Chapter Thirteen and Appendices
XIII
RECENT YEARS
WITH the death of Abbot Kindersley in 1934, the Com-
munity was faced with a difficult task in selecting his
successor. The late Abbot had ruled for practically twenty
years, so that in any case there were likely to be many
changes noticeable in the manner of running the House; and
moreover hitherto Belmont had been 'nursed' by Downside,
even though in recent years this had only amounted to
having a Downside monk as its Superior. Now, for the first
time, it had the chance and the prospect of having one of its
own number as Abbot, and thus a time of testing was at
hand. Unhappily at that period there was a somewhat sharp
cleavage of the Community into two parties, though what
precisely each party stood for it would have been difficult,
even at that time, to say. Primarily, perhaps, one might say
that the vexed question was whether the life and work inside
the monastery walls was to hold the first place, or whether
the chief interest and aim was to be that of the external
apostolate. But that is only a rough approximate estimate of
the situation. To some extent personalities also entered into
the matter. Be that as it may, it was generally felt that a
critical moment for the fortunes of the House was at hand,
and that the coming election would be of vital importance,
for by it decisive questions of policy would be settled for
years to come. Looked back on now from a distance of more
than twenty years, the position can be seen in truer per-
spective, and what seemed so important then loses now some
of its significance. But at the time feeling ran high, and the
atmosphere in the House was tense.
Each of the two groups had very definitely its own candi-
date, and as the day of election drew near it was plain that
212
RECENT YEARS 213
one or other of these would be chosen, and it was also clear
that between them the Community was almost equally
divided, so that the result seemed very open. And the drama
of the occasion was heightened by the fact that the two
candidates made a piquant contrast. One of them was forty-
five years old, was already Prior, and had played a very
prominent part in the management of the House for the past
twenty years, and finally he was an administrator rather than
a thinker. The other was much younger, only thirty, had
never held any office, but was a man of high ideals and was
eminently intellectual. Thus the Community had two utterly
different types from which to choose. The date for the
election was November 6, 1934, and the Tractatus which, as
usual, was held the night before, fulfilled expectations by
being, it was said, the longest of which there was any record
in the Congregation. The details of the election next morning
cannot, of course, be discussed in these pages; it will suffice
to say that it was extremely closely contested and ran its full
course. But the upshot of it all was that the Claustral Prior,
Dom Romuald Leonard, became the second Abbot of
Belmont.
Thomas Romuald Leonard was a native of Penarth in
South Wales and was born on October 30, 1889. Having
expressed a wish, while still a boy, to enter Belmont, he was
sent for his final years of schooling to Ampleforth under an
arrangement with Abbot Oswald Smith of that House, and
eventually was clothed at St Michael's in 1908. He studied at
S. Anselmo's in Rome from 1913 to 1915, and was ordained
priest in Rome in 1915, after which he returned to Belmont;
and for the rest of his life, until he became Abbot, he held
a series of offices in the monastery. Thus practically his whole
life up till then had been spent in the cloister, yet he always
kept in close touch with the secular clergy of Wales, by
whom he was held in high esteem. His abilities, which were
considerable, were mostly of an administrative nature, and
he would probably have been highly successful as the Vicar
General of a diocese. Thus it is not surprising that on the
death of the Bishop ofMenevia in 1935 Abbot Leonard was
generally expected by the secular clergy to become the new
214 THE HISTORY OF BELMONT ABBEY
Bishop, and in fact it is said that his name was second on the
terna, and also that he was the Archbishop's choice for the
vacancy. As it was, however, he was destined to remain at
St Michael's, where his energy and ingenuity brought about,
very soon after he became Abbot, a large number of struc-
tural alterations and improvements to the buildings, in
planning which he was in his element.
The task of the new Abbot was a difficult one, and his
position somewhat delicate, by reason of the manner in.
which he had become Abbot; and it may reasonably be said
that this difficult situation was not eased by his own personal
characteristics. Clearly tact, and patience, and gentleness
were eminently called for if the divisions in the Community
were to be healed, or at least not aggravated. It was a
position which might have tried the most considerate and the
wisest of Superiors. As it was, he was not in accord with most
of the resident Community, and Belmont was not a happy
place in those days. For the Abbot had not the art of soothing
susceptibilities, or of healing wounds, and he was probably
unconscious of the fact that many were hurt by the brusque-
ness of his manner. But it has to be borne in mind that for
much of his life Abbot Leonard was plagued by ill-health,
and this must have been a sore trial to him, and doubtless
made his task yet more difficult. But in one respect he was
fortunate, for in all these difficulties he was greatly helped by
Dom Placid Smith whom he at once recalled from 'the
mission' to help him in the monastery, appointing him to be
both Prior and Novice Master, which offices he held through-
out Abbot Leonard's term of office.
