Drama of The Lost Disciples - THE END OF THE GOLDEN TRAIL

THE END OF THE GOLDEN TRAIL





JOSEPH, the Apostle of Britain, lived within four years of

witnessing the second expulsion of the persecuting Romans from

the Sceptred Isle. During those years the soil of Britain had

become saturated with the blood of friend and foe in numerous

battles and not once had the foot of the invader penetrated

through the lines of the British warriors to set foot on the

sacred Isle of Avalon, and none ever would. The desperate efforts

of Imperial Rome to crush the power of the Word had succeeded in

fanning the flame into an unquenchable fire that was then

sweeping from Britain and Gaul into many other lands. The

Christian spark Joseph had fostered was to be his enduring

monument. The life of no Apostle, not even St. Paul, was more

filled with high purpose, enterprise and achievement than was the

life of the uncle of Jesus; (SOMEWHAT WAY OVER THE TOP - St. Paul

was used in a much greater way - for starters he wrote 14 books

of the New Testament - Keith Hunt) therefore, there is no regret

in stating that Joseph was not privileged to live to see the two

memorable Christian conquests that were to follow his demise.

In spite of the many sorrows that had shadowed his life, his

personal triumphs in spreading the teachings of 'The Way' from

Britain far outweighed the tragedies he had shared and witnessed.

He had viewed the first Christian army raised which shattered the

Claudian Legions in the first pitched battle in defence of the

new faith and the death on the field of the first Christian king,

replaced by the noble Arviragus. Massed war continued under the

dual leadership of the Pendragon Caradoc and Arviragus, in which

the Flag of the Cross was first flown. The non-compromising

armistice was between the Roman Emperor and the two dauntless

British leaders. The British defeat at Brandon and the

treacherous betrayal of Caractacus into captivity with all his

royal family, followed by the Roman pardon of the British king,

and the strange alliances between the scions of Rome with the

royal British prince and princesses was unusual. The slaughter of

the defenceless and the atrocious Menai massacre was avenged in

the triumph and tragedy of the Boadicean campaign. Through it all

there was an overflowing stream of converts aflame with the fire

of the Gospel, spreading from Avalon into the land and camp of

the enemy, valorously defiant. The martyrdom of Aristobulus and

Simon Zelotes in Britain must have wrung his heart, but the

founding of the first Christian church at Rome and the mission of

St. Paul in Wales with the royal British must have soared his

stalwart heart.

Joseph lived to see all but one of the original Apostles of

Christ go to their immortal reward. The fate of most of them has

been recited. James, brother of St. John, had been put to the

sword by Herod, A.D.64. And James, the brother of Jesus, was

hurled from a pinnacle of the Temple to his death, A.D.62. 1 On

his monument is written: "He hath been a true witness both to

Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ." St. John outlived

Joseph. Apparently he was one of the very few apostles and

disciples of Christ to die a natural death at the extreme age of

101 years.

Fifty years after Joseph had placed the body of Jesus in His

tomb he laid down the sceptre of his mortal life on July 27, A.D.

82. Loving hands and heart laid him to rest among the saintly

company that had preceded him, close beside the grave of the

Virgin Mary, near the little wattle church which he and his

twelve companions had built over forty years before after setting

foot on British soil.

Cressy, in "Church History of Brittany," writes: "Joseph

was buried near the little wattle church he built."

Across the stone lid of the sarcophagus on which his bones

were later buried, under the initials of Joseph of Arimathea, are

inscribed these immortal words: "Ad Brittanos veni post Christum

Sepelivi. Docui. Quievi." (To the Britons I came after I buried

the Christ. I taught, I have entered my rest).

In these few simple words are contained more tragedy,

romance, and drama than in any other inscription ever written;

words so characteristic of all the faithful Apostles of Christ,

seeking no self-justification, merely a simple record of a duty

performed.

Maelgwyn of Avalon, who wrote about A.D.450, describes the

place of burial in these words:



"Joseph of Arimathea, the noble decurion, received his

everlasting rest with his eleven associates in the Isle of

Avalon. He lies in the southern angle of the birfurcated line of

the Oratorium of the Adorable Virgin."



