ZEPHYRINUS.

21 July, 2026

Westminster Abbey (Part Six).

English: Rose Window, Westminster Abbey.
Magyar: Westminster-apátság, az északi rózsaablak, Sir James Thornhill alkotása (az üvegmozaikokon 11 apostol figurájával) (London, Egyesült Királyság).
Photo: 8 May 2006.
Source: Transferred from hu.wikipedia to Commons.
Author: Kiss Tamás (Kit36a at Hungarian Wikipedia)
(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Westminster School and Westminster Abbey Choir School are also in the precincts of the Abbey. The Choir School educates and trains the Choirboys, who sing for Services in the Abbey.[79]

Westminster Abbey is renowned for its Choral Tradition, and the repertoire of Anglican Church Music is heard in Daily Worship, particularly at the Service of Choral Evensong.[80][81]

The Organ was built by Harrison & Harrison in 1937, then with four Manuals and eighty-four Speaking Stops, and was used for the first time at the Coronation of King George VI.

Some pipework from the previous Hill Organ of 1848 was revoiced and incorporated in the new scheme. The two Organ Cases, designed and built in the Late-19th-Century by John Loughborough Pearson, were re-instated and coloured in 1959.[82]

Writ of King Edward the Confessor to Westminster Abbey, granting land at Perton, Staffordshire, England.
Date: Circa 1062 - 1066.
Source: http://www.digipal.eu/digipal/page/320/
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1982 and 1987, Harrison & Harrison enlarged the Organ under the direction of the, then, Abbey Organist, Simon Preston, to include an additional Lower Choir Organ and a Bombarde Organ. The current instrument now has five Manuals and 109 Speaking Stops.

In 2006, the Console of the Organ was refurbished by Harrison & Harrison, and space was prepared for two additional 16ft Stops on the Lower Choir Organ and the Bombarde Organ.[82]

The current Organist and Master of the Choristers, James O’Donnell, has been in Post since 2000.[83]

Entrance to the Chapter House, Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 27 September 2006.
Source: Westminster Abbey
Author: Herry Lawford
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Bells at the Abbey were overhauled in 1971. The Ring is now made up of ten Bells, hung for Change Ringing, cast in 1971 by The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, tuned to the notes F#, E, D, C#, B, A, G, F#, E and D.

The Tenor Bell, in D (588.5 Hz), has a weight of thirty cwt,

1 qtr, 15 lb (3403 lb or 1544 kg).[84]

In addition, there are two Service Bells, cast by Robert Mot, in 1585 and 1598, respectively, a Sanctus Bell, cast in 1738 by Richard Phelps and Thomas Lester, and two unused Bells – one Bell cast about 1320, by the successor to R. de Wymbish, and a second Bell, cast in 1742, by Thomas Lester.[84]

“O, Magnum Mysterium”.
Sung by the nearby Catholic Westminster Cathedral Choir.
Available on YouTube
HERE

The two Service Bells and the 1320 Bell, along with a fourth, small, Silver, “Dish Bell”, kept in the Refectory, have been noted as being of historical importance by The Church Buildings Council of The Church of England.[85]

The Chapter House was built concurrently with the East parts of the Abbey under King Henry III, between 1245 and 1253.[86] It was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1872. The Entrance is approached from the East Cloister Walk and includes a Double Doorway with a large Tympanum, above.[86]

Inner and Outer Vestibules lead to the Octagonal Chapter House. It is built in a Geometrical Gothic Style with an Octagonal Crypt, below. A Pier of eight Shafts carries the Vaulted Ceiling.

Coat-of-Arms, Westminster Abbey.
Blazon:
Azure, a Cross Patonce between · five Martlets Or; and on a Chief Or a Pale Quarterly of France Modern and England between two Roses Gules Barbed and Seeded Proper.
Date: 16 September 2021.
Source: Own work.
Elements from File:Royal Arms of Edward the Confessor.svg, File:Royal Arms of England (1603-1707).svg,
File:Tudor Rose.svg
Artist: Fenn-O-maniC
(Wikimedia Commons)

To the sides, are Blind Arcading, remains of 14th-Century Paintings and numerous Stone Benches, above which are innovatory large Four-Light, Quatre-Foiled, Windows.[86] These are virtually contemporary with The Sainte-Chapelle, Paris.[86]

The Chapter House has an original Mid-13th-Century tiled Pavement. A Door, made with wood from a single tree grown in Hainault Forest, within the Vestibule, dates from around 1050 and is one of the oldest in Britain.[87][88]

The Exterior includes Flying Buttresses, added in the 14th-Century, and a leaded Tent-Lantern Roof on an iron frame, designed by Scott.

