Text and Photos from Gloucester Cathedral Web-Site at http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk

(Unless otherwise accredited, Photos of Gloucester Cathedral are taken by 

Angelo Hornak, Richard Cann, Chris Smith, Esther Platten, Gloucester Cathedral and Gilmere Ltd)

The Nave Vault

THE DISSOLUTION AND A NEW FOUNDATION

Henry VIII ordered the monasteries to be dissolved and Gloucester Abbey surrendered in January 1540. The Abbey buildings became Gloucester Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Gloucester, in 1541. No longer a community of monks, it was to be led by a Dean and a Chapter of Canons.

TURBULENT CENTURIES

The ideological and doctrinal struggles, of the 16th- and 17th-Centuries, made their mark in Gloucester: Bishop Hooper was burned at the stake here in 1555 on the orders of the Catholic Queen Mary; in the 1620s, Bishop Miles Smith and his Dean, William Laud, held profoundly different views on what the nature and style of Church of England should be.

Gloucester Cathedral (Bishop Hooper's Monument)

Then, under Oliver Cromwell, there was a move to demolish the Cathedral building altogether (it was saved by the intervention of the Mayor and burgesses of the City of Gloucester).

CALMER TIMES

With the restoration of the monarchy (after the Civil Wars and Commonwealth period) in 1660, the Dean and Chapter resumed the running of the Cathedral and that is how it is managed today.

Throughout the 18th-, 19th- and 20th-Centuries, they have carried out repairs and conservation work, rather than rebuilding or remodelling the building.

More importantly, Gloucester Cathedral has endured through the centuries as a place of Christian witness, where God is worshipped and the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed every day.

Gloucester Cathedral (Fan Vaulting)

From Wikimedia Commons

Photo taken by Jongleur100

September 2009. 

PART FIVE FOLLOWS

Beata es virgo a 4

Gloucester Cathedral (Part Three)

Non-Italic Text and Photos from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia,

unless otherwise accredited.

Italic Text and Photos from Gloucester Cathedral Web-Site at http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk

(Unless otherwise accredited, Photos of Gloucester Cathedral are taken by 

Angelo Hornak, Richard Cann, Chris Smith, Esther Platten, Gloucester Cathedral and Gilmere Ltd)

Gloucester Cathedral (Great East Window)

From Gloucester Cathedral Web-Site at

http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk

Photo © John Jones of Skycell

This has been a place of Christian worship continuously for over 1300 years, since Osric, an Anglo-Saxon prince, founded a religious house here in 678-679 A.D. Little is known for certain about the communities which worshipped here, or the buildings they used over the next 400 years, although it is believed that the Benedictine Rule was introduced here early in the 11th-Century.

Gloucester Cathedral Interior. 

The Lady Chapel looking towards the Choir. 

From Wikimedia Commons. 

Author: Mattana

Photo taken January 2008. 

The interior of Gloucester Cathedral conveys an impression 

of a "cage" of stone and glass, typical of "Perpendicular" architecture. 

Elaborate Decorated style tracery is no longer in evidence, 

and the lines on both walls and windows 

have become sharper and less flamboyant.

A record of the building fabric is made before and during stonework conservation, detailing the information that repair works uncover about building history and early building techniques. For a selection of archaeological reports concerning this, see www.bgas.org.uk/gcar.

Gloucester Cathedral Stained Glass

showing the Coronation of Henry III in 1216.

From Gloucester Cathedral Web-Site at

http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk

THE NORMAN ABBEY

At the time of the Norman Conquest, in 1066, the monastery was not thriving and in 1072 King William I appointed Serlo, a monk from Mont St Michel in Normandy, to be its Abbot. An energetic, charismatic and devout man, Serlo built up the wealth of the monastery to the point where, in 1089, he was able to start building the magnificent Abbey Church which so impresses the visitor today.

THE MIDDLE AGES

A wealthy and powerful institution, with extensive landholdings in Gloucestershire and South Wales, the Abbey of St Peter (as it was known) had significant royal associations.

In 1216, Henry III, who had succeeded to the throne at the age of only nine, was crowned here. Major building works in the 13th-Century included a first Lady Chapel and new Tower and refectory.

Gloucester Cathedral (Lady Chapel)

Built at the end of the 15th-Century.

From Gloucester Cathedral Web-Site at

http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk

Most importantly for the subsequent history of this place, in 1327, King Edward II, who had died in Berkeley Castle (in suspicious and, traditionally, gruesome circumstances) was buried here. A shrine-like monument was erected over the tomb of the dead King. Royal patronage and popular devotion led to funds flowing into the Abbey, and these enabled the magnificent remodelling of the East End to be carried out in the very latest “Perpendicular” style.

