On Tuesday 21st September the confreres travelled to the Abbey of Tongerlo in Belgium to assist at the funeral and burial of our dear confrere Fr. Stephen.

A requiem Mass was held at St. Chad’s the following Thursday.

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“Et audivi vocem magnam de throno dicentem ecce tabernaculum Dei cum hominibus et habitabit cum eis et ipsi populus eius erunt et ipse Deus cum eis erit eorum Deus. Et absterget Deus omnem lacrimam ab oculis eorum et mors ultra non erit neque luctus neque clamor neque dolor erit ultra quae prima abierunt”
(Revelation 21.3-4)

Almighty God, our heavenly father, has called to Himself our dear confrere
Fr Stephen Luc Cansse, O.Praem.
Member of the Canonry of Corpus Christi, Manchester
23rd March 1929 ~ 17th September 2008

Fr Stephen Luc Mary Francis Henry Cansse was born in Ghent on 23rd March 1929, the second son of Eugene and Mary Cansse. He was educated at the Diocesan Grammar school run by local clergy. He entered the abbey of Tongerlo after school on 14th August 1948. During theological studies he served his two years of National Service. He was solemnly professed on 11th July 1954 and ordained a priest on 22nd August 1954. He completed his studies in 1955 and then began general work around the abbey.

He was sent to help in England and arrived in Storrington on 15th September 1956. His first duties were helping with the novitiate and then headmaster of St Norbert’s College (now closed). At the independence of the Canonry in 1962 he was appointed Sub Prior and Novice Master. In 1964 he took charge of the Priory farm. In 1967 he also took charge of the Priory print works. In 1976 was assigned to care for the Houghton Chapel near Storrington and the local parochial district. In 1977 he was appointed Parish Priest of Crowle. In 1983 he was appointed to Stainforth parish and was the last Norbertine priest to serve there. At the end of 1983 he returned to Storrington and again took charge of Houghton chapel and district. In 1987 he was appointed Novice Master. In 1990 he became the Parish Priest of Storrington. In 1992 he retired due to ill health but continued to work as part of the “parish ministry team.” He also took over as Moderator of the Third Order and director of the annual novenas.

In 2002 he moved to live in Corpus Christi Priory Manchester. At the formation of the new Canonry in 2004 he was appointed Novice Master and Moderator of the Third Order. In 2006 he retired from his post of Novice Master but continued to teach some lessons and give spiritual direction. At the beginning of September this year, he journeyed to Belgium to attend his brother’s jubilee at the Benedictine Abbey of St Andrew, Bruges. On Friday 5th September 2008 he suffered a massive stroke and went into a coma from which he never recovered. He went peacefully to the Lord on 17th September 2008.

Fr Stephen has always been a faithful and kind confrere. His unfailing cheerfulness was always a source of comfort and strength. He will be missed by all who knew him especially the novices and juniors he has cared for over the years.

By kind permission of the Abbot and community, Fr Stephen will be buried at the Abbey of Tongerlo, which he always thought of as his spiritual home. The Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Tuesday 23rd September 2008 at 11 a.m. followed by burial in the Abbey cemetery.

Please remember Fr Stephen in your prayers.
The Administrator and Confreres of Corpus Christi Canonry, Manchester
Fr Andre Cansse O.S.B. and all the Cansse family

The 28th August marked the Solemnity of Our Holy Father Augustine.

It was also the occasion of Br. Rupert’s first profession of vows. We were delighted to welcome many of our friends and a great number of parishoners for the day.

“The Lord grant that you observe all these things with love, as lovers of spiritual beauty, giving forth the good odor of Christ in the holiness of your conducd not as slaves under the law, but as free men firmly established in grace.”

- From the Rule of Our Holy Father Augustine

Gloria in excelsis Deo
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te,
benedicimus te,
adoramus te,
glorificamus te,
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam,
Domine Deus, Rex cælestis,
Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili Unigenite, Iesu Christe,
Spiritus et alme orphanorum paraclete,
Domine Deus agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
Primogenitus Mariae virginis matris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata, mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram, ad Mariae gloriam.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus sanctus, Maria sanctificans.
Tu solus Dominus, Maria gubemans.
Tu solus altissimus, Maria coronans Jesu Christe.
Cum sancto spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen’.

