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> Interim Saints - March 17th > > JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA (1st cent) > > "Many strange traditions have attached themselves to Joseph of > Arimathea, as that he came to Britain, and planted his staff at > Glastonbury; but as these legends are wholly worthless, they must here > be passed over." Pity. !!! For legends to be "wholly worthless" they would have to have had no consequences, which is certainly not the case with those surrounding Joseph of Arimathea. Not simply devotion to them during the Middle Ages, nor the splendid abbey of Glastonbury itself, but particularly the wonderful Vetusta Ecclesia at Glastonbury, thought to have been built by Joseph of Arimathea and rebuilt so lavishly in a consciously historicist style at the end of the 12th century, all argue for the legend having considerable worth. Another legend associated with Joseph of Arimathea is that he created three wooden crucifixes which all took incredibly long sea voyages (some lasting hundreds of years!), ending up as the Volto Santo at Lucca in Italy, the Saint-Esprit at Rue in Picardy, and there was another at Dives in Normandy. The cult of the Volto Santo is relatively well known, but the splendid Flamboyant chapel at Rue is also a material reminder of the importance of these legends during the Middle Ages. Cheers, Jim Bugslag P.S. My alma mater, the University of Victoria, on the west coast of Canada has a cutting of the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury, which is apparently none other than Joseph of Arimathea's staff, which sprouted when he stuck it in the earth at Glastonbury. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%