In the 15th-Century, further building work included the remodelling of the West End, the building of the South Porch and of the present Tower and, finally, towards the end of the century, the present Lady Chapel.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS

Gloucester Cathedral (Part Two)

Text and Photos from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia,

unless otherwise accredited.

Gloucester Cathedral (Stained Glass Windows)

Taken from Wikimedia Commons

Author: andy dolman

Picture taken May 2007

Burials in the Cathedral include:

Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror
Edward II of England, seventh Plantagenet King of England (1307–1327).
John Wakeman, last Abbot of Tewkesbury and first Bishop of Gloucester (1541–1550).
James Brooks Bishop of Gloucester (1554–1558).
Richard Cheyney, Bishop of Gloucester (1562–1579).
John Bullingham, Bishop of Gloucester (1581–1598).
William Nicholson Bishop of Gloucester (1660–1672).
Martin Benson, Bishop of Gloucester (1734–1752).
Richard Pate, landowner and Member of Parliament for Gloucester.
Thomas Machen, mercer and mayor of Gloucester three times. One time Member of Parliament for the city.
Dorothea Beale, Principal of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, educational reformer and suffragist.

Gloucester Cathedral (Facade)

From Wikimedia Commons

Author: andy dolman

Picture taken February 2008

Gloucester Cathedral in late afternoon sunlight

From Wikimedia Commons

Author: Roger May

Picture taken December 2003

Harry Potter Films

The Cathedral has been used, since 2000, as a location for filming the first, second and sixth Harry Potter films, which has generated revenue and publicity, but caused some controversy amongst those who suggest that the theme of the films was unsuitable for a Church.

Doctor Who

In 2008, the Cathedral was used by BBC Wales as a location for the Doctor Who Christmas Special.

Academic use

University of Gloucestershire

Degree ceremonies of the University of Gloucestershire take place at the cathedral.

University of the West of England

Degree ceremonies for students studying at the University of the West of England, through Hartpury College, take place at the Cathedral every July and November.

The King's School

The Cathedral is also used during school term-time as the venue for regular school assemblies, known as Morning Chapel. by The King's School, Gloucester, which is deeply historically- and physically-connected to the Cathedral, and for events by the High School for Girls (Denmark Road, Gloucester), the Crypt Grammar School for Boys and Ribston Hall High School.

Gloucester Cathedral Cloisters on a Sunny afternoon

From Wikimedia Commons

Author: Rob Coldwell

Picture taken July 2006

Gloucester Cathedral (Ceiling)

From Wikimedia Commons

Author: andy dolman

Picture taken 2008

PART THREE FOLLOWS

Gloucester Cathedral (Part One)

Text and Photos from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia,

unless otherwise accredited.

Gloucester Cathedral Tower, at Sunset

Picture taken from Gloucester Cathedral Web-Site at

http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk/

(Photos of Gloucester Cathedral are taken by 

Angelo Hornak, Richard Cann, Chris Smith, 

Esther Platten, Gloucester Cathedral and Gilmere Ltd)

Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the North of the city near the river. It originated in 678 A.D. or 679 A.D. with the foundation of an Abbey dedicated to Saint Peter (dissolved by King Henry VIII).

The foundations of the present Church were laid by Abbot Serlo (1072–1104). Walter Gloucester (died 1412), the Abbey's historian, became its first mitred Abbot in 1381. Until 1541, Gloucester lay in the See of Worcester, but a separate See was then constituted, with John Wakeman, last Abbot of Tewkesbury, as its first Bishop. The diocese covers the greater part of Gloucestershire, with small parts of Herefordshire and Wiltshire. The Cathedral has a stained glass window containing the earliest images of golf. This dates from 1350, over 300 years earlier than the earliest image of golf from Scotland. There is also a carved image of people playing a ball game, believed by some to be one of the earliest images of mediaeval football.

Construction and architecture

The Cathedral, built as the Abbey Church, consists of a Norman nucleus (Walter de Lacy is buried there), with additions in every style of Gothic architecture. It is 420 feet (130 m) long, and 144 feet (44 m) wide, with a fine central tower (15th-Century) rising to a height of 225 ft (69 m) and topped by four delicate pinnacles, a famous landmark. The nave is Norman, with an Early English roof; the crypt, under the choir, aisles and chapels, is Norman, as is the chapter house. The crypt is one of the four apsidal cathedral crypts in England, the others being at Worcester, Winchester and Canterbury.