( from a Premonstratensian Missal, 1578 )

As we mark the feast of St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers, we also recall a venerable tradition that holds that St. Dominic was a member of the Premonstratensian Order, specifically that he was a sub-deacon at the Spanish Abbey of La Vid. The Dominican statues take much influence from the early statutes of our own Order and of course we also share a very similar habit with our Dominic brothers. The proof of Dominic’s membership of the Order was displayed by Joseph Stephen de Noriega, a canon of La Vid, in a work entitled ‘Dissertatio historica de Sto. Dominico de Guzman, Ordinis Predicatorum Patriarcha, canonico regulari augustiniano-Praemonstratensi, in observantissimo monasterio Stae. Mariae de La Vid.’ (Salamanca, 1723) and has once more been extensivly researched in more recent times by Farrelly in ‘¿Fue Santo Domingo de Guzmán canónigo premonstratense en el monasterio de Santa María de la Vida?’

Statue of St. Dominic wearing the Premonstratensian habit (in Spain black birettas were worn) from La Vid.

BBC North West today reported on further movements in the cause for canonisation of the Servant of God Elizabeth Prout, foundress of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion. Elizabeth Prout received the habit in the Lady Chapel here at St. Chad’s and worked first in this parish. The link below describes the developments of her cause, and includes some footage of the interior of the church.

Possible sainthood for Nun

Last week the canonry celebrated the jubilees of two of our confreres. Fr. Michael Gallagher celebrated 50 years of priestly life, having been ordained in 1958 - he was the first Premonstratensian to be ordained in England since the Reformation. Fr. Cadoc Leighton celebrated his 25th anniversary of priesthood. A Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated on Thursday 28th July and the sermon preached by The Right Reverend James O’Brien, of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. A hymn for the occasion was especially composed by a friend of the community and appears below.

 1. Father God we praise and thank Thee
For this day’s felicity; .
Years of service in the priesthood
Measured by this Jubilee.
Sacrifice and prayer combining
Sanctify our earthly way,
As we go, Thy praises singing,
Through the hours of every day.

2. Crucified and risen Saviour!
Life completed here below,
Then ascended to the Father,
Leading us where we must go;
Left to us Thine own Apostles,
First of Priesthood’s noble line,
Other Christs now work to harvest
Souls for God, to make them Thine.

3. Come, Creator Spirit! Hallow
These Thy sons; once more bestow
Thine own heav’nly unction on them,
Guide them wheresoe’er they go,
Giving strength to arms that succour,
Grace for lives that preach Thy word,
Power to hands, Thy people feeding,
With the Eucharistic Food.

4. Trinity of might and power
Ever with them watch and stay;
Mary, virgin, queen and mother,
Austin, Norbert, for them pray;
Be their safeguard and their r’efuge
In this narrow, earthly fight,
Then at last, their labours ended,
Bring them to eternal light.

Words: © Anthony Dickinson.
Tune: LUX EOI. Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842 - 1900).