The Coronation of Queen Victoria,
Westminster Abbey.
Date: 1839.
Artist: John Martin (1789–1854).
Collection: Tate Britain.
Source/Photographer: [1]
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Chapter House was originally used in the 13th-Century by Benedictine Monks for daily meetings. It later became a meeting place of The King’s Great Council and The Commons, predecessors of Parliament.[89]

The Pyx Chamber formed the Undercroft of the Monks’ Dormitory. It dates to the Late-11th-Century and was used as a Monastic and Royal Treasury.

The Outer Walls and Circular Piers are of 11th-Century date, several of the Capitals were enriched in the 12th-Century, and the Stone Altar added in the 13th-Century.

The Coronation of King George IV,
Westminster Abbey.
Date: 19 July 1821.
Artist: James Stephanoff (1786–1874).
Source: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/
collection/750785/coronation-of-george-iv-
in-westminster-abbey-19-july-1821
(Wikimedia Commons)

The term “Pyx” refers to the Boxwood Chest in which coins were held and presented to a Jury during the Trial of the Pyx, in which newly-minted coins were presented to ensure they conformed to the required standards.[90]

The Chapter House and Pyx Chamber at Westminster Abbey are in the guardianship of English Heritage, but under the care and management of The Dean and Chapter of Westminster.[89]

The Westminster Abbey Museum was located in the 11th-Century Vaulted Undercroft beneath the former Monks’ Dormitory in Westminster Abbey. This was one of the oldest areas of the Abbey, dating back almost to the Foundation of the Church by Edward the Confessor in 1065.

This space had been used as a Museum since 1908[91], but was closed to the public in June 2018, when it was replaced as a Museum by The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, high up in the Abbey Triforium.[53]

The Westminster Abbey Web-Site can be accessed HERE

This concludes the Article on Westminster Abbey.

20 July, 2026

Saint Margaret Of Antioch. Virgin And Martyr. Whose Feast Day Is 20 July. Red Vestments.

Saint Margaret the Virgin (Ἁγία Μαρίνα)
Artist: Lazaros (Λαζάρος).
Our Saint wields a hammer on a demon.
Date: 23 March 1857.
Collection: Byzantine and Christian Museum.
Source/Photographer: Source. Source 2.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from “The Liturgical Year”.
By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
Volume 13.
Time After Pentecost.
Book IV.

This same day brings before us a rival of the Warrior-Martyr, Saint George: Margaret.

Margaret, like Saint George, victorious over the dragon, and, like him, called in the Menæa of the Greeks, “The Great Soldier”.

The Cross was her weapon; and, like the Soldier, the Virgin, too, consummated her trial in her blood. They were equally renowned, also, in those chivalrous times when valour and Faith fought hand-in-hand for Christ beneath the Standard of the Saints.

So early as the 7th-Century A.D., our Western Island rivalled the East in honouring the “Pearl” [Editor: “The word “Margaret” means “Pearl”] drawn from the abyss of infidelity.

Before the disasterous schism brought about by King Henry VIII, the Island of Saints Celebrated this Feast Day as a Double of the Second-Class; women alone were obliged to rest from servile work, in gratitude for the protection afforded them by Saint Margaret at the moment of childbirth — a favour which ranked her among the Saints called in the Middle Ages “Auxiliatores” or “Helpers” [Zephyrinus published a Post on The Fourteen Auxiliary Saints on 10 August 2025, which included Saint Margaret].

But it was not in England alone that Saint Margaret was invoked, as history proves by the many and illustrious persons of all Countries who have borne her Blessed name.

In Heaven, too, there is great festivity around the throne of Saint Margaret; we learn this from such trustworthy witnesses as Saint Gertrude the Great and Saint Frances of Rome, who, though divided by a Century of time, were both, by a special favour of their Divine Spouse, allowed, while still on Earth, to assist at this Heavenly spectacle.

The ancient legend in the Roman Breviary was suppressed in the 16th-Century by Pope Saint Pius V as not being sufficiently authentic.

We, therefore, give instead some Responsories and Antiphons and a Collect, taken from what appears to be the very Office said by Saint Gertrude the Great; for, in the vision mentioned above, allusion is made to one of these Responsories, “Virgo Veneranda”.

Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet. French Bishop And Theologian. 1627 - 1704.

Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet.
Artist: Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743).
Date: 1698.
Current location: Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
Source/Photographer: https://www.allposters.com/gallery
(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet (27 September 1627 – 12 April 1704) was a French Bishop and Theologian, renowned for his Sermons and other Addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant Orators of all time and a masterly French stylist.

