Know Your Catholic England—

THE ANCIENT SHRINES OF THANET
From a Special Correspondent
Thanet, that strange little " island," now linked with England by marshes where once the waters of the Wantsum proudly bore the fleets of Alfred, was " made" in a human sense. by the sons and daughters of St. Benedict in the dawn of Christian England. To this day the names of the villages, like those of the earlier towns, proclaim this fact : Minster, Monkton, St. John's (Margate), St. Peter's (Broadstairs), St. Lawrence (Ramsgate), St. Nicholasat-Wade, St. Giles-at-Sarre.
At Ebbsfleet, a stone cross in the fields marks the former shore where Augustine first preached the good news of Christ to our barbarous forefathers: Augustine, whose brethren to-day keep his aleatory green in nearby Ramsgate, in the Abbey Church which bears his name—perhaps the masterpiece of Pugin's Gothic art.
Behind Margate's noisy " Dreamland," where thousands of trippers daily amuse themselves, lies peaceful Salmestonc Grange, dedicated anew to Catholic education and to the worship of Our Lady especially in her glorious Assumption, by monks from Ramsgate.
MINSTER ABBEY But greatest of all our living links with the past is Minster Abbey, where in 1937 Benedictine nuns, taking possession again of the old monastic building, " quietly resumed the life of prayer and toil which had been interrupted here for close on 1,100 years. Once more Minster Abbey has passed under the aegis of the sons and daughters of St. Benedict. Once more, year by year, on or about July 13, some hundreds of pilgrims from Thanet or farther afield assemble to do honour to one who now sees God, because in this life she was pure of heart."
The romantic story of the foundation of Minster Abbey involves the royal families of two kingdoms, the traditional wicked nobleman, and the great St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. Its foundress, Domneva, was succeeded by her even more famous daughter St. Mildred, who was consecrated Abbess by Theodore about 690, whose renown for holiness, spread abroad, especially to the Low Countries.
LINK WITH ST. BONIFACE A growing community induced the third Abbess, St. Edburga, to build a new convent and church dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul. This Abbess Edburga helped the great missionary Bishop of the Germanies, St. Bornface, with gifts and encouragement.
About the year 840, Minster was attacked for a third time by the Danes and this time most ruthlessly sacked, the whole community: Abbess, nuns, villagers, priests, perished in the flames. Later, indeed, some fugitive survivors must have returned, for in the reign of Canute (1016-1036), they had built a church over the saint's resting place.
In 1027 the king made over St. Mildred's land to the monks of Canterbury and hound himself by vow to grant them also the relics of the Saint on his return in safety from his pilgrimage to Rome. In the peace of Canute and " good King Edward," a new prosperity dawned with the return of the Benedictines to Thane!, for, despite the scorched earth policy decreed by William the Conqueror as " protection " against the Vikings, we know from the Domesday Book that St. Mildred's manor was a profitable estate. About this time new monastic buildings arose on the site of the second convent represented to-day by the west wing; soon to be followed by a church, part of whose foundations are outlined on the modern lawn, and the " Great Hall," which is still largely intact. When Henry VIII robbed the monasteries and drove out the monks (1536-1540) Minster Abbey became a private house, an upper storey was added to the Great Hall in the 17th century; the church, of course, fell into ruin and disappeared except for a part of the western tower.
EASILY REACHED Meanwhile, on the site of the first convent the parish church of St. Mary had been built about the time of the Norman Conquest, to become the mother-church of St. Lawrence, St. Peter's and St. John's.
Minster-in-Thanet is reached by bus from Birchington, Canterbury, Margate and Ramsgate, or by rail from Canterbury, Dover and Ramsgate. The Abbey is situated within five minute? walk of either the bus stop or the railway station.
The story of Minster is admirably told and illustrated in a pamphlet entitled Minster Abbey by Dom Gregory Bislr, published at Minster Abbey, price ls.
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