I started this week out with the RMS Queen Mary 2, fondly referred to as QM2. In the interest of staying with the English theme for a couple of days, I went to the Rollright Stones in the Cotswolds yesterday. If you missed these two posts, click on them in the list below.
Today I’ll continue our British theme by taking us to the Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, part of the World Heritage site. It is the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion and the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Cathedral’s history goes back to 597AD when St Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory the Great as a missionary, established his seat (or ‘Cathedra’) in Canterbury. In 1170 Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral and ever since, the Cathedral has attracted thousands of pilgrims, as told famously in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/history/index.aspx
Of course, we just had to stay at the Chaucer Inn, right outside the walls of the cathedral. It was within a short walk of the cathedral.
I can’t begin to explain the eerie feeling that came over me the minute I walked into the cathedral. It was as if I’d been there before, and I definitely felt the Holy Spirit there, more than any other place I’d ever been. Walking among the tombs of the saints was an experience I’ll never forget.
There was a choir rehearsal going on when I went in. During their break, I told the choir director I was a retired United Methodist minister from Hawai`i. I was immediately invited to come join in the services that evening, but I had to decline. The Methodist denomination is a direct descendent of the Church of England, or Anglican Church.
Next time I go back, I’d like to spend more time there.
A hui hou!