THE INDIAN ADVOCATE.
11
monks of Subiaco first settled in Kent.
The Benedictine Order in England
is numerous, and its houses, whether
Abbeys, Priories, Colleges, or Mission
stations, are flourishing with good
promises of future development, under
the blessing of God, and Patronage of
the Patriarch of the monks of the
Western Church.
BUCK PAST ABBEY .
A few words in regard to Buckfast
Abbey will, no doubt, be of special in
terest to the readers of the Advocate;
because several of the Fathers working
in the Indian Territory came from this
place. And Buckfast is indebted, after
God, to Rev. Thos. Duperon, present
Prior of Sacred Heart Mission, for the
return of Hie Benedictine monks, and
the restoration of the old abbey.
Buckfast is situated in Devonshire,
about 60 miles N. E. of Plymouth. The
foundation of Buckfast dates back to
the tenth century. After a long period
of prosperity and beneficence to the
country, this abbey was dissolved with
26 other Benedictine houses of the
country, in 153S. The monastic build
ings, church, and farm, were forthwith
sold to Sir Thomas Dennis, and then
began the long night of desolation for
Our Lady of Buckfast. The lead was
at once stripped from the roof and sold,
together with the five bells in the tower
of the church, as appears from an in
ventory made in 1555, and the abbey
buildings left to ruin and decay.
The suppression of the Devonshire
monasteries brought widespread dis
tress to the peasantry in their neighbor
hood, and when to it was superadded
the introduction of the new learning
and the abolition of the old religion,
tho men of Devon broke out into a
fierce rebellion. Under the leadership
of Sir Thomas Pomeroy and other bravo
men, they flew to arms, and marching
on Exeter ton thousand strong, they
laid siego to it. Lord Russell marched
against the faithful peasants. A battle
was fought at Woodbury, and after
thirty-f vc days the siege of Exeter was
raised. With brutal savagery Lord
Russell's army wasted and harried the
country round Exeter, and with the
butchery of four thousand of the coun
try people and the smoke of burning
villages the Protestant religion was
ushered into South Devon.
The long night of solitude and deso
lation that now settled down on the
abbey of Our Lady of Buckfast seemed
destined to be everlasting, but it was
not so ordained in tho counsels of God's
providence. Three hundred and forty
five years were to pass away, and then
once more the Adorable Sacrifice was
to be offered up within these hallowed
precincts by monks of St. Benedict,
and the first Mass said there was to be
that of the patronage of Our Blessed
Lady.
In 1880 the religious congregations
in France were ruthlessly driven from
their peaceful homes by the mercenary
servants of an ungrateful and Godless
Government. A colony of Benedictines
from La' Pierre-qui-Vire landed on the
hospitable shores of Ireland under the
leadership of Rev. Fr. Thos. Duperon,
present Prior of Sacred Heart Mission,
Oklahoma Territory. After two years
sojourn in Green Erin, Father Thomas
availed himself of a good opportunity
and purchased the desolate remnants
of the old abbey, also the property of
Our Lady of Buckfast. On the 20th of
October 1S82, the Benedictine colon)'
set foot on those grounds, sanctified
by the prayers and the virtues of
several generations of blessed memory.
Very Rev. Thomas Duperon and his
monks are greatly indebted to the most
paternal welcome- and assistance of
Right Rev. 'Wflfcaughan, Bishop of
Plymouth. Jirp
The work of Restoration was begun
at once, and carried on rapidly, thanks
to the generous aid received from a com-