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No 166 - 2003
10. From The Douai Magazine 100 Years ago
From No 29 April 1904
THE 7th of September 1903, marked the beginning of another important chapter in the history of St Edmunds. On that day the Boys came to Woolhamptonsome to their old college, now under new management; others to a strange house, but governed by familiar masters; while a third party belonged to neither of the preceding classes.
A heavy gale of wind which raged during the night of the 10th brought down five large trees which stood beside the road leading to the College entrance. Three of them fell across the road blocking it up entirely. Had one of the tress fallen in an opposite direction the old cottage hard by would in all probability have been seriously damaged.
The "Domine Salvum fac Regem Nostrum Edwardum" sung at the end of High Mass reminded some of the boys that they are no longer citizens of the French Republic, while the substitution of the Mechlin for the Ratisbon chant brought home to others the change that has occurred in their College.
The Feast of St Edmund was observed with traditional splendour. On this occasion, through Mr Wards thoughtful kindness, the "Ward" vestments were first used at Woolhampton. Though absent from home at the time, he had ordered the vestments to be sent from his house in the Isle of Wight, where, since their narrow escape from the Liquidators grasp, they had been in careful keeping.
The Abbey is the grateful recipient of yet another gift from Mr Ward, a gift which crowns the present of Church vestments that bear his name. It consists of a costly set of Pontificalia. These were intended for the consecration of Douais first Abbot; but on account of the recent crisis and of the dark signs which heralded it, the present did not reach its appointed destination until last December. A detailed description of these is given elsewhere (The Douai Magazine no XXIX pp 76-80) and we heartily congratulate Messrs. Hardman & Sons on the excellence of their workmanship and the artistic finish evident in these costly objects.
On the evening of the 9th of February the Fathers of the Edmundian Familia arrived from Belmont, Malvern, and the various missions. The purpose of the gathering was to elect a new Superior in place of Abbot Larkin, who through ill- health had deemed it necessary to resign his high office. The Blessed Sacrament was removed to the sacristy and the Tractatus was held in the chapel.
Next morning, at nine oclock, Mass of the Holy Spirit was sung. Fr Stanislas Taylor, being celebrant.
Some time afterwards the voting commenced and after the sixth scrutiny Fr Ambrose Bamford became the second Abbot of Douai. When the "Te Deum"had been sung, first the Fathers and then the students paid homage to their new Superior.
From Vol 9 No 30 October 1904
The bathing season commenced in June and the continuance of the good summer weather afford many an opportunity for an enjoyable "dip". Those who had been strangers at Woolhampton, could well appreciate so good a bathing place as the one we now have (in the Kennet! Ed.). The return to the College, under the cool shade of the limes that border the road nearly all the way from the village, does not rob but rather preserves that delightful freshness and vigour which are the pleasant effects of a good swim.
We beg leave to offer congratulations to the subject of the following paragraph which appeared in the Tablet of 16th July:-
"An English Benedictine, Fr Langdon, has this year successfully passed at St Anselmos the very difficult examination for the Doctorate of Sacred Theology. He is, we believe, the first English student of St Anselmos to undergo the ordeal."
From No 31 December 1904
Those who were travelling homewards might have seen from the carriage window the Kennicott water-softener, which so mystified us for some time, the first to be erected in England, and which has only recently been completed. The Railway Magazine for November 1903, contained an article, written in simple and not over-technical terms, descriptive of this water softening process. Members of the Ward Library, who so eagerly peruse this interesting periodical, should not forget the thanks they owe Fr Abbot, who has so regularly supplied us with this interesting magazine.
Index
Fr Wilfrid Sollom 1926 - 2003 - Obituary
Fr Wilfrid Sollom - Personal Tributes
The Abbey of Saints Adrian and Denis, Lamspringe, Germany by Abbot Geoffrey Scott
Spirituality in the Workplace by David Westcott
Douai Abbey Newsletter 19 including Community Notes
Go to index of Douai Newsletter.