Pope Saint Pius V (1504 - 1572). Pope And Confessor. Feast Day 5 May.

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

Saint Pius V.

Pope and Confessor.

Feast Day 5 May.

Double.

White Vestments.

Deutsch: Porträt des Papst Pius V.

English: Pope Saint Pius V.

Artist: El Greco (1541–1614).

Date: Circa 1600 - 1610.

Current location: Private collection, Paris.

Source: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.

DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by

DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pius, born at Bosco, in Lombardy, Italy, entered at the age of fourteen into the Order of Preachers (The Dominicans).

As Bishop, Cardinal and Pope (Introit, Epistle, Communion), he put to profit the talents entrusted to him by God (Gospel).

His Pontificate, although short, was one of the most glorious of the 16th-Century. Protestantism had proclaimed the Reformation and Islam threatened the West. To remedy the ills, under which Christendom groaned, Pope Saint Pius V enforced obedience to the Decrees of the Council of Trent, published a new edition of the Missal and Breviary and obtained, by the Prayers he asked for, the glorious victory won by the Christian forces at Lepanto in 1571.

He instituted, on that occasion, the Feast of Our Lady of Victories, which became, later on, the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary.

He died on 5 May 1572, reciting the Hymn of Paschaltide.

Mass: Státuit.

Pope Saint Pius V (17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was Pope from 8 January 1566 to his death in 1572. He is venerated as a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardisation of the Roman Rite within the Latin Church. 

Pius V declared Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church and patronised prominent sacred music composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

As a Cardinal, Ghislieri gained a reputation for putting orthodoxy before personalities, prosecuting eight French Bishops for Heresy. He also stood firm against nepotism, rebuking his predecessor, Pope Pius IV, to his face, when he wanted to make a 13-year old member of his family a Cardinal and subsidise a nephew from the Papal Treasury.

In affairs of State, Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England for schism and persecution of English Catholics during her reign. He also arranged the formation of the Holy League, an alliance of Catholic States. Although outnumbered, the Holy League famously defeated the Ottoman Empire, which had threatened to overrun Europe, at the Battle of Lepanto. Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of The Blessed Virgin Mary and instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory.

The Romanesque Old Cathedral, Salamanca, Spain. "O Rex Gloriae". Sebastián De Vivanco (1551 – 1622).

The Article, on Sebastian de Vivanco, can be found on the Atrium Musicologicum Blog
at http://musicologicus.blogspot.co.uk

Illustrations and Captions from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

"Torre del Gallo" of the Romanesque
Old Cathedral of Salamanca, Spain.

Photo: 15 October 2006.

Source: Flickr.

Author: chicadelatele.

Reviewer: FlickreviewR.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Sebastian de Vivanco's
"O Rex Gloriae".

can be heard on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/w1uF1hWEiOY

Sebastián de Vivanco (Ávila, 1551 – Salamanca, October 26, 1622) was a Spanish Priest and composer of the Renaissance.

Vivanco was born in Ávila, like Tomás Luis de Victoria; however, the exact date of his birth is unknown. It is hypothesized that he was born a few years after Victoria and that they both knew each other as children and sang together at the chapel of the Cathedral of Ávila. During the time that Vivanco sang in the chorus, the maestri di cappella were Gerónimo de Espinar, Bernardino de Ribera (1559) and Juan Navarro Hispalensis (1563). This last composer had the most profound influence on Vivanco. After 1566, with the change in his voice, Vivanco commenced studies as a Priest, as Victoria had done.

Around 1576, while still a Sub-Deacon, he was named maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Lérida, but shortly thereafter, on July 4, 1576, he was dismissed from this position. Upon his return to Castille, in February 1577, he was named maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Segovia, a position of higher prestige and pay than the previous ones. He moved there with his mother and remained there for the following ten years. During this period he became a Deacon and then, in 1581, was ordained as a Priest.

In 1588, he returned to his native city, Ávila, in order to take charge of the Cathedral Chapel. He remained here until 1602, when he took possession of the position of maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Salamanca. This was his last position and the most important to his musical contributions. His three publications were printed during his time in this city. On February 19, 1603, he became professor of music at the University of Salamanca, and on March 4 of the same year, he received the degree of Master of Arts honoris causa. Vivanco was occupied with his position in the Cathedral of the university until his death, on October 26, 1622.

