Thursday 23 July 2009

Nunraw Past and Present


"Nunraw Past and Present" gives
more back ground to the
CISTOPEDIA entry as in
above Post.





Fr. Michael (picture 1950s)
Clerk of Work New Abbey
Died 94 years
Nunraw Past and Present
by Fr. Michael Sherry ocso (Nunraw)


The Dissolution of the Monasteries and Convents at the Reformation was, in a sense, the Nationalisation of Religious houses, only the authorities never intended to re-organise them but to close them. At times this was done openly, by fire and pillage-"the burning of the nests," which so pleased the mob. But the cosmic clock. brings strange changes. Today we are witnessing the Dissolution of the Mansions, which the National Trust is striving so honourably to avert. Still, it was indeed a curious chance that the first Cistercian house in Scotland, since the Reformation, should be founded on a property which had belonged to the Cistercian Convent near Haddington before the upheaval.

It is difficult to pin-point the exact date when this property, Nunraw first came to the Nuns of Haddington. Their Convent was founded by the Countess Ada, widow of Prince Henry, sometime between 1152 and 1158, that is, when all Europe rang with the fame of St. Bernard and mourned his death in 1153.

She endowed the convent with considerable lands near Haddington; but, since the Convent lay in the midst of the ebb and flow of the Wars of Independence, no early deeds have survived. In 1359 William de Landellis, Bishop of St. Andrews, confirmed a list of property held by the nuns. An event known as the "Burnt Candlemas",. had left its mark on Haddington three years before when Edward III burnt the town and the whole monastery "which explains the good Bishop's reference to the loss of the convent records due to "the hostile assault of the English". It is strange, however, that he does not mention the disastrous flood of the previous year, 1358, recorded in the Scotichronicon. The Cupar Abbey account tells of a "miracle" which saved the convent buildings on that occasion. It was the Feast of Our Lady's Nativity, 8th September, when this sudden spate of the Tyne-an event known to happen as recently as August, 1948 swept all before it. When the convent buildings were threatened, a simple pious nun took the statue of Our Lady from the Church, declaring that, unless the heavenly patroness of the house restrained the flood, she would cast the statue into the waters. This rather minatory prayer proved successful and the convent was spared.

To return to the good Bishop's charter, which has not survived, but which was transcribed and confirmed by an Inspeximus charter of James II, in 1458, we learn that the nuns had considerable property in Garvald parish. They had the Kirk and a carucate of land (120 acres) adjacent. They had a toft with a garden and eleven acres in Popple and a strip of land in Stoneypath-both familiar names today and nearby. To our great disappointment, the name Nunraw does not occur, since it was probably of later origin. Names did change. There is mention of "Nunhopis, formerly Yesterhopis" near Gifford -a grange which occasioned many disputes with the Laird of Yester, who seized it in 1471. Though no direct evidence has come to light, it is not just a ranging shot to say that the lands designated as "East Grange" in the Bishop's list may well have been what is now known as Nunraw.

Our first real clue to the story of Nunraw occurs when a stronghanded neighbour, Sir Robert Lauder of the Bass, tried to occupy the house of Whitecastle and lands. Later documents use the designation "Quhitcastel alias Nunraw," which seems to show that "Whitecastla" . was the formal name of the property and "Nunraw" - the Nun's Row (of houses) the popular one. Prompt action by the Nun's agent, one Dickson, backed by loyal tenants, seems to have been effective.

Sir Robert Lauder appealed to the Lords of Council "anent the castin doune of the house of Quhite castell" which had proved to be the only effective remedy against a powerful squatter. But the Acts of the Council do not complete the case and the rest is silence.

Evidently the nuns needed the support of powerful friends and "a large part of the history of the nunnery throughout the 16th century may be summed up in one phrase-the house of Hepburn." This powerful family, the Hepburns of Hailes, earls of Bothwell, began to regard the convent as quite a family preserve. The last three Prioresses were Hepburns: Janet who died about 1519 being succeeded by Elizabeth-not the convent's choice-who ruled till her death in 1563 and was followed by a sort of nominal prioress Isobel Hepburn. During this period, the names of Luke, John and Patrick Hepburn appear successively as bailies of the Prioress, acting "by speciall precep onder hir seill."

All this was a century before the system of public registration of deeds. that is still the pride and linch-pin of Scottish conveyancing. Hence. our knowledge of who-owned-what has to be gleaned from various sources. A valuable source at this time is the Protocul Books of the Burgh of Haddington. And there at last we find clear record that John Hepburn of Beinston, as an act of gratitude for being ransomed from an English P.O.W. camp, resigned to his cousin, .the Prioress, Elizabeth Hepburn, after his death the personal use of the lands and revenues of Easter and Wester Nunraw. The date is 9th March, 1542.