Fr Placid was the senior member of the Community, and
older than the Abbot, and he may be said to have lived up
to his name, for he was generally quiet and unruffled. With
the exception of one year (1918-1919) he had spent the whole
of his priestly life of twenty-five years 'on the mission', and.
had not lived in the House since 1909; but he was now
recalled from his parish at Abergavenny, where he had been.
rector for the past five years, in order to give support to the
Abbot in the monastery; and as Prior he did valiant work as.
an intermediary, bridging the gap and smoothing down,
RECENT YEARS 2I5
difficulties. Abbot Leonard owed much to him in those six
years, as also did the Community. His appointment as Prior
and Novice Master had caused some dismay for he was
practically unknown to the Community, and his record of
unbroken missionary work, fine though it was, hardly seemed
I good introduction to life in the cloister, especially at his
age. 1 But all were most pleasantly surprised by the whole
hearted way in which the new Prior threw himself into the
unaccustomed life of the monastery, by his pleasant manner
and his easy intercourse with all, and by his regularity at all
conventual duties and especially in choir. He was, in fact,
' truly the oil which enabled the machine to function
smoothly' It must have been a wrench for him to leave his
parish, and no doubt he had misgivings as to what his life
at Belmont would be like, but he realised that he was needed
and at the call of obedience he willingly came, and he gave of his best.
One of the first things the new Abbot did was to remove
the Bishop Hedley Memorial Tomb from the centre of the
choir where it had been obstructing all the ceremonies for
Seventeen years. It may be of interest to future generations
(ami to the present generation) if some details are given
regarding this task, which proved much heavier (in both
senses of the word) than had been expected It was found
that there was concrete eighteen inches thick beneath the
tomb and that the tomb itself weighs six tons. Naturally it
had o be dismantled before it could be moved and the
first task was to detach the recumbent figure of the bishop
which was cemented to the tomb, and which.itself weighs one
and a half tons. It took the men four and a half hours of
laborious work to get it off, lower it to the ground, and then
propel it inch by inch to the west end of the nave where it
was at first proposed to re-erect the tomb. Four more hours
work removed the heavy slab that had been beneath the
figure, and the inside of the tomb was thus revealed. The
contents were found to be a bottle that had originally
contained Horlick's Malted Milk, but now contained a list
1 He was considered 'old' by the community, but he looked older than
his actual year, and in fact when he became Prior he was only fifty-four.
216 THE HISTORY OF BELMONT ABBEY
of the Community (numbering thirteen) at the time at
which it had been sealed up (1917)- This was removed and
in its place was put a list of the Community, numbering
forty-eight, then existing, together with a record of the
removal of the tomb. At the last moment the new site for the
tomb was changed, as it was decided that St Joseph's Chapel
would be a better place for it, so it was laboriously trundled
back again from the west end of the nave, and after several
days' work the various panels and slabs had been re-assembled
and the effigy put back on top. The whole task occupied
nine days, and it was finished on the eve of the Blessing of
the Abbot.
This was fixed for November 22, and a great many visitors
arrived on the preceding night. The actual ceremony,
lasting two hours and twenty minutes, was carried out with
incomparable splendour and dignity, with Archbishop
Mostyn presiding, and in the presence of four Abbots,
several Priors, twenty-one secular priests, and a multitude
of laity. At the luncheon which followed there were sixty-
two guests which, with forty-three of the Community, made
a total of one hundred and five in the refectory.
So the new Abbot's reign began, but the six years of its
duration were, so far as the historian is concerned, practically
a blank, for little affecting the history of the House occurred
during that time. Mention may be made, however, of the
fact that in 1935 the monastery was honoured by receiving
two illustrious visitors who came within a fortnight of each
other. For on August 31 we welcomed the Abbot-Primate
of the Benedictine Order. Abbot von Stotzingen, who was
making a tour of all the Benedictine monasteries and
convents in Great Britain; and on September 13 there came
the yet more striking figure of Cardinal Seredi, the Cardinal
Primate of Hungary, who was in England to preside at the
consecration of Downside Abbey Church. They were both
received with the pomp and ceremonies due to such occasions,
and both were extremely affable with the Community,
though in the case of the Cardinal the amenities were made
a little difficulty by his inability to speak English. He
arrived in an imposing limousine lent to him by the Holy
RECENT YEARS 2 ! 7
See, and with him was the Abbot of St Paul's Outside the
Walls (Rome), a Hungarian monk as secretary, a layman
who was said to be a prince, and a valet: not to mention
Fr Placid Turner, the Prior of Downside. In the refectory
the Cardinal sat in the Abbot's place, with Abbot Leonard
on his right and the Abbot ofSt Paul's on his left, and after a
speech by Abbot Leonard, and the drinking of the Cardinal's
health and the singing of 'Ad Multos Annas', His Eminence
replied in an amusing speech in Latin, and then went
straight to bed.
As the years of the Abbot's term of office passed by, his
position vis-a-vis the Community unhappily did not improve,
and the climax came in 1940 with a Visitation by Abbot-
President Trafford of Downside, as a result of which Abbot
Leonard resigned in May of that year. He became parish
priest of Avon Dasset in Warwickshire until, in 1948, he was
transferred to the Hereford parish, where he remained until
his death on December 27, 1953, at the age of sixty-four. He
had laboured much for Belmont, and its welfare had always
been his aim. May he rest in peace.
With the resignation of Abbot Leonard in 1940 we enter
what may be called 'recent times', and the time for telling
their story in any detail is not yet. Here a brief summary, to
round off the history to date, must suffice for the past twenty
years. In the last year of his rule Abbot Leonard had had to
cope with the difficulties brought about by the outbreak of
the war in 1939: rationing, the blackout, multiplicity of new
regulations, rising prices, and so forth: the difficulties which
beset every institution and household in the land. And
indeed the coming of the war brought great changes both
to the Community and to the School. But the main burden
during these trying years fell on the new Abbot, elected on
September 3, 1940, when the war situation seemed very
grim indeed. On that day the Community chose Dom Aidan
Williams as their third Abbot, at the early age of thirty-six.
