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The Caldey Monks and the Catholic Press, 1905–1913

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2016

Extract

Aelred Calyle (1874–1955) devoted his entire life as an Anglican to the establishment of Benedictine monasticism in the Church of England. Monastic life had attracted him early: as a medical student in London he joined a brotherhood in 1893; he often visited Buckfast Abbey, where he almost converted to Roman Catholicism; and in 1898 he took private vows of poverty, chastity and obedience according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. In the same year, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple, sanctioned his solemn profession as an Anglican Benedictine monk. Four years later, Temple also signed a charter which commissioned Carlyle to found an Anglican monastery and appointed him as its abbot. With the approbation of William Maclagan, the Archbishop of York, Bishop Charles Grafton ordained him a priest on 15 November 1904, in his American diocese of Fond- du-Lac. Along with archiepiscopal sanction and orders, Carlyle also enjoyed the patronage of Lord Halifax, the prominent Anglo-Catholic. In 1902, Carlyle accepted Halifax’s invitation to settle at his estate at Painsthorpe in Yorkshire.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Catholic Record Society 1984

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References

Notes

1 Catholic Times, 23 June 1905.

2 Catholic Times, 30 June 1905; 14 July 1905; 21 July 1905; 28 July 1905; 18 August 1905; 1 September 1905.

3 Catholic Times, 21 July 1905; 18 August 1905; 21 July 1905. Bede Camm was a convert to Roman Catholicism. St. Thomas, Erdington, was a foundation of Maredsous Abbey, Belgium. Canonically, Dom Bede was a member of the Belgian monastery and under obedience to its superior, Abbot Columba Marmion, In 1913, Dom Bede transferred his stability to St. Gregory’s Abbey, Downside. See Camm, B., Anglican Memoirs (London: Burns, Oates, Washbourne, 1935)Google Scholar.

4 A. Carlyle to B. Camm, 24 July 1905, Camm Papers, Downside Abbey Archives, Somerset.

5 A. Carlyle to B. Camm, 24 July 1905, DAA.

6 Catholic Times, 14 July 1905.

7 Catholic Times, 24 August 1906.

8 The Universe, 31 August 1906.

9 The Tablet, 8 September 1906.

10 ‘My Pew: A Parable,’ Pax, March 1908, pp. 418–423. Allegorical in nature, each ‘pew’ represented a church in divided Christendom. Although they were divided, the article argued for the fundamental unity of all Chistians.

11 Catholic Times, 29 May 1908.

12 The Tablet, 5 February 1910.

13 A. Carlyle to P. Anson, 25 April 1910, Carlyle Papers, Pluscarden Abbey Archives, Elgin, Scotland.

14 Catholic Times, 7 January 1910.

15 A. Carlyle to B. Camm, 22 February 1913, printed in B. Camm, The Power of Prayer Shown in the Conversion at Caldey and St. Brides: A Paper Read at the 4th National Congress at Plymouth, July 1913, private printing, DAA. It was Dom Bede’s personal opinion that the conversions were miraculous. He pointed out that a nun had received a vision in 1907 which foreshadowed the secession.

16 A. CarlyIe to B. Camm, 24 February 1913, printed in Camm, B., The Call of Caldey (London: Burns, Oates, Washbourne, 1937), p. 20.Google Scholar

17 Ibid., p. 25.

18 B. Camm to Hedley, 18 March 1913, Hedley Papers, Cardiff Diocesan Archives, Cardiff.

19 Abbot Cuthbert Butler, O.S.B.

20 Abbot Marmion was the Irish-born Abbot of Maredsous Abbey and Dom Bede’s superior. By 1913, Abbot Marmion was a recognized authority on spirituality and an acclaimed religious writer. He had also conducted retreats for the priests of the Dioceses of Westminster and Southwark. See Benedictine Studies, The English Letters of Abbot Marmion 1858–1923 (Dublin: Helicon, 1962); New Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. ‘Columba Marmion’; Thibaut, R., Abbot Columba Marmion (London: Sands Co., 1932)Google Scholar.

21 Caldey was located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia.

22 ‘Sermon Preached at Caldey,’ 2 March 1913, Camm Papers, DAA.

23 According to the calculations of Dom Gregory Fournier, a monk of Maredsous Abbey, six monks who signed the 28 February protest to Bishop Gore did not become Roman Catholic on 5 March. Out of the twenty-two monks who were received, only thirteen including the Abbot were professed as monks in 1914. The programme of the reception ceremony is part of the Camm Papers at Downside. The Bishop baptized the monks conditionally and sacramental absolution was given. Details of the reception appeared in The Tablet, 15 March 1913, and The Universe, 14 March 1913.