Only by looking over the top of his spectacles could the historian fail to note what really happened. For, in the same Protocul Books, we find that he also resigned to his cousin a life interest in the mill and teinds of Garvald. Again the same story about his release from captivity in England is rehearsed but the fact that he had received the property in feu from the convent some twelve months previously is passed over in silence. To prove this, we have the previous grant made by the Prioress and twenty-three nuns, all named, but the like grant covering Nunraw seems to have perished. In volume IV, of the Protocul Books, folios 35 to 82 are missing.

Other documents in this volume show that John Hepburn was assiduously buying up all the sub-tenants of the nuns at Garvald just about this time, intending to carve out an estate for himself with the "manor and fortalice of Nunraw" as his residence. But the convent remained the feudal superior all the time.

In February, 1547/48, the lords of Council- one being the Abbot of Melrose - had little doubt about the real ownership of Nunraw and the Prioress was ordered to keep the place and fortalice of Nunraw "surlie fra our auld ynimeis of Ingland." She got little time to prepare, for the English forces were soon swarming along the Lammermuirs. Nunraw fell and was given in custody to Crichton of Brunston. Within a few weeks, the English were masters of Haddington itself, though the Convent. or "Abbey" as it was always called, remained in Scottish hands, and there within its walls a Scottish Parliament took the fateful decision to send Mary, the six-years-old Queen of Scots, to France to become the bride of the Dauphin.

Late in 1549, the tide of occupation rolled back and the nuns recovered Nunraw through the good offices of Lord Sempill.On the death of the Prioress Elizabeth in 1563, Patrick Hepburn resumed all rights enjoyed by his father, John, over Nunraw. He was knighted in 1574, died in 1583, and was succeeded by his son, another Patrick Hepburn, who married Helen Cockburn. That the family lived in affluent circumstances is proved by the tempera-painted ceiling bearing the initials of Patrick and his wife Helen which was done about this time.

Patrick Hepburn who held the house from 1583 until his death in 1617, must have undertaken a very substantial enlargement. building the central oblong block and the south tower (no.2 on the plan). After this extension Nunraw was now a large dwelling in the 'Z' tradition so favoured by the Scottish landed gentry class.


The names Patrick and John seem to follow one another as son succeeded father but in 1647 we come across a romantic double marriage. John Hepburn of Nunraw, a widower, married Mary Melville, widow of John Murray, a minister. Her daughter Jane married his son Patrick and they received Nunraw as a gift. The Hepburn hold was to last another century and then, in 1747, Francis Hepburn sold Nunraw to James Dalrymple, seventh and youngest son of Sir Hew Dalrymple, 1 st Baronet of North Berwick and Lord President of the Court of Session. Major Dalrymple had not followed the family leaning towards a legal career. Being then about 50. he seems to have decided to seek a more peaceful life at Nunraw for his wife, Margaret Cunningham, and his only son Hew, a boy of seven. He must have known the countryside too since his mother came from Pressmennan. In 1766 this son. Hew, already a widower at 26, succeeded as Laird of Nunraw. He married again and soon the castle or fortalice of Nunraw rang with the voices of children - his five sons and four daughters. But not for long.

By 1779 he was heavily in debt and had to sell the property, the purchaser being James Hay, who took over on 2nd February, 1780. Thus began a connection with the Hay family of Yester, Drumelzier and Whittinghame - the handsome Hays, his brother Robert sat to Raeburn. It was to last exactly a century. James Hay, then over 40, had not sought fame and fortune like his elder brothers Robert and Alexander in the East India Company. His father, then close on 80, may have needed his help to manage Drumelzier and Whittinghame. but these estates went to Robert in 1789. Having no heir - unmarried as far as we know - James Hay disposed of Nunraw in favour of two of the younger sons of Robert, Laird of Whittinghame. The first, Alexander, a mere youth of 19, was killed at Waterloo. 1815. The second Charles Erskine Hay died in Paris in 1827, being then only 26. Two months before he died. he gave Nunraw to his three unmarried sisters. Christian. Anne and Eliza.

They took sasine of the property in July, 1827, by the hands of Rev. Dr. James Walker, one of the ministers of St Peter's. Edinburgh, acting as their attorney and Procurator. He duly received "earth and stone of the ground of the said lands. clap and happer of the said mill. a handful of grass and corn for the said teinds and all other symbols requisite," on their behalf They seem to have managed Nunraw through an overseer, William Black. mentioned in this deed. In 1843. the three sisters agreed to sell to their youngest brother. Robert Hay of Linplum. and he paid £17,000 to them in part purchase.