Court Preacher to King Louis XIV of France, Bossuet was a strong advocate of Political Absolutism and The Divine Right of Kings. He argued that government was divine and that Kings received their power from God. He was also an important Courtier and Politician.

Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet.
French Bishop And Theologian.
1627 - 1704.
Available on YouTube
HERE

The Works best known to English speakers are three great orations delivered at the funerals of Queen Henrietta Maria, widow of King Charles I of England (1669), her daughter, Henriette, Duchess of Orléans (1670), and the outstanding soldier le Grand Condé (1687).

His work “Discours sur l’histoire universelle” (or Discourse on Universal History) (1681) is regarded by many Catholics as an actualisation, or second edition, of The City of God of Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Saint Etienne’s Cathedral, Metz, France, where

Bossuet was made a Canon (aged thirteen) in 1640.

This File: 24 February 2006.

User: Tertulien.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Bossuet was born at Dijon. He came from a family of prosperous Burgundian lawyers – on both his paternal and maternal side, his ancestors had held legal posts for at least a Century.

He was the fifth son born to Beneigne Bossuet, a Judge of the Parlement (a Provincial High Court) at Dijon, and Marguerite Mouchet. His parents decided on a career in The Church for their fifth son, so he was Tonsured at age ten.

The boy was sent to school at the Collège des Godrans, a Classical School run by The Jesuits of Dijon. When his father was appointed to the Parlement at Metz, Bossuet was left in Dijon under the care of his uncle, Claude Bossuet d’Aiseray, a renowned scholar.

At the Collège des Godrans, he gained a reputation for hard work: Fellow students nicknamed him “Bos suetus aratro”, an “ox broken in to the plough”.

His father’s influence at Metz allowed him to obtain for the young Bossuet a Canonicate in the Cathedral of Metz, when the boy was just thirteen years old.

In 1642, Bossuet enrolled in the Collège de Navarre in Paris

to finish his Classical Studies and to begin the study of Philosophy and Theology. His mentor at Navarre was the College’s President, Nicolas Cornet, the Theologian, whose denunciation of Antoine Arnauld at The Sorbonne in 1649

was a major episode in The Jansenist controversy.

In 1643, Arnaud introduced Bossuet to the Hôtel de Rambouillet, a great centre of aristocratic culture and the original home of the Précieuses. Bossuet was already showing signs of the oratorical brilliance which served him so well throughout his life.

On one celebrated occasion at the Hôtel de Rambouillet, during a dispute about extempore Preaching, the sixteen-year-old Bossuet was called on to deliver an impromptu Sermon at 11 p.m. Voiture famously quipped: “I never heard anybody Preach so early, nor so late”.

Portrait of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet in 1702.

Artist: Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743).

Date: 1702.

Current location: Louvre Museum, Paris.

Source/Photographer: Own work by uploader.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Bossuet became a Master of Arts in 1643. He held his first Thesis (Tentativa) in Theology on 25 January 1648, in the presence of The Prince de Condé. Later, in 1648, he became a Sub-Deacon at Metz. He became a Deacon in 1649. During this period, he Preached his first Sermons.

He held his second Thesis (Sorbonica) on 9 November 1650. Then, in preparation for The Priesthood, he spent the next two years in retirement under the Spiritual Direction of Saint Vincent de Paul.

In January 1652, Bossuet re-entered public life, being named Archdeacon of Sarrebourg. He was Ordained a Priest on

18 March 1652. A few weeks later, he defended his brilliant doctoral work and became a Doctor of Divinity.

He spent the next seven years at Metz, where his father’s influence had got him a Canonry at age thirteen and where he now also had the Office of Archdeacon.

He was plunged at once into the thick of controversy; for nearly half of Metz was Protestant, and Bossuet’s first appearance in print was a refutation of the Huguenot Pastor, Paul Ferry (1655), and he frequently engaged in Religious controversies with Protestants (and, less regularly, with Jews) during his time at Metz.

To reconcile the Protestants with The Roman Catholic Church became the great object of his dreams; and, for this purpose, he began to train himself carefully for the Pulpit, an all-important centre of influence in a land where political assemblies were unknown and novels and newspapers scarcely born.

His youthful imagination was unbridled, and his ideas ran easily into a kind of paradoxical subtlety, redolent of the Divinity School.

Nevertheless, his time at Metz was an important time for developing his Pulpit Oratory and for allowing him to continue his studies of Scripture and The Fathers.

He also gained political experience through his participation in the Local Assembly of The Three Orders.

