"And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins."

The Holy Grail ( The word grail is descended from the elder French: greal, which translates as platter or plate ) was a vessel used by Christ at the Last Supper. Given to his granduncle, St. Joseph of Arimathea, it was used by him to collect Christ's blood and sweat while Joseph tended him on the Cross.

From the New Testament we learn that St. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy member of the high Jewish council called the Sanhedrin, and that on the day of the Crucifixion, when evening came, he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate, after he had heard from the centurion on guard at the foot of the cross that Lord Jesus was already dead, granted his request. Joseph took the body down and, with the help of Nicodemus the Pharisee, wrapt it in a linen sheet with spices, laid it in a new tomb hewn out of the rock, which he had made for himself in a garden nearby, rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.

After this, the Jews imprisoned Joseph in a rock tomb similar to the one he had given for the body of his grandnephew. Left to starve, he was sustained for several years by the power of the Grail, which provided him with fresh food and drink every morning.

Later in 37AD, St. Joseph travelled to Britain with his family and several followers. He settled at Tor in Glastonbury. The ancient Celtic name for the Tor was Ynys Witrin, 'Island of Glass. Joseph planted his staff in the ground on Wearyall Hill one night and it had taken root overnight. Joseph built the first Christian church in England. The ancient church was constructed, in 63CE, of wattles, timber poles interlaced with twigs and branches and then surfaced with clay to form walls.

The Grail is all things to all people, and to all it is The Mystery.

Omnia quia sunt, lumina sunt.

Centuries later, after the break from the Roman Empire, a group of Celtic monks took up quarters beside Glastonbury’s small wattle church. Under the Celtic monks, the site of the ancient church became known as “the holiest Earth of England” and was recognized as the place where Christian faith was first planted in England. Today, the Lady Chapel among the abbey ruins marks the location of the ancient church.

Many thought that in this church, the Holy Grail kept, but the Grail was taken to Corbenic ( the name may be derived from “cor benoit” or “blessed body” a reference to the transubstantiation of the body of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist ), where it was housed in a spectacular castle, guarded always by the Grail Kings, descendants of Joseph’s daughter, Anna (Enygeus) and her husband, Brons.

Centuries later, the location of the Great Castle of Corbenic became forgotten. At the Court of King Arthur, however, it was prophesied that the Grail would one day be rediscovered by a descendant of St. Joseph: the best knight in the land, the only man capable of sitting in the mysterious Siege Perilous. When such a man arrived in the form of Galahad, the son of Lancelot, along with a miraculous, though brief, vision of the Grail itself, a quest to find this holiest of relics began. The monastery grew into an abbey of the Benedictine Order in 673CE. In 1184 CE, the ancient church, also known affectionately as the ‘Old Church,’ was destroyed in a fire.

The Abbey was reconstructed by King Henry II but his death in 1189CE dropped royal patronage (his successor, King Richard I, was not interested.)In 1191CE while digging on the abbey grounds, the monks of Glastonbury made a fantastic discovery.

Thanks to a tale from a Welsh bard, the monks began to dig on a specific area on the abbey grounds. The first thing discovered was a stone slab under which was found a large lead cross with an inscription in Latin, ‘Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon.’ Digging deeper, the monks found a coffin made from a hollowed out log. Inside the coffin were found the bones of a tall man. Also found were smaller bones of another person that the monks assumed to be Queen Guinever’s. Due to the timing of the find by the monks (the fire and loss of patronage), most historians do not believe that the grave the monks found was that of King Arthur. The end of Glastonbury Abbey came in 1539CE when King Henry VIII had the abbey burned, took the Twelve Hides for himself and had the abbot hanged at the Tor. The king also had the body of the abbot dismembered and put on exhibition around the country.

Myths

Through many adventures and many years, the Knights of the Round Table of King Arthur crossed Britain from one end to another in their search. Holy Grail was believed to be kept in a mysterious castle surrounded by a wasteland and guarded by a custodian called the Fisher King, who suffered from a wound that would not heal. His recovery and the renewal of the blighted lands depended upon the successful completion of the quest.

Equally, the self-realisation of the questing knight was assured by finding the Grail. The magical properties attributed to the Holy Grail have been plausibly traced to the magic vessels of Celtic myth that satisfied the tastes and needs of all who ate and drank from them.
Holy Grail has certain powers associated with it. These are:

? Healing and restorative ability.
? Communication with God or knowledge of God.
? Invisibility to evil or unworthy eyes.
? Ability to feed those present.
? Immortality.
? Ability to call those to it who were worthy.

Sir Perceval (Peredyr) discovered the castle in a land that was sickly like its spear-wounded King. When entertained by this “Fisher” or “Grail King”, however, he failed to ask of the grail and left empty-hand. Lancelot next reached Corbenic, but was prevented from entering because of he was an adulterer. Finally Galahad arrived. He was permitted entry to the Grail Chapel and allowed to gaze upon the great cup. His life became complete and together grail and men were lifted up to heaven.

Evidence

1.The Holy Grail first appears in a written text in Chr?tien de Troyes’s Old French verse romance, the Conte del Graal (’Story of the Grail’), or Perceval, of c.1180. During the next 50 years several works, both in verse and prose, were written although the story, and the principal character, vary from one work to another. In France this process culminated in a cycle of five prose romances telling the history of the Grail from the Crucifixion to the death of Arthur. The Old French romances were translated into other European languages. Among these other versions two stand out: Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzifal (early 13th century) and Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur (late 15th century).

2.With the passing of the Middle Ages, the Grail disappears until the nineteenth century when medieval history and legend awoke the interest of writers such as Scott and Tennyson, of the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and of composers, notably Richard Wagner. The symbol of the Grail as a mysterious object of search and as the source of the ultimate mystical, or even physical, experience has persisted into the present century in the novels of Charles Williams, C.S.

3.According to tradition the eighteenth century mansion of Nanteos, which lies in the Paith Valley, near Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, became the repository of an olive wood bowl brought by seven monks who had fled from Glastonbury Abbey at the time of the Dissolution. They first went to the Abbey of Strata Florida and thence to Nanteos, bringing with them what was said to be the sacred cup of the Last Supper. In the sixteenth century members of the Powell family became the cup?s guardian.

In 1855 Richard Wagner, composer of the Grail opera Parsifal, made a pilgrimage to behold the Nanteos Cup. It was widely believed to possess miraculous healing powers and water poured into it was sent around the world to those afflicted with various diseases and ailments. The fragile cup turned into little more than a sliver as the edges became worn away by people drinking from it and bite small pieces in the hope of a cure.?

Conclusion

There can be little doubt that the Grail is an elusive idea. It has taken, and will continue to take, many different forms in people?s minds. No one theory as yet has been able to explain all the details in the Grail mystery.

It would be foolish to hope that an ending be found. Documents from the past were often destroyed. Many writers have claimed a source for their stories on the Grail. None have been produced. Again the same fate may have befallen such documents or perhaps the writers of ancient literature knew the value of a mystery source as much as today?s journalists.

Tag: Holy Grail