Liturgical Beauty from Farnborough Abbey

I recently posted some photos of a Requiem Mass at Farnborough Abbey during the Schola Sainte-Cécile’s summer pilgrimage to England. The Mass was celebrated for the last French Empress, Eugénie, the founder of the Schola’s home church in Paris, who lived in England after the monarchy was overthrown; the abbey was built as a mausoleum for the imperial family in exile, and Eugénie, her husband, Napoléon III, and their son Louis-Napoléon are all buried in the crypt. The abbey is dedicated to St Michael as one of the principal patron Saints of France; an inscription on the beams of the apse reads “Saint Michael, notre glorieux patron, intercedez devant Dieu pour la France et l’Angleterre.” (St Michael, our glorious patron, intercede before God for France and England.)

The abbot of Farnborough, Dom Cuthbert Brogan, has very kindly shared with us pictures some of the splendid liturgical objects made especially for the patronal feast; below, I include some of my own photos taken during the pilgrimage.

This illuminated graduale and an accompanying antiphonal were joint works of the monks of Farnborough and their friends, the nuns of Saint Cecilia’s Abbey Ryde, who come from a similar French/English history is similar. The exquisite illuminations are by the nuns.

An illuminated letter for the Introit of St Benedict.

A crozier and vestment made for St Michael in the early 20th century. The title of Abbot of Mont Saint Michel was passed to Farnborough by the bishop of Countances, and much of the Farnborough pontificalia recall this. On the abbey’s coat of arms, three pilgrim shells of the Mont St Michael are joined to three Bonaparte bees. For St Michael’s Day this year, the abbot gave place to H.E. Geoffrey Jarrett, Bishop Emeritus of Lismore, Australia, and an old friend of the Abbey. The Sunday Mass was a solemn Pontifical High Mass in the Extraordinary Form, unusual in that the abbot acted as Assistant priest in his own abbey church. The abbot himself pontificated at Vespers and Te Deum in the afternoon.

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Pontifical Requiem Mass at Farnborough Abbey

The Parisian church of St Eugène, home of the Schola Sainte-Cécile, is dedicated to a 7th century bishop of the Spanish city of Toledo, called ‘Eugenius’ in English and Latin; this dedication was also made in honor of the Empress Eugénie, the Spanish wife of the last French Emperor, Napoleon III, during whose reign the church was built. Following the overthow of the French monarchy in September of 1870, the imperial family lived in exile in England. Napoleon III died in early 1873; his heir, Louis-Napoléon, the couple’s only child, was killed in South Africa in 1879 while serving with the British Army during the Anglo-Zulu war. Two years later, Eugénie founded the abbey of Farnborough, partly to serve as a mausoleum for her husband and son; she herself was buried there as well when she died in 1920, at the age of 94. The crypt where their mortal remains repose is similar in design to the royal crypt of the abbey of St Denis just outside Paris, where Napoleon III had intended to be buried.

During the Schola’s pilgrimage to England last month, we visited Farnborough, and the Schola sang a Requiem Mass for the members of the imperial family and founders of their home parish. The Mass was celebrated by Abbot Cuthbert Brogan, in the Pontifical Rite proper to abbots, i.e., from the sedilia, rather than a faldstool. Here are some pictures of the Mass, courtesy of the Schola, as well as a video of the Introit and Kyrie. This post will be followed by another of some of my own photos of the church, which is very beautiful.

The Introit and Kyrie of the Requiem Mass for the Bishops of Langres by Nicholas-Mammès Couturier, canon and choir-master of Langres Cathedral (1840-1911).

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What is a Baculus Cantoralis and why do you need one?

The Baculus Cantoralis, to give it one of its many names, is a large staff held by a Choirmaster or Cantor which originates in Benedictine Monasteries of the 10th and 11th centuries. It is sometimes called a Baculus Choralis or a Baculus Praecentoris. At Solesmes, where it is still in use, it is referred to as Le Bâton de Chantre. When I was there recently I saw it being used at Vespers on Trinity Sunday. It can be seen beside the Cantors just to the right of the Eagle, resting on a stand:

At the top of the Baculus is a small ivory carving of St Peter, the patron of Solesmes Abbey, imparting a blessing and holding the Basilica of St Peter in Rome:

Its use is purely ceremonial nowadays, although in medieval times it was reportedly used as a 'corrective' instrument when dealing with inaccurate singers. (I wonder where I might acquire one...) The photograph below shows Dom Umberto Bertini of Farnborough holding a Baculus. The photograph was taken before Solemn Vespers at Clairvaux before the First World War.

I came across an article from 1940 about Dom Uberto Bertini in the Catholic Herald's online archive. Do go and read it if you have a moment: he was an extraordinary man. My thanks to the Monks of Farnborough for providing the photograph.

Solemn Profession at Farnborough Abbey

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arlier this year, Dom Michael Vician made his Solemn Profession at St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough, where he has been a monk for five years. During ceremonies lasting more than two hours, Brother Michael lay prostrate on the sanctuary floor, covered with the funeral pall whilst the Litany of the Saints was chanted, a sign of his death to the world. He then sang the three-fold Suscipe me Domine chant, (uphold me, Lord, according to your promise, and I shall live…) read his chart of profession and was clothed, in accordance with ancient custom, in the monastic cowl and presented with the monastic office book as a sign that he should ‘put nothing before the Work of God’.

St Michael’s Abbey is a small community of Benedictine monks, with an average age of 36. They have no school or parish, but live a classic contemplative Benedictine life with a strong emphasis on the Liturgy, which they celebrate in Latin with Gregorian Chant.

The community welcomed many friends for the occasion. Among them were the Prior and Premonstratensian Canons of Chelmsford, The Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and a confrere, Carmelites, Dominicans, Blessed Sacrament Fathers, and Benedictines of other monasteries, including enclosed nuns of Tyburn who were given special permission to be present. The Abbot of Farnborough, Dom Cuthbert Brogan, has served as confessor to the Tyburn community for many years.

Bishop Philip Egan attended as a guest of the monks and spoke at the end of the Mass:

“In today’s culture,  organised  religion and in particular Christianity, is often side-lined or relegated to the private domain.  Even some of those who do profess a religion, tend to treat their faith in the manner of an ‘added-extra’, a  hobby,  something extrinsic  to the rest of  their  living. Yet  as we saw symbolised  so  powerfully in Bro. Michael’s prostration on the floor of the sanctuary,  covered with the funeral pall, not only for him but  for anyone whom Jesus has called to be his disciple, faith can never be an added-extra. Our love for God, our discipleship of Christ, our Catholic Faith is never just a hobby. It  has to be  the most important thing in life.  My faith is the most important thing in my life.  My love for Jesus Christ has to be the most important thing in my life.  –Because  Jesus Christ and His Gospel is the only way to true, genuine, lasting human happiness and fulfilment. Indeed, as St. Augustine taught, the human heart is restless until it rests in God.  This is why being a disciple of Christ, being a friend of Jesus, being in love with God and giving myself entirely to him, is the most exciting adventure a human being can ever undertake….We wish you, Bro. Michael, every happiness in your vocation and we promise to pray for you that every day you will be faithful to your vows and grow deeper and deeper in love with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”