Events 2002

Two highly successful and enjoyable events took place in September 2003. The more recent was a visit to Tenby and Caldey Island. An early start and a rough sea trip was followed by a most interesting tour of the old priory. The Abbot had asked Brother Gildas, a knowledgeable historian, to meet us and tell us the story of the island and the monks who inhabited it from earliest times. The weather was superb and the return crossing was calm. Those members who stayed at Tenby enjoyed a tour of the ancient parish church escorted by Rev. Dylan Bate, Vicar of St. Mary’s, Begelly.

Its priests were in great demand especially in England and Wales at a time of Catholic revival at two levels - the conversion of notable Anglicans such as Newman and Manning and the high level of Irish Catholic immigration, as a result of the potato famine. Although Rosmini had a great affection for Britain, he never visited these islands !

The morning session was delivered by Fr. Terry Watson I.C. an authority on the life and writings of Antonio Rosmini and Sean Cleary who has devoted a lifetime of research into the work of the early Rosminian fathers and brothers in Newport and Cardiff.

They drew a vivid picture of the life of Rosmini and the beautiful setting within which he lived out an ascetic life of prayer and writing. From here he organised and supported his brethren in their missions. Fr. Terry is working at a centre in Durham translating and publishing Rosmini's prophetic works which are as relevant to today's Catholics as they were in the early 1800s.

Following a convivial lunch break, the afternoon was devoted to short presentations by members working on copying archives. The Institute, very wisely, decided to centralise all their archives in a purpose-built, environmentally controlled building in Stresa in Italy. We realised that this would remove easy access to primary historical sources from serious students of the 19th century revival of the Church in our area. We proposed, therefore, that we should copy onto CDs as many early documents as possible. This was readily agreed and the task was begun promptly. The equipment was obtained through a generous grant from the Jane Hodge Foundation and some contributions from individual members.

John Griffin (outlined with diagrams) the process that has been adopted and the equipment used in this enormous undertaking. He explained that vast quantities of paper could be contained in just one small disc so that a room full of documents could be reduced in size to just a small shelf of compact discs ! He emphasised the value of the operation by quoting extracts taken from letters e.g. referring to food riots that took place in Cardiff towards the end of the First World War - in 1918

Edward Curran who has written a book and a pamphlet on St. Mary's, Newport and The Catholic Revival in Newport gave some highlights from the early writings of Frs. Hutton and Cavalli outlining the appalling conditions under which they worked because of the abject poverty, slum conditions, drunkenness and severe illness endured by the Irish population. This was mitigated by some humorous insights into the everyday concerns of the priests and brothers e.g. What sort of a horse was in keeping with priestly dignity? - he settled for a common nag ! Bro. George a busy and very successful headteacher of the school was too busy to shave because he used what little time he had spare in order to meditate !

Dan Chidgey, who is archivist of the Archdiocese drew from Bishop Brown's papers to relate an incident in 1863 when, mainly with Fenian backing, disaffection for non-Irish priests (English Benedictines and Italian Rosminians) was stirred up at a public meeting. Irish parishioners were encouraged to withhold their contributions to the Church and pay them into an association to obtain Irish priests - despite the great work and achievements of the priests of the Institute In South Wales and the fact that they took nothing from parish funds towards their own upkeep. The newly built St. Peter's Church was proving to be a great financial drain and there was a fear that the priests of the Institute might be forced to withdraw from Cardiff. The dispute rumbled on for a few weeks with letters in the local press. In a short while the positive action of Bishop Brown, the steadfast attitude of the Italian priests, especially Fr. Signini, and the good sense and influence of the majority of the Cardiff Irish community prevailed. Collections in the churches recovered and the main instigator of the affair disappeared and was later discovered to be in U.S.A

By way of a "commercial break" a series of old advertisements compiled by Brian Passey, our technical expert - to whom the Society owes so much, was displayed to the amusement of the audience. We have a collection of more than a hundred volumes of a monthly Catholic magazine called "Merry England". The "ads" were taken from these. Efforts to discover the history of this publication have been unsuccessful and we are still trying to find information on it.

