Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of Glastonbury

The Pilgrimage commences at Glastonbury, a remarkable and holy place.

My revised post from last year, which I had augmented with the text of the early sixteenth century ballad printed by Pynson only a few years before the destruction of the abbey, can be viewed, with its various links, at Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of Glastonbury

As the particular additional intention for this year is the forthcoming Papal Conclave it is probably worth reflecting upon the semi- or largely- legendary history of the abbey, particularly as it was codified by the monastic historian shut up William of Malmesbury in the early twelfth century. In this narrative, the British King Lucius wrote in the second century to Pope Eleutherius requesting missionaries to convert his country. When they arrived, they restored the church founded in the first century by St Joseph of Arimathea.

This story became part of the Glastonbury claim to a unique position in the history of the English church and was commemorated by an inscription in the nave of the monastic church which was cited as proof of the antiquity of the  Church in these islands at the early fifteenth century General Councils of Constance and Siena, during acrimonious disputes as to the ranking of the various national churches. Not only did the story give antiquity to Glastonbury, it also linked it to the Papacy.

There are useful articles about this Glastonbury tradition at On the Antiquity of the Church of Glastonbury Abbey at Nightbringer.se, at Deruvian, and at St. Lucius

May Our Lady of Glastonbury pray for the Papal Conclave and the election of a wise and holy Pope