English: The Apse,
Old Cathedral of Salamanca, Spain.

Espanol: Retablo Catedral Vieja Salamanca.

Photo: 19 August 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Conde negro.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Old Cathedral of Salamanca, Spain.

Espanol: Torres de las dos catedrales de Salamanca.
En primer plano, la Catedral Vieja..

Photo: 21 March 2007.

Source: Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rahego/2378714934/).

Author: rahego.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Nave.
Old Cathedral of Salamanca, Spain.

Español: Espectacular muestra del arte protogótico español 

con influencia afrancesada.

Photo: February 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: José Luis Filpo Cabana.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Paschaltide.

Image: TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

Chester Cathedral. Part Four.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Chester Cathedral.

Cathedral Church of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary,

Chester, England.

The Cathedral, seen from the South-East, looking towards the Choir, right, with the Lady Chapel projecting, extreme right, and the South Transept, left. The Lady Chapel is in the Early-English (or Lancet) Gothic Style, marked by the simple windows. The Choir is in the Late-Geometric Decorated Gothic Style. The South Transept has Flowing Decorated Windows in the Aisle, and Perpendicular Gothic Windows in the Clerestory. The friable Red Sandstone building

was heavily restored in the 19th-Century.

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family Album.

Author: Stephen Hamilton.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The North-West Tower is also of Norman construction. It serves as the Baptistry and houses a black marble Font, consisting of a bowl on a large Baluster dating from 1697. The lower part of the North Wall of the Nave is also from the Norman building, but can only be viewed from the Cloister, because the Interior has been decorated with mosaic.

The Early English Gothic Chapter House, built between 1230 and 1265, is rectangular and opens off a "charming" vestibule, leading from the North Transept. The Chapter House has grouped windows of simple un-Traceried form. Alec Clifton-Taylor describes the exterior of this building as a "modest, but rather elegant, example of composition in Lancets", while Nikolaus Pevsner says of the Interior: "It is a wonderfully noble room", which is the "aesthetic climax of the Cathedral". To the North of the Chapter House is the Slype [narrow corridor or passage], also Early English in style, and the Warming Room, which contains two large former fireplaces. The Monastic Refectory, to the North of the Cloister, is of about the same date as the Chapter House.

The Lady Chapel, to the Eastern End of the Choir, dates from between 1265 and 1290. It is of Three Bays, and contains the Shrine of Saint Werburgh, dating from the 14th-Century. The Vault of the Lady Chapel is the only one in the Cathedral that is of stone. It is decorated with carved Roof Bosses representing the Trinity, the Madonna and Child, and the murder of Thomas Becket. The Chapel also has a Sedilia and a Piscina.

Chester Cathedral's

Clerestory Windows.

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family photo.

Author: Stephen Hamilton.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Deutsch: Stralsund, Deutschland.

Das Foto zeigt Details des Rathauses (außen).

English: The Church of Saint Nicolai, Stralsund, Germany.

The Clerestory Windows are the level between the two green roofs.

Photo: 24 January 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: de:Benutzer:Klugschnacker.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Choir, of Five Bays, was built between 1283 and 1315, to the design of Richard Lenginour, and is an early example of Decorated Gothic architecture. The Piers have strongly modelled attached Shafts, supporting deeply moulded Arches. There is a Triforium Gallery with four Cusped Arches to each Bay. The Sexpartite Vault, which is a 19th-Century restoration, is supported by clusters of Three Shafts, which spring from energetic figurative Corbels. The overall effect is robust, and contrasts with the delicacy of the Pinnacled Choir Stalls, the Tracery of the windows and the rich decoration of the Vault, which was carried out by the ecclesiastical designers,Clayton and Bell. The Choir Stalls, dating from about 1380, are one of the glories of the Cathedral.

