Sunday, August 27, 2023

Exeter Cat-thedral?


 
As a 19-year-old I took a pause from formal education for a year and during that time I spent a couple of months kicking around Great Britain and France, mostly on my own. I did land for a few weeks with some of my mother's family in Exeter, the city of her birth. Most days I would walk into the city centre and enter the historic cathedral, which dates back nearly a thousand years. I loved the majesty and tranquility of this sanctuary and while I did explore nooks and crannies I often sat just inside the entrance for my own moments of contemplation.

I was aware of the complex astronomical clock in the transept and in much later return visits discovered the fascinating Green Men carved high above the nave. However, I just found out that there is a cat flap door for the resident cathedral mouser which was chiseled out in the 14th century. Stapledon is the current divine feline but how many cats have come and gone through the centuries? As with some other cathedrals in England, Stapledon actually has a voice on the cathedral website. 

The term cathedral comes from cathedra which refers to the raised seat of the presiding bishop. If Stapledon is anything like our two cats he/she/they probably looks at the enthroned bishop and observes "you're sitting in my chair."  And, no doubt, wants us to know that this is a cat-thedral -- they do appear to be wearing a clerical collar. 



2 comments:

Judy said...

This is a delightful, and whimsical blog - thanks for a bit of lightness !

David Mundy said...

We all need more whimsy and less woe these days, but it can be hard to find. Thanks Judy.