Front view of Gloucester Cathedral

(Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity)

Foundation work began on the Church in 1089. 

Picture from Wikimedia Commons

Author: Saffron Blaze

The South Porch is in the Perpendicular Style, with a fan-vaulted roof, as also is the North Transept, the South Transept being Transitional Decorated Gothic. The Choir has Perpendicular tracery over Norman work, with an apsidal chapel on each side: the Choir Vaulting is particularly rich. The Late-Decorated East window is partly filled with surviving mediaeval stained glass. Between the apsidal chapels, is a cross Lady Chapel, and North of the nave are the cloisters, the carrels, or stalls, for the monks' study and writing, lying to the South. The cloisters at Gloucester are the earliest surviving fan vaults, having been designed between 1351 and 1377 by Thomas de Cambridge.

The most notable monument is the canopied shrine of King Edward II of England, who was murdered at nearby Berkeley Castle. The building and sanctuary were enriched by the visits of pilgrims to this shrine. In a side-chapel is a monument in coloured bog oak of Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror and a great benefactor of the Abbey, who is interred there. Monuments of Bishop Warburton and Dr Edward Jenner are also worthy of note.

Between 1873 and 1890, and in 1897, the Cathedral was extensively restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Misericords

The Cathedral has forty-six 14th-Century misericords and twelve 19th-Century replacements by George Gilbert Scott. Both types have a wide range of subject matter: mythology, everyday occurrences, religious symbolism and folklore.

Gloucester Cathedral (South Cloister)

These cloisters, with fan vaulted roof, were used extensively 

in the Harry Potter film series 

Author of this Photo is William Avery

Picture taken May 2007

The Three Choirs Festival

An annual music festival, the Three Choirs Festival, is hosted, in rotation,  in this Cathedral and those of Worcester and Hereford. The Three Choirs Festival is the oldest annual music festival in the world. More information on the Festival can be found at Three Choirs Festival.

PART TWO FOLLOWS

Mary Loves The Little Ones

The humble and the Little Ones are the object of Her most divine solicitude.

(Taken from the Gentle Mother Blog)

The text for the following Article is taken from http://www.ohiolink.edu

History of Bouasse-Lebel and Bouasse-Jeune

Bouasse-Lebel was started by Eulalie Bouasse in 1845 in Paris, France. Her eldest son, Henri, took over the company in 1852, and her younger son, Emile, founded a competitor company, Bouasse-Jeune in 1867. 

Both companies were known for their detailed artwork and use of innovative printing technologies, particularly chromolithography. 

Bouasse-Jeune went out of business in the early 20th-Century, and Bouasse-Lebel discontinued production in the 1960s.

Eulalie Lebel was born in Paris in 1809, the only daughter of the printer Jacques-Auguste Lebel. In 1827 she married Francois-Marie Bouasse, a foreman at a printing house. Facing destitution when her husband abandoned her and her two children, she founded a printing house in 1845 under the name "Madame Bouasse, nee Lebel." 

In 1847, Maison Bouasse-Lebel moved to the Saint-Sulpice neighbourhood of Paris, the centre of the religious printing industry in post-revolutionary France. 

My Mother, let me share in the glory of your divine affections for my Jesus.

(Illustration and Caption taken from http://holycardheaven.blogspot.co.uk/)

Eulalie Bouasse sold the now-successful company to her eldest son, Henri, in 1852. Her other surviving son, Emile, continued to work at the company. During these early years, the company produced books, maps, and other items in addition to religious images. The company received significant praise for their religious products, including a Papal Commendation in 1871.

In 1867, Emile left the company, and began his own printing house under the name Bouasse-Jeune. This company was also located in the Saint-Sulpice neighbourhood of Paris, and a hostile relationship existed between the two brothers and their companies. 

The introduction of chromolithography in the 1870s was embraced by both Bouasse-Lebel and Bouasse-Jeune, and continued their competition. The two companies became known for their intricate designs, highly symbolic and detailed artwork, and innovative use of printing technologies.

Emile Bouasse passed away in 1881 at the age of 49, and his wife and children took over the company. Eulalie Bouasse-Lebel passed away in 1898. Henri Bouasse-Lebel passed away in 1912, and his company was taken over by his son, Albert. 

Bouasse-Jeune discontinued production sometime in the beginning of the 20th-Century.