Robert must have been an interesting character. ill-fitted for farming after his years (1826-38) as a leader in an archaelogical expedition to Egypt which yielded fruitful results for the British Museum. He had just published (1840) a folio work entitled 'Illustrations of Cairo' and had brought home to Scotland as his wife Kalitza Baraki, daughter of the chief magistrate in Crete. When the sale of Nunraw was finally completed in 1860. he commenced extensive restoration work on the house but he died in 1863 before completing it.

His son, Robert James, Alexander Hay, then 23 - was at Cambridge - where he took an M.A. The young Laird continued the work of restoring the "castle". and thus in 1864 discovered the painted ceiling. dating back to 1610. Already referred to and discussed more fully later. Like his father, R. J. A. Hay was fond of travel and in 1875 brought home as his bride from Florence Caterina Maria Teresia, third daughter of Marchese di Monte Castello of Tuscany. When he inherited Nunraw, the property was already burdened with large debts and these soon increased.

Eventually, in 1880, Mr. Hay decided to break the entail and he was in fact living in Florence with his wife and two little sons when the sale to Walter Wingate Gray, Esq., was finally completed. Lt.-Col. W. W. Gray, D.L, V .D., with his wife Mary Stuart Stephen, one of the Glasgow shipbuilding family, beautified the interior of Nunraw House with oak panelling and also added to the exterior building.

On his death in 1931, after 50 years of peaceful possession, his executors sold the place to Marcus Spurway, Esq. He, too, carried out many improvements in the house, which included the supply of electricity from the mains benefit then shared with Garvald village.

In 1945, His Grace the Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, knowing that Dom Camillus Claffey, the Lord Abbot of Mount St. Joseph Abbey in Ireland was seeking a suitable site for an abbey, informed him of several properties then for sale. The second one inspected was Nunraw and, the legal transactions being greatly facilitated by the courtesy of Mr. Spurway, the first seven monks were able to take possession on the Feast of the Purification of Our Blessed Lady, 2nd February, 1946. They were welcomed by His Grace, Archbishop McDonald, O.S.B., who, on that day, offered the first Mass to be celebrated in the house. The pioneer community found another staunch friend in the Rev.James B. Walsh, Parish Priest of Haddington.

Before long, several young Scots were admitted in to the Community and it became necessary to construct a larger chapel and the summer of 1947 was devoted to building a temporary one from two R.A.F. huts. July was made memorable by a visit from the Most Rev. Abbot General. In autumn, Sancta Maria Monastery was raised to the dignity of an Abbey, and on 21st November the monks elected the Right Rev. Dom Coiumban Mulcahy to be the first Abbot of the Community. At that time, Dom Columban, as Definitor-General of the Order, was residing in Rome, but he returned in time to be installed in office on St. Andrew's feast. His Grace, Archbishop McDonald, O.S.B., conferred on him the Abbatial Blessing, thus restoring to Scotland on the Feast of the Purification, 2nd February, 1948, the line of Cistercian Abbots broken four hundred years before by the Reformation.


The Abbey had been just two years founded and already numbered thirty-seven members. Plans were prepared by Peter Whiston, A.R.S.A., A.R.I.B.A., for the building of a new Abbey when building restrictions would allow and a partial permit having been granted, the first sod was cut by His Grace the Archbishop, Most Rev. Gordon Joseph Gray, M.A., on Easter Monday, 14th April, 1952. A disused quarry known as "Rattlebags" near Dirleton was purchased and cleared. Old sand and gravel pits on Nunraw estate were re-opened and by the summer of 1954, the Marian Year, foundations and some underbuildings had been completed.

Then, on a truly memorable day, 22nd August, 1954, Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, His Grace the Archbishop laid the Foundation Stone of the Abbey in presence of over 13,000 people, happy to be there despite rain and mist and mud. Work is carried on bya small number of monks, helped and trained by a few skilled workers. Adapting a famous phrase, it would not be inappropriate to say of these that seldom was so much owed by so many future monks to so few. Our sincere gratitude is due also to all those good men who came in the summer months and gave long hours of voluntary labour to help the building of an Abbey and Church which may, we hope, become another "Lamp of the Lothians",

Ut luceat omnibus.

[In these pages, It seemed preferable to spare the reader the Interruptions occasioned by footnotes and references to sources. But great care has been taken to check all the facts. In particular, the courtesy and help of the staff in Register House, Edinburgh, is gratefully acknowledged].


THE BUILDINGS AT NUNRAW HOUSE


Visitors to our Abbey frequently ask how much of the present house is pre-Reformation. In the Eighth Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments in Scotland (1924), Nunraw House is described as "mainly modern, but there is a mediaeval nucleus overlaid and obscured by a mid-19th century restoration and addition, save at the north eastern angle, Where a late 16th century tower rises from the stable court."

