TRADITION OF GLASTONBURY
The Lost Years of Jesus

Where was Jesus during the "lost" years...and is there a connection between that...and Joseph of Arimathea...and the Shroud of Turin? These answers would become a book, but we will give a brief synopsis here, based on Bible facts, a legend (more fact than fiction)...and actual historical documents. First we must establish that the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea (present day Ramallah in Israel) was, in fact, great uncle to Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea is described in the Bible as a counsellor...a good man...and a just...who, concerning Jesus' death sentence, "had not consented to the counsel and deed of them" ( the Sanhedrin...of which he was a member). He was also, secretly, a disciple of Jesus. After the Crucifixion, when evening had come, Joseph went to Pontius Pilate and begged the body of Jesus, though Mark 15: 43 states that he "went in boldly unto Pilate". Then he bought a fine clean linen cloth, and took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped Him in the linen, and laid Him in his own sepulchre. According to John 19: 40, he buried Jesus "as the manner of the Jews is to bury". "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death..." Isaiah 53: 9...another great prophecy fulfilled. From the tomb of Jesus, Joseph disappears from the Scriptures. However, the Jewish Talmud declares that Joseph of Arimathea was the younger brother of Mary's father, making him Mary's uncle...and great uncle to Jesus. The Eastern Church, through ancient traditions, also asserts this. The Harlein Manuscripts, housed in the British Museum, adds that Joseph called his daughter Anna "consobrina"...meaning cousin of Mary. In other historical manuscripts, he is referred to as Joseph de Marmore, a title of honor, stemming from his birth as a prince of the House of David. At the presumed death of Mary's husband, Joseph, this great uncle, apparently took over legal guardianship of Mary's family.

By Gildas Badonicus, the earliest known British historian ( 516-570 AD), Joseph of Arimathea was referred to as "nobilus decurio"...which is similar to the term that St. Jerome used in his "Vulgate of St. Mark's 'honorable counsellor'...Decurio ". This denotes a high ranking Roman office...as well as one in charge of Rome's mining interests in Britain. This title would have certainly assured Joseph as "kinsman redeemer" of the body of Jesus. It is well known and documented that the early Phoenicians and the Hebrews traded and mined tin in Britain as early as 1500 BC. So, Joseph was in the tin mining business on behalf of Rome, and had great wealth to show for it. He also must have had great ships available for Jesus to have traveled to many parts of the world. One place he traveled to was fairly certain...Britain...the Isle of Avalon...a place called Glastonbury.

Following the Crucifixion of Christ, persecution of the early Christians was rampant and brutal. But, what happened to Joseph? One tradition is that he, along with other disciples, including Mary, mother of Jesus, were sent adrift out of Caesarea by the Sanhedrin...in a boat without oars or sails. By Divine guidance and navigation, they arrived safely at Cyrene in northern Africa, where they obtained oars and sails. They then followed the Phoenician merchant trade route as far as Marseilles, France. Rabanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mayence (766-856 AD) listed some of the other passengers as "the two Bethany sisters, Mary and Martha....their brother Lazarus...St. Eutropius...St. Salome...St. Cleon...St. Saturninus...St. Mary Magdalene...Marcella (the maid of the Bethany sisters)...St. Maxim (or Maximum)...St. Martial...St Trophimus (Restitutus, the man who was born blind)". It is assumed that others, including Joseph's family members were aboard. In Marseilles, "having called upon God, the great King of all the world, they parted; each company going to the province where the Holy Spirit had directed them; presently preaching everywhere, ' the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following'." Joseph and Mary, mother of Jesus, and a few others continued on to his familiar destination...the Isle of Avalon in Britain. They were well known there...from earlier and more peaceful times. Jesus had accompanied his great uncle there as a young boy, and had taught those of the ancient Druid faith, had taught miners how to extract tin and purge it of ore, and had built a small wattle hut...a very first Christian church...and a home for his mother. The Druids, very early on, believed in One God, a Trinity, and in the coming of one "Yesu" or "Hesus".