24 Printed in The Universe, 7 March 1913. The Cardinal’s mother was English, and he had become one of the most powerful Cardinals in Rome. In 1913, he was Secretary of State for the Vatican.

25 Bourne to Marmion, 9 March 1913, Carlyle Papers, Prinknash Abbey Archives, Gloucester.

26 Mostyn to ?, 25 March 1913, Mostyn Papers, Menevia Diocese Archives, Wrexham, Clwyd. This is the only reference to Caldey in the Menevia Archives. There is mention of a ‘Caldey File,’ but this is either misplaced or lost. Bishop Mostyn’s earlier papers are deposited at Cardiff, but a search of these papers revealed nothing.

27 Marmion to Sister [ ],26 March 1913, printed in Benedictine Studies, The English Letters of Abbot Marmion 1858–1923, p. 193.

28 Butler to B. Camm, 23 February 1913, Butler Papers, DAA.

29 Butler to B. Camm, 28 February 1913, Butler Papers, DAA.

30 A. Gasquet to A. Carlyle, 3 March 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

31 A. Gasquet to B. Camm, 18 March 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

32 ‘The Benedictines of Caldey,’ The Month, April 1913, pp. 408, 410, 412.

33 Catholic Herald (London), 7 March 1913.

34 Catholic Herald, 27 September 1913.

35 The Harvest (Manchester), March 1913.

36 The Harvest, April 1913.

37 Catholic Times, 28 February 1913; 7 March 1913; 21 March 1913; 4 April 1913; 15 March 1913; 30 May 1913; 25 October 1913; 30 May 1913.

38 The Universe, 3 January 1913; 10 January 1913; 24 January 1913; 7 February 1913; 14 February 1913.

39 The Universe, 28 February 1913; 7 March 1913.

40 In addition to the monks, approximately forty islanders also converted.

41 The Universe, 7 March 1913; 14 March 1913.

42 The Universe, 14 March 1913; 3 May 1913; 28 March 1913.

43 The Universe, 25 April 1913; 23 May 1913; 30 May 1912; 27 June 1913; 25 July 1913.

44 The Universe, 11 April 1913; 20 March 1913; 11 April 1913.

45 The Tablet, 8 March 1913; 22 March 1913; 5 April 1913; 8 March 1913; 22 March 1913; 31 May 1913; 7 June 1913; 21 June 1913; 2 September 1913; 27 September 1913; 24 May 1913; 26 July 1913; 29 March 1913.

46 C. Butler to B. Camm, 23 February 1913, Butler Papers, DAA.

47 C. Butler to B. Camm, 28 February 1913, Butler Papers, DAA.

48 A. Gasquet to A. Carlyle, 3 March 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

49 A. Gasquet to C. Butler, 3 March 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

50 A. Gasquet to B. Camm, 18 March 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

51 C. Marmion to B. Camm, 21 April 1913, printed in Benedictine Studies, The English Letters of Abbot Marmion 1858–1923, p. 106.

52 A. Gasquet to J. Chapman, 29 April 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

53 A. Gasquet to B. Camm, 5 May 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

54 A. Gasquet to B. Camm, 5 May 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

55 Gasquet to Camm, 28 May 1913, Gasquet Papers, DAA.

56 ‘Private Report Written by Abbot Marmion After His Audience With Pius X,’ 16 May 1913, Chapman Papers, Maredsous Abbey Archives, Denee, Belgium.

57 ‘Petition of Aelred Carlyle,’ 11 May 1913, Camm Papers, DAA.

58 John Chapman had convinced Carlyle that his only hope for favours and dispensations depended on the suzerainty of the Bishop of Menevia.

59 ‘Petition of Aelred Carlyle,’ 11 May 1913, Camm Papers, DAA.

60 ‘Petition of Abbot Marmion,’ Document 2479/13, Caldey-Prinknash Papers, Office of the Abbot Primate, Sant’ Anselmo, Rome.

61 ‘Private Report Written By Abbot Marmion After His Audience With Pius X, 16 May 1913’, Chapman Papers, MAA.

62 ‘Decree of the Sacred Congregation for Religious,’ 31 May 1913, Caldey-Prinknash Papers, Office of the Abbot Primate, Rome. The files of the Sacred Congregation for Religious on the Caldey conversion were moved to the archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the old Holy Office). This Congregation would not permit research into the Caldey Papers.

63 ‘Statement as to the Abbey and Community at Caldey by the Bishop of Menevia,’ Pax, August 1913, p. 307,

64 Cummins to Laurentes (The Cardinal Prefect, Congregation For Religious), 1921, Cummins Papers, Ampleforth Abbey Archives, Yorkshire.