But it would be incorrect to think of this tower as Nunraw fortalice or a mere pill-box on the slopes of the Lammermuirs. The first really accurate Map of the Lothians drawn by Timothy Pont in 1610 shows Nunraw as a substantial mansion designated by two towers. So, it was far more than a "peel tower." The Report quoted above, refers to the original structure as built on a Z plan and as being identical with that of Hatton Castle, Forfarshire, which was built in 1575. It is obvious that at some time since the house ceased to be Church property, it has been "modernised," the old stone being covered with fine ashlar and windows of a style to suit a baronial mansion have been opened or contrived. This would explain the thickness of the walls, which is as much as 5 feet in places.

Painted Ceiling
The Ceiling. Nunraw's main interest for antiquarians is the painted ceiling executed in tempera and discovered in 1864. Originally it measured 30 feet by18 feet and was composed of 14 strong oaken joists supporting long panels on which the colours had been laid. The ceiling today is somewhat smaller, 20 feet by 17 feet 6 inches, but two other sections are preserved in the National Museum of Antiquities. In each panel the prominent feature is the title and armorial bearings of monarchs who flourished in mediaeval days. The shields give the arms of the kings of Scotland and England, the kings of France, Arragon and the king of Sicily. There are two shields to each panel, the remaining space being filled in by representations of birds, beasts and allegorical figures. In the centre of the ceiling, the words "Gratus Esto"are printed and the monogram "P.C.H." Experts are of the opinion that these letters refer to Patrick Hepburn and Helen Cockburn, his wife, who were owners of Nunraw from 1595 to 1617. Mr. M. R. Apted, M.A., Her Majesty's Inspector of Ancient Monuments, in a recent article (1958) on "painted Ceilings in Scotland," finds corroborative evidence in the symbols used by the painter, some of which can be traced to an emblem book, first published in Lyons in 1557, which was popular and of which a number of editions were published, one in London, 1591, and a final one in Paris in 1622. He is satisfied that "the date of the Nunraw ceiling can be narrowed down to the years following the Union of the Crowns, since one of the emblems depicts the lion and the unicorn seated on either side of the thistle and since the arms of the King of England, although defaced, can be seen to have been quartered with the tressured lion rampant of the Scottish Royal arms." Therefore the date is after 1603 and not later than 1617, when Patrick Hepburn gave Nunraw to his son, John, on the occasion of his marriage to Elizabeth Broun.


The Dovecote. A short distance from the mansion stands a 16th century dovecote of the circular variety. Projecting string courses divide it into five tiers, which narrow towards the top. Near the base, the circumference is 63 feet and the walls are 3 feet 8 inches thick, containing 450 nests. The cote is surmounted by a hexagonal cupola of modern design.


Sir Walter Scott. It has been said that Nunraw has a strong claim to be recognised as the "Ravenswood" of Sir Walter Scott's "Bride of Lammermoor." (Trans. E L. Antiq. Vol. 1, Part V). This tradition led Lily Pons, world-famous for her interpretation of the part in Donizetti's opera, "Lucia di Lammermoor," to visit the original "Ravenswood" in June, 1948. She was much surprised to find it occupied by monks. It is known that Sir Walter Scott stayed in Gifford, while doing some of his writing, and took long walks in the vicinity of Garvald. Certainly there are points in the description of "Ravenswood" castle as "in a gorge of a pass or mountain glen ascending from the fertile plains of East Lothian" (Chap. II) and his mention of the ancient proprietors as inter-married with the Douglasses and Hays, which support the claim. Further, Scott's reference to the rumour of Lucy Ashton's marriage as the most talked of matter "betwixt Lammer Law and Traprain" certainly shows that the locality was providing him with a backdrop to his story. In his introduction, Sir Walter admits that his story of the reluctant "Bride" is founded on several versions of the marriage on 24th August, 1669. of Janet Dalrymple, daughter of the first Lord Stair, to David Dunbar of Baldoon, near Wigtown, followed by the death of the unhappy girl three weeks later The historian will hasten to point out that all this took place in Galloway nearly a century before the Dalrymple family's short ownership of Nunraw. We can only agree with him and add that the claim rests on the sands of conjecture and there it will remain.


[The writer, Fr. Michael Sherry (93), was the first monk to set foot on Nunraw. He was Superior of the Foundation from 2nd February 1946 until the election of the first Abbot, Columban Mulcahy, in November 1948. The meticulous care he gave to researching the history of Nunraw might have been directed to further academic work. The practical demands of establishing a community and building a new monastery were to occupy him for the following decades. He acted as Clerk of Works during all the time of construction of the new abbey, that is for over twenty years. His interest and love of Nunraw, evident in the above, remains fresh and unabated at the age of ninety three].