The Aisles of the Choir previously extended on either side of the Lady Chapel. The South Aisle was shortened about 1870 by George Gilbert Scott, and given an Apsidal East End, becoming the Chapel of Saint Erasmus. The Eastern End of the North Aisle contains the Chapel of Saint Werburgh.

The Nave of Six Bays, and the large Aisled South Transept, were begun in about 1323, probably to the design of Nicholas de Derneford. There are a number of windows containing fine Flowing Decorated Tracery of this period. The work ceased in 1375, in which year there was a severe outbreak of Plague in England. The building of the Nave was recommenced in 1485, more than 150 years after it was begun. The architect was probably William Rediche. Remarkably, for an English Mediaeval architect, he maintained the original form, changing only the details. The Nave was roofed with a Stellar Vault, rather like that of the Lady Chapel at Ely and the Choir at York Minster, both of which date from the 1370s. Like that at York, the Vault is of wood, imitating stone.

From about 1493 until 1525, the architect appears to have been Seth Derwall, succeeded by George Derwall until 1537. Seth Derwall completed the South Transept to a Perpendicular Gothic design, as seen in the Transomed Windows of the Clerestory. He also built the Central Tower, South-West Porch and Cloisters. Work commenced on the South-West Tower in 1508, but it had not risen above the roof-line at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and has never been completed. The Central Tower, rising to 127 feet (39 m), is a “Lantern Tower”, with large windows letting light into The Crossing. Its external appearance has been altered by the addition of four Battlemented Turrets, by George Gilbert Scott in the 19th-Century.

Chester Cathedral Cloisters.

Cathedral Church of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Photo: 7 September 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mum's taxi.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Perpendicular Gothic Cloister is entered from the Cathedral through a Norman doorway in the North Aisle. The Cloister is part of the building programme that commenced in the 1490s and is probably the work of Seth Derwall. The South Wall of the Cloister, dating from the later part of the Norman period, forms the North Wall of the Nave of the Cathedral, and includes Blind Arcading. Among the earliest remaining structures on the site is an Undercroft, off the West Range of the Cloisters, which dates from the Early-12th -Century, and which was originally used by the Monks for storing food. It consists of two Naves, with Groin Vaults, and short round Piers with round scalloped Capitals.

Leading from the South of the Undercroft, is the Abbot's passage, which dates from around 1150, and consists of Two Bays with Rib-Vaulting. Above the Abbot's Passage, approached by a stairway from the West Cloister, is Saint Anselm's Chapel, which also dates from the 12th-Century. It is in Three Bays and has a 19th-Century Gothic-Style plaster Vault. The Chancel is in One Bay and was re-modelled in the Early-17th-Century. The Screen, Altar Rails, Holy Table and plaster Ceiling of the Chancel date from the 17th-Century. The North Range of the Cloister gives access to a Refectory, built by Simon de Whitchurch in the 13th-Century. It contains an Early-English Pulpit, approached by a staircase with an ascending Arcade. The only other similar Pulpit in England is in Beaulieu Abbey.

By the 19th-Century, the fabric of the building had become badly weathered, with Charles Hiatt writing that: The surface rot of the very perishable red sandstone, of which the Cathedral was built, was positively unsightly" and that the "whole place, previous to restoration, struck one as woebegone and neglected; it perpetually seemed to hover on the verge of collapse, and yet was without a trace of the romance of the average ruin".

Between 1818 and 1820, the architect Thomas Harrison restored the South Transept, adding Corner Turrets. This part of the building served, until 1881, as the Parish Church of Saint Oswald, and it was ecclesiastically separate. From 1844, R. C. Hussey carried out a limited restoration, including work on the South Side of the Nave.

Chester Cathedral.

Choir seen from the West End.

Collection: A. D. White Architectural Photographs,

Cornell University Library.

Accession Number: 15/5/3090.01045.

Photo: Circa 1870.

Source: Chester Cathedral, Choir seen from West.

Author: Cornell University Library.