In 1657, in Metz, Bossuet Preached before Anne of Austria, mother of King Louis XIV. As a result, he received the honorific title of “Counsellor and Preacher to the King”.

Until he was over seventy years, Bossuet enjoyed good health, but in 1702 he developed chronic kidney stones. Two years later, he was a hopeless invalid, and, on 12 April 1704, he died quietly. His Funeral Oration was given by Charles de la Rue, S.J. He was buried at Meaux Cathedral.

Bossuet is widely considered to be one of the most influential Homiliticians of all time. He is one of the Preachers, along with John Tillotson and Louis Bourdaloue, who began the transition from Baroque to Neo-Classical Preaching.

He Preached with a simple eloquence that eschewed the grandiose extravagances of earlier Preaching. He focused on ethical, rather than doctrinal, messages, often drawing from the lives of Saints, or Saintly contemporaries, as examples.

He Preached, for example, on Saint Francis de Sales, as well as Funeral Orations on Queen Henrietta Maria of France and Henrietta Anne of England.

Bossuet’s Funeral Orations, in particular, had lasting importance and were translated early into many languages, including English. Such was their power that even Voltaire, normally so antagonistic toward Clergy, praised his oratorical excellence.

Saint Margaret. Virgin. Martyr. Whose Feast Day Is, Today, 20 July. Red Vestments. Zephyrinus Shows Off His “Missale Romanum” From 1861. (Much Better Than A “Missalette”).

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Margaret.
Virgin And Martyr.
Feast Day 20 July.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

The Introit for The Mass for Saint Margaret, Virgin and Martyr, on 20 July, from Zephyrinus's Missale Romanum (dated 1861), which was kindly given by a Priest friend. Readers have to decide whether this Liturgical presentation has more Sanctity, Profundity, and Worth, than what is often on offer in today's "Missalettes".

The size of the Missale Romanum is 17 inches tall (43 cm) and 12 inches wide (30 cm). Not exactly designed to fit into one's pocket. It was probably designed to rest on a Brass Eagle Lectern in a Monastic Sanctuary.

Mass: Me exspectavérunt.
All Illustrations: ZEPHYRINUS

Saint Margaret, who had been taught The Christian Religion by her nurse, perished by the sword in the cruel General Persecution, at Antioch, in Pisidia, towards 255 A.D. - 275 A.D.

From The East, her Veneration was carried to The West, during The Crusades. She is especially invoked by those about to become mothers. Her name is in The List of The Fourteen Auxiliary Saints (see The Post for 28 July 2015).

Saint Jerome Emilian. Confessor. Feast Day, Today, 20 July. White Vestments.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Jerome Emilian.
Confessor.
Feast Day 20 July.

Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Jerome Emilian.
Founder of the Somascan Fathers.
Five hundred years service to
orphans and needy youngsters.
Illustration: SOMASCAN FATHERS

Born at Venice, Italy, of the patrician family of Emiliani, Jerome unreservedly gave himself up to the influence of Divine Grace, “which, on the ruins of the corrupt man, raised him as a new man made in the Image of God” (Secret).

Filled with the Spirit of Adoption, which makes us Children of The Father, he was chosen by Heaven to be the Father of Orphans and of the Poor (Collect).

As Jesus had asked the young man in the Gospel to do, he left everything and, like his Master, made little Children come unto him (Gospel).

He Founded, at Somascha, between Milan and Bergamo, Italy, a Congregation whose object was to educate youth in Orphanages and Colleges.

Wherefore, the Introit, applying to him the words of Jeremias, shows him full of compassion for children, who, thanks to him, learned to praise The Lord.

Dividing his bread with those who were hungry, and covering the naked, he opened asylums for the Poor and gave them abundant alms with the help of the Nobility of Pavia and Milan (Epistle, Gradual, Alleluia).

He died of the plague in 1537, having borne on his shoulders the plague-stricken to their burial place (Offertory).

Let us have recourse to the Father of Mercies, so that we may be filled, like Saint Jerome, with Holy Charity for the Poor and for Children.

Mass: Effúsum est.
Commemoration: Saint Margaret.

Westminster Abbey (Part Five).

Westminster Abbey and The Elizabeth Tower,

which houses the Great Bell called “Big Ben”.

Photo: 17 June 2013.

Source: _DSC5955

Author: dconvertini

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Henry III rebuilt the Abbey in honour of a Royal Saint, Edward the Confessor, whose relics were placed in a Shrine in the Sanctuary.

