A CONCISE HISTORY OF THE NORBERTINE COMMUNITY IN STORRINGTON

by Fr Andrew Smith, o.praem.

To understand the “why” of a community in Storrington it is necessary to look at the difficulties of the Church in post-revolution France when the Concordat of 1801 did not mention religious institutes because the French government (of The First Consul - Bonaparte) thought them to be undesirable and the Holy See did not wish to push the issue. The only exceptions were institutes devoted to seminary formation, priests who were members of foreign mission societies, who were useful for spreading French influence overseas and the Trappists, because they lived apart from the world. However religious communities did return to France, often being privately encouraged by the Pope of the day to be re-established. Around 1850 foundations began to multiply even though the law remained unchanged and Pope Pius IX invited Father Edmond Boulbon to restore the Norbertines in a land which once knew the great Abbey of Prémontré and 91 other Premonstratensian Abbeys.

Aged 18 years John Baptist Boulbon entered the Trappist Cistercian Abbey at Amiens which had been founded by St. Bernard and where he was given the religious name of Edmond. After his ordination in 1843 the abbey community had to move premises and the abbot sought to purchase another and so Fr. Edmond, who had the gift of oratory, was asked to become a wandering fundraising preacher. He was very successful so then he was sent to establish a monastery on the Island of Reunion, but opposition from government agents led to its failure. From there he spent eighteen months on St. Helena doing duty as the pastor. With much time on his hands to reflect Boulbon planned a new Cistercian community where magnificent liturgy might be celebrated. However his abbot told him his aims were not compatible with the customs of Citeaux and others advised him to restore the Primitive Observance of the Order of Prémontré which would help him join the duties of monastic life with those of the clerical life.

In 1855 the Bishop of Soissons bought the abbey of Prémontré intending it to be an agricultural orphanage and invited Fr. Edmond to restore the abbey and have pastoral care of the boys. The bishop clothed Fr. Edmond with the white habit on June 6th, 1856 and he began his work. However the crafty bishop had also been in touch with the superior of Tongerlo (not yet restored to abbey status) who with the abbot of Averbode decided to send a group of men to Prémontré. These abbeys were growing in number but with little outlet for work since they were not allowed to resume the care of parishes. When the five Belgians arrived in August 1856 they found a habited Fr. Edmond claiming to belong to the Primitive Observance, which, of course, the Order no longer recognized. After, what must have been strong words, Boulbon left a few days later. The bishop, short of money to sustain his venture, closed the Priory the following year and the Belgians returned to their home abbeys. (In 1879 three confreres from Frigolet repopulated Prémontré but the events of the following year saw its end.)

Edmond had left Prémontré with a copy of the 1290 Statutes which he wished to follow. He was soon in Rome obtaining permission from Pope Pius IX to establish his Order. Whilst he was placed under the jurisdiction of the Local Ordinary, he was given permission to clothe and profess new entrants. In early April 1858 the saintly Cure of Ars told him to write to the Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence for admittance to his diocese and having bought the ancient Benedictine abbey of St. Michel de Frigolet he began living there by the end of the month. On July 11th (the old feastday of St. Norbert ) he made his profession to the archbishop. Recruits soon poured in and the community grew to thirty in twenty months. Soon he discovered an even more ancient set of order Statutes (said to be the work of Blessed Hugh) and so he adopted these for his community because they were more "primitive."

The community grew, became an abbey and made several foundations in France but trouble arrived in 1880 when the anti-clerical government decreed to dissolve all religious foundations that lacked state permission. Communities might apply for legal recognition but only a few cases were granted. Frigolet was not among them and so became a victim of the decree. From November third to seventh there was a celebrated siege of the abbey where many locals had joined the community to prevent the expulsion. However the dragoons broke in, expelled everyone except the abbot, the legal owner and a lay-brother. Boulbon resigned as abbot in March 1881 and died in an empty abbey two years later. Ironically, the community began to return later the same year (1883).

It was not until 1898 that, due to pressure from Rome, Boulbon's foundation actually joined the Norbertine Order – by decree of Pope Leo XIII. So ended the Congregation of France, as it was called and life began to be lived under the Order Statutes of 1630. An election for abbot resulted in a refusal to accept the office and so the Abbot General, in 1899, appointed one who led the merger preparations; however, he died after six months in office. So in 1899 the community elected the celebrated Prior of Mondaye Abbey, Fr. Godefroid Madelaine who had been confessor to Therese of Lisieux.