Following World War II, interest in religious images began to decline, and the innovative artwork and technology pursued by the Bouasse firms slowed as well. Holy Cards from this era depict less intricate artwork, or use photographic images. 

Albert Bouasse-Lebel passed away in 1955, and the Maison Bouasse-Lebel stopped production in the 1960s.

Beverley Minster

Text and Photos from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

unless otherwise accredited.

Beverley Minster

(Picture taken from the official web-site 

http://beverleyminster.org.uk/) 

The following three paragraphs (in italics) are taken from the official Beverley Minster web-site http://beverleyminster.org.uk/

Beverley Minster is the Parish Church of St. John and St. Martin and it includes the Minster and three associated churches: St Paul’s Tickton, St Leonard’s Molescroft and St Peter’s Woodmansey.

John, Bishop of York, founded a monastery on the site where Beverley Minster now stands. He died in 721 A.D. and his body was buried in a chapel of the Saxon church. He was canonised in 1037 and the present Church was built around his tomb. Building work began in 1220 and was completed in 1425.

Throughout the Middle Ages, miracles which took place at his tomb attracted pilgrims from far and wide. Today, the Church is still a place of pilgrimage for visitors. It also continues to be a place of prayer and worship at the heart of the community.

Beverley Minster (Great West Window)

The word "minster" (Old English "mynster") was simply a rendering of the Latin monasterium (monastery). An early appearance was in the Ecclesiastical History of the Venerable Bede (731 A.D.).

On occasion, minster is used to translate the German münster (e.g. Basel, Bonn, Constance, Essen, Freiburg, Ulm), which is a parallel translation of monasterium, but reflects a history of monasticism different from that of England.

Minster is a honorific title given to particular churches in England, most famously York Minster. The term "minster" is first found in royal foundation charters of the 7th-Century; and, although it corresponds to the Latin monasterium or monastery, it then designated any settlement of clergy living a communal life and endowed by charter with the obligation of maintaining the daily office of prayer. 

[Editor: I am reliably informed that Saint John Fisher was a resident of Beverley, Yorkshire, as a child.]

Beverley Minster in Winter, 

February 2012. 

(Picture taken from the official web-site 

http://beverleyminster.org.uk/) 

Widespread in 10th-Century Anglo-Saxon England, minsters declined in importance with the systematic introduction of parishes and parish churches from the 11th-Century onwards; but it remained a title of diginity in Late-Mediaeval England, for instance where a cathedral, monastery, collegiate church or parish church had originated with an Anglo-Saxon foundation. Eventually, a minster came to refer more generally to "any large or important church, especially a collegiate or cathedral church". In the 21st-Century, further minsters have been added by simply bestowing the status of a minster on existing parish churches.

Beverley Minster, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is a parish church in the Church of England. It is said to be the largest parish church in the UK.

Originally a collegiate church, it was not selected as a Bishop's Seat during the Dissolution of the Monasteries; nevertheless it survived as a parish church, and the chapter house was the only major part of the building to be lost. It is part of the Greater Churches Group and a Grade 1 Listed building.

Beverley Minster (The Nave)

Taken from Wikimedia Commons

Author: Elliott Simpson
Photo taken July 2002.

The Minster owes its origin and much of its subsequent importance to Saint John of Beverley, who founded a monastery, locally, around 700 A.D. and whose bones still lie beneath a plaque in the nave. The institution grew after his death and underwent several rebuildings. 

After a serious fire in 1188, the subsequent reconstruction was over-ambitious; the newly heightened central tower collapsed circa 1213, bringing down much of the surrounding Church. Work on the present structure began around 1220.

It took 200 years to complete building work, but, despite the time scale involved, the whole building has coherent form and detail and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Perpendicular design, the twin towers of the West Front being a superlative example. These formed the inspiration for the design of the present Westminster Abbey.

Beverley Minster (The West Towers)

As with many English Churches during the wars of religion in the 16th-Century, Beverley Minster was not immune to dissension. Church authorities cracked down hard on those they felt were part of the Popish conspiracy, contrary to Royal decrees. "Among those holding traditional beliefs were three of the clergy at the minster, who were charged with Popish practices in 1567; John Levet was a former member of the college and Richard Levet was presumably his brother. Both Levets were suspended from the priesthood, for keeping prohibited equipment and books, and, when restored, were ordered not to minister in Beverley or its neighbourhood."