He had been clothed for Belmont in 1921, when only seven-
teen, and as soon as he was professed he was sent to the
College of S. Anselmo in Rome, where he spent five years.
There he had a brilliant academic career and took his
218 THE HISTORY OF BELMONT ABBEY
Doctorate of Sacred Theology in 1928, the first Belmont
monk to take a Roman doctorate. Returning to Belmont
in that year, he taught theology and philosophy to the junior
monks, as well as half a dozen other subjects in the school.
During his term of office as Abbot an attempt was made in
1943, in view of the need for playing fields and new buildings
for the expanding school, to rent (with the option of later
purchase) Belmont House and its surrounding land, but this
failed because the tenant then farming the land would not
give up his tenancy. In consequence it was decided to under-
take the formidable task of levelling the fields adjoining the
monastery garden. For years past some of the Community
had been trying to do this gradually by their own labour,
but it was an herculean task, and required machinery. In
1947, therefore, a contract was signed with a firm who sent
down a formidable array of bull-dozers, and the work began
in May. But even with modern machines the work took
seventy days, and was not finished till the end of July. During
that time 32,000 tons of soil were removed and spread, and
the top-soil replaced, at a cost of nearly ｣6,000.
On the expiry of Abbot Williams' term of office, he was
succeeded by Dom Anselm Lightbound, who was elected as
fourth Abbot of Belmont on July 28, 1948, at the age of
fifty-seven. He had been educated at Ampleforth and came
to Belmont in 1908 at the same time as Dom Romuald
Leonard. He served as an Army Chaplain in Mesopotamia
during the First World War, and after that returned to St
Michael's where in the following years he filled at one time
or another practically every office in the House, and thus
gained a wealth of experience. But his name will always be
chiefly associated with the foundation and growth of the
School, of which, as distinct from the former Alumnate, he
was the first Headmaster. In his time as Abbot the prepara-
tory school at Alderwasley also was acquired in 1949, much
to the benefit of the Community. Unfortunately, however,
through circumstances which were entirely outside his
control, the financial position of St Michael's, which for
some years past had been steadily deteriorating, became in
1949 extremely grave, and eventually the Abbot-President
REGENT YEARS 219
arranged for two Downside monks, Dom Nicholas Holman
and Dom Guthbert McGann, to assist us in our difficulties.
The former of these took charge of the financial side, and the
latter helped very greatly in the School; and with their help
over a period of three years the crisis was weathered, though
not without strenuous efforts and acute anxiety. But the very
great worries which beset him during these years, combined
with chronic ill-health uncomplainingly borne, made it
impossible for Abbot Lightbound to complete his term of
office, and in 1953 he accordingly resigned.
He was succeeded on April 22, 1953, by Dom Alphege
Gleeson as fifth Abbot. The new Abbot was aged forty, and
had been clothed in 1930. He had been Headmaster from
1941 to 1948, in which last year he became for a time Prior,
and then went to Alderwasley as Headmaster of the new
school there, but returned to Belmont in the following year
to be again Headmaster. As Abbot he brought about a great
many changes in the routine life of the Community and in
the furnishings of the Abbey church; but unhappily once
again the strain of an Abbot's life and its responsibilities
proved too much, and a consequent breakdown in health
forced Abbot Gleeson's resignation after only two years of
office.
So, once again, there had to be an Abbatial election (the
fourth within fourteen years), and on August 3, 1955, the
choice of the Community fell on Dom Maurice Martin, now
happily ruling as sixth Abbot of Belmont, and he was
solemnly blessed by Archbishop McGrath of Cardiff on
September 8 of that year.
And so a landmark has been reached by the monastery
with the completion of one hundred years of existence. The
attainment of its centenary is ever a great event in the history
of a religious house, and an occasion for heartfelt thanks to
God who has brought it safely through all the trials and
perils and difficulties that have inevitably beset it through-
out that period. And this is the more notable in the case of
St Michael's because of the difficult and delicate transition
that had to be made halfway through the century, the trans-
formation of a Common Congregational noviciate and house
220 THE HISTORY OF BELMONT ABBEY
of studies into a normally functioning independent self-
contained Benedictine Abbey. For a hundred years the
Divine Praises of the choral office have resounded unbrokenly
from its choir, for sixty of those years a multitude of young
monks were formed and painstakingly trained for their
life-work in other communities, and the remainder of the
century has seen the steady building up of a new familia, a
brotherhood with its roots in Belmont, with its hopes and its
interests and its achievements centred in Belmont. And, at
the gateway of a new century, looking through to the years
that lie ahead, that Community knows that the loving care
of the Most High will watch over it, and 'will guide its feet
in the way of peace'. They are confident that the work
which God has begun within these walls, that of promoting
the glory of* God, of sanctifying the souls of the monks
themselves, and of labouring for the souls of others. He
Himself will perfect.
'Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi: et sub pennis ejus sperabis.'
APPENDIX XI
THE RELIC OF THE TRUE CROSS
IT WILL probably be of interest to readers to know something of
the details concerning this relic which is kept in an aumbry in
the south wall of St Benedict's Chapel. It is a fairly large relic
consisting of two pieces of wood set in the form of a cross, each
piece being about an inch long and one-eighth of an inch broad.
It is preserved in a reliquary which is an ebony cross about a foot
high, and the precious relic, enclosed in crystal, is set at the inter-
section of the arms of the cross.