Long before the time of Maelgwyn, a magnificent Abbey had

risen over the original site, enclosing the wattle church encased

in lead for its preservation, and the relics of the sainted

group. All

......



1 Eusebius, quoting Hegesippus.

......





the early and later authorities refer to the same resting-place

of Joseph, as cited by Maelgwyn, and rarely do they fail to quote

the inscription as it appeared on Joseph's tomb. Among the

notable historians who make special reference to the inscription

are John of Teignmouth, Leland, Hearne and Morgan.

Gildas the Wise, A.D.425, whom modern historians refer to as

the first British historian of reliable reportage, lived for

quite a time at Glastonbury. He had access to all the records and

original documents in the famous Abbey. His reference to the

coming of Joseph to Britain, his life there and his death were

written from examination of the old records.

William of Malmesbury is held in the highest esteem as an

exacting, honest writer. His worthiness was so great that he was

invited by the Abbot of Glastonbury to dwell among them and write

a faithful history of the Abbey from a study of the ancient MSS.

In A.D.1121 he wrote his "Antiquity of Glastonbury." In

corroboration of his fine work he refers to the Eleutherian

Mission at Glastonbury, A.D.183, quoting from the record they had

left. He writes:



"They also found the whole story in ancient writings how the holy

apostles, having been scattered throughout the world, St. Philip

the Apostle coming into France with a host of disciples, sent

twelve of them into Britain to preach, and that - taught by

revelation - constructed the said chapel which the Son of God

afterwards dedicated to the honour of His Mother. Their leader,

it is said, was Phillip's dearest friend, Joseph of Arimathea,

who buried our Lord."



The learned Archbishop Ussher refers to William of

Malmesbury as 'our chief historian.' Leland and others call him

'an elegant, learned, and faithful historian'. William dwelt

twice at the famous Abbey in order to complete his splendid MSS.

At that time, before the great fire, all the treasured records

and manuscripts were in existence and at his disposal. He also

confirms the time and place of Joseph's death and interment.

The original MSS. of William of Malmesbury's "Antiquity of

Glastonbury" is in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. A

translation from the original Latin was made from it by Thomas

Hearn in 1727. Hearn adds to the record the death of William of

Malmesbury in 1142, details of the great fire which destroyed the

Abbey in 1184, with a listing of all the Abbots to the time of

the Dissolution in 1539.



Archbishop Ussher, church historian, writes in his carefully

detailed work of "St. Joseph's burial in the bifurcated line next

to the corner of St. Mary's Chapel and of the silver and white

cruets containing the sweat and blood of Christ buried with him."

(Surely Ussher did not mean any literal sweat and blood of

Christ, but in a figure of speech - Keith Hunt). He recites the

presentation by St. Joseph of the Flag of the Cross to Arviragus,

'for the insignia of the British race.' (I have to doubt the

"cross" stuff being of any true nature, or taking place, but in

the mind of some over-zealous historians - Keith Hunt). The

Archbishop provides a copy of the licence, copied from the royal

archives in the Tower of London, given by Edward III in 1345, to

one John Bloom of London, with the right to excavate the body of

St. Joseph beneath the enclosure of the monastery, and his

finding of the body exactly where all had stated it rested. The

document was signed by King Edward on June 8, 1345. Ussher also

quotes from the 'Record of the burial of St. Joseph and his

companions', from The Great Register of the Monks of Glaston.

William Goode, the Jesuit, born at Glastonbury and educated

there during the reign of Henry VIII, confirms the old records,

further stating:



"There was in existence at Glastonia inscribed tablets to

perpetuate St. Joseph's memory, chapels, crypts, crosses, arms,

and the observance of the feast of St. Joseph for six days at the

Kalends of August, as long as the Monks enjoyed most securely the

King's charters."



(Again all this - crosses, arms - probably got ADDED by the Monks

as time went on - such happens - old basic history gets a new

frame from Monks that were no longer pure in Christian faith and

truth, and become influenced by the adoptions of various physical

things that had become part of their theology - Keith Hunt)



He also reports seeing the brass plate on an overturned

cross in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He relates the arrival

of Joseph with the Bethany group, the gifts of land to Joseph by

King Arviragus, the silver cruets, size of the wattle church, and

of the stone bearing the strange words 'Jesus-Maria', the arms of

the abbey, the cross on the shield, and burial of Joseph at

Glastonbury.



