Westminster Abbey, London

Westminster Abbey in London

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The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English, later British and later still (and currently) monarchs of the Commonwealth realms. The abbey is a Royal Peculiar and briefly held the status of a cathedral from 1540 to 1550.

Winchester Cathedral

^{Above: Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England.  Seen from the west facade.  Credit: Wikimedia Commons.}
Winchester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe. Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint Swithun, it is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and centre of the Diocese of Winchester. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.


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Worcester Cathedral, Worcestershire, England

 Above: Worcester Cathedral, a Norman and Gothic-style cathedral, was founded as a Benedictine church in 680 A.D. It was rebuilt in 1084 and 1504 and became an Anglican church in 1540.  Credit:  Wikimedia Commons


Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester. Built between 1084 and 1504, Worcester Cathedral represents every style of English architecture from Norman to Perpendicular Gothic. It is famous for its Norman crypt and unique chapter house, its unusual Transitional Gothic bays, its fine woodwork and its "exquisite" central tower which is of particularly fine proportion.

 Above: Worcester Cathedral, looking west at the Rood Screen, Nave and West window.  Below:  Worcester Cathedral organ

The Cathedral was founded in 680 with Bishop Bosel as its head. The first cathedral was built in this period but nothing now remains of it. The existing crypt of the cathedral dates from the 10th century and the time of St. Oswald, Bishop of Worcester. The current cathedral dates from the 12th and 13th centuries.

Monks and nuns had been present at the Cathedral since the seventh century (see Bede). The monastery became Benedictine in the second half of the tenth century (one author gives the time range 974-7, another considers 969 more likely). There is an important connection to Fleury as Oswald, bishop of Worcester 961-92, being prior at the same time, was professed at Fleury and introduced the monastic rule of Fleury to Worcester. The Benedictine monks were driven out at 18 January 1540 and replaced by secular canons.

360-degree Panoramic Views:

Interior view by Abigail Phillips
BBC 360-Pano Tour by Bob Bilsland

Official Website:

Worcester Cathedral website
Worcester Cathedral on Film

Worchester Cathedral Picture Tour:

Pictures of Worchester Cathedral

Map and photos from Panoramio:

Worcester Panorama by Matthew Walters

Worcester Cathedral Crypt

The Cathedral contains the tomb of King John in its chancel. Before his death in Newark in 1216, John had requested to be buried at Worcester. He is buried between the shrines of St Wulstan and St Oswald (now destroyed).

The cathedral has a memorial, Prince Arthur's Chantry, to the young prince Arthur Tudor, who is buried here. Arthur's younger brother and next in line for the throne was Henry VIII.

Other notable burials include:

• Richard Edes (d.1604), a chaplain to Elizabeth I and James I.
• William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton (1616-1651), Scottish Royalist commander during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
• John Gauden (1605–1662), Bishop of Worcester
• Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947), Prime Minister

York Minster

Above: The Minster's western entrance.  Photo Credit: Wikipedia article on York Minster

York Minster is "an imposing Gothic Anglican cathedral in York, Northern England," according to the Wikimapia  page for the map of the cathedral grounds. It was once a wooden church built in 627 A.D. on the ruins of the ancient Roman Fortress of Eboracum. 

The VRYork website offers a superb 360-degree panoramic view of the cathedral's interior, with an interactive map of the surrounding city.  One may also find photo slideshows and a summary of the many relics and treasures on display at the cathedral's Official Web Page, here.

From Wikipedia:

"York Minster is a cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by a dean and chapter under the Dean of York. The formal title of York Minster is "The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York".

"The title minster is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title.

Below: The cathedral's octagonal Chapter House.

"The minster has a very wide Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house, a Perpendicular Gothic choir and east end and Early English north and south transepts. The nave contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and over the Lady Chapel in the east end is the Great East Window, (finished in 1408), the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world. In the north transept is the Five Sisters Window, each lancet being over 16 metres (52 ft) high. The south transept contains a famous rose window.
 
A nice array of still photos and floor plans may be found at the "York Minster" page of Gotik-Romantik.de.

The following photos are open-source stills from Wikipedia:

Above: The famous Rose Window above the west (main) entrance of the cathedral.
Below: The west entrance and its oak doors, illuminated at night (2005).

Below: York Minster's floor plan, from Wikipedia.

Epiphany

Miracle on 34th Street Christmas Display, Manger Scene, Baltimore, Maryland in USA

The Epiphany of Our Lord is a Christian holiday normally held on 6 January among Western Churches.

Eastern Churches following the Julian Calendar observe the Theophany feast on what for most countries is January 19 because of the 13-day difference today between that calendar and the generally used Gregorian calendar<sup>,

"</sup>It is an old Russian tradition - on the day of Epiphany you dip in the ice cold waters of lake or river, through a cross-shaped hole in the ice^."


Epiphany in the waters of Meschersky pond in Russia

Prayer for the Salvation of the World

"World Peace"  Photo credit: The Dryer Report

Father, hear our prayers for the salvation
of the world.  Grant mercy to all souls that
turned away from you. Open their hearts
and minds with your light.

Gather your children from the east and
the west, from the north and the south.
Have mercy, O God, on those who do not
know you. Bring them out of darkness
into your light. You are our saving God
Who leads us in our salvation. Protect us
from evil.

Bless and praise you, O Lord. Hear our
prayers and answer us. You, our Savior,
are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and the distant seas.  May your way be
known upon earth. Among all nations
Your salvation.

We put the world in your hands. Fill us
with your love and grant us peace
through Christ, Our Lord.  Amen.

NIHIL OBSTAT: September 10, 1998
+ Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap.
Archbishop of Denver

Michaelmas

 Above: The Archangel Michael defeats the Dragon with his sword of light

This week Christians celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew, to be followed by Michaelmas.

From Wikipedia:

"Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (also the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September. Because it falls near the equinox, it is associated in the northern hemisphere with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days. In medieval England, Michaelmas marked the ending and beginning of the husbandman's year."

At British universities, the academic year used to begin late in September, and the first part of the academic year was therefore called "Michaelmas term."

The Sanctuary of St. Michael the Archangel (Santuario di San Michele Arcangelo) is a sacred cave and popular Catholic shrine near San Giovanni Rotundo. Here the Archangel Michael is said to have appeared in 490, 492 and 1656 and consecrated the shrine himself.