Benedictine monastery, Somersetshire, England, the center of early Christian tradition in England, founded, according to the legendary history of William of Malmesbury, by Saint Joseph of Arimathea, A.D. 63, on the Island of Ynyswitrin; he was sent to Britain from Gaul by Saint Philip, Apostle. Saint Patrick, 433, came and taught the hermits to live together as cenobites. Though all this is legendary it points to a very early British origin. In the 8th century, Ina, King of the West Saxons, founded the church of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul and endowed the monastery. Saint Dunstan restored it after the Danish depredations; his shrine and King Arthur's tomb made the abbey the greatest of England's pilgrim centers. In 1539 the abbey was sacked and its treasures appropriated by the Crown; the abbot and two monks were martyred. The church was built between 1184,1186, to take the place of the original church which had been destroyed in the fire of 1184. The titular designation "Abbot of Glastonbury" is still used among the English Benedictines.
This dictionary contains not only definitions and explanations of every subject in Religion, Scripture, tradition, doctrine, morals, sacraments, rites, customs, devotions and symbolism, but also accounts of the Church in every continent, country, diocese; missions, notable Catholic centers, cities, and places with religious names; religious orders, church societies, sects and false religions. It has brief articles also on historical events and personages, on the Old Testament and New, and on popes, prelates, priests, men and women of distinction, showing what the Church has done for civilization and correcting many errors which have hitherto passed for history.Wikipedia
Read More