(Again truth mixed with traditional errors that had become part

of the theology of the day - Keith Hunt)



For over one thousand years annual pilgrimages were made to

the tomb of St. Joseph by pilgrims from all parts of the

Christian world in the month of August.



The conversion of Britain by Joseph, and his establishment

of the first Christian church above ground at Avalon, was not

only the challenge of the British church in refuting the Papal

claim to seniority as Christ's vice-regent on earth; it extended

into the important matters of state when dealing with nations

subject to Vatican control. British kings, queens and ambassadors

defied Papal interference, refusing to treat with him or his

emissaries. They would cite the record that Britain held

seniority as being the first Christian nation, and that church

was ruled by its Bishops, with Christ alone as the recognized

Head of the Church.



(This was true for many centuries, but the author did not see, or

refused to see, the Roman Catholic church did gain the influence

and did finally rule Britain for many centuries - Keith Hunt)



The kings and queens, by the terms of their Christian oath

at coronation, gave allegiance to God, through Jesus Christ, and

not to man or a church founded on a usurped authority. Strangely

enough, the Vatican never denied British priority even when

seeking to make alliances, or bring the British Church within the

Roman Catholic fold. Royal and ambassadorial replies were

pregnant with the Christian claim by Britain based on the life

and death of Joseph in that country, St. Paul and others of

Christ's elect who had dwelt among them. When controversy and

antagonism was at its height between the Vatican and Britain

during the reigns of Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I, Sir

Robert Wingfield, English Ambassador to Spain, personally

compiled the records of the Council of Constance in a book,

proving that at the four great church councils British Bishops

had been accorded seniority as head of the councils Pisa 1409,

Constance 1417, Sienna 1424 and Basle 1434, on the grounds that

'Joseph of Arimathea brought the faith to Britain immediately

after the Passion of Christ'. Wingfield named the presiding

British church dignitaries at Pisa: Robert Hallam, Bishop of

Salisbury; Henry Chicele; and Thomas Chillenden, Prior of Christ

Church, Canterbury; Hallam was the leader at Pisa and at Sienna.

Others were Nicholas Bubwith, Bishop of Bath and Wells; the famed

Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester; and Nicholas Frome,

Bishop of Glastonbury, who was chief delegate at Basle in 1434.

This record was published at Louvain in 1517, a copy of which is

in the Royal Library, and another in Sir Henry Wooton's. It was

republished in the reign of Elizabeth I and again under the

Stuarts. The title of the work is "A Briefe Abstract of the

Question of Precedency Between England and Spain," employed by

Sir Henry Nevile at the commission of the French king in an

effort to bring peace between England and Spain, 1579.



(All this may be so, that Britain had the first place in the

arrival of Christianity, but that is all separate from the

historical facts that Rome DID conquer the British church and

stamped out much truth that the British church held, like the 7th

day Sabbath, and Passover not Easter, as the death of Christ. The

author refused to see the facts of history, that the Roman

Catholic church and theology did conquer the nation of Britain -

Keith Hunt)



It is of special notice that no book could be published

without a royal licence. Charles I provided another licence for a

printing in 1642. This book was entitled "Precedency of England

in Respect to the Antiquity of Christian Religion" immediately

after the Passion of Christ in this Realm. In 1651 Oliver

Cromwell gave a licence substantiating the same claim.

In recent years Lord Queenborough discovered and purchased a

copy of the 1642 edition, which he presented to the Royal Society

of St. George.

Throughout the ages to present times such as been the power

of the story of Joseph of Arimathea that kings, queens and people

of Britain have defended the sovereignty of the Christian faith

against all usurpers and aggressors.



What a triumphant history!