Friday 10 July 2009

Robert of Caldey



Caldey OCSO NECROLOGE 2009

July 8, 2009 : Dom Robert O'Brien (abbot 1984 – 1996). Born in 1933 in London (England), he entered Caldey in 1960 and made his solemn profession in 1966. He was ordained a priest in 1957. Father was 76 years old, had been in monastic vows for 46 years and 52 years a priest when the Lord called him.

To Abbot, Caldey

Dear Daniel,

We were sorry to hear the news of Robert's death.

Knowing him, he would be very happy about the way things have worked out. Long illnesses were not his forte.

I seemed to have known Robert for ever. He was a big presence and a genial companion. But he was a strong personality, too, which he needed to be to have achieved so much in a difficult period at Caldey.

Long may his life and presence bless your community.

It refreshing to have known him over many years.

We keep him and the Caldey community in our prayers.

Fr Donald is hoping to be present for the funeral.

. . . Mark (Nunraw, Abbot)




Wednesday, 8 July, 2009,

Caldey Abbey

Dom Robert O’Brien, Abbot Emeritus

27th April 1933 – 8th July 2009

‘There were many other things that Jesus did; if all were written down, the world itself, I suppose, would not hold all the books that would have to be written’ (John 21:25).

These words are very applicable to the life of Father Robert. His life was so rich, so many-faceted, and yet so incredibly simple and accessible. No doubt therefore, that so many, many people could relate to him. We all know that he preferred to be addressed as Brother Robert, because he took the Gospel very seriously where we read that we ‘should not call any man on earth “father”, for you have only one Father, and he is in heaven’ (Matthew 23:9). However, our experience is and forever will be Fr Robert’s fatherly qualities as our brother, because he loved and cared for the community, his brothers, the islanders, and the vast amount of men and women in our locality and from far away. His heart reached out to everyone without any distinction.

He must have encountered this radical and unreserved love within his own family at Charlton in south London, where he was born as the third of five brothers. From a very early age onwards, he learned that to love means to serve, to get involved, to be prepared to take risks and to get your hands dirty. He never minded dirt too much…

Quite soon it became clear to him that the demands of love could not remain within the boundaries of family life only. He responded to the self-giving Love of Christ by becoming a servant himself in his Church. He was ordained as Priest on June 15th 1957, and remained a Priest in the true sense of the word ever since: his heart was opened to the presence of the Lord and to the needs of countless of people. It was this inner disposition that drew him in 1960 to Caldey Island, where he embraced the service of the Priesthood within the radical simplicity of the Cistercian monastic life. He loved the monastic life and he loved simplicity, but not without struggle at times. Struggle had a vital role to play in his life and therefore he was deeply aware that nothing could be taken for granted. His service in our community ranged from guest-master, bookbinder, jam-maker, and procurator to abbot (1984 – 1996). Without any doubt we can say that thanks to his unwavering faith and untiring efforts our community still exists. It was especially during the 1980’s that it seemed inevitable that the monastery had to close its doors for good, due to lack of vocations. His enthusiasm and a deeply ingrained stubborn refusal to give up made it possible for the new influx of vocations to receive the life and the wisdom that he transmitted.

Right to the end of his life he cared, with a great sense of responsibility, for the material welfare of the island as our bursar. As always he was eager to make ends meet and never lost sight of the ultimate quality of life: to be with his brothers and to remain involved in everything that could enrich the life of everyone within the community and beyond. There is no doubt that we will miss him: his clarity of mind (he could be very articulate!), his great sense of humour, his devotion to prayer and especially his perseverance in reading the Holy Scriptures, be it in plain English, or in Latin, or in Greek, or in Hebrew…

‘God, remember this to my credit, and do not wipe out of your memory the devotion which I have shown in the house of my God and in his service!’ (Nehemiah 13:14).

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Monks of Tibhirine 7 July 2009



  • Email Message from Michael regarding the 1996 Assingnations of 7Atlas Monks
    Donald,
    I have just seen on France 24 TV that President Sarkozy is releasing documents on the monks killed in Algeria.
    It seems that the monks were killed by the Algerian army who were attacking rebels in the building. They didn’t realise the monks were there and covered it up so that no one would see the bodies riddled with e bullets.
    Best wishes,
    Michael



Google Story SARKOZY
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g4vGe3R2xzEQdBKwZtzLn4m5omHg
Sarkozy wants 'truth' on French monk massacre in Algeria
1 day ago
PARIS (AFP) — President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday 7 July2009, he was determined to find out who was really behind the 1996 abduction and beheading of seven French monks in Algeria, which has been blamed on Islamists.
"I want the truth. Relations between major countries are based on the truth and not on lies," he said, adding that he would release any classified documents on the killings which investigators might ask for.
The move came a day after potentially explosive allegations that the Algerian army killed the monks by mistake when it raided an Islamist camp and that the French state covered up the blunder to protect bilateral relations.
Critics have long been suspicious of the official Algerian and French versions that the Trappist monks were killed by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) at the height of a decade of violence that left more than 150,000 people dead.