(originally James Valentine (1815-1880)).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The most extensive restoration was carried out by the Gothic Revival architect, George Gilbert Scott, who, between 1868 and 1876, "almost entirely re-cased" the Cathedral. The current building is acknowledged to be mainly the product of this Victorian restoration, commissioned by the Dean, John Saul Howson. In addition to extensive additions and alterations to the body of the Church, Scott re-modelled the Tower, adding Turrets and Crenellations. Scott chose sandstone, from the quarries at Runcorn, for his restoration work. In addition to the restoration of the fabric of the building, Scott designed internal fittings, such as the Choir Screen, to replace those destroyed during the Civil War. He built the Fan Vault of the South Porch, renewed the Wooden Vault of the Choir, and added a great many decorative features to the Interior.

PART FIVE FOLLOWS.

Chester Cathedral. Part Three.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

Chester Cathedral.

Cathedral Church of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary,

Chester, England.

The Cathedral, seen from the South-East, looking towards the Choir, right, with the Lady Chapel projecting, extreme right, and the South Transept, left. The Lady Chapel is in the Early-English

(or Lancet) Gothic Style, marked by the simple windows. The Choir is in the Late-Geometric Decorated Gothic Style. The South Transept has Flowing Decorated Windows in the Aisle,

and Perpendicular Gothic Windows in the Clerestory. The friable Red Sandstone building

was heavily restored in the 19th-Century.

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family Album.

Author: Stephen Hamilton.

(Wikimedia Commons)

At the Eastern End, the symmetrical arrangement of the Aisles was lost when the end of the South Aisle was demolished and rebuilt in an Apsidal shape. The Nave, Choir and South Transept have wide Aisles on either side, and are lit by Clerestory windows and large multi-light windows in each of the three cliff-like ends. To the North of the Cathedral, are Monastic buildings, including the Cloister, Refectory and a rectangular Chapter House. The façade of the building is abutted on the North by later buildings.

Chester Cathedral.

The windows have Curvilinear Drip-Mouldings.

Photo: September 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Elfineer at English Wikipedia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Like the Cathedrals of Carlisle, Lichfield and Worcester, Chester Cathedral is built of New Red Sandstone, in this case, Keuper Sandstone, from the Cheshire Basin. The stone lends itself to detailed carving, but is also friable, easily eroded by rain and wind, and is badly affected by pollution. With the other red sandstone buildings, Chester is one of the most heavily restored of England's Cathedrals. The restoration, which included much refacing and many new details, took place mainly in the 19th-Century.

Because the South Transept is similar in dimension to the Nave and Choir, views of the building from the South-East and South-West give the impression of a building balanced around a central axis, with its Tower as the hub. The Tower is of the Late-15th-Century Perpendicular Style, but its four large Battlemented Turrets are the work of the restoration architect George Gilbert Scott.

The Lady Chapel,

Chester Cathedral.

Early-English Gothic

(1265 - 1290).

Photo: 4 July 2010.

Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Author: user:mcginnly.

(Wikimedia Commons)

With its rhythmic arrangement of large, Traceried Windows, Pinnacles, Battlements and Buttresses, the exterior of Chester Cathedral, from the South, presents a fairly homogeneous character, which is an unusual feature, as England's Cathedrals are, in general, noted for their stylistic diversity.

Close examination reveals Window Tracery of several building stages from the 13th-to the Early-16th-Century. The richness of the 13th-Century Tracery is accentuated by the presence of ornate, crocketted, drip-mouldings around the windows; those around the Perpendicular windows are of simpler form.

Chester Cathedral's

Lady Chapel has Lancet Gothic Windows,

with Mid-19th-Century glass by William Wailes(1859),

depicting the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ.

Photo: 4 July 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: user:mcginnly.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The façade of the Cathedral is dominated by a large, deeply-recessed, Eight-Light-Window in the Perpendicular Style, above a recessed doorway, set in a screen-like Porch, designed, probably, by Seth and George Derwall, in the Early-1500s. This Porch formed part of the same Late-15th-Century building programme as the South Transept, Central and South-West Towers, and Cloister.

Neither of the West Towers was completed. To the North, is the Lower Stage of a Norman Tower, while, to the South, is the Lower Stage of a Tower designed and begun, probably by Seth and George Derwall, in 1508, but left incomplete following the Dissolution of the Monastery in 1538. The Cathedral's façade is abutted, on the North, by a Victorian building housing the education centre. The door of the West Front is not used as the normal entrance to the Cathedral, which is through the South-West Porch, which is in an ornate Tudor Style.