(NO not triumphant at all! The Roman church prevailed and

obliterated many original truths that the British church had

received from the apostles. This is clearly evident by the

teachings and traditions of the present day Church of England,

which is just about a clone of the Roman Catholic church, with a

different head Bishop in a different city - Keith Hunt)



Every time I visited Glastonbury and stood before the Altar

of St. Joseph amid the ruins of this glorious Abbey, my mind

became crowded with the circumstances and incidents in the life

of the Apostle of Britain. I seemed to sense the spirit of the

noble decurio and his wonderful companions, and felt in my heart

that the prophecy of Abraham, of Jacob, Isaiah, Jesus and St.

Paul, had been fulfilled to the people of 'the Isles', through

the medium of the uncle of Jesus.



(Yes truth - real truth was brought to Britain by Joseph and some

of the apostles, but it was finally obliterated by the church of

Rome - Keith Hunt)



Further reference to the tomb of St. Joseph of Arimathea at

Glastonbury cannot be more fittingly presented than by reciting

the words of the Rev. Lionel Smithett Lewis, former Vicar of

Glastonbury, who devoted most of the eighty-six years of his life

to searching the age-old archives, examining ancient tomes,

official documents and yellowed manuscripts to substantiate the

validity of the story of the life and death of St. Joseph and the

Bethany family at Avalon, and in preserving the fascinating

record of the most historic Christian church in the world. He

writes:



"The body of St. Joseph, whose burial at the wattle church of St.

Mary was recorded by Maelgwyn of Avalon, writing about A.D.450,

lay undisturbed till the year 1345, when Edward III gave his

licence to John Bloom of London to dig for the body if the Abbot

and monks permitted, and just as the discovery of the bones of

King Arthur at Glastonbury in 1190 were recorded in far-away

Essex by the monk Ralph de Coggeshall, so in a far-away monastery

in 1367 we find a monk recording that 'the bodies of Joseph of

Arimathea and his companions were found at Glastonbury.' The

remains of St. Joseph were put in a silver casket which could be

raised at will from a stone sarcrophagus, the base of a shrine to

which the frequent pilgrimage was made. This stone altar tomb,

the base of the shrine, like the Holy Thorn, survived the

Reformation. Holinshed, in his 'Chronicle', A.D.1577, speaks of

St. Joseph's sepulchre as being still at Glastonbury, and the

learned John Ray in his 'Itinerary' records that on June 2, 1662,

'We saw Joseph of Arimathea's tomb and chapel at the end of the

church.' As we have seen, the Holy Thorn was cut down in the

Great Rebellion. The aftermath of the same period saw the altar

tomb of St. Joseph leave its shrine. During the Commonwealth a

Nonconformist divine was put in as incumbent of the Parish

Church. In 1662 this interloper was turned out and a Churchman

instituted. It was that very same year, in which by God's

Providence John Ray came to Glastonbury and saw the tomb in the

ruined chapel. Later in the year, tradition says, from fear of

Puritanical fanaticism like that which destroyed the Holy Thorn,

silently, hastily at night, the altar tomb was removed from the

ruined shrine in St. Mary's Chapel at the Abbey, and placed in

the churchyard of the Parish Church for protection outside of the

East end of St. Mary's Chapel in that Church. There it remained

till the autumn of 1928, when loving hands brought it reverently

into the Church, and placed it in the ancient St. Katherine's

Chapel, the North Transept. Moreover, there is a plinth inside to

receive the silver ark with the Saint's remains. A glass top was

put on the tomb that all generations might see what was found."



As a matter of fact it was the Rev. Lewis who accidentally

rediscovered the stone sarcophagus of Joseph. One autumn day,

while walking by the ancient cemetery, he saw a large stone

object, evidently lifted by the frosts, protruding from out of

the earth. On examination, it was recognized as being the stone

sarcophagus of St. Joseph. Willing hands helped to excavate the

stone, and as the Rev. Lewis says in his report, it was

re-inshrined in St. Katherine's Chapel, where it can be seen

today.

It is indeed remarkable that it should be preserved

undamaged from the rains, frost and snow, after reposing for two

hundred and sixty-six years in its hastily constructed grave,

where it had been placed in the dead of night to protect it from

the desecrating hands of the fanatical Puritans.



