The Welsh poet Dylan Thomas died in New York today in 1953 at the age of 39. His chapel upbringing had a great influence on his poetry, and one of its preoccupations was attempting to find a mystical transcendence of death after rejecting orthodox Christianity. His own death came at noon today, after he had been in a coma for three days, suffering from breathing difficulties caused by acute pneumonia. His body was brought back to Wales so he could be buried in Laugharne (above).
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost, love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
Dylan Thomas, ‘And death shall have no dominion’
Margery Kempe, the English mystic, is remembered in the prayers of the Church of England today. Kempe, who was born in 1373, wrote of her pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostella, as well as her conversations with God, her celibate marriage to her husband John, her trials for heresy, her visit to Julian of Norwich, her attacks by visible demons, and her frequent tears. She detailed all this and more in her wonderful The Book of Margery Kempe, which has been called the first English autobiography.
‘One night, as this creature lay in bed with her husband, she heard a melody so sweet, and so delightful, she thought she was in paradise. She jumped out of bed and said to herself, “Why did I ever sin, when it is so merry in heaven?”’ The Book of Margery Kempe
The Pilgrim Mothers and Fathers onboard the Mayflower sighted land today in 1620, 65 days after leaving Plymouth in Devon. Their voyage led to the founding of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. On seeing Cape Cod, William Brewster, their leader, led them in singing Psalm 100: ‘Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.’
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria, the King of Spain’s son, died today in 1641. He became an Archbishop and a Cardinal when he was 10, and when he died, aged 32, a total of 12,000 requiem Masses were chanted to speed him on his way to Heaven without stopping in Purgatory.
St John Lateran, the oldest Christian basilica in Rome, the Pope’s own cathedral, and the most senior church in the Catholic world (outranking even St Peter’s), celebrates the anniversary of its dedication today. It was founded in the year 324, during the reign of Constantine the Great, and rebuilt in the 16th century. The President of France is its only honorary canon.
Image: Simon Jenkins