This holy relic was given to the monastery in May, 1880, by
Mgr Francis Weld, and on the back of the reliquary the fact is
recorded in a Latin inscription which states: 'The Rev. Mgr
Francis J. Weld gives this portion of the Holy Gross, a witness
of the burning love of Our Lord Jesus Christ for men, to the
Fathers and Brethren of the monastery of St Michael the
Archangel as a mark of his affection'.
At the foot of the reliquary is a small hinged recess, inside which
is a document dated February 7, 1881, which is a paper, copied
and attested by Bishop Hedley and Prior Raynal, giving the
original authentication of the relic written by Cardinal Wiseman,
THE RELIC OF THE TRUE CROSS 22 I
and stating that on February 14, 1854, he (the Cardinal) had
taken these two pieces from the large and famous relic in the
Bishop's palace at Ghent in Belgium, and that he had secured
and sealed it in this reliquary. Later he gave the document and
the relic to Mgr Weld.
As for the great relic at Ghent from which these pieces came:
it is the third largest portion of the Cross in the world, and it is
believed to have been part of the 'stump' of the Cross, i.e. the
portion that entered the ground. It is estimated to be more than
one-tenth of all the wood of the Holy Cross now known to exist,
and it is worth noting that all the relics of the Cross now known
to exist would, if put together, not be more than one forty-
fourth part of all the wood that originally made up the Cross.
This Ghent relic (from which the Belmont relic comes) was
cut off from a yet larger piece which was kept in the Tower of
London in the reign of James I, and as it is first mentioned in
that reign as being in the Tower, it is possible that it was brought
there by King James when he came from Scotland in 1603. But
some believe that it was brought from the Holy Land by
Richard I on his return from the Crusades (1189-1199).
What is known for certain is that before James I died in 1625
this larger relic in the Tower was secretly taken by its guardian
to a friend of his, a Yorkshire Catholic called Pudsee, who cut
off it the piece now at Ghent, and his widow later gave it to a
Father Lusher, S.J., who testified to that effect on September 16,
1647. The larger piece was meanwhile restored to the Tower,
but in 1643 it was sent to Queen Henrietta Maria (the Catholic
wife of Charles I) who was in France, and unhappily the ship
that was taking it foundered in a tremendous storm in the Channel
and the relic was thus lost.
But Fr Lusher's portion passed into the keeping of Fr John
Heaton, S.J., in 1675, and for over a century it belonged to the
English Province of the Society of Jesus, which was then situated
in Flanders. On the suppression of the Society in 1773 it passed
into the possession of the Bishop of Ghent. It was from this, then,
that Cardinal Wiseman took the two small pieces which are now
at Belmont.
APPENDIX XII
THE PAPAL BULL: CAMBRIA CELTICA
BENEDICTUS EPISCOPUS SERVUS SERVORUM DEI. Ad perpetuam
rei memoriam.
Cambria, Celtica gentis origine, linguae morumque usu ac
traditionibus ita est a ceteris Angliae regionibus distincta ut
requirere videatur etiam in ordine ecclesiastico a ceteris Ecclesiis
222 THE HISTORY OF BELMONT ABBEY
secerni et hierarchia propria donari. Quod quidem sentientes
Birminghamiensis Provinciae Antistites nuper Apostolicam sedem
rogarunt ut duae dioceses Neoportensis et Menevensis quae totam
Cambriam seu Walliae principatum complectuntur canonica
divisione et metropoliticojure Birminghamiensi eximerentur et in
novarn ecclesiasticum provinciam constituerentur. Quibus votis
annuentes de consulto Venerabilium Fratrum nostrorum S. R.
Cardinalium Sacrae Congregationis Consistorialis, memoratas
duas diocese praefata ratione separandas et dividendas censuimus
et decrevimus et hisce Apostolicis Litteris separamus ac dividimus
et in novam Ecclesiasticam Provinciam erigimus atque con-
stituimus. Gum autem valde congruat ut Episcopalis Sedes
Neoportensis diocesis in ea urbe sit quae totius Walliae caput est
ceterisque oppidis antecellit, hoc est Cardiff, idcirco Nos in hanc
urbem transferimus sedem Episcopalem Neoportensem, ibique
constituimus et venustum S. David templum Cathedrae Episco-
palis sedem esse decernimus; ipsamque Neoportensem diocesis
in posterum a civitate Cardiff nomine Cardiffensi venire jubemus,
Eamdemque insuper totius Cambriae Metropolitanam erigimus
cum omnibus juribus privilegiis et officiis quae sedibus metro-
politanis propria sunt et Sedem Menevensem in Suffraganeam
statuimus firmis pro hac nove Provincia ordinationibus quae in
Pii Papae X Constitutione 'Si QUA EST' diei 28 mensis Octobris
1911 decreta sunt ad disciplinae Ecclesiasticae unitate arctius in
Anglia servandam.
Seculare Capitulum in Metropolitana S. David Ecclesia
constituatur iis sub legibus quae circa numerum dignitatum et
canonicorum circa residentiam et chorale servitium aliaque a
novo Archiepiscopo post annum a capta diocesis possessione
Apostolicae Sedi proponentur et ab ea probatur fuerint.