Nearly nineteen hundred years have passed since the uncle of

Jesus was laid to his everlasting rest at Glastonbury, yet as

recent as thirty years ago this sacred relic that contained his

remains is almost miraculously raised from its centuries' old

grave by an act of nature, to remind us, by the Will of God, of

the trenchant drama of 'The Way', and our long Christian

inheritance, out of which the most powerful democracies in

history founded their constitutions - the Commonwealth of the

British nations, and the great republic of the United States of

America.



In many ancient histories describing the life of St. Joseph

in Britain there is constant reference to the Holy Cruets. The

story is that the two cruets contained the blood and sweat of

Jesus and were brought by Joseph to Britain and were buried with

him in a niche carved into his stone coffin. The old records

indicate that the two cruets were held in the highest reverence

by the Abbey throughout its existence. They are assigned as part

of the coat of arms of Joseph. The cruets are shown imposed on a

shield, one on each side of a thorny cross, with liquid droplets

covering the rest of the space on the shield, symbolizing the

blood and sweat of Jesus entering the cruets. They were the arms

of the Abbey, and appeared in one of the large stained-glass

windows of the church. The cruets and the Arthurian cross are

much in evidence in the church records. King Arthur adopted the

Cross of St. George as his kingly badge which can still be seen

carved in the stone over one of the standing doorways.



(All GARBAGE and silly fanatical additions that come along in

time and story-telling from the mind-set of false theology, from

the Church of Emgland, as much as it has come from the Church of

Rome - this relic and that relic - this part of the cross - that

part of Jesus - and on it goes. It is silly and crazy theology to

think any part of the literal body of Christ went anywhere with

any disciple - Keith Hunt)



The story of the search for the Holy Grail by the Knights of

the Round Table carries a double meaning. It is generally

believed that the search was for the Cup of the Last Supper,

which Joseph is claimed to have concealed in Chalice Hill. On the

other hand, the word Grail in old English means 'elements', which

some writers indicate meant the lost cruets, in a few instances

named vials. The record hardly bears out this belief, as all the

early writings centuries prior to the time of King Arthur clearly

state that the cruets, or vials, were placed within the

sarcophagus of Joseph at his death and buried with him. The word

Grail is also employed to mean a container, a chalice or a cup,

which might better indicate that the search of the Knights of

King Arthur was directed to find the Cup, which seems to be the

most popular opinion. Mention of the Cup is shrouded in silence

following the record of its concealment, but the cruets persist

so strongly through the ritual of the old church, and as

associated with Joseph, that there is no doubt that they

represented an important memorial to the Bethany mission,

perpetuated in tradition and ritual during those dramatic years.



(The cup of the "last supper" is another Christian mythology

myth, that bears no true record of being taken anywhere outside

of that last supper room. Such "relics" are part of the false

ideas and traditions of the Babylon Mystery Religion church - the

church of Rome, which has also crept into parts of the Church of

England - Keith Hunt)



In the report of Maelgwyn, reference is made to the fact

that Joseph was buried with his eleven associates near to the

Virgin Mary. Later records mention twelve associates and Leland,

1 who held a licence from Henry VIII to search the records of all

the cathedrals, abbeys and places of learning in 1534, checked

the library of Glastonbury Abbey. He reports thirteen associates

laid to rest with Joseph, exclusive of the Mother of Jesus, and

many records state that all the associates of Joseph and many

other martyrs and saints were finally gathered together by his

side and that of the gentle Virgin.

......



1 Notes made as King's Antiquary.

......





As we know, there were twelve companions who came to Britain with

Joseph on his first arrival. If we add Marcella, the maid of the

Bethany sisters, and Mary, we have fourteen members in the

Bethany group. The last mention by Leland, the King's Antiquary,

would indicate that all had been brought to Avalon, who had not

died there, to be together as they had originally requested. We

read of King Ina, A.D.700, having a large number of martyrs

reinterred at Avalon, and among them was the son of Joseph, who

had laboured at Cor Eurgain, and died at Glastonbury, over whom

King Ina erected a church.



Not many years ago the church of King Ina was excavated at

Glastonbury, but from lack of funds to maintain it has since

become covered over again.

