County Galway, Ireland
by Cathy O'Neil
I recently traveled with friends to this beautiful location. The history is very interesting.
I am going to focus on the history of the Benedictine nuns, who have owned and lived on the estate since 1920.
To understand the history of the Benedictines, I went back in time to the reign of Henry VIII and the persecution of Catholics in England. I couldn’t figure out where all the money came from, but learned that the foundress of The Glorious Assumption of Our Lady, Lady Mary Percy was a Catholic noblewoman along with Dorothy and Gertrude Arundell, who were also wealthy aristocrats and leaders of the Catholic resistance against persecution and execution. Following the religious suppression of Catholics in England, Scotland and Ireland, these courageous women escaped the British Isles to open monasteries in Europe and live lives of spirituality and devotion to their patron saint, Benedict.
Saint Benedict’s Rule of the Master for balance, moderation and reasonableness was very influential with Christian religious communities throughout the Middle Ages. Pope Benedict XVI said that “with his life and work Saint Benedict exercised a fundamental influence on the development of European civilization and helped Europe to emerge from the “dark night of history” that followed the fall of the Roman Empire.
Lady Mary Percy founded the original Benedictine House in Brