St. Swithun
July 15 is St. Swithun's day; I can't figure out if you in Canada are just about to start it, or if it was yesterday for you. Anyway. July 15, which is ending as I type for me, is St. Swithun's day, and St. Swithun is the patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. Because of this, we had a field trip today, and took a coach down to Winchester (about an hour's drive). We got to tour the close (the precinct of the Cathedral) which was very interesting, and we got to tour the Cathedral, which was even more interesting. Lots of good tombs, including some very interesting bishop's tombs. A couple of the bishops had effigies in full episcopal gear, reminding posterity what they did for a living. A couple of them had effigies of them as corpses- reminding posterity just how humble they were. Or something. I also saw the site where the second Norman king (William the Conqueror's son, William Rufus) was originally buried, although he's been moved now. St. Swithun is no longer at the Cathedral, having been scattered to the four winds, as our guide put it. A church in Norway has one of his limbs, and a church in France has his skull.
Swithun was a 9th century bishop, who asked to be buried in an ordinary place- no big shrine. This was done, but then they built a new Cathedral, and the old saint was quite a money maker, thanks to all the pilgrims who were healed as they came to his tomb. They moved his bones inside the cathedral on July 15, in the midst of a terrible rainstorm- understood to be Swithun expressing displeasure at the ornate new shrine. It is said that if it rains on St. Swithun's day, it will rain for 40 days later. It did rain today, so we shall see what happens!
The main part of the day was Choral Evensong. This is the kind of service where the choir sings most of it, and you just get to follow along and listen. Since it's St. Swithun's day, the BBC was broadcasting it live, and if you want to listen, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lk91l . It was a good service, but to keep it at an hour long, they had to cut out the hymn- one of the only parts the congregation is allowed to sing! Still, if you listen carefully, you might hear me during the creed- there were only about 300 people there, so it shouldn't be too hard!
The course ends tomorrow, and it's off to Wales to see Anne for a couple nights.
Swithun was a 9th century bishop, who asked to be buried in an ordinary place- no big shrine. This was done, but then they built a new Cathedral, and the old saint was quite a money maker, thanks to all the pilgrims who were healed as they came to his tomb. They moved his bones inside the cathedral on July 15, in the midst of a terrible rainstorm- understood to be Swithun expressing displeasure at the ornate new shrine. It is said that if it rains on St. Swithun's day, it will rain for 40 days later. It did rain today, so we shall see what happens!
The main part of the day was Choral Evensong. This is the kind of service where the choir sings most of it, and you just get to follow along and listen. Since it's St. Swithun's day, the BBC was broadcasting it live, and if you want to listen, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lk91l . It was a good service, but to keep it at an hour long, they had to cut out the hymn- one of the only parts the congregation is allowed to sing! Still, if you listen carefully, you might hear me during the creed- there were only about 300 people there, so it shouldn't be too hard!
The course ends tomorrow, and it's off to Wales to see Anne for a couple nights.
Labels: evensong, Saints, Winchester
posted by Will at 4:08 PM
3 Comments:
You should change your middle name to Rufus.
It would be quite a surprise to get 40 days of rain in England!
Poor St Swithun, what did he do to deserve his body parts ending up in different countries?
Post a Comment
<< Home