The Algerian government has repeatedly been accused of exploiting extremist violence -- and even staging gruesome attacks and blaming them on extremists -- during the conflict to try to turn the population against the Islamists.
It denies such accusations.
The Paris prosecutor's office opened an inquiry in 2004 into the massacre of the monks after a civil suit was filed by the family of one of the men and by a senior member of the monks' order.
Patrick Baudouin, lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Monday the latest allegations were proof there was an attempt at "a cover-up on the part of the Algerian authorities and certainly on the part of the French authorities".

His comment came after a source close to the probe leaked remarks allegedly made to French investigators last month by General Francois Buchwalter, who in 1996 was France's military attache in Algiers.
The now-retired general said Algerian army helicopters, hunting Islamist rebels, opened fire on a camp they spotted in the mountains near the monks' hilltop monastery in Tibehirine, 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of Algiers.
The helicopter crews realised afterwards that not only had they hit members of the armed group but also the monks, Buchwalter said, according to the source.
Buchwalter said he had been told of the incident by an Algerian soldier whose brother had participated in the helicopter attack.
The monk's heads -- but not their bodies -- were found by security forces two months after they were kidnapped in March 1996.

Buchwalter told investigators that the bodies were riddled with bullets, said the source, adding that the question was now being asked if the bodies were dismembered to avoid the bullets being identified as army munitions.
The general informed the French military chief of staff and the French ambassador but his reports were never followed up and he was told to remain silent to avoid damaging Franco-Algerian relations, the source said.
Herve de Charette, French foreign minister at the time of the events, said Tuesday he did not doubt that Buchwalter had transmitted such a report to the French defence ministry.
But he added that "during this period there were many interpretations" of what had really happened.
Baudouin said Monday he would ask to see Buchwalter's reports and for Charette and French intelligence agents involved in the affair to be questioned.
French Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Buchwalter's statement brought a significant "new element" to the case and promised "everything will be done to discover the perpetrators and the conditions of these killings".

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, re-elected in April for a third mandate, began a policy of national reconciliation in 1999 after more than a decade of Islamist violence.
Thousands of hardline Islamists have since handed themselves in and Bouteflika hinted during his election campaign at a possible referendum aimed at granting a general amnesty for those who give up their arms.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

See Blog: abbey-roads.blogspot.com
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Trappist Martyrs of Atlas

Were they really martyrs or victims of friendly fire?
.
One reason martyrs are not immediately canonized is that the Church must be convinced they had been killed for the faith. The Martyrs of Atlas, 7 French monks, were killed about 10 years ago in Algiers, presumed to have been executed by Islamic extremists, the only remains found being their heads:
.
"During the night of March 27-28, 1996, seven monks of the Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of Atlas, near the village of Tibhirine in Algeria, were abducted by Islamic fundamentalists. Their abduction was claimed by a radical faction of the GIA (Groupe Islamique Army) in a communique dated April 18, 1996 and published on April 27. In a second communique, dated May 23, the GIA announced that the monks had been executed on May 21, 1996. Their remains were identified and their funeral Mass was celebrated in the Catholic Cathedral of Algiers on Sunday, June 2. They were buried in the cemetery of their monastery at Tibhirine on June 4, 1996." - Source Trappist ocso.org

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Spiritual Friendship



This morning there was a contrast in the Night Vigils Readings. I read the words of Saul’s aim to kill David and goes on to the friendship of Jonathan. In the Second Reading Fr. Hugh read on St. Aelred about Spiritual Friendship. In the Introduction of the Mass, Dom Raymond, Principal Celebrant, spoke on the subject.
TUESDAY: First Reading, 1 Samuel 19:8-10; 20:1-17
Responsory Sir 6:15-17
There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend; + those who fear the Lord will find one.
V. Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, for as a person is, so is that person's friend. + Those who fear ...