Chester Cathedral.

The wooden Quadripartite Vault,

of the Choir,

was rebuilt by George Gilbert Scott.

Photo: 18 March 2008.

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia.

Author: Original uploader was Joopercoopers at en.wikipedia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Interior of Chester Cathedral gives a warm and mellow appearance, because of the pinkish colour of the sandstone. The proportions appear spacious, because the view from the West End of the Nave, to the East End, is unimpeded by a Pulpitum and the Nave, although not long, is both wide and high, compared with many of England's Cathedrals.

The Piers of the Nave and Choir are widely spaced; those of the Nave carrying only the Clerestory of large windows with no Triforium Gallery. The proportions are made possible partly because the ornate Stellar Vault, like that at York Minster, is of wood, not stone.

 Chester Cathedral's

West Window is Perpendicular Gothic,

with 20th-Century Stained-Glass,
by W. T. Carter Shapland (1961):

The Holy Family, with Saints Werburgh, Oswald, Aidan,
Chad, Wilfrid, and Ethelfleda.

Photo: 7 September 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Stedent.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The present building, dating from around 1283 to 1537, mostly replaced the earlier Monastic Church founded in 1093, which was built in the Norman Style. It is believed that the newer Church was built around the older one. That the few remaining parts of the Norman Church are of small proportions, while the height and width of the Gothic Church are generous, would seem to confirm this belief. Aspects of the design of the Norman Interior are still visible in the North Transept, which retains Wall Arcading and a broadly-moulded Arch leading to the Sacristy, which was formerly a Chapel. The Transept has retained an Early-16th-Century Coffered Ceiling with decorated Bosses, two of which are carved with the Arms of King Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS.

Chester Cathedral. Part Two.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Chester Cathedral.

Cathedral Church of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary,

Chester, England.

The Cathedral, seen from the South-East, looking towards the Choir, right, with the Lady Chapel projecting, extreme right, and the South Transept, left. The Lady Chapel is in the Early-English

(or Lancet) Gothic Style, marked by the simple windows. The Choir is in the Late-Geometric Decorated Gothic Style. The South Transept has Flowing Decorated Windows in the Aisle,

and Perpendicular Gothic Windows in the Clerestory. The friable Red Sandstone building

was heavily restored in the 19th-Century.

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family Album.

Author: Stephen Hamilton.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Monastery was disbanded and the Shrine of Saint Werburgh was desecrated. In 1541, Saint Werburgh's Abbey became a Cathedral of the Church of England, by order of King Henry VIII. At the same time, the Dedication was changed to Christ and The Blessed Virgin. The last Abbot of Saint Werburgh’s Abbey, Thomas Clarke, became the first Dean of the new Cathedral, at the Head of a Secular Chapter.

The Nativity Window,

Chester Cathedral,

in the Chapel of Saint Werburgh,

by Michael O'Connor (1853).

Photo: 24 June 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Hystfield.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Although little trace of the 10th-Century Church has been discovered, save possibly some Saxon masonry found during a 1997 excavation of the Nave, there is much evidence of the Monastery of 1093. This work, in the Norman Style, may be seen in the North-West Tower, the North Transept, and in remaining parts of the Monastic buildings.

The Abbey Church, beginning with the Lady Chapel at the Eastern End, was extensively rebuilt in Gothic Style during the 13th- and 14th-Centuries. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Cloister, the Central Tower, a new South Transept, the large West Window, and a new Entrance Porch to the South, had just been built in the Perpendicular Style, and the South-West Tower of the façade had been begun. The West Front was given a Tudor Entrance, but the Tower was never completed.

Chester Cathedral.

The Chancel Stained-Glass Window, by Heaton, Butler and Bayne (1884).

The subject is Jesus, Saviour of the World. It is a "Trinity Window", with the name of God, the Lamb of God and the Holy Spirit, represented in the Upper Tracery. The main Central Light shows God, as High Priest, holding the Infant Jesus. From left to right, the other figures are Saint Joseph,

The Blessed Virgin, Saint Anna and Saint Simeon.

