19
May. 1662 Book of Common
Prayer. Dunstan, 26th of
105 Archbishops of Canterbury.
Dunstan,
Archbishop (A.D. 924-980). The victorious champion of the
Church and the cause of monasticism and celibacy of the clergy, in the struggle
under Edwy and Edgar, and, after his elevation to the primacy, virtually the
prime minister and ruler of England. Educated at Glastonbury, of which he
became Abbot (introducing the Benedictine rule), afterwards Bishop of Worcester
and London, and Archbishop of Canterbury in 959, he was a man of high ability
and education, fanatic in what he believed to be the cause of God, ready alike
to suffer and to persecute for it; a stern reformer and an able ruler, but
wanting in gentleness of spirit and scrupulousness of action. -- May 19th.
Kiefer, James. “Dunstan of
Canterbury, Monk and Archbishop” Biographical Sketches. N.d. http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/160.html.
Accessed Apr 22, 2014.
Dunstan
was born near Glastonbury in the southwest of England about the year 909, ten
years after the death of King Alfred. During the Viking invasions of the ninth
century, monasteries had been favorite targets of the invaders, and by
Dunstan's time English monasticism had been wiped out. In its restoration in
the tenth century, Dunstan played the leading role. He was born of an
upper-class family, and sent to court, where he did not fit in. At the urging
of his uncle, the Bishop of Westminster, he became a monk and a priest, and
returned to Glastonbury, where he built a hut near the ruins of the old
monastery, and devoted himself to study, music, metal working (particularly the
art of casting church bells, an art which he is said to have advanced
considerably), and painting. A manuscript illuminated by him is in the British
Museum. He returned to court and was again asked to leave; but then King Edmund
had a narrow escape from death while hunting, and in gratitude recalled Dunstan
and in 943 commissioned him to re-establish monastic life at Glastonbury.
(Glastonbury is one of the oldest Christian sites in England, and is associated
in legend with King Arthur and his Court, with Joseph of Arimathea, and with
other worthies. It has been said that the Holy Grail, the chalice of the Last
Supper, is hidden somewhere near Glastonbury.) Under Dunstan's direction,
Glastonbury became an important center both of monasticism and of learning. The
next king, Edred, adopted Dunstan's ideas for various reforms of the clergy
(including the control of many cathedrals by monastic chapters) and for
relations with the Danish settlers. These policies made Dunstan popular in the
North of England, but unpopular in the South.
Edred
was succeeded by his sixteen-year-old nephew Edwy, whom Dunstan openly rebuked
for unchastity. The furious Edwy drove Dunstan into exile, but the North rose
in rebellion on his behalf. When the dust settled, Edwy was dead, his brother
Edgar was king, and Dunstan was Archbishop of Canterbury. The coronation
service which Dunstan compiled for Edgar is the earliest English coronation
service of which the full text survives, and is the basis for all such services
since, down to the present. With the active support of King Edgar, Dunstan
re-established monastic communities at Malmesbury, Westminster, Bath, Exeter,
and many other places. Around 970 he presided at a conference of bishops,
abbots, and abbesses, which drew up a national code of monastic observance, the
Regularis Concordia. It followed Benedictine lines, but under it
the monasteries were actively involved in the life of the surrounding
community. For centuries thereafter the Archbishop of Canterbury was always a
monk.
Dunstan
took an active role in politics under Edgar and his successor Edward, but under
the next king, Ethelred, he retired from politics and concentrated on running
the Canterbury cathedral school for boys, where he was apparently successful in
raising the academic standards while reducing the incidence of corporal
punishment. On Ascension Day in 988, he told the congregation that he was near
to death, and died two days later.
PRAYER (traditional language)
O God of truth and beauty, who
didst richly endow thy bishop Dunstan with skill in music and the working of
metals, and with gifts of administration and reforming zeal: Teach us, we
beseech thee, to see in thee the source of all our talents, and move us to
offer them for the adornment of worship and the advancement of true religion;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Almighty God, who didst raise
up Dunstan to be a true shepherd Of the flock, a restorer of monastic life and
a faithful counsellor to those in authority: give to all pastors the same gifts
of thy Holy Spirit that they may be true servants of Christ and all his people;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
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