Cum autem bonum justumque sit ut inclitus S. Benedicti
ordo qui de Ecclesia in Anglia et maxime in Neoportensi diocesi
valde benemeritus est non minuatur idcirco Nos statuimus atque
decernimus ut monasticum Capitulum in loco 'Belmont' penes
Hereford et Episcopalis Cathedra ibi erecta in suo statu serventur
et ut antea juxta tenorem decreti S. Congregationis de Propa-
ganda Fide die 21 mensis Aprilis anni Domini 1852 perseverent
iis sub innovationibus quae Abbas Praeses Congregationis Angliae
Monachorum Ordinis Sancti Benedicti Sancte Sede infra idem
superius statutum tempus approbandas proponet et quae ab
Ipsa fuerint probatae.
Adeo ut Archiepiscopus Cardiffensis duo habeat Capitula,
alterum seculare et alterum regulare, duasque Cathedrales
Ecclesias; Capitulum autem regulare juxta suae leges in Cathed-
rali Ecclesia Monasterii Sacras functiones peraget, servato
P. Priori Pontificalium privilegio.
THE PAPAL BULL: 'CAMBRIA CELTICA' 223
Una tamen sit Episcopalis Curia; idcirco quae documenta
hucesque penes Episcopum Neoportensem, vel penes Cathedra-
lem Belmontensem servata erant et statum diocesis respiciebant,
eadem in civitatem Cardiff penes Archiepiscopum et novam
Curiam ibidem erigendam transferantur.
Praesentes autem Litteras et ea quae in eis continentur nullo
umquam tempore ex quocumque capite vel defectu aut quavis
ex causa etiam eo quod causae propter quas praemissa emanarunt
adductae verificatae seu justificatae non fuerint, de subreptioms
vel obreptionis aut nullitatis vitio seu intentioms Nostrae vel
quocumque alio defectu aut etiam ex eo quod in praemissis
solemnitates aut quavis alia servanda adimpleta non fuerint aut
ex quocumque alio capite praetextu vel ratione aut causa etiam
tali quae ad effectum validitatis praesentium necessano torent
exprimenda, notari impugnari invalidari, in jus vel controversiam
vocari seu adversus illas quodcumque juris vel facti aut gratiae
veljustitiae remedium impetrari etiam motu, scientia et potestatis
plenitudine paribus concesso et impetrato quempiam uti seu
iuvari posse in judicio et extra illud atque eas sub quibusvis
eratiarum revocationibus suspensionibus limitationibus deroga-
tionibus aut aliis contrariis dispositionibus per quascumque
Litteras et Constitutionibus Apostolicas editas vel edendas
minime comprehendi sed semper ab illis excipi et quoties illae
emanabant toties in pristinum et valedissimum statum restitutas
ct reintegratas ac de nova etiam sub quacumque posteriori data
quandocumque eligenda concessas esse et fore suosque plenanos
et integros effectus sortiri et obtinere et ita ab omnibus censen
ac firmiter et inviolabiter observari sicque et non alias per
quoscumque judices ordinarios vel delegates quavis auctontate
fungentes vel dignitate fulgentes etiam causarum Palatn Aposto-
lici auditores ac S. R. E. Cardinales etiam de Latero Legates
Vice-Legatos, dictaeque Sedis Nuncios, sublata eis et eorum
quilibet quavis aliter judicandi et interpretandi potestate et
facultate judicari et definiri debere ac irritum quoque et inane
decernimus si secus super his a quoquam quavis auctontate
scienter vel ignoranter contigerit attrectari.
Ad horum omnium executionem deputamus Venerabilem
Fratrem Eduardem Ilsley, Archiepiscopum Birmmghamiensem
eidem tributis facultatibus necessariis et opportums, etiam sub-
delegandi ad effectum de quo agitur, quemlibet ecclesiastica
dignitate insignitum ac definitive pronunciandi super quavis
difficultate vel oppositione in executioms actu quomodolibet
oritur facta simul et obligatione ad Sacram Congregationem
Consistorialem intra sex menses transmittendi peractae execu-
tionis authenticum testimonium.
Non obstantibus-覧覧覧覧覧
224 THE HISTORY OF BELMONT ABBEY
Datum Romae apud S. Petrum anno Domini 1916 die 7a mensis
Februarii Pontificatus Nostri anno secundo.
APPENDIX XIII
THE PAPAL BULL: PRAECLARA GESTA
BENEDICT THE BISHOP, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS
OF GOD. As a perpetual record:
The outstanding work of the Benedictine Order in enhancing
the glory of the Church has left its mark, as in other countries of
Europe, so also in the island of Britain, to which the sons ofSt
Benedict brought civilisation and culture, together with the
Christian religion. The zeal shown by these monks did not grow
less even when that most noble nation was wrenched from the
bosom of the Roman Church; indeed it has grown from day to
day, especially in our own time. Truly it is rightly to be attributed
in no small part to the labour and devotion of this Order that the
Catholic faith has grown so much and so greatly in these days in
England that it has been decided to establish the sacred hierarchy
there once more in many places.
Having these merits of the Benedictine Order before our eyes,
We, by Our Apostolic Letter Cambria Celtica, dated the seventh
day of February of the year one thousand nine hundred and
sixteen, in the second year of Our Pontificate, transferred the
episcopal see of Newport to the city of Cardiff and raised it to the
dignity of a Metropolitan see; and at the same time constituted
this a new ecclesiastical Province in the Principality of Wales;
and we then decreed 'that the monastic Chapter at Belmont near
Hereford and the episcopal cathedral erected there should be
retained as they were ... so that the Archbishop of Cardiff
should have two Chapters, the one secular, the other regular, and
two cathedral churches'.
