'Monasticism (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from μόνος, monos, "alone") or monkhood is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Similar forms of religious life also exist in other faiths, most notably in Buddhism, but also in Hinduism and Jainism, although the expressions differ considerably.' (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasticism)
Perhaps because of the history the Reformation took in Britain, & the history of RC & Anglican monasteries being founded in country places since then - perhaps Buckfast Abbey is the best-known example - we don't tend to think of a monastic presence in our cities, except as a relic of the past: Westminster Abbey for example. Despite this there has been a monastic presence in Birmingham, although not quite within living memory: in addition to the pre-Reformation Augustinian priory of Birmingham that I posted about before, there is a Catholic church in Erdington known popularly as 'the Abbey', & the reason for that is that up until 1922 there was a living monastery of Benedictine monks in Birmingham. No, seriously.
The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1909's article on the abbey reads thusly:
'Erdington Abbey, situated in a suburb of Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, belongs to the Benedictine congregation of St. Martin of Beuron, Germany, and is dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury. Driven from Germany by the Falk laws four of these exiled monks went to Erdington at the request of Bishop Ullathorne, O.S.B., and of the Rev. Daniel Haigh, M.A., a convert Anglican clergyman who gave them the splendid Gothic church which he had built and embellished out of his own private fortune, as a thank-offering to Almighty God for the gift of the true Faith. Father Haigh's modest presbytery was the first monastery, and here Dom Placid Walter, Arch-Abbot of the Beuron Congregation, Dom Hildebrand de Hempstine, later Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Order, Dom Leo Linse, afterwards Abbot of Fort Augustus in Scotland, Dom Leodgar Stocker, and a lay brother took up their abode in October, 1876. Dom Placid was the first prior. Two years later, Dom Hildebrand succeeded Dom Placid, and at once set about building a monastery that would accommodate a community large enough to chant the Divine Office in choir. It was finished in 1880, when the number of monks was increased to eleven with three lay brothers.
'Meanwhile Father Haigh had found his last resting-place in the Blessed Sacrament chapel, so the untenanted presbytery was converted into a Catholic grammar school, the first of its kind in the neighbourhood of Birmingham, with Dom Wilfrid Wallace, an English priest who had lately joined the community, as head master. Dom Leo Linse became prior in 1882, and was succeeded in 1886 by Dom Boniface Wolff, who was followed, in turn, by Dom Silvester Schlecht in 1895. On the feast of the Assumption, 1896, the priory was transformed into an abbey by a Brief of Leo XIII, though three years elapsed before it received an abbot. These were years of spiritual and material development. A novitiate was opened and a school for oblates, several members were added to the community, and a large addition made to the monastic buildings. These comprised the abbot's apartments and chapel, rooms for guests, entrance hall, parlours, novitiate, and clericate. They were completed and blessed in 1898. In July, 1899, Dom Ansgar Höckelmann was appointed its first abbot, and he was blessed in the abbey church on 3 Sept., by Bishop Ilsley of Birmingham. Since then a spacious refectory and library have been built, and the community continues to grow.' (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05517c.htm)
The Tablet had this to say in 1898, quoting an article in the Birmingham Weekly Post:
'The Benedictines who accepted the refuge offered them at Erdington were first lodged in the two humble cottages at the roadside, which formed the presbytery. The first Prior was the Right Rev. Dom Placid Walter, now Arch-Abbot of Beuron. From 1879 to 1881 the Prior was Dom Hildebrand de Hemp tinne, now Abbot Primate of the whole Order cf St. Bened,ct, and the first to bear that designation. It was from his designs that the first part of the present monastery begun in 1879 was erected. The present Prior is the Very Rev. Silvester Schlecht. The recent extension—carried out a cost of about £7,000, under the direction of Mr. Haigh, of Leicester, nephew of the founder —has made the monastery a very imposing building. The block nearest the village is the most striking feature. It forms a tower, and is carried to a height of 70 feet. In this are the apartments and a private chapel of the abbot, a novitiate (for the novices) and other rooms. Internally the building justifies its outward aspect. It has a fine entrance hall, with parlours for the reception of visitors. The cloister has been extended along the whole length of the new building at the rear. Recent purchases have bought the area of the abbey property to 14 acres, so that when the leases fall in the whole plot between the road and the railway, from the little wooded hill on the Sutton side to Station-road—with the exception of the Cross Keys Inn, near the corner, and one or two small plots—will be in the possession of the community. Plantations are being made which in time will hide the railway. Though their situation at Erdington cannot compare for picturesqueness and retirement with the homes of their brethren at Beuron, in the valley of the Danube, or at Maredsous, in Belgium, the monks, considering the humble beginning of their community, have already a goodly heritage. But they are looking forward to greater things. They hope to largely increase their numbers, and talk not only of extending the monastery, but of enlarging the church, or, rather of building in addition to it a great abbey church. Much might be written, if that were our purpose,about the beautiful church. Built of red sandstone which has weathered to a tender gray, symmetrical though not formal in its proportions, it has always formed one of the most Charming points in the landscape. Designed in the style called geometrical decorated, which flourished in the early part of the fourteenth century, it is one of the best examples of the Gothic revival. Its tower and steeple picturesquely broken by traceried openings, rise to a height of 117 feet, which is also the exterior length of the church. The south-west porch formerly served as the principal entrance, though it is now cut off from the road by the monastery buildings. It remains, however, an architectural gem, with its fine proportions, its small turret for the sacring bell, and its statue of St. Thomas a Becket and other carvings. The church, outside and inside, speaks eloquently of the devotion of its founder, and of the zeal which his example called forth.' (http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/24th-december-1898/25/the-return-of-the-monks-the-benedictines-at-erding)
This is how The Tablet described the demise of the monastery, in 1922:
'FROM ERDINGTON TO WEINGARTEN.
'NEW HOME OF THE ERDINGTON MONKS.
'Many a diocese and vicariate apostolic the world over, many an abbey and other religious institution, has suffered alteration or destruction during or after the Great War, which has now led to the closing of Erdington Abbey in England, and to the emigration of its Benedictine community. Realizing that there Was no prospect for a steady development of the community, the Abbot cast about for a more prosperous opening, and hearing there was a call from the people of Wuerttemberg for Beuronese monks to revive monastic life in the great abbey of Weingarten, some sixteen miles from Lake Constance, the Abbot recognized this as the call of God. Accordingly on March 13, 1922, the Fathers sang their last Mass at Erdington Abbey in honour of St. Gregory, Apostle of England, and then transferred the abbey and the parish, where they had laboured for two generations, to the Redemptorist Fathers of the English province. On the same day negotiations were concluded with the Government officials of Stuttgart, capital of Wuerttemberg, and the historic Abbey of Weingarten was placed at the monks' disposal.' (http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/10th-june-1922/28/from-erdington-to-weingarten)
A fuller exposition of the history can be found on the Ampleforth Abbey library website: http://www.monlib.org.uk/papers/ebch/2001hodgetts.pdf
Of course monasticism is not limited to Christians & there is presently a Buddhist monastic presence in the city: http://www.bbvt.org.uk/Resident_Monks.asp
Oh, the pictures are of Dom Leo Linse, one of the original monks, when he was subsequently Abbot of Fort Augustus Abbey, & an unfortunately small picture of the community, which I found on the parish website of St Nicholas Boldmere.
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