Beverley Minster (The Ceiling)

Taken from Wikimedia Commons

In the 18th-Century, the present central tower replaced an original lantern tower that was in danger of collapse. This central tower now houses the largest surviving treadwheel crane in England, which is used when raising building materials to a workshop located in the roof. A distinctive feature of both the North and South Transepts is the presence of rose windows, and a White Rose of York, with ten equal parts. Daily tours to the crane and rose windows are available to the general public, subject to other church commitments.

Features of the interior include columns of Purbeck Marble, stiff-leaf carving, and the tomb of Lady Eleanor Percy, dating from around 1340 and covered with a richly-decorated canopy, regarded as one of the best surviving examples of Gothic art. A total of sixty-eight 16th-Century misericords are located in the quire of the Minster and nearby is a sanctuary or frith stool dating back to Anglo-Saxon times.

Beverley_Minster (Rose Window)

It is worth noting that the misericords were probably carved by the Ripon School of carvers, and bear a strong family resemblance to those at Manchester Cathedral and Ripon Cathedral.

The organ is mounted above a richly carved wooden screen dating from the late 19th-Century. There is a staircase in the North Aisle which would have been used in collegiate times to gain access to and from the chapter house.

Beverley Minster (Great West Door)

Taken from Wikimedia Commons.

Author of this photo: Graham Hermon

Photo taken June 2002.

Beverley Minster (from the South)

Taken from Wikimedia Commons.

Beverley Minster (South Transept) 

(Early English style dating from 1220 - 1260)

Taken from Wikimedia Commons

Author of this photo: David Wright

Photo taken May 2008.

Improvements to the choir were made during the 16th- and 18th-Century, and mediaeval glass, which was shattered by a storm of 1608, was meticulously collected and installed in the East Window in 1725. The Thornton family, great craftsmen of the early 18th-Century, were responsible for the font cover and the West Door. Another notable feature is the series of carvings of musicians which adorn the nave.

There is a large organ with pipes by John Snetzler from 1769. There have been subsequent rebuilds and restoration by William Hill & Sons in 1884, and Hill, Norman and Beard in 1962/63. The specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Sublime Marian Singing

Madonna and Christ Child, 

by Raphael (1483 - 1520)
(Taken from Wikimedia Commons)

Sublime Marian Singing by Corpus Christi Watershed can be found on the Our Lady Of The Rosary Church Choir Blog at http://olrchurchchoir.blogspot.co.uk/

The superb Our Lady Of The Rosary Choir contribute greatly to the Liturgy at Blackfen, Kent, England.

Our Lady's Month of May

O My Son !

O My God !

What Mystery.

(Picture taken from Holy Card Heaven)

On this day, O beautiful Mother

Ars Orandi: The Art and Beauty of Traditional Catholicism has a lovely Post up for Our Lady and Her Month of May. It can be found on the Post for Friday, 11 May 2012.

Or watch on YouTube.

Our Lady of Ushaw,

Durham, England

Pope Benedict XVI is given a gift by Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano

Pope Benedict XVI

ROME REPORTS that Pope Benedict XVI has been given a gift by Italy's president, Giorgio Napolitano,  to celebrate his 7th anniversary as Pope.

Acclaimed music director, Riccardo Muti, will lead the Orchestra and Chorus of Rome's Opera as it performs for the Pope at the Vatican's Paul VI Hall. 

Daniela Barcellona, who is known for having one of the greatest voices in international opera, is among the listed singers.

The program includes Vivaldi's Magnificat, Stabat Mater and Verdi's Te Deum.

Watch on YouTube

The Eucharist

The Eucharist in a Fruit Wreath 

by Jan Davidsz de Heem, 1648

(can be found on the Blog 

"Ars Orandi: The Art and Beauty 

of Traditional Catholicism")

http://arsorandi.blogspot.co.uk/

Lincoln Cathedral (Part Five)

Text and Pictures from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
unless otherwise accredited.

Lincoln Cathedral (West Front) 

seen from the Castle wall

Picture from Wikimedia Commons.

Photo taken March 2006 by Brian

Fan-Vaulting in Lincoln Cathedral's Chapter-House

Picture from Wikimedia Commons 

Photo taken April 2011 by Mattana

Recently, concerns have been growing once more about the state of the West Front, as there has been some stonework falling, which has raised questions as to the effectiveness of the repairs carried out in 2000.

Lincoln Cathedral is at present a very popular destination and is visited by over 250,000 tourists a year. The semi-mandatory entrance fee for weekday visiting is £6.00, which is charged on admission throughout the tourist season. The Cathedral offers tours of the Cathedral, the tower and the roof. The peak of its season is the Lincoln Christmas Market, accompanied by a massive annual production of Handel's Messiah. The Episcopacy of Lincoln Cathedral is currently in inter-regnum, following the retirement of Dr John Saxbee on 31 January 2011. The current Dean of the Cathedral is the Very Reverend Philip Buckler.