Today we commemorate the life of Blessed Hroznata, martyr of our Order. Hroznata was born of noble parents in Bohemia around 1170. His mother consecrated him to the care of the Blessed Virgin from his birth. Although he appeared to be a still-born child, his mother’s trust in the Virgin Mary’s intercession brought Hroznata both life and good health. Twice as a young boy he came close to death: once when the heavy wheels of a carriage passed over him, and again when he fell into a river. But Hroznata grew into a distinguished young man and married a young lady from a noble family. After the premature death of his wife and child, he felt alone and abandoned. But, turning his vision to the spiritual, he resolved to place his earthly riches at the disposal of the Church. In 1193 he gave his lands and possessions to the Norbertine Order for the foundation of the Abbey of Tepl. He made a promise to God to take part in the Crusade of 1197 and left with the Crusaders for the Holy Land. Several obstacles, especially in the transporting of the Crusaders by sea, led to the abandonment of the Crusade. Hroznata returned home via Rome where he was released from his promise by Pope Celestin III, who encouraged him instead to found a community of Norbertine sisters at Chotieschow. In the meantime Hroznata felt a growing desire to enter the Order himself. To that end he sought advice from the pope and received the white habit of the Order from Innocent III in 1202. Many trials awaited Hroznata. Upon returning to Tepl as a laybrother, he was appointed overseer of the abbey’s immense lands and became embroiled in various disputes involving property rights and ownership of land. With the power invested in him by his abbot, Hroznata fought strenuously against greedy nobles who tried in every way to gain control of the patrimony of Tepl. With courage and strength he openly opposed these men, thereby making many enemies. One day while travelling from Tepl to Lichtenstadt, Hroznata was seized by a band of hostile knights and imprisoned on Mt. Kinsberg. There he suffered a slow and agonizing death by starvation. He died on July 14, 1217. His cult as a martyr was officially confirmed by the Holy See in 1897. Hroznata is pictured with the crown of nobility which he renounced for the sake of Christ’s kingdom, and with the palm of martyrdom, holding a church which recalls his foundation of the Abbey of Tepl.

The canons of Tepl maintain an excellent multi-lingual site promoting the cult of Blessed Hroznata where an English translation of his life may be found.

Hic est vere martyr, qui pro Christi nómine sánguinem suum fudit, qui minas iúdicum non tímuit, sed ad cæléstia regna pervénit 

The 9th July commemorates the Martyrs of Gorcum, amongst whom were two priests of our Order, Adrian and James.

Adrian Jansen and James LaCoupe were both Norbertine canons from the Dutch Abbey of Middleburg. Adrian was born in 1529 at Hilvarenbeck (whence the Latinized surname “Becan”, which is sometimes used to avoid confusion with other Jansens). Around Eastertime, 1572, he was appointed pastor at Munster, a village on the North Sea. Here, as in former parish assignments, he distinguished himself for his pastoral zeal. Tensions with the Calvinists were very pronounced at Munster, but Adrian was not intimidated. He went about openly in his white habit, preaching and proclaiming the good news. The associate pastor at Munster during this period was the young Father James LaCoupe. James was born in Audenarde, Belgium, in 1542, and made his solemn profession in the Abbey of Middleburg in 1561. He was well-liked by the brethren of the abbey for his friendly and open personality. But, led astray by the writings of the Protestant reformers, James left the abbey to embrace the doctrins of the Reformation. He went so far as to write a scathing tract against the Catholic Church. Largely through the tearful entreaties and prayers of his father, James was eventually moved to seek readmittance into the Catholic Church and the Order. He was sent to the Abbey of Marienhof where he submitted himself to an extended period of penance and wrote tracts in defense of the Catholic faith. In 1567 he was appointed associate pastor at Munster. Frs. Adrian and James found themselves at Munster during the height of Protestant animosity. As the summer of 1572 arrived, the nearby villages of Dordrecht and Gorcum were captured by Calvinist pirates, and a dozen religious were being held in Gorcum with little hope of release. The parish priests of Munster were warned not to leave their rectory. In July there was an urgent call for help at the rectory door. Fooled into believing he was to administer the last sacraments to a dying man, Adrian opened the bolted door and was captured along with James. The two were dragged to a prison cell at Brielle where they joined nineteen priests and religious awaiting their fate. After repeated offers to renounce their Catholic faith, the priests and religious were finally led to an abandoned monastery near Gorcum on July 9. Two religious renounced their faith at the last minute and were spared. The others, including Fathers Adrian and James, were hung from the rafters and then horribly mutilated. Adrian and James are pictured with the hangman’s rope around their necks and the palm of martyrdom in their hands. Adrian holds the papal crown and keys, symbolizing his defense of the Roman Pontiff. James holds the chalice, symbolizing his defense of the doctrine of the Eucharist. (from the Order’s web-site)

On Sunday members of the community were pleased to attend the Latin Mass Society’s Annual pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Winefride in Holywell, Wales. Members of our choir from the First Friday masses accompanied the Mass and were a great success! 

More pictures can be found here.