The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-08-27
THE LITTLE CHURCH OF ST
VI ARTIN IN s.Ni. ANCIENT
TOWN OF CANTEit-
BURY"

Bishops, besides Il great number of Eng
fish clergymcn, to visit Canterbury, dis
tant fifty miles from London. \ great
service was held there preliminary to the
Lambeth Conference The vast Cathedral
holding between ten and fifteen thousand
people, was throngcd 50 that many had to
stand. The sermon was delivered by the
venerable Arch-B Bishop of Canterbury, the
ninety sixth in unbrokcn succession from
st. Augustine. The Canterbury Cattle dral
in many respects takes precedence of
Westminster Abbey. 1t ante dates the
Abbey by four or five centuries, and from
the humble beginning of Il Cloister Chapel
has grown century by century, throu I'll the
successive rcignS of British Kings and
Ecclesiastical Primatcs, into the colossal
and ma jcStic structure which stands be-
fore us The Cathedral embraces every
style of English ecclesiastical architecture,
from the rudest Saxon to the most finished
of Gothic AIT. Here the great Thomas Il
Becker was murdered in cold blood on the
End of December. no, and ever after the
horrible occurrence, countless throngs of
pilgrims from every quarter of ChriStcn-
dom have wendell their way to visit his
shrine and to pay homage to his memory.
OF this, Chauccr in his "Canterhury Tales"
makes mention in his first canto. | think
when he SAYS:
| And specially from every >hres end
| OF Enge-,aEd to Canterbury they wend
| The Eoy blisstul Martyr for 10 seek
That til m hath he hcpen when they were sick
The town of Canterbury, numbering
now about thirty five thousand inllabi
tants, is believed by some historians to b..
still older than Rome, but perhaps Romu-
lus and Rcmus, whom tradition tells were
sucked by wolf, might object to this
opinion. Certainly it is older than Lon
| drn. At the beginning of the Saxon
Heptarchy it was called the First City
of the Kingdom of Kent and here the
first and some of the most renowned kings
of England held their Court.
| But it is not of Canterbury or its Won
derful Cathedral wish especially to speak
in this letter, but the little Church of
St. Martin. There are in all about eigh
teen churches in the town including one
Roman Catholic and a Congregational.
The rest are all of our own Anglican Com
munion. Most of these are very old and
have been associated with the things most
sacred and eventful in English history,
but antcdating them all, even the Cathc
dral itself, is st. Martins Church. 1t is
situated on Il rising ground near the old
monastcry-now College of st. Augustine
and is invested with peculiar charm as
being the first place of worship used by
the early Britons after their conversion to
| Christianity. Here the good Queen Der
tina with her attendants worshippcd before
| the arrival of Rome's great missionary. St
| Augustine. The original part of the edi-
flee is very small and altogether lacking
i'll architectural beauty. Huge, rough
stones alternating with bricks, weather
worn and mouldy, constitute the walls.
The roof is tile and moss-covercd. The
small tower, castlc-like in appearance,
looks as if the storms of nj gh two thou
sand years have rolled over it. There is
the rude stone floor upon which Queen
Bertha must often have knelt at her devo-
tons. And near the plain Altar stands 4
heavy stone Sarcophagus in which it is said
the dust of the Queen rcposcs.
| From ecclesiastical history we learn that
Britain received Christianity at Il very
carlydatc most probablyin the beginning of
| the Christian era, and it was planted there,
if not by st. Paul himself, by his mmedi-
ate successors. The great Apostle speaks
of visit to Hispania and to the Western
Isle. One thing is certain that in the third
century the church WAS well established in
Britain for Occupations of British Bishops
were present at the Council Of Aries in
314 A. ID.
But as 1.-THE blood of the Martyrs has
ever been the seed of the Church. SO in
England. Such Roman Emperors, as
Nero and Diocletian and MaXimiiian, to-
gether with Pagan hordes which success
sivelv pounced down from Southern
Europe had from time to time ell nigh
eXterminated the Church in Britain.
Christian temples were demolished or pro-
famed, and the worshippcrs of Christ driv-
en- into the forest and wilderness regions
just as the Waldensians were driven into
the mountains of Piedmont. 1t is Il sad
history, unequalcd perhaps even by the
atrocities of the barbaric Turk in Armenia
to-day But wherever it was possible the
British Christians maintained their faith
and worship. Hence when St. Augustine
sent by the great and good Gregory, ar
rived from Rome in 500, he found Chris
tian Queen and Il King who although still
a Pagan was favorahly disposed to Chris
tianitv. At such a favorable opportunity
the great missionary with his attendants
began their sacred mission in the Anglo
SaXon's land. The stone chair il which
St. Augustine was consecrated as tie first
Arch Bishop of Canterbury still stands in
the choir of the Cathedral. The stone, at
lea It, is older than the great Church father
and the tradition is as credible as thou
sands of other sacred traditions, on which
authentic history has been based. Queen
Bertha and her Royal Consort Ethelbert
who soon after st. Augustine's arrival
was baptised. placed the little Church of
St Martin at the disposal of the mission
aries.
OF all this had frequently read and il
is no doubt familiar to. you, but the sacred
chancel of this little church was greatly
enhanced when I was privileged to enter
its holy courts and walk about its anti
quatcd walls. Still more enchanting is
the spell over the heart when one reflects
upon the direful vicissitudes from which
it has been preserved, the holy reminis-
cences, the fervcncy of devotion, the sim
pie unaffected piety which must have
characterized the worshippers the sweet
communioons and SoicnnYoWs as Dcilte
with the shrine of PRAYER. Surely, if
sainted spirits and guardian angels are
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