Roger of Hovedon, writing of the church al Marseilles,

founded by Lazarus, states that after serving the church seven

years, he died there and that his relics are at Marseilles.

However, relics do not necessarily mean the body. Relics were

associated with personal belongings which were preserved and

treasured by the church. It is quite likely that the body of

Lazarus was later transferred to Glastonbury. King Oswy, A.D.

840, was very active in transporting the bodies of martyrs and

disciples from abroad to be reburied either at Glastonbury or

Canterbury. Leland writes:



"The Isle of Avalon greedy of burials received thousands of

sleepers among whom Joseph of Arimathea by name, entered his

perpetual sleep. And he lies in a bifurcated line next the

southern angle of the oratory by 13 inhabitants over the powerful

adorable Virgin. Joseph had with him moreover in his sarcophagus,

two white and silver cruets filled with the blood and sweat of

Jesus. When his sarcophagus shall be opened it will be seen

whole, and untouched in the future, and will be open to the whole

world. From then neither water, nor dew from heaven, shall fail

those inhabiting this most noble island. For much time before the

Day of judgment these things shall be open in Josaphat and

declared to the living."



(Joseph had no such things as the blood and sweat of Jesus in

anything. That part of all this history is goobydigoo "relic"

fanatics of history ideas, which seems to have been not just a

part of the Roman church - Keith Hunt)



The statement by William of Malmesbury in "Acts of the

Kings, Book I," is also interesting and illuminating:



"The Church of which we are speaking - from its antiquity called

by the Angles by way of distinction "Ealde Churche" that is "old

Church" of wattle work at first, savoured somewhat of heavenly

sanctity even from its foundation, and exhaled it over the whole

country, claiming superior reverence though the structure was

mean. Hence, here arrived whole tribes of the lower orders,

thronging every path; here assembled the opulent of their pomp;

and it became the crowded residence of the religious and the

literary. . . . This church then is certainly the oldest I am

acquainted with in England, and from this circumstance derives

its name. In it are preserved the mortal remains of many saints,

some of whom we shall notice in our progress, nor is there any

corner of the church destitute of the ashes of the holy. The very

floor, inlaid with polished stone, and the sides of the altar,

and even the altar itself above and beneath, are laden with the

multitude of relics. The antiquity and multitude of its saints

have endued the place with so much sanctity that, at night,

scarcely any one presumes to keep vigil there, or during the day

spit upon its floor; he who is conscious of pollution shudders

through his whole frame. No one ever brought hawk or horses

within confines of the neighbouring cemetery who did not depart

injured either in them or in himself. It is sufficiently evident

that the men of that province had no oath more frequent or more

sacred than to swear by The Old Church, fearing the swiftest

vengeance on their perjury in this respect. In the meantime it is

clear that the repository of so many saints may be deservedly

called a heavenly sanctuary on earth. There are numbers of

documents, though I abstain from mentioning them for fear of

causing weariness, to prove how extremely venerable this place

was held by the chief persons of the country, who there more

especially chose to await the day of resurrection under the

protection of the Mother of God."



(One thing to have a building once upon a time and true saints

reposed there in death. It's another thing to start into the

fanatical ideas of some parts of the body of Jesus contained in

some kind of containers there also - that gets into a fanatical

"relic" mind-set - Keith Hunt)



It is impossible to enumerate herein even a partial number

of the thousands of illustrious names of kings, queens, apostles,

disciples, saints and martyrs buried within the great Abbey and

in its cemetery, in addition to St. Joseph and his twelve

consecrated members of the Bethany band, and of Mary the Mother

of Jesus. The illustrious host buried therein gave to this site

the title of the most hallowed ground on earth. In addition it

bears the name of the only royal cemetery dedicated in Christ.

We may mention in passing that King Coel, father of the famed

Empress Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, is buried

in the old cemetery at Glastonbury.