One ancient manuscript, "Victory of Aurelius Ambrosius" by Gildas Albanicus states clearly that Britain received the Gospel during the time of Tiberias, prior to 37 AD, and that Joseph was sent to Britain by St. Philip. He was to found the Christian religion there, and would remain in Britain the rest of his life. The earliest documented support for this was written by Tertullian (155-222 AD), who wrote: "The extremities of Spain, the various parts of Gaul, the regions of Britain which have never been penetrated by Roman arms have received the religion of Christ". The Father of Ecclesiastical History and Bishop of Caesarea, Eusebius (260-340 AD) wrote: "The Apostles passed beyond the ocean to the isles called the Brittanic Isles." These documents, though there are more, make this much more fact than legend.

Joseph of Arimathea and disciples arriving in Britain.

 

 

 


For centuries, through fragments of poems and songs of miners, a refrain has been handed down in Glastonbury: "Joseph was a tin man, Joseph was in the tin trade." There are many old mines in nearby Cornwall that still retain ancient Hebrew names...and are referred to as "Jew's Houses", referring to the "Judahites"...the tribe of Judah to which Joseph of Arimathea belonged. The Tradition of Glastonbury tells of how, after he buried our Lord Jesus, Joseph went to Britain, carrying with him two cruets, one of our Lord's blood...and the other of His sweat. He also is said to have taken the Lord's Cup from the Last Supper (the Holy Grail) to Glastonbury. Upon his arrival, he is said to have thrust his staff into the ground...from which grew the Holy Thorn Tree...the only thorn tree in the world that blooms at Christmas time, as Jesus' birthday would come to be observed, and again in May. According to botanists, the tree is native only to countries on the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Cuttings from this tree still bloom to this day.

From a window in St. John's Church in Glastonbury.

Glastonbury Holy Thorn Tree.

A young Jesus had built the very first Christian Church, a wattle hut, and a home for His mother, with the help of His great uncle. That same Uncle Joseph, and Jesus' mother returned to that very site on the Isle of Avalon to carry on the work of our Lord...and to spread the Good News throughout Britain. The Wattle Church became known as the the "Culdee Church"...or the "Church of the Refugees". In Britain, Culdee was the first name ascribed to the British Church...or the True Christian Church...NOT to be confused with the Church of England. The Culdee Church remained true to the original teachings of Christ. The Druids of Britain were the first converts to the Culdee Church...the two were so closely entertwined. Throughout this beautiful land are remnants in stone, referring back to when the Lord's feet walked there..."Tunic crosses", depicting a young boy in a short tunic with arms out-stretched, a well bearing His Name, heraldic shields showing two cruets on either side of a cross, carvings showing the Lamb and the Cross...along with a legal document, a confirmation of this Royal Charter can be found in the official Domesday Book of Britain (1086 AD) which declares: "The Domus Dei, in the great monestary of Glastonbury, called the Secret of our Lord. This Glastonbury Church possesses, in its own villa XII hides of land which have never paid tax." This was granted to Joseph of Arimathea and the other Apostles, including Mary, mother of Jesus, by King Arviragus...along with the freedom to pass in safety in times of war from one district to another. The original source of the information from the historian of King Arviragus can be found in the British Museum...a part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

It is said that Jesus' mother, Mary, completed her days on earth in Glastonbury.... but the years cannot be known for certain. Though Jesus, from the Cross, had committed His mother to the charge of John, the beloved disciple had yet to fulfill his Apostleship in Ephesus, where safety would not have been guaranteed. Therefore, it would have been a wise decision to keep her in her Uncle Joseph's guardianship. An early document, the Magna Glastoniensis Tabula, at Naworth Castle confirms this: It states, "St. John, while evangelizing Ephesus, made Joseph Paranymphos."...meaning guardian. Of course, Jesus knew this...as He meant that John would accept Mary as his own mother: "Behold thy mother!" The actual Greek manuscripts state, "And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own"....the word "home" is not in the original text. Maelgwyn of Avalon, in about 540 AD, wrote the "Historia de Rebus Brittanicis", in which he stated: "In this church they worshipped and taught the people the true Christian faith. After about fifteen years Mary died and was buried at Glastonbury. The disciples died in succession and were buried in the cemetery." Over the original site of Mary's home, the first Christian wattle Church was built, called the "Old Church" or "Vetusta Eccesia"...later to become known as the "Culdee Church"...or Church of the Refugees". The existence of this wattle Church is historically proven by two Royal Charters, one signed by King Ina in 704 AD...and the other signed by King Cnut in 1032 AD.