But, while the Apostolic Letter was being handed over for the
implementing of its provisions, and the rules to be observed by
both Chapters were under discussion, Our beloved son Cuthbert
Butler, Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation,
together with the other Abbots of the same Congregation, gave
it as his opinion that it would be for the good and the welfare of
the Church if he were to renounce the privilege of cathedral
status and the cathedral chapter which had been granted to the
Belmont community. Wherefore, with the consent of the afore-
said Abbots, as also that of the monastery of Belmont, he inti-
mated to Us in a letter dated the twenty-fourth day of January
of this year, one thousand nine hundred and twenty, that he was
ready to renounce the aforesaid privileges, should this be pleasing
THE PAPAL BULL: PRAECLARA GESTA 225
to the Apostolic See; adding, however, that he would be gratified
if, in order to preserve the memory of the Cathedral dignity thus
given up, the Monastery of Belmont were erected into a true,
proper Abbey of the Benedictine Order.
And we, perceiving that this suggestion by the Abbot President
of the aforesaid Congregation was based on just grounds, decreed
that his petition should be heard, and We have indeed heard it.
Wherefore, by this Apostolic Letter given under Our seal,
We have accepted the renunciation of the aforesaid privilege of
cathedral rank and a Chapter previously granted to the aforesaid
monastic church and house of religious; and at the same time
We erect and establish the Benedictine Monastery of Belmont,
as petitioned, as a true, proper and independent Abbey, like all
the other English Benedictine Abbeys, with all the rights,
privileges and obligations thereunto appertaining according to
Canon Law and the Constitutions of the said Order approved
by the Holy See, with moreover a self-governing community
under an Abbot to be chosen by the same community in accord-
ance with the Constitutions of the said Congregation.
Furthermore, considering how much and how greatly the
Benedictine Order has, from the time of our Predecessor, Gregory
the Great, laboured for the Church and for religion in England,
and at the same time recognising that this renunciation has been
made today with the sole object of the promotion of the greater
good of the Church, We declare that the Apostolic See will never
forget the numerous merits of the Benedictine Order, and that in
memory of so many benefits conferred it will gladly ensure that,
so far as human circumstances permit, there shall, amongst the
Bishops of England, never be lacking one of the sons of St Bene-
dict to receive some diocese to rule and, as in days gone by, to
adorn with his learning and virtue.
But as to this present Letter and whatsoever is contained in it,
despite the fact that certain persons whom it concerns, or who
presume that it concerns them, have not been heard, and have not
given their consent to the foregoing, even though they be worthy
of express, specific and individual mention, we will and decree
that never at any time shall this Letter be criticised, impugned or
called into question as being defective because it has taken people
unawares, or because We have been misinformed, or because it is
null and void or lacking in Our intention, or because it suffers
from any other defect, however substantial and unthought of; but
we will it to be and remain valid for ever, as having been delivered
and sent forth in sure knowledge and out of the fullness of Our
power; and we will it to obtain and possess its full and entire
effect and to be observed inviolably by all whom it concerns. And
if it should happen that after this it should be attacked by any-
226 THE HISTORY OF BELMONT ABBEY
one, whatever his authority, whether knowingly or unknowingly,
We will and decree that this attack shall be altogether fruitless
and ineffective.
And this, notwithstanding, insofar as it may be necessary, the
rules laid down in provincial synods, general and universal
Councils, special edicts or general Apostolic Constitutions and
ordinances, and any other dispositions made by Our Predecessors
the Roman Pontiffs, and all other things to the contrary what-
soever.
We desire, moreover, that copies of this Letter, even printed
ones, but signed by some public notary and bearing the seal of
some ecclesiastical dignitary, shall enjoy the same confidence, both
in judgment and outside it, as would be shown to this same Letter
if it in the original were published or displayed.
Let no one therefore disobey what has been laid down in this
Our Letter, or rashly dare to act contrary to it. And if anyone
presume to make this attempt, let him know that he will incur
the indignation of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles
Peter and Paul.
Given at Rome at St Peter's, in the year of Our Lord one
thousand nine hundred and twenty, on the twenty-first day of
March, in the sixth year of Our Pontificate.
liffC. GARD. DE LAI P. CARD. GASPARRI
Episcopus Sabinensis. a Secretis Status.
Secret. S. Cong. Consistorialis.
IULIUS CAMPORI, Proton. Apost.
LoconffPlumbi. RAPHAEL VIRILI,, Proton. Apost.
APPENDIX XIV
OFFICIALS OF ST MICHAEL'S
A. SUPERIORS
(1859-1920: Cathedral Priors. Since 1920: Abbots)
1 1859-1862 G* D. Norbert Sweeney
2 1862-1873 G D. Bede Vaughan
3 1873-1901 G D. Wilfrid Raynal
4 1901-1905 L D. Ildephonsus Cummins
5 1905-1915 G D. Clement Fowler
6 1915-1934 G D. Aelred Kindersley
7 1934-1940 M D. Romuald Leonard
8 1940-1948 M D. Aidan Williams
9 1948-1953 M D. Anselm Lightbound
10 1953-1955 M D. Alphege Gleeson
11 1955-
M D. Maurice Martin
* The house of profession of each monk is indicated thus: G: St Gregory's:
L: St Lawrence's; E: St Edmund's; M: St Michael's.