Meanwhile some of the community took up residence at Leffe in Belgium and later it was decided to send men to form a community at Storrington, a small Sussex village. Land had been provided by the Duke of Norfolk who lived in nearby Arundel. He had offered the site to several communities and eventually it was brought to the notice of the new abbot, Boniface Paulin by Roman based Cardinal Howard, a kinsman of the Duke and a friend of Frigolet. A committee had been established to help the expelled religious and they paid the expenses of Fr. Gonzaga Daras and four others to come to Storrington. They arrived on February 2nd. 1882. The Duke had only given land but not property and so the first community lived in a rented house in the village - the first Priory. They placed their new mission under the protection of Our Blessed Lady and called it Our Lady of England Priory : Notre Dame d'Angleterre.

First of all a school was built and then in 1885 a chapel. By this time the community had grown to fourteen. The lack of funds delayed the building of a new Priory till 1887 and in 1902 the cornerstone of the new stone Priory Church was laid. Funds ran out when the French government again persecuted religious and started seizing the abbey property, so the former Empress of the French, Eugenie, came to support the building project. It was completed in November 1904; it was blessed and opened by Abbot Madelaine of Frigolet who led the procession from the old to the new. The Mass was celebrated by Abbot Cabrol, the Benedictine abbot of Farnborough. The Storrington Canons recruited Englishmen and were able to found a number of small Priories both in England and Scotland but all were short lived. One was at Farnborough where the Empress Eugenie lived and where she was founding an Abbey-Mausoleum for her husband and son. Napoleon III had died in exile in England and the Prince Imperial had died in South Africa as a serving officer in the British Army. She invited Storrington to found its first community, at St. Michael's Priory  but after a few years she invited them to leave –  according to rumour -  it was because its prior, Fr. Joseph Ibos, became a republican. Visitation records from those days forbade any contact between the houses, even by servants, without the express permission of the Abbot of Frigolet.

Six Priors were appointed by the Abbot of Frigolet from 1882, the last in 1930. The most celebrated Fr. Xavier Rieux served twice 1888-94 and 1903-12. He was a tremendous promoter and preacher of the Provencal language in which he wrote as a poet and published a lexicography under the pseudonym of Xavier de Fourvieres.

In the 1930's numbers dwindled and in 1940 the last member of the Frigolet community, Fr. Philip Beasley-Suffolk, died. Because of World War II he could not be replaced from Frigolet and so the pastoral care of the parish and the property was taken over by Norbertines from the north of the country. For some years the community consisted of one man! Some 10 years before the foundation of Storrington, in 1872, the Norbertines of Tongerlo Abbey in Belgium accepted an invitation to establish a mission to refound the order in England which before the Reformation had 32 abbeys and two convents in the country. A gentleman, Thomas Arthur Young, spent most of his wealth in re-establishing the church in rural Lincolnshire. He paid for the building of a Priory at Crowle whose first inhabitant was Fr. Martin Geudens, and later at Spalding in 1875. In 1898 Fr. Geudens moved to a new priory in, Miles Platting, Manchester which became the seat of the regular superior of the Tongerloenses in the country. He became a blessed titular abbot as did his two successors. These men had made a Priory foundation at Kilnacrott in Ireland to provide vocations for the English parishes but as the clamour for an Irish abbey grew it was decided by Tongerlo to purchase Storrington from Frigolet and establish it as an English novitiate. This happened in 1952 under abbot Emil Stalmans of Tongerlo who appointed its local Prior. Another development happened in 1962 when numbers had grown sufficiently for Storrington to become a Priory sui Iuris –  its abbot founder being abbot Jodocus Boel who appointed the first Prelate and Prior de Regimine Fr. Gerebern Neill who resigned due to ill health in 1970. The Prelates who followed were elected by the Community : Georges Joye (15 years ), Michael Gallagher (6 years), Andrew Smith (10 years), Michael Gallagher (6 years, but resigned after two to be Administrator of Miles Platting ) and Paul MacMahon ( for life until 75 years of age ).

The Storrington Canonry, consisting of a Prelate and three members, plus one in exclaustration, continues to live and work in this part of the Lord's vineyard. Indeed we have planted a small vineyard to show our determination to be here for years to come. Recently we started to plant a woodland. We are praying for plans to be brought to fruition whereby funding for refurbishment of the Priory might be gained.

We have recruited 24 lay associates and we continue to pray for vocations to the community. Many young people come to visit us and work along side us. We pray the Lord of the harvest may encourage them to join us – so that the Priory will celebrate 150 years and more anniversaries.

©Fr Andrew Smith, o.praem. 2007

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