Second Reading From Spiritual Friendship by Saint Aelred of Rievaulx

In human life nothing holier can be desired, nothing more useful sought after, nothing is harder to find, nothing sweeter to experience, nothing more fruitful to possess than friendship. For it bears fruit both in this life and the next, showing forth all virtues in its sweetness and in its strength destroying vice. It softens the blows of adversity and moderates elation in prosperity. Without friendship there can be hardly any happiness among humans; they may well be compared to animals if they have no one to rejoice with them in good fortune or sympathize with them in sorrow, no one to whom they can unburden themselves in time of trouble, or with whom they can share some especially uplifting or inspiring insight.
Alas for anyone who is alone and has no one to lift him up when he falls. Without a friend one is indeed alone. But what joy it is, what security, what a delight to have someone to whom you dare to speak as to another self; to whom you are not afraid to admit that you have done something wrong, or shy of revealing some spiritual progress you have made; someone to whom you can entrust all the secrets of your heart and with whom you can share your plans.

What can be more pleasant than to be spiritually so closely united to another, so completely one, that no arrogance is to be feared, no suspicion dreaded! Correction of one another causes no pain, nor does praise bring a charge of flattery. A friend, says the Wise Man, is the medicine of life. That is well said, for no other medicine is as powerful and efficacious where temporal ills are concerned as to have someone hastening to us with sympathy when anything goes wrong and congratulating us when things go well. So, shoulder to shoulder, the two bear each other's burdens, each one thinking that his own is lighter than that of his friend. In this way friendship heightens the joys of prosperity and mitigates the sorrows of adversity by dividing and sharing them.

In friendship are joined virtue and pleasure, truth and enjoyment, sweetness and goodwill, feeling and doing, all of which take their beginning from Christ, grow through Christ, and are perfected in Christ. It should not therefore seem too hard or unnatural to ascend from Christ who fills us with the love we have for our friend to Christ who gives himself to us as a friend to be loved, so that pleasure follows upon pleasure, sweetness upon sweetness, affection upon affection. And thus, friend cleaving to friend in a Christian spirit becomes one with him in heart and soul, and by the steps of love rises to friendship with Christ and becomes one spirit with him.
Responsory Sir 4:9-10; 6:14
Two are better than one, for because of their partnership they have this advantage: + if one falls the other can help him up again.
V. A faithful friend is a secure shelter; whoever finds one finds a treasure. + If one falls ...
A Word in Season (Readings for the Liturgy if the Hours) Vol.V, pp.193-194.


Aelred of Rievaulx, Saint (1109-1167) A native of Yorkshire, Aelred spent part of his youth at the court of King David of Scotland. About the year 1133 he entered the Cistercian monastery of Rievaulx of which he later became abbot. His writings, which combine mystical and speculative theology, earned him the title, "The Bernard of the North." The most important works of this master of the spiritual life are The Mirror of Cluirity and Spiritual Friendship.

Sunday 5 July 2009

Abbot Raymond Jaconelli

Thanks to Scottish Catholic Observer for INTERVIEW of Dom Raymond Jaconelli, ocso, ending his term as Abbot. Thanks also for the Holy Land SERIES, "The Footsteps of Christ" by Gerard Gough. It would be a very welcome to have Online access from your Older Features































Abbot Raymond Jaconelli from the Cistercian Community at Nunraw stepped down on May 30 and Dom Mark Caira was elected as the new abbot. Cath Doherty talks to Abbot Raymond about his experience and future plans.

‘IT is not good for Man to be alone'

ABBOT Raymond Jaconelli is a happy man. Pausing outside the church at Sancta Maria Abbey at Nunraw, in the archdiocese of t Andrews and Edinburgh, he gives a sigh of sheer pleasure as he invites me to admire his favourite view - a pastoral landscape, a wide valley sweeping down from Nunraw and away towards the distant River Forth.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he said. "I never tire of it."

His happiness is infectious. As we make our way back to the guesthouse where hospitality is offered in true Cistercian tradition, he pauses to greet those who have come to spend a few days in the tranquillity of Nunraw or simply to pay an afternoon visit, leav­ing smiles in his wake.

Temptation

Abbot Jaconelli has a vivid recall of the beginnings of his vocation. He speaks of his early Life in Airdrie. Born and brought up there, his mother took him on frequent visits to Carfin, 'in the days of the famous Canon Taylor. 'He fondly recalls his secondary education at St Mungo's, Glasgow, a Marist school, which clearly had a strong influence on his choices in life. He tells of a growing interest in his Faith in his teenage years and mentions two books in particular as part of that influence. One was St Teresa's Story of the Soul, the other a book given to him by one of his Marist teachers, Elected Silence by Thomas Merton. The latter book drew him towards the Cistercian rule. And, as he finished his secondary education, he found that prayer and reflection on a possible vocation gradually displaced everything else in his life.

"I suddenly realised then that the pre­occupation with it all was, in fact, my vocation," he said. He requested admis­sion to Nunraw, having just gained a place at university. His acceptance as a Cistercian novice came in his first few weeks at university.

