Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle Part 8

12. Here makyth he a well and water hath uptayne And comforted hys breder thyrst was nere slayn.

13. Here commandith he best to make h[~y] a cayf And thus he berys Paulyn and lay h[~y] in graf

14. Thus walked he over the flode water doth h[~y] no der Theodor h[~y] se and dare nou c[~u] h[~y] nere

15. Here depart.i.th Anton, to hevyn his saul is gone Betwixt his two breder in wilder's th[~e] alone.

16. Here in wilderns they bery hym that no man shud him knaw For soo he comanded syne hom first tha draw.

17. Thus levyth he i wildern's xx^{ii} yere and more Without any company bot the wylde boore.

St. Augustine, the first great saint of the Order, and patron of the canons of the cathedral. He was born at Tagaste, in Numidia, A.D. 354.

His father, Patricius, was a Pagan, while his mother, Monica, was a Christian. Patricius, perceiving the ability of his son, "spared nothing to breed him up a scholar." When quite young he had a severe illness, and expressed a wish to be baptized, but on his recovery the wish vanished. Later, his morals grew corrupt, and he lived a profligate life until he became a convert of the Manicheans at the age of nineteen.

After teaching grammar at Tagaste, and rhetoric at Carthage, he proceeded to Rome, against the wish of Monica. He next became professor of rhetoric at Milan. Ambrose was then archbishop, and through listening to his preaching, St. Augustine abandoned the Manichean doctrines, and was baptized at Easter the following year, A.D. 387. Monica, who had prayed unceasingly for his conversion, now visited him at Milan, and was greatly rejoiced at the answer to her prayers. His mother started to return to Africa with her son, but died at Ostia. At a villa outside Hippo, St. Augustine pa.s.sed three years in the company of eleven pious men. "They had all things in common as in the early Church; and fasting and prayer, Scripture-reading and almsgiving, formed their regular occupations. Their mode of life was not formally monastic according to any special rule, but the experience of this time of seclusion was, no doubt, the basis of that monastic system which St. Augustine afterwards sketched, and which derived from him its name." He then entered the priesthood, A.D. 390, and five years afterward was made coadjutor in the bishopric of Hippo, and eventually became bishop. The rest of his life he devoted to defending the Christian religion, both by preaching and by writing. He died in Hippo, A.D. 430, while the Vandals were besieging it. St. Augustine is called "the greatest of the Fathers." His great work "De Civitate Dei," "the highest expression of his thought," engaged him for seventeen years. In his well-known "Confessions" is given an account of his spiritual progress, and of his state before he was converted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EAST END OF THE FRATRY AND SOUTH TRANSEPT. From Billings.]

ST. AUGUSTINE

1. Her fader and mod^r of sanct Austyne Fyrst put hym her to lerne doctryne

2. Her taught he gramor and rethorike Emongys all doctors non was h[~y] lyke

3. Her promysed he w^{th} hys moder to abide Bot he left her wepyng and stal y^e tyde grace de diu (on the s.h.i.+p's sail)

4. There taught he at rome the sevyn science Y^t was gret prece tyll hys presence

5. Her prechyd Ambrose and oft tymys previd Qd lettera occid_t wych Austin mevid

6. Her Poinciane hym tald ye lyffe of Sanct Anton And to Elipius he stonyshed said thus anone Q^r patim^r surgut indocti et Coelu^m rapiu't Et nos c[~u] doctrinis [~i] infer_r demergimur

7. Her sore wepying for hys gret syn He went to morne a garth wythin

8. Her wepyng and walyng as he lay Sodenly a voice thus herd he say Tolle lege Tolle lege

9. No word for tothewarke here myght he say But wrote to the pepil for him to pray

10. Her of Sainct Ambrose chrysteyned was The gret doctor Austyne throgh G.o.des grace Te Deum laudamus Te Dom'm confitemur

11. Her deyd his moder called Monica As thai were returning in to Affrica

12. Her was he sacred prest and usyd Of Valery the Bishop thoffe he refusyt

13. Her after (G.o.des word mylde and mek taught he) Hys (men of) religion as ye may see

14. Her fortunate the heretyk concludit he Informyng the laws of Maneche

15. Consecrate Byshop was this doctour By all the c.u.n.tre with gret honour

16. As ys woman come to h[~y] for consolacion She saw hym wth the Trinite in meditacion

17. When he Complyn had said and come to luke He was full cleyn owt of y^s knafys buke (Penitet me tibi ostendisse librum)

18. They beried hys body wyth deligence her in hys aun kirk of Yponese.

19. Her Lied-brand the kyng of L[~u]berdy Hym translate fr[~o] Sardyne to Pavye

20. Thei shrynyd hys banes solemnly In sanct Peter kyrk thus at Pavye

21. Thys prior he bad soon do evynsang her And helyd hym that was sek thre yer

22. Her he apperyd unto these men thre And bad yam go to ... y^t hale

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CRYPT UNDER THE FRATRY. _G.W. Wilson & Co. Ltd., Photo._]

Between the compartments devoted to the lives and deeds of St. Anthony and St. Cuthbert are pictures of the twelve Apostles with the words which, according to tradition, each one contributed to the Creed.

APOSTLES AND CREED

ST. PETER I believe in G.o.d the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth

ST. ANDREW And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord

ST. JAMES Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary

ST. JOHN He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried

ST. THOMAS He descended into h.e.l.l: rose again the third day from the dead

ST. JAMES And sitteth on the right hand of G.o.d the Father Almighty

ST. PHILIP From whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW I believe in the Holy Ghost

ST. MATTHEW The Communion of Saints

ST. SIMON The Forgiveness of Sins

ST. THADDEUS The Resurrection of the Body

ST. MATTHIAS And the Life Everlasting.

At the time of the Reformation these paintings were all whitewashed.

Dean Percy (1778) removed the whitewash from some of them, and they are now all restored to their original condition as far as possible.

#Retro-choir.#--The extreme eastern bay of each aisle, and the pa.s.sage behind the altar, form the retro-choir, which is Late Decorated.