On this important occasion, I hope you will excuse me from preaching on the subject of today's readings from Scripture. They are about the Christian sacrament of marriage, and I think that most of you are more expert in that area than we monks.

What then are we remembering precisely by our visit to Douai? At the end of 1902, Abbot Columba Marmion, now Blessed Columba, came to the abbey of St Edmund in Douai to preach the community's retreat. This was the time when the town walls were being demolished. A few weeks later, the Bishop of Portsmouth, England, arrived to consult with the Mere Générale of the Soeurs de La Sainte Union in Douai about offering the sisters a refuge in his diocese in England. Like many other religious orders involved in education, the convents of the sisters were being suppressed by means of the Law of Associations. It seems that on this occasion, the Bishop of Portsmouth also offered to provide a refuge in his diocese for the English Benedictines of St Edmund, whose abbey was what is now the Lycée Corot.

During the first half of 1903, there were many attempts by the citizens, local press and authorities here in Douai to prevent the English Benedictine monastery in Douai being suppressed. It was argued that the monastery of St Edmund was a special case because its monks were English. But all these protests were in vain. In April 1903, the liquidator was appointed, and the Douaisiens, with great regret, saw the gates of the college closed. Meanwhile, the monks paid tribute to the generous hearts of all the Douaisiens who had tried to help them. On June 14, 1903, the last sermon was preached in the Pugin chapel on the text from Isaiah [28:16]: 'Behold, I will lay a stone in the foundation of Zion, a tried stone, a corner-stone, a precious stone'. After over three hundred years, there was to be a parting of the ways, the end of the English Benedictine presence in Douai, and a new path to be walked by the community in England. On June 15, the monks and students went as pilgrims for the last time to the shrine of Notre-Dame des Affligés, and the next day, to the cemetery in Douai, to pray at the English Benedictine vault.

The monks and students left the college and abbey on June 18, 2003, stating that they were full of gratitude to the Dean of Douai and the clergy of its three parishes; to the Mayor and the members of the town council, who had all tried to help them in the difficult times. They also thanked the President, professors and students of the Institut Saint-Jean, with whom they had been very friendly. Finally, they thanked the Douaisiens in whom they had found that 'coeur Francais' which had always shown them such kindness. Having bought mementoes from shops in Douai to take with them to England, the monks and students were photographed by the Abbé Lemaire, from the Institut Saint-Jean. And then, according to the Echo Douaisien, they left, walking down the Rue St-Benoit, along the Place St-Vaast, over the bridge crossing the sleepy Scarpe, and across to the large square in front of the old English college, near the present railway station. Douaisiens crowded at their doors and windows to see them pass, and a crowd of important Douaisiens said farewell to the English party when the train arrived.

Since those events, we have seen sadly two world wars, when much of Douai was destroyed, and when many students of Douai Abbey were killed. But we have also seen the foundation of the European Union, and the Channel Tunnel, and so England's links with France are closer than perhaps they have ever been. Much of what is of value in today's Europe has been given by the Christian Church, and especially by Benedictine monks. On this Sunday, when we commemorate the past century, we also look to the future; to the church in Europe leading its people towards that unity and peace for which Our Lord prayed and which are the particular contribution of the Order of St. Benedict.

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