Glastonbury Abbey [pp. 150-170]

Glastonbury Abbey, Past and Present.
Scottish monk, St. Ribanus, who first
preached the gospel in Franconia-it
was an English monk, St. Wilfred,
who did the same in Friesland and
Holland in the year 683, but with
little success-it was an Englishman,
St. Swibert, who carried the cross to
Saxony, and it was from the lips of
another Englishman, St. Ulfred, that
Sweden first heard the gospel-it
was an Englishman and a Devonshire
man, St. Boniface, who laid aside his
mitre, put on his monk's dress, converted Germany to the truth, and
then fell a victim to the fury of the
heathen Frieslanders, who slaughtered
him in cold blood. Four Benedictine
monks carried the light of truth into
Denmark, Sweden, and Gothland,
sent there in the ninth century by the
Emperor Ludovicus Pius. Gascony,.
Hungary, Lithuania, Russia, Pomerania, are all emblazoned on their
banners as victories won by them in
the fight of faith; and it was to the
devotion of five martyr monks,
who fell in the work, that Poland
traces the foundation of her church.
It is a remarkable fact in the history of Christianity, that in its earliest
stage-the first phase of its existence
-its tendency was to elevate peasants to the dignity of apostles, but in
its second stage it reversed its operations and brought kings from their
thrones to the seclusion of the cloisterhumbled the great ones of the earth to
the dust of penitential humility. Up to
the fourth century Christianity was
a terrible struggle against principalities and powers: then a time came
when principalities and powers humbled themselves at the foot of that
cross whose followers they had so
cruelly persecuted. The innumerable
martyrdoms of the first four centuries of its career were followed
by a long succession of royal humiliations, for, during the sixth,
seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, in addition to what took
place as regards other orders, no less
than ten emperors and twenty kings
resigned their crowns and became
monks of the Benedictine order alone.
Amongst this band of great ones the
most conspicuous are the Emperors
Anastasius, Theodosius, Michael,
Theophilus, and Ludovicus Pius.
Amongst the kings are Sigismund of
Burgundy, Cassimir of Poland, Bamba
of Spain, Childeric and Theodoric of
France, Sigisbert of Northumberland,
Ina of the West Saxons, Veremunde
of Castille, Pepin of Italy, and Pipin
of Acquitaine. Adding to these
their subsequent acquisitions, the
Benedictines claim up to the 14th
century the honor of enrolling
amongst their number twenty eperors and forty-seven kings: twenty
sons of emperors and forty-eight sons
of kings-amongst whom were
Drogus, Pipin, and Hugh, sons of
Charlemagne; Lothair and Carlomen,
sons of Charles; and Fredericq, son
of Louis III. of France. As nuns of
their order they have had no less
than ten empresses and fifty queens,
including the Empresses Zoa Euphrosyne, St. Cuneg,unda, Agnes, Augusta,
and Constantina; the Queens Batilda
of France, Elfreda of Northumberland, Sexburga of Kent, Ethelbergp,
of the West Saxons, Ethelreda of
Mercia, Ferasia of Toledo, Maud of
England. In the year 1290 the
Empress Elizabeth took the veil with
her daughters Agnes, queen of I-ungary, and the Countess Cueba; also
A. ne, queen of Poland, and Cecily,
her daughter. In the wake of these
crowned heads follow more than one
hundred princesses, daughters of kings
and emperors. Five Benedictine
nuns have attained literary distinction-Rosinda, St. Elizabeth, St.
Hildegardis, whose works were ap.
proved of by the Council of Treves,
St. Hiltrudis, and St. Metilda.
For the space of 239 years 1 month
and 26 days the Benedictines governed
the church in the shape of 48 popes
chosen from their order, most prominent among whom was Gregory the
Great, through whose means the rule
was introduced into England. Four of
these pontiffs came from the original
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