NOVICE-MASTERS
1860-1865GD. Alphonsus Morrall
1865-1873LD. Anselm Gillett
1873-1888ED. Guthbert Doyle
1888-1899LD. Hilary Willson
1899-1905LD. Placid Wray
1905-1914LD. Bernard Hayes
1915-1917LD. Lawrence Buggins
1917-1919MD. Placid Smith
1919GR. A. D. Aelred Kindersley
1919-1923MD. Gregory Buisseret
1923-1934MD. Romuald Leonard
1934-1940MD. Placid Smith
1940-1948MD. Benedict Adams
1948-1949MD. Denis Mercer
1949-1952MD. Hilary Brightling
1952-1953MD. Edmund Whiriskey
1953-1954MD. Denis Mercer
1954-I955^D. Benedict Adams
1955-1957MD. Denis Mercer
1957-MD. Osmund Furlong
JUNIOR MASTERS
1860LD. Lawrence Shepherd
1860-1862ED. Benedict Scarisbrick
1862-1873GD. Wilfrid Raynal
1873-1875GD. Jerome Vaughan
1875-1878ED. Romuald Riley
1878-1888ED. Austin O'Neill
1888-1894GD. Aidan Hewlett
1894-1901GD. Joseph Colgan
1901-1902GD. Bernard Harrington
1902-1907GD. Edmund Kendal
190 7-1913GD. Joseph Colgan
1913-1915LD. Aidan Crow
1915-1917GR. A. D. Aelred Kindersley
1917-1919MD. Placid Smith
1919-1921MD. Cuthbert Formby
Ed. This is a link to an updated data base January 2002: The
Headmasters and Abbots of Belmont Abbey
HEADMASTERS OF BELMONT
1917-1919 D. Gregory Buisseret
1919-1920 D. Anselm Lightbound
1920-1924 D. Cuthbert Formby
1924-1938 D. Anselm Lightbound
1938-1941 D. Christopher McNulty
1941-1948 D. Alphege Gleeson
1948-1950 D. Hugh Menken
1950-I954 D. Alphege Gleeson
1954-I955 D. Christopher McNulty
1955- D. Brendan Minney
ALDERWASLEY
1949-1950 M D. Alphege Gleeson
1950- M D. Hugh Menken
PRIORS OF ALDERWASLEY
M D. Vincent Fogarty
M D. Edmund Whiriskey
APPENDIX XV
OUTLINE OF THE MATERIAL GROWTH OF
ST MICHAEL'S
1859 Opening of church and monastery.
1860 Monks' choir built. Chapel of St Joseph. Lady Chapel.
1862 Abbey Lodge. St Benedict's Chapel (Finished, 1875).
1865 Sanctuary built. St Anthony's Chapel. Choir stalls.
1875 Altar and window of St Joseph's Chapel. Screens behind
choir stalls. Painting and gilding of roof of choir and sanctuary.
1876 Window at west end of north aisle.
1878 Window at west end of south aisle.
1879 Kitchens, larder and dairy. St Michael's Statue. Ram for
water supply.
1880 Window of Lady Chapel.
1881 Infirmary block (rear part of south end of monastery).
St Raphael's Chapel. Mural paintings above choir.
1882 Tower completed. West window of nave.
1883 St David's Chantry (finished, 1885).
1884 Bells in Tower.
1886 Organ moved to present position from north transept.
1887 The Grange built. West side of farm buildings.
The Grange becomes the Sports Pavilion 1958
1888 Churchyard Cross erected.
1889 Organ Chamber.
1890 Organ engine-room.
1895 More & Fisher window in south aisle. Cemetery enlarged.
1896 Eastern half of farm buildings. Completion of paddock
and circular path in 'The Wood'.
1899 East wing built (former Library and Noviciate).
1900 Window to Reading martyrs. Also English Martyrs
window. Glastonbury window in south aisle.
1904 Frontal of choir stalls erected.
1906 Sacristy. Central heating modernised.
1908 Communion rails.
1926 School Study Hall ('Gymnasium').
1931 Artesian Well sunk for water supply.
1932 New School buildings (east of refectory).
1946 Chemical Laboratory.
1950 Electric light installed.
1957 Four pre-fabricated Classrooms. Kitchen wing re-built
and modernised.
1958 Monk's new refectory built. Restoration of the Abbey
Church. Plans passed for new school buildings.
APPENDIX XVI
THE SOLEMNLY PROFESSED MONKS OF
ST MICHAEL'S
The year given is that of clothing
1866 Robert Adams (Laybrother). Died, 1899.
1884 Dunstan Sibley.* Died, 1938.
1902 Placid Smith. Died, 1950.
SOLEMNLY PROFESSED MONKS OF ST MICHAEL'S 231
1903 Gregory Buisseret. Died, 1953.
Wilfrid de Normanville. Died, 1950.
1904 Cuthbert Formby. Died, 1946.
1905 Bede Carroll-Baillie.t Died, 1952.
1908 Romuald Leonard. Died, 1953.
Anselm Lightbound.
1910 Ambrose Armstrong-Buisseret. Died, 1953.
1911 Ildephonsus Flannery.
Antony Robison. Died, 1935.
1912 Francis Metcalf. Died, 1919.
1914 Gerard Sweeney. Died, 1938.
1916 Benedict Adams.
1919 John Owen.
Bernard Chambers.
