THE P RTAL
October 2012 Page 12
Buckfast Abbey by Harry Schnitker
The Ordinariate Group in Buckfast is blessed , indeed . I visited the abbey for the first time this summer and was much impressed . If one had to create the perfect medieval abbey , it would have to be Buckfast . Here is the bustle of what would have surrounded abbeys in the Middle Ages : the great gateway , gorgeous and devout gardens , the crafts and the throngs of the believers and the curious .
Historically , the abbey provides a great illustration of what I have been trying to state in these articles : for the Ordinariate to develop a sense of belonging , it needs to grow deep taproots .
a nation-wide event
Modern Buckfast may preserve substantial medieval remains , but is essentially a new creation . The Church was consecrated on 25 August 1932 . The service was broadcast by the BBC , which indicates that this was perceived to be a nation-wide event . Buckfast has become famous for its contribution to beekeeping , for its tonic wine , and , more recently , for its theology festivals .
medieval manuscripts come alive
As with the Ordinariate , the discerning visitor may be hard-pressed to see the ancient behind the new at Buckfast . However , it is there . It may be seen in the black cloak of a monk walking visitors through the shop , in the beautiful statue of St Benedict in the Church , and in the gardens , which are medieval manuscripts come alive .
silencing the singing of the Hours
These recall the most ancient roots of the abbey . In between there is a long history . The ruins of the medieval abbey were settled in 1882 by Benedictine monks fleeing persecution in France . Their black garb would have stood out in the year that the medieval abbey closed its doors , for their immediate predecessors were whiteclad Cistercians . On 25 February 1539 , Henry VIII ’ s agents came and drove the ten remaining monks out of their home , silencing the singing of the Hours . shape the landscape of southern Devon through its farming activities . However , the Cistercians were not the first monks at Buckfast . Before 1147 , the community followed the austere Savignac Rule , and this had supplanted the original Benedictine community .
oldest in England
With them , we are back in Anglo-Saxon times . The Buckfast monks followed the Regularis Concordia , which was based on the Holy Rule and drawn up at Winchester around 970 for all Benedictine monasteries in England . The house had been founded during the reign of King Cnut in 1018 . This easily makes the current abbey the oldest in England , the interval of the Dissolution notwithstanding . Again , one could not think of a better Icon for the Ordinariate .
devotion to the Mother of God
The original abbey was dedicated to St Mary . This is a reminder that England was the first country to develop a devotion to the Mother of God in Western Europe : in Kent there were churches dedicated to her in the early seventh century . This , too , is reflected in the patron saint of the Ordinariate . The Buckfast Group of the Ordinariate is blessed , indeed .
social services to the locality
Theirs had once been a great house , which , before the Black Death , provided many social services to the locality . It was a major exporter of wool , and had helped