 

The ruins of the later built stone Abbey Church and The Lady Chapel in Glastonbury can be seen today...in all its beauty...and with all its secrets. It has been called "Secretum Domini" (The Secret of the Lord)...and "Domus Dei" (The House of God). The pictures will give you an idea of its sacredness. The sarcophagus of Joseph of Arimathea, in the St. John the Baptist Church at Glastonbury, has an inscription that reads: "To the Britons I came after I buried the Christ. I taught. I have entered my rest". It also bears the initials J.A. The Cup of the Last Supper...or Holy Grail will be addressed below. So will the fact that this "legend" is in keeping with the Holy Scriptures!

 

Many stories and legends have been woven around the Cup of the Last Supper...or the Holy Grail...most concerning King Arthur and his knights. Glastonbury also makes claim to the body of King Arthur as well as that of his Lady Guinevere. There are ancient documents that recorded the unearthing of the remains of a man of "gigantic proportions", and of a woman whose locks of yellow hair were still intact but fragile. An earlier report of a cross found at the site told of the inscription on the cross: "Here lies buried in the island of Avalonia, the renowned king Arthur". Not only was King Arthur reported to be a great military leader, and a devout Christian, but he was also documented as a descendant of Joseph of Arimathea.

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The sarcophagus of Joseph of Arimathea.

The two cruets of the blood and sweat from our Lord were recorded as buried with Joseph, though his sarcophagus, and an enclosed silver casket, had been moved several times throughout the centuries. The silver casket is missing, but the base for it still remains. There were many ancient documented witnesses to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, too much to be written of here. It is said that Joseph buried the Cup of the Last Supper in the earth of what is known as Chalice Hill. Contrary to the popular belief in a cup or chalice made of gold or silver, this cup was made of olive wood, which is much more in keeping with what Jesus would have used in Judea. The recorded miracles surrounding the Cup are numerous down through the centuries...so much so that people would bite small pieces of it off for more healing! This is known as the Nanteous Cup, and it is not impressive to behold...but it IS believed to be the actual Cup of the Last Supper...the Holy Grail.


This may very well be what remains of the actual Cup of the Last Supper...the Holy Grail.

The tradition of Glastonbury is too strongly founded in writings, hymns, and structural evidence to be mere legend. The Scriptural testament that Joseph of Arimathea purchased the burial shroud for Jesus...claimed His body and buried Him, gives validity to the fact that Joseph was, indeed, great uncle to Jesus. That, in turn, gives probability that Mary, mother of Jesus, was left in his care...and that the tradition of Glastonbury is much more truth than not. Joseph of Arimathea has, for centuries, been associated with the Holy Grail. Some scholars have compared the Holy Grail to the Shroud of Turin ...as it is believed to contain the blood of Jesus. Thus, there is a direct link to all of these in the actual historical record of Jesus of Nazareth. Though Glastonbury was called "The Secret of the Lord", there are clues in the Bible that back up the tradition. There is an analogy in God's Word, of which these are a few examples: "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver..." (Isaiah 48: 10)..."And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried..." (Zechariah 13: 9)..."for he is like a refiner's fire...And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi..." (Malachi 3: 2-3). These passages all have to do with metal...and mining. Glastonbury has Jesus doing just that...as a young boy. And finally, Revelation, chapter 12, tells of the woman travailing in birth, who "brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." A great red dragon stood ready to devour her child as soon as he was born. "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." Jesus also promised to prepare a place for US...as He did for His mother...the Secret of the Lord...which veiled at least some of the lost eighteen years of His earthly life. Yet, Jesus assures us: "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad." (Luke 8: 17).

A very ancient stone inscription on the south wall of Mary's Chapel..."Jesus"..."Maria".

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Pictures credited to The Traditions of Glastonbury by E. Raymond Capt

Music By Justin R Durban - Edgen Animations
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