Queen Victoria had in her possession in the Royal Library a

genealogical chart showing the kings and queens of Britain who

were descended in direct line from the Shepherd King David. The

genealogical chart prepared by the Rev. Milner is considered to

be the greatest masterpiece in proving the same fact. Through

Joseph of Arimathea this strain was greatly strengthened. John of

Glastonbury, historian and genealogist, shows that the children

of Joseph married into the royal British families. For this

reason King Arthur and the Tudor line claimed to be descended

from Joseph. John of Glastonbury also asserts that the twelve

Knights of the Round Table were descended from the line of

Joseph, and their number of twelve was formed to perpetuate the

existence of the original twelve companions who arrived in

Britain with Joseph. The knights long ago passed into legend and

folklore, but the famous Round Table is preserved today in

Winchester County Hall, still wearing some of the green paint as

decorated by Henry VIII when he entertained the French king. The

original memories are still vivid of the chivalrous knights, the

Quest for the Holy Grail, King Arthur and the beautiful Queen

Guinivere, descendants of the Noblis Decurio. The Thorn which

Joseph planted on Weary All Hill grew to be a twin. The despoiler

cut one down. The other part was saved because a splinter pierced

the eye of the destroyer. He died from the wound. For thirty

years it lived, long enough to see a new generation revolt

against the hypocritical Puritans who had come to be hated for

their desecrations, and displace them. Fortunately, a number of

thorn trees had been budded from the surviving part of the

original Holy Thorn, which botanists agree was a Levantine thorn.

Every Christmas the blossoms are gathered to decorate the altar

of the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Glastonbury,

keeping alive the significance of the ancient Josephian story.



St. Ninian, a British missionary out of Avalon, educated in

Rome, founded Candida Casa, Whithom, Scotland, A.D.397. He was a

great scholar, having served under St. Martin at Marmontier. In

his travels he had found St. Jerome's original translations of

the New Testament, the Psalms and Mosaic Laws. These, with many

other important religious writings in the old British-Celto

language, he took with him to Candida Casa, along with a copy of

the Vulgate. Later, St. Columbanus, the great Celtic missionary,

who died A.D.615, with his Celtic co-worker St. Gall, went to

Italy, where he founded Bobbio. He took with him a large quantity

of the treasured MSS from Candida Casa and from other Celtic

church libraries. Remaining today are about seven hundred MSS. in

the original British-Celtic language, which can be seen in the

famed church libraries at Bobbio, Turin and Milan. On the margins

of many appear notes made by St. Columbanus, in the same

language, as readable today as when first written. At Bobbio are

many beautiful illuminated works from Candida Casa, and MSS of

Irish Bangor. St. Gall left Bobbio to found the great monastery

of St. Gall, Switzerland, and the monastery at Luxeuil in the

Vosges, with their magnificent libraries containing numerous

early British-Celtic manuscripts.



The famed library of St. Gallen was taken to Switzerland by

the Irish disciples of St. Gallus. Among them is the

religio-historical Irish MSS written A.D. 612 by St. Gallus, with

considerable seventh-century Irish MSS. and other treasured

ancient documents. In fact one finds more of these antique Irish

treasures on the continent than in Ireland.



The chief data concerning the early Christian British

missions are found in the British libraries, particularly in the

Welsh Triads, the Psalter of Cashal, and Chronicum Regum

Pictorum.



How deeply rooted were the lives and works of Joseph of

Arimathea and the Bethany group in the early Christian workers is

shown by the great wealth of documentation written by them during

the six hundred years of the Golden Christian Era. The drama of

the introduction of Christianity into Britain by Joseph was not

confined to the British chroniclers. There are in existence many

early works written by saints, scholars and church dignitaries

who laboured on the continent during his lifetime and the years

that followed. Some of the MSS produced in Gaul and Britanny make

startling reading. All tell the same story in different form and

the deep reverence in which Joseph was held by them is manifest

in every word. The story never grew old. The first two books off

the newly invented printing press, after the Bible, were on the

Life of St. Joseph. The scholarly and historical works written of

Joseph, the Apostle to the British, far outnumber the works

written on the life of any one of the Apostles of Christ, St.