"I had taken just three lectures, but when the call came from Nunraw, I just packed up and came here without delay," he said.

That was in 1951. Asked if he had ever been tempted to leave, Abbot Raymond was emphatic.

"Never," he said.

Winds of change

Speaking of the changes to the outside world since then, he recalled working in the fields during his early years in the abbey and returning exhausted but sat­isfied, and sounded almost regretful that everything had mechanised over the years.

On the broader changes of the last half-century, he focussed on the tenden­cy these days to self-interest and indeed, in some cases, selfishness, which damages society.

"Stability and commitment affect everything in a very positive sense," he said. "Marriage, jobs, family structure and vocations come from living within that structure, in a culture of faith."

When asked about his frequent refeence to our Creator's words 'It is not good for Man to be alone,' he explained the significance of relationships and interdependence.

"Stemming from the Trinity, relation­ships are the very foundation of our existence," he said. "They serve all the needs of society. We are all part of a family. It is not possible for man to be alone. For example, the teacher needs

the nurse ... the doctor needs the milman ... and the monk needs them all. They benefit, too, from the Monk's Life of service and dedication. All of us have a role to play."

Music

Abbot Jaconelli is known as a musi­cian, an organist and obviously a skilled exponent of Plainsong. Speaking of music and the liturgy, he enthused about music as the 'most expressive of all the arts' .

"It reaches into the soul," he said. And as he spoke, a real passion for music emerged. He said that in provid­ing music for the liturgy, people should be allowed to use the music appropri­ate to their experience in giving praise, in that way opening up a wider field.

"Where music's concerned, there's something for everybody," he said.

Speaking of his involvement in the production of English Liturgy books, he explained that he had been in charge of printing at the abbey at that particu­lar time, and enthused about 'getting to know' computers and devising a method of replicating Plainsong in print using the components of a dis­carded Daisy Wheel.

Kitchen duties

Before being elected abbot some six years ago, he had undertaken a variety of duties within his community.

"Everything except tailoring," he explained.

Having been novice master and procurator, he served as guest master for some 20 years. He particularly enjoyed that duty.

"I love cooking for guests," he said, and went on to explain that welcoming guests is an integral part of the monas­tic life, that it has a spiritual dimension and honours the Rule of St Benedict, on which monasticism is founded, in the best possible way.

"It's an enriching, healing thing for both host and guest," he said. "It gives a witness, more than any sermon."

Reaching out

Asked about his experience of leading Time for Reflection at the Scottish Parliament, he admitted that the cham­ber at Holyrood seemed to be a rather noisy place after the peace and tran­quillity of the monastery. His message to politicians was simple, however.

"They must remember that this world isn't the be all and end all," he said. "There is another dimension to life."

Abbot Jaconelli has journeyed to Nigeria on several occasions during his term as abbot. He explained that in Nsugbe, Nigeria, the Cistercian Foundation of the Monastery of Our Lady and the Angels had had the overview of Nunraw as its 'Mother House' that has always been used to assist new monasteries within the Cistercian order. There is satisfaction that the new foundation is now firmly established, but the Abbot admitted that the climate in Nigeria formed something of a challenge for him.

Nearer home, the abbot also expressed his pleasure that strong links had been forged between the abbey at Nunraw and the surrounding commu­nity. These began shortly after the monks arrived. Blizzards had rendered the roads impassable for days on end. The community came to the assistance of their neighbours by making journeys of up to seven miles across the fields, carrying baskets of bread and other provisions. They lent similar assistance at a time of widespread flooding and now share neighbourly events like Christmas parties.

The future

When Abbot Jaconelli's term of office as Abbot ended on May 30, Dom Mark Caira was elected as new abbot by the community at Nunraw.

Abbot Mark was born in 1939 and he entered Nunraw in 1960. He prfessed solemn vows in 1968 and was ordained priest in 1973.

Abbot Jaconelli will now take on the tasks assigned to him within the abbey. When he asked if he has any prefer­ences, he remarks again that he partic­ularly enjoys cooking, but he will just have to wait and see. First of all though, he intends to take' a small sab­batical for a few weeks' ... a pause in his journey of more than 50 years. In that time, although the world has changed, there have been few changes in the monastic life. There is a little relaxation of the rules, in that the monks are allowed to watch the news bulletins in the evenings if they so wish ... and, with a chuckle, the abbot confesses that he has seen 'a little bit' of Last of the Summer Wine.

And he summarises his journey of prayer, work and contemplation by saying, "My treasure grows richer, deeper, fuller with the passing years."

Asked for a message with which he might mark the conclusion of his abba­cy, this pause in his journey, he uses a line from Psalm 30.

"Be strong, let your heart take courage, hope in the Lord ."