Photo: 24 June 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Hystfield.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1636, the space beneath the South-West Tower became a Bishop's Consistory Court. It was furnished as such at that time, and is now a unique survival in England, hearing its last case, that of an attempted suicide of a Priest, in the 1930s.

Until 1881, the South Transept, which is unusually large, also took on a separate function as an independent ecclesiastical entity: The Parish Church of Saint Oswald. Although the 17th-Century saw additions to the furnishings and fittings, there was no further building work for several centuries. By the 19th-Century, the building was badly in need of restoration. The present homogeneous appearance, that the Cathedral presents from many exterior angles, is largely the work of Victorian restorers, particularly George Gilbert Scott.

Chester Cathedral.

Side Altar, in the South Transept,

with a Reredos depicting scenes of Mary of Bethany.

[Editor: Also showing a fine Antependium.]

The Altarpiece shows the Resurrection of Christ, at the centre. On the left, Mary of Bethany anoints the feet of Jesus, while, on the right, Mary Magdalene meets the Resurrected Christ, in the garden.

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family Album.

Author: Stephen Hamilton.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The 20th-Century has seen continued maintenance and restoration. In 1922, the Chester War Memorial was installed in the Cathedral grounds and dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the First World War and, later, the Second World War.

In 1973 - 1975, a detached Belfry, designed by George Pace, was erected in the grounds of the Cathedral. In 2005, a new Song School was added to the Cathedral. During the 2000s, the Cathedral Library was refurbished and relocated. It was officially re-opened in September 2007. The Cathedral and the former Monastic buildings were designated as Grade I Listed Buildings on 28 July 1955.

English: 16th-Century Cloisters,

Chester Cathedral.

Deutsch: Chester, England.

Kathedrale: Kreuzgang ( 16.Jhdt.).

Photo: 13 July 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Wolfgang Sauber.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Chester Cathedral has an East-West axis, common to many Cathedrals, with the Chancel at the Eastern End, and the façade to the West. The plan is cruciform, with a Central Tower (as is usual in English Monastic Churches), but is asymmetrical, having a small Transept on the North Side remaining from an earlier building, and an unusually large South Transept. The asymmetry extends to the West Front, where the North Tower remains from the Norman building, and the South Tower is of the Early-16th-Century.


PART THREE FOLLOWS.

Chester Cathedral. (Part One).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Chester Cathedral.

Cathedral Church of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary,

Chester, England.

The Cathedral, seen from the South-East, looking towards the Choir, right, with the Lady Chapel projecting, extreme right, and the South Transept, left. The Lady Chapel is in the Early-English

(or Lancet) Gothic Style, marked by the simple windows. The Choir is in the Late-Geometric Decorated Gothic Style. The South Transept has Flowing Decorated Windows in the Aisle,

and Perpendicular Gothic Windows in the Clerestory. The friable Red Sandstone building

was heavily restored in the 19th-Century.

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family Album.

Author: Stephen Hamilton.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Chester Cathedral is a Church of England Cathedral and the Mother Church of the Diocese of Chester, It is located in the City of Chester, Cheshire, England. The Cathedral (formerly the Abbey Church of a Benedictine Monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh) is dedicated to Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary. Since 1541, it has been the Seat of the Bishop of Chester.

The Cathedral is a Grade I Listed Building, and part of a heritage site that also includes the former Monastic buildings to the North, which are also listed Grade I. The Cathedral, typical of English Cathedrals in having been modified many times, dates from between 1093 and the Early-16th-Century, although the site itself may have been used for Christian worship since Roman times. All the major styles of English Mediaeval architecture, from Norman to Perpendicular, are represented in the present building.

The Lord Bishop of Chester,

the Right Reverend Peter Forster.

The fortieth Bishop of Chester.

Image: THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

The Nave,

Chester Cathedral,

Chester, England.

The building of the Nave, began in 1323,

and was halted by The Plague

and completed 150 years later.

Photo: 22 May 2012.

Source: Chester Cathedral.

Uploaded by russavia.