The final event of the afternoon was a delightfully constructed presentation by Celia Nash of extracts from missives from bishops - including letters from Cardinal Wiseman, Bishop Brown and Bishop Davis. The latter was born in Usk, became a monk of Downside Abbey and was chosen to be the first Bishop of Maitland - an area north of Sydney in Australia. The Bishop of Mauritius was looking for a priest to look after some remote islands - the Seychelles, nowadays a very popular holiday resort ! Bishop Brown gave the Provincial travel instructions from Gloucester which involved a stagecoach journey to Bristol and a sailing packet to Chepstow, arriving in the early hours of the morning. He very obligingly left the front door open for him so that he could get some rest !

It has been written that there were more recusants (people refusing to attend Sunday worship in the Anglican churches) in Monmouthshire in penal times than there were in Lancashire - reputedly the most staunchly Catholic county in England ! Perhaps for that reason the beautiful Priory Church of St. Mary was able to retain undamaged so many of its pre-Reformation features and, in particular, the wooden and stone sculptures dating from the 14th and 15th centuries.

We were fortunate indeed to have as our guide and mentor Fr. Jeremy Winston, the vicar who for nearly two hours gave us an enthralling description of the history of this former Benedictine Priory and of the families whose magnificent tombs are to be found there. An ancient bell, stained glass windows, furniture and fittings gives ample testimony to its pre- Reformation Catholic existence which can be found in very few churches that date from before Henry Vlll's arrogant assumption of supreme power over the Church of England.

After a buffet lunch beautifully served in the sumptuous parish centre we were ready to look at the history of Catholic survival in this historic town which became known as "Catholic Bergenny". In an area with many influential Catholic landowners, none did more to preserve the Old Faith than Thomas Gunter who famously told the vicar in 1680, "In Oliver Cromwell's time of severity I kept a priest and I would keep one now !" It was noted that one Sunday, when a sparse congregation of 40 worshippers were present in the parish church, more than 100 were trying to get into the "Mass house" provided by the Gunter family Our fifty strong procession, despite a short shower of light rain, climbed the hill to the twelfth century Castle which houses a small but well appointed museum. There the centre of interest for us was part of an altar piece, a remnant of a painting of the adoration of the Magi, which adorned the Gunter chapel.

On to the site of the old school / church building discreetly out of sight on Gunter land - now used as a printing works. The management kindly allowed us to see the remnants of the building which from 1750 until 1850 was used by the large, mostly Welsh-speaking Catholic congregation as both Mass centre and school in spite of penal restrictions. Our pilgrimage concluded in the beautiful church of Our Lady and St. Michael, now more than 150 years old. Served for many years by the Benedictines of Ampleforth and Belmont Abbeys, we were entertained to tea by the parish priest, Fr. Thomas Regan OSB who ended our visit most appropriately with a most interesting talk on the history of the parish and showed us the wonderfully embroidered and splendidly colourful pre-Reformation chasubles that form a material link between the present church and the old community, many of whom suffered death, imprisonment and poverty because of their loyalty to "The Old Faith". Before departing Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament was celebrated and the Latin hymns - "O Salutaris" and Tantum Ergo" were sung with enthusiasm as they had been sung in Abergavenny for hundreds of years without interruption.

was a memorable day as our first meeting in the Menevia Diocese took place. Fr. Dan Williams kindly placed the parish hall of St. David's, Sketty, Swansea at our disposal for some fifty members - including our President, Bishop Mullins - to hear a talk by Canon Seamus Cunnane on a very interesting episode in the history of the revival of the Catholic Church in West Wales. An anti-Catholic government in France passed aggressive laws against religious orders and in 1903 a group of exiled Breton monks came to Wales to establish their community in Pembrey. Canon Cunnane, who is writing a book on their experiences, gave a most informative and often amusing account of their reception and the difficulties and suspicion they encountered in setting up their monastic settlement. It is remarkable that Brittany had seven "founding saints" who did missionary work there and no fewer than four of the seven were born and educated in South Wales. We look forward to reading a full account of this venture when Canon Cunnane, who is a founder member of our Society, completes his book and it is published.

Events 2002