A hauntingly beautiful set of photos, appearing on DailyMail, shows two Cistercian monks, Father Joseph and Brother Bernard, visting the ruins of a former Cistercian Abbey in England that had been destroyed during Henry VIII’s reign.
Rievaulx Abbey was Founded in 1132 by twelve monks from Clairvaux Abbey and It quickly became one of the most powerful and spiritually renowned centres of monasticism in Britain, housing a 650-strong community at its peak.
The abbey was dissolved by King Henry VIII on December 3, 1538. At that time there were reported to be 72 buildings occupied by an abbot and 21 monks, attended by 102 servants, with an income of £351 a year. Henry ordered the buildings to be rendered uninhabitable and stripped of valuables such as lead.
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A new museum has been built on the site that displays artifacts and chronicles the rise and fall of the Cistercian Monastery.
First!
Cheese
Bvroom vroom vroom
Noni noni noni
Look, I understand that there is religious disagreement (and plenty of it is well-founded and well-meaning), but let’s be very clear about Henry VIII. He did not have religious disagreement as the reasoning behind the horror of what he did…he had personal entitlement as his reasoning He was a pig of a man who manipulated and murdered his way through life and he still wasn’t happy. When I see these destroyed monasteries, I don’t see disageement between religious ideologies, I see a bitter, spoiled, hateful, raging pig of a man and the people who allowed themselves to be manipulated by him into raping, pillaging and making homeless untold numbers of people and possessions in the name of greed, not in the name of Jesus Christ.
Well said
I mean sure, there’s that interpretation and judgment on a man that defended the faith against Protestantism and was given the title of Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) by Pope Leo X.
There’s also this:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-jousting-accident-that-turned-henry-viii-into-a-tyrant-1670421.html
Which honestly, in light of everything we’re seeing with athletes and servicemen, probably is the more likely explanation for the absolute off the rails betrayal of his Faith, country and those he loved. Which included St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, neither of whom made condemnations of the man right up until their death.
My love for the Cistercian Order runs very deep. These pictures are beautiful and make me proud that Catholicism never gave up and now…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573452/Britain-has-become-a-Catholic-country.html
You make a very good point.
I mean sure, there’s that interpretation and judgment on a man that defended the faith against Protestantism and was given the title of Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) by Pope Leo X.
There’s also this:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-jousting-accident-that-turned-henry-viii-into-a-tyrant-1670421.html
Which honestly, in light of everything we’re seeing with athletes and servicemen, probably is the more likely explanation for the absolute off the rails betrayal of his Faith, country and those he loved. Which included St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, neither of whom made condemnations of the man right up until their death.
My love for the Cistercian Order runs very deep. These pictures are beautiful and make me proud that Catholicism never gave up and now…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573452/Britain-has-become-a-Catholic-country.html
Here, here!!
To a large extent yeah. We know he had people killed for holding Protestant positions so he wasn’t really doing it for Protestantism as normally understood. His dissolution of monasteries was partly to largely about power and a land-grab to give to allies or pay debts.
Although there is some evidence he was maybe sincere in believing his marriage to Catherine was “cursed” because of being the wife of his deceased brother. Also that male celibacy was curious to him.
Wow – well said. May the Church be blessed with more youth that actually have a little knowledge about what really happened.
May the prayers of the Mother of God save us!
The construction of the columns which are leaning outward to support the flying buttresses showed the quality of the engineering back in the 12th century. What a marvel it would be if a rendering could be made to show us the completed Abby and the other 72 buildings. Magnificent
Well said
Totally agree.
It was a looting operation, plain and simple.
What happened to the land after the Abby was destroyed? Could it be returned to them? It would be wonderful to see it rise again!
I’m sure most of them have historic landmark status and can not longer be changed from their present conditions.
The abbeys were distributed among the nobility who supported Henry’s break with the Church. Henry took the best of them and let the nobility take the rest. People always talk about how much wealth the Church has but in fact Queen Elizabeth II has the most in the world. You might be interested in reading “The Stripping of the Altars”by Eamon Duffy. A bit deep but an excellent and informative read.
Not only did he unlawfully lust after other women/girls, he also lusted after the wealth of the Church. Thomas Cromwell gave Henry the encouragement and rationale to loot the monasteries. A guilty conscience probably induced the King to destroy them.
I visited the site in the summer of 1980 … A very long time ago. I was very moved by the beauty of the former Abbey and could only dream and think what it must have been like back at its height! St. Bernard and St. Aelred, pray for us.
These photos aren’t “haunting”, unless these monks were there when Henry had the place destroyed.
This is in the North York Moors, directly north of York. I’m going to Leeds in a month and this looks like a place to visit.
[…] aproximadamente 500 años después, una serie de fotografÃas publicadas en el DailyMail, muestra a dos monjes cistercienses, el Padre Joseph y el hermano Bernard, visitando las ruinas de […]
[…] about 500 years later, in a series of photographs published in the DailyMail, we can see Cistercian monks, Father Joseph and Brother Bernard, visiting the ruins of one of these […]
[…] about 500 years later, in a series of photographs published in the Daily Mail, we can see Cistercian monks, Father Joseph and Brother Bernard, visiting the ruins of one of these […]
[…] about 500 years later, in a series of photographs published in the Daily Mail, we can see Cistercian monks, Father Joseph and Brother Bernard, visiting the ruins of one of these […]
La Arquitectura es obra divina hecha por el hombre. Ninguna ideologÃa religiosa tiene la potestad de destruirla.
Now I feel stdiup. That’s cleared it up for me
Seriously a good deal of very good tips.
Ce idee frumoasa, imi place!E prima data cand vad asa ceva aici si ma bucur sa pot participa.Iubesc culorile, mai putin roz si imi place tot ce e facut manual, iubesc bijuteriile si ornamentele.Si din atata iubire si eu la randul meu fac ornamente de iarna mai bine spus globuri pentru minunatul brad de Craciun si sunt sigura ca partenerul meu va fi incantat de cadoul meu []
That’s a cunning answer to a challenging question
I know Henry was a “colorful” character, but was reported to be very knowledgeable in theological issues. I think Pope Leo creating an “Office of Indulgences” and appointing a relative to be responsible for raising money for the financing of the rebuilding of the Basilica of St. Peter by selling “tickets to get to Heaven” is even more a tragedy. He makes the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of none importance when he decides he will sell “indulgences to cover sin.” Can we all agree that this behavior is obviously ridiculous? That was one of the main reasons causing the split in the church to begin with. God will not be bought. He is the one who paid the price and we need to rejoice for that. The trouble here is that power corrupts—absolutely. Whether it is an English King or a Roman Catholic Pope, man is not equiped to make decisions God was meant to make. We need to face it and withdraw support from such events. We need to call them out for being wrong and make people aware so these events will not be repeated.
Daddу you didn?t say what one of the best factor about God is.
You have to play too.
I do not know whether it’s just me or if everyone else experiencing problems with your website.
It seems like some of the text on your posts are running off the screen. Can somebody else please
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This could be a issue with my internet browser because I’ve had this happen before.
Thank you