Paul and Peter not excepted. Most of them were written by the

best scholarly minds, historians and church authorities of those

centuries. National disputes for over sixteen hundred years were

settled on the validity of Joseph's existence in Britain with the

Bethany Mission. Opposing nations recognized the validity of the

claim. Disputists in the highest international church councils

bowed to the belief, supported by the Popes and the Vatican into

the twentieth century. Under such close scrutiny a myth, legend

or tradition would have been disposed of in the first century

A.D. Instead, the keenest intellectuals over the centuries

solidly propounded the historic fact that Joseph of Arimathea and

the Bethany band did live, teach and die in Britain; that Joseph

was the actual Apostle to the British, who founded the first

Christian church above ground in Britain; that Britain was the

first nation to accept the Christ Faith and from her shores

stemmed the great army of missionaries that Christianized the

world; and that the Covenant People are represented in

Celto-Anglo-Saxondom.



How significant that everything appears to fall in line with

prophecy!

The words of Isaiah as he addressed the people "afar in the

Isles of the West" become trenchant with positive meaning, as

does the prophecy of Jeremiah. The prophets proclaimed that the

Star of Jacob would spring from the line of David, the Shepherd

King. Jesus, the Messiah, was descended from David, as also was

His greatest banner-bearer, Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus, the Light

of the World, directed His message to the 'lost sheep' whom He

foretold would receive Him and His Word, and keep it. To Paul He

gave His commission and the Apostle of the Gentiles went to the

'lost sheep of Israel', the Gentiles of the Isles. Joseph, the

uncle of Jesus, went ahead under divine inspiration to prepare

the way, converting and teaching the royal Gentiles, whom Paul

established in Rome, to found the first Christian church by the

uncircumsized. Joseph prepared the royal family in Britain, from

whom Paul established his mission to Wales, after Joseph had laid

the foundation. It was foretold that the redeemed lost sheep

would keep the faith. They proved it as no other nation did by

making the greatest blood sacrifice in history as they smashed

the would-be destroyers of 'The Way'. They produced the man who

conquered Rome with the Cross - Constantine the Great, who

nationalized Rome in the faith. One hundred and fifty years

before him his ancestors, the kings of Britain, were the first to

nationalize their nation in the name of Christ, take their

coronation oath and build their Parliamentary Constitution on the

Christian platform. The sons and daughters of Manasseh founded

from Britain the great republic of America, prophecy fulfilled by

Britain and America, founding God's Commonwealth on which the sun

never sets.



(All this is basically true but the author gets WAY BEYOND

"nationalistic pride" - his eyes are shut to the fact that

Constantine was NOT a true saint of God, and all the facts that

tell us true Christianity as it did come to Britain in the first

century, was perverted and lost as the centuries marched on, and

finally Babylon Mystery Religion, the Roman Catholic church, DID

spiritually CONQUER Britain, with false teachings and traditions,

which remain to this day in the Church of England and all the

Protestant churches of the world - Keith Hunt)



What a magnificent heritage and legacy the peoples of the

Anglo-Saxon world possess and all because of one man who came to

them in the beginning in the name of the Beloved One, as their

Apostle. As such he remains today a successful instrument of

divine guidance, Joseph of Arimathea, the Noblis Decurio, uncle

of Jesus and guardian of the Blessed Virgin, the Apostle of

Christian Anglo-Saxondom in God's Commonwealth.



In striving toward the ultimate goal in His service, we can

draw strength from the historic achievements of Joseph and his

illustrious band, and the glorious company of the faithful who

followed after making their supreme sacrifice, where necessary,

in the name of Christ.



Anyone who doubts the veracity of this majestic story does

so in face of irrefutable evidence. As Sir Henry Spellman in

"Concillia" truly writes: "For anyone to longer doubt the

historic authenticity of Glastonbury, and the Mission of Joseph,

is ridiculous."

..........



NOTE:



The story of Joseph and others coming to Britain is true. When

Rome arrived about 500 AD that church found a Christianity that

was in many ways different than her theology and traditions,

whereby the Roman ministers wrote back to the Bishop of Rome

saying the British church had many Jewish heresies.



BUT forget about the ideas of "relics" of the body of Jesus in

Britain, brought by Joseph or any other Christian - all of that

is theology from planet Pulto.



Keith Hunt