Author: Michael Beckwith.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Cathedral and former Monastic buildings were extensively restored during the 19th-Century (amidst some controversy), and a free-standing Bell-Tower was added in the 20th-Century. The buildings are a major tourist attraction in Chester.

The City of Chester was an important Roman stronghold. There may have been a Christian Basilica on the site of the present Cathedral in the Late-Roman era, while Chester was controlled by the Roman Legion Legio XX Valeria Victrix (Twentieth Victorious Valerian Legion).

Chester Cathedral Choir Stalls.

Decorated Gothic (about 1380)

and Rood Screen (Late-19th-Century).

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family Album.

Author: Stephen Hamilton.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Legend holds that the Basilica was dedicated to Saint Paul and Saint Peter. This is supported by evidence that, in Saxon times, the dedication of an Early-Chapel on this site, was changed from Saint Peter to Saint Werburgh.

During the Dark Ages, Barloc of Norbury, a Catholic Celtic Saint and Hermit, was Venerated at Chester Cathedral with a Feast Day on 10 September. He is known to history, mainly through the hagiography of the Secgan Manuscript; he also occurs in a Litany in the Tanner of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

English: Saint Werburga (Werburgh).

Anglo-Saxon Princess and Patron Saint of Chester.

Feast Day 3 February.

Chester Cathedral Refectory (Eastern window). 

1916.

Deutsch: Chester ( England ). Kathedrale:

Refektorium - Ostfenster (1916): Heilige Werburga.

Photo: 13 July 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Wolfgang Sauber.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the 10th-Century, Saint Werburgh's remains were brought to Chester, and, in 907 A.D., her Shrine was placed in Chester Cathedral. It is thought that Æthelfleda turned the Church into a College of Secular Canons, and that it was given a Charter by King Edgar, in 968 A.D. The Collegiate Church, as it was then, was restored in 1057 by Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and Lady Godiva. This Church was razed to the ground around 1090, with the Secular Canons evicted, and no known trace of it remains.

The Chancel.

The High Altar has a Reredos, by J.R. Clayton,

of Clayton and Bell, and a Seasonal Altar Frontal

(or Antependium) in the Art Nouveau Style.

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family Album.

Author: Stephen Hamilton.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Chancel.

In Church architecture, the Chancel (or Presbytery) is the space around the Altar, in the Sanctuary

at the Liturgical East End of a traditional Christian Church, possibly including the Choir.

It may terminate in an Apse.

Following the exposition of the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, at the Fourth Lateran Council, of 1215, Clergy were required to ensure that The Blessed Sacrament was to be kept protected from irreverent access or abuse; and, accordingly, the area of the Church used by the Lay Congregation was to be screened off from that used by the Clergy. This distinction was enforced by the development of Canon Law, by which the construction and upkeep of the Chancel was the responsibility of the Rector, whereas the construction and upkeep of the Nave was the responsibility of the Parish.

As well as the Altar, the Chancel usually houses the Credence Table and seats for Officiating and Assisting Ministers. In Anglican and Methodist Churches, it will usually include the Choir. In some traditions, the Pulpit and Lectern may be in the Chancel, but, in others, these functions are considered proper to the Nave.The word "Chancel" derives from the French usage of "chancel" from the Late-Latin word "cancellus", meaning "lattice". This refers to the typical form of Rood Screen. The Chancel was formerly known as the Presbytery, because it was reserved for the Clergy.

The Chancel is typically raised, somewhat, above the level of the Nave, where the Congregation gathers. It may be separated from the Nave by a Rood Screen, a rail, a Sanctuary Bar, or an open space. In some Churches, the Congregation may gather on three sides, or in a semi-circle around the Chancel. A Chancel Arch is an Arch which separates the Chancel (Sanctuary or Choir) from the Nave of a Church.

In 1093, a Benedictine Abbey was established on the site by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, and the earliest surviving parts of the structure date from that time. The Abbey Church was not at that time the Cathedral of Chester; from 1075 to 1082, the Cathedral of the Diocese was the nearby Church of Saint John the Baptist, after which the See was transferred to Coventry.

PART TWO FOLLOWS.