Henry III was interred nearby, as were many of the Plantagenet Kings of England, their wives and other relatives. Until the death of George II in 1760, most Kings and Queens were buried in the Abbey, some notable exceptions being Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VIII and Charles I, who are buried in Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Other exceptions include Edward II, buried at Gloucester Cathedral, King John, buried at Worcester Cathedral, Henry IV buried at Canterbury Cathedral, and Richard III, now buried at Leicester Cathedral, and the “de facto” Queen, Lady Jane Grey, buried in the Chapel of Saint Peter ad Vincula, in The Tower of London.

English: Westminster Abbey.

Español: Abadía de Westminster, Londres.

Photo: 7 August 2014.

Source: Own work.

Author: Diego Delso

(Wikimedia Commons)

More recently, Monarchs have been buried either in Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor, or at Frogmore, to the East of Windsor Castle.[65]

From the Middle Ages, aristocrats were buried inside Chapels, while Monks and other people associated with the Abbey were buried in The Cloisters and other areas.

One of these was Geoffrey Chaucer, who was buried here as he had apartments in the Abbey, where he was employed as Master of The King’s Works.

Tympanum. The Great West Door.

Westminster Abbey.

Photo: 19 June 2006.

Source: From geograph.org.uk

Author: R Sones

(Wikimedia Commons)

Other Poets, Writers, and Musicians, were buried or memorialised around Chaucer, in what became known as Poets’ Corner. Abbey Musicians, such as Henry Purcell, were also buried in their place of work.[66]

Subsequently, it became one of Britain’s most significant honours to be buried or commemorated in the Abbey.[67]

The practice of burying National Figures in the Abbey began under Oliver Cromwell with the burial of Admiral Robert Blake in 1657[68] (although he was subsequently reburied outside).

Flying Buttresses, Westminster Abbey.

Photo: 15 August 2010.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/

photos/cogdog/4899612240/

Author: cogdogblog

(Wikimedia Commons)

The practice spread to include Generals, Admirals, Politicians, Doctors, and Scientists, such as Isaac Newton, buried on

4 April 1727, Charles Darwin, buried on 26 April 1882, and Stephen Hawking, ashes interred on 15 June 2018.

Another was William Wilberforce, who led the movement to abolish slavery in The United Kingdom and the Plantations, buried on 3 August 1833. Wilberforce was buried in the North Transept, close to his friend, the former Prime Minister, William Pitt.[69]

During the Early-20th-Century, it became increasingly common to bury cremated remains, rather than coffins, in the Abbey.

Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.

Artist: Canaletto (1697–1768).

Collection: Private collection

Date: Early-1750s.

This File: 13 April 2009.

User: Rfdarsie

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1905, the Actor, Sir Henry Irving, was cremated and his ashes buried in Westminster Abbey, thereby becoming the first person ever to be cremated prior to interment at the Abbey.[70]

The majority of interments at the Abbey are of cremated remains, but some burials still take place – Frances Challen, wife of Sebastian Charles, Canon of Westminster, was buried alongside her husband in the South Choir Aisle in 2014.[71]

Members of The Percy Family have a Family Vault, The Northumberland Vault, in Saint Nicholas’s Chapel, within the Abbey.[72]

Ceiling of Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey.

The Fan- and Pendant-Vaulted Ceiling is covered with Stone Tracery. Flags for Members of The Order of The Bath

can be seen at the sides.

Photo: 29 May 2021.

Source: Own work.

Author: JRennocks

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the floor, just inside The Great West Door, in the centre

of the Nave, is the tomb of The Unknown Warrior, an unidentified British Soldier killed on a European battlefield during The First World War. He was buried in the Abbey on

11 November 1920. This grave is the only one in the Abbey on which it is forbidden to walk.[73]

At The East End of The Lady Chapel is a Memorial Chapel to the Airmen of The Royal Air Force, who were killed in The Second World War. It incorporates a Memorial Window to The Battle of Britain, which replaces an earlier Tudor, Stained-Glass Window, destroyed in the War.[74]

On 6 September 1997, the formal, though not “State”,

Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, was held. It was a Royal Ceremonial Funeral, including Royal Pageantry and Anglican Funeral Liturgy.

Cloisters, Westminster Abbey.

Photo: 3 October 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas

(Wikimedia Commons)

A second Public Service was held at the demand of the people. The burial occurred privately, later the same day, on the grounds of her Family Estate, Althorp, on a Private Island.[75]

In 1998, ten vacant Statue Niches on the façade above The Great West Door were filled with representative 20th-Century Christian Martyrs of various denominations.

Those commemorated are Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King Jr., Óscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi, and Wang Zhiming.[76][77]