Lincoln Cathedral (by Wenzel Hollar, 1607 - 1677)

Choir

The Choir is currently formed of ten Gentlemen (who are either Lay Vicars or Choral Scholars), a team of circa twenty boys and a team of circa 20 girls.

The Cathedral accepted female choristers in 1995. Lincoln was only the second Cathedral in the country to adopt a separate girls' choir, after Salisbury Cathedral, and remains one of the few who provide exactly the same musical opportunities and equal weekly singing duties to both girls and boys. All the choristers are educated at Lincoln Minster School.

Interior of Lincoln Cathedral.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons.

Photo taken April 2012 by Merlin-UK

The Director of Music is Aric Prentice, who conducts the Choir of girls and men, and the Assistant Director of Music & Sub-Organist is Charles Harrison, who conducts the Choir of boys and men. The Organist Laureate is Colin Walsh, previously Organist and Master of the Choristers, and the Assistant Organist is Claire Innes-Hopkins. 

Like any great Cathedral, Lincoln has had its share of organists who have achieved international renown: perhaps the most famous is William Byrd, the Renaissance composer. Although it is uncertain whether Byrd was born in Lincoln, as has been claimed, he was organist at the Cathedral from 1563 until 1572 and continued to compose works specifically for the Cathedral Choir after his departure.

RAF Waddington Station Badge,

depicting Lincoln Cathedral

Organ

The organ is one of the finest examples of the work of 'Father' Henry Willis, dating from 1898 (it was his last Cathedral Organ before his death in 1901). There have been two restorations of it by Harrison & Harrison in 1960 and 1998. The specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Literature

An important scene in D. H. Lawrence's novel, "The Rainbow", takes place at Lincoln Cathedral.

The Cathedral features in Ken Follett's novel "The Pillars of the Earth".

Film

The Cathedral was used for the filming of The Da Vinci Code (based on the book of the same name). 

Filming took place mainly within the Cloisters and Chapter-House of the Cathedral, and remained a closed set. 

Lincoln Cathedral Triforium

Picture from Wikimedia Commons.

... Le chevet de la cathédrale de Lincoln (Angleterre) nous fournit un

exemple des plus remarquables de la persistance de cette tradition (fig. 21). Là le triforium est encore couvert par une charpente apparente comme celui de l'église normande romane, et le chemin de ronde supérieur se combine avec le fenestrage ouvert sous les formerets. Ce chemin de ronde n'a plus alors une utilité réelle, puisque les vitraux pourraient, s'il n'existait pas, être réparés du dehors en passant sur la tablette de recouvrement du comble du triforium. La claire-voie intérieure du chemin de ronde se relie à la fenêtre vitrée au moyen de linteauxformant l'assise du tailloir des chapiteaux ...

This image comes from

Dictionary of French Architecture from 11th- to 16th-Century 

(1856) by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879).

The Cathedral took on the role of Westminster Abbey, as the Abbey had refused to permit filming. Although there was protest at the filming, the filming was completed by the end of August 2005. In order to make the Lincoln Chapter-House appear similar to the Westminster Chapter-House, murals were painted on a special layer over the existing wall, and, elsewhere, polystyrene replicas of Isaac Newton's tomb and other Abbey monuments were set up. For a time these murals and replicas remained in the Chapter-House, as part of a "Da Vinci Code" exhibit for visitors, but in January 2008 they were all sold off in an auction to raise money for the Cathedral.

The Cathedral also doubled as Westminster Abbey for the film Young Victoria, filmed in September 2007.

Wartime history

Lincolnshire was home to many Bomber Command airfields during the Second World War, giving rise to the nickname of 'Bomber County'. Lincoln Cathedral was an easily recognisable landmark for crews returning from raids over Occupied Europe, and, as such, took on much importance to the men. 

The Station Badge, for the nearby RAF Waddington Airbase, depicts Lincoln Cathedral rising through the clouds, a sight which returning bomber crews used to help find their way back to Waddington's airfield.

Appropriately, the Cathedral, as of 2006, has the only Memorial in the United Kingdom dedicated to Bomber Command in the Second World War.


The official Lincoln Cathedral Web-Site can be found at 
http://lincolncathedral.com/


This concludes the Article on Lincoln Cathedral.