1920 Francis McLachlan.
1921 Lawrence Maxwell. Died, 1947-
Aidan Williams.
Edmund Whiriskey.
Peter Jones (Laybrother).
Sylvester Sullivan (Laybrother). Died, 1946.
1923 Andrew Baker
Basil Whelan.
1924 Osmund Ward.
Theodore Morris.
1925 Richard Young4
Hilary Brightling.
Sebastian Tilley (Laybrother).
Aloysius Lacey (Laybrother).
1927 Vincent Fogarty.
Augustine Kervin. Died, 1957.
Brendan Minney.
Stephen Sheehy 4 Died, 1935.
Anthony Lacey (Laybrother). Died, 1944.
1928 Denis Mercer.
Philip Jackson4
1930 Raymond Fogarty. Died,
1930.
Alphege Gleeson.
Maurice Martin.
Christopher McNulty.
Hugh Menken.
Joseph Johnson (Laybrother).
1931 Paulinus Lyon.
Cyril Wackrill.t
* Professed in 1885 for Douai, he transferred in 1891 to Fort Augustus, and in
1902 to Belmont.
f Became a secular priest, 1924.
t Old Boys of the School.
gag THE HISTORY OF BELMONT ABBEY
1934 Raymond Frost.
Martin Wolfe4
Raphael Parr (Laybrother).
Bruno Reynolds.
1935 Gabriel Regan (Laybrother).
Paul Bloom.
1936 Fabian Lee.
Ambrose Perrins (Laybrother).
1937 Matthew Henson. .
1941 Osmund Furlong.:): ||
1942 Robert Richardson.:}:
1946 Luke Waring.
Aelred Cousins.
Jerome Hodkinson.
1948 Benet Biscop Fell.
Roger Hosker4
Dominic Blaney.
Stephen Holdsworth4
1950 Wulstan Probert.
1952 Illtyd Barrett4
MarkJabale.f
Laurence Beer.
(Choir oblate. James Oakley4)
APPENDIX XVII
NECROLOGY OF ST MICHAEL'S
{Including non-Michaelian Superiors)
January
10 Anthony Lacey (Laybrother)
19 Lawrence Maxwell
March
21 Francis Metcalf
30 Wilfrid de Normanville
April
8 Cuthbert Formby
16 Abbot Norbert Sweeney
May
8 Gregory Buisseret
18 Sylvester Sullivan (Laybrother)
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1849 Bishop Brown asks the E.B.C. to train monks at his expense
for the Welsh Mission.
1850 Bishop Brown asks the E.B.G. to make Wales their special
sphere of work.
1851 Bishop Brown invites the E.B.C. to form the Diocesan
Chapter of Newport and Menevia.
1852 The foundation of a Common Noviciate and House of
Studies is suggested.
1853 July 26. The first Mass at Belmont is said in the village
school chapel.
Sept. i. Bishop Brown suggests to Mr Wegg-Prosser that
he offer his proposed church to the E.B.C., with land on
which the monks would build a monastery.
Sept. 3. Mr Wegg-Prosser makes the above offer.
Feb. 2. Small chapel opened by Mr Wegg-Prosser in the
Belmont alms-houses.
1854 Mr Wegg-Prosser's offer of Belmont is accepted by General
Chapter.
1855 Decree from Rome makes Belmont Church the Pro-
Cathedral of the Diocese.
1857 August 18. The contract signed between Mr Wegg-
Prosser and the E.B.C.
Building of the monastery begun.
1859 Nov. 21. Opening of the monastery. Dom Norbert
Sweeney appointed Prior.
1860 Monastic Diocesan Chapter set up.
May 20. Decree from Rome establishes the Common
Noviciate and House of Studies.
Sept. 4. Consecration of the church.
1862 Dom Bede Vaughan becomes Prior.
1873 Prior Vaughan becomes Coadjutor to Archbishop Folding
of Sydney, and is succeeded at Belmont by Prior Raynal
Dom Cuthbert Hedley becomes Auxiliary Bishop to
Bishop Brown.
1874 The 'Petit Seminaire' (Prep. School) discontinued.
1880 April 12. Death of Bishop Brown.
1881 Bishop Hedley appointed to Newport and Menevia.
1891 Right of Pontificalia is granted to Cathedral Prior.
1895 The diocese is dismembered. Glamorgan, Monmouth and
Hereford become Diocese of Newport.
1901 General Chapter allows Belmont to take novices for itself.
Prior Cummins succeeds to Prior Raynal.
1905 Dom Clement Fowler becomes Prior.
1909 Golden Jubilee of Belmont.
1915 Dom Aelred Kindersley becomes Prior. Death of Bishop
Hedley.
1916 The Bull Cambria Celtica.
1917 General Chapter declares Belmont an independent
House. Common Noviciate and House of Studies end.
1920 Belmont is raised to rank of an Abbey by the Bull
Praeclara Gesta. The church ceases to be a Cathedral, and
the Monastic Diocesan Chapter is abolished.
1926 Foundation of the School.
1934 Death of Abbot Kindersley. Dom Romuald Leonard
becomes Abbot.
1940 Election of Abbot Aidan Williams.
1947 The playing fields are levelled.
1948 Election of Abbot Anselm Lightbound.
1949 Preparatory School started at Alderwasley.
1951 Golden Jubilee of the Community. Silver Jubilee of the
School.
1953 Election of Abbot Alphege Gleeson.
1955 Election of Abbot Maurice Martin.