A party of Franciscans will be welcomed to Canterbury Cathedral this afternoon at 3pm in the eastern crypt where St Thomas Becket’s body was first laid in 1170.

The occasion will recall nine penniless friars arriving at Dover in September 1224. After it had been established that they were not ‘robbers or vagabonds’ they were given a night’s accommodation and allowed to continue to Canterbury.

The original group arrived just four years after St Thomas Becket’s body had been placed upstairs in the new shrine.

They were invited to stay at the Poor Priests’ Hospital in Stour Street. Later their settlement for 300 years was an island on one of the River Stour braids. Today this is known as the Franciscan Gardens . A building straddling the water is the chapel.

The first Franciscans included William of Florence, Laurance of Beauvais and the the leader Agnellus of Pisa.

Leading today’s group is Friar Carlos Trovarelli, Minister General and the 120th successor to St. Francis of Assisi.

Expect to see the 21st-century Franciscans again at 11am on Wednesday 11 September in Canterbury Cathedral‘s crypt for Franciscan morning prayer.

Afterwards at 12.30pm the Anglican Mass will be celebrated on the lawn in front of the chapel in the Franciscan Gardens – entrance via Franciscan Gift Shop at 60 St. Peter’s Street, next to Eastbridge Hospital.

Back in 1224 four of the original party stayed only a few days before continuing to London on the Pilgrims’ Way. So today’s party will also follow the route to be in Southwark Cathedral for 9am morning prayer on Tuesday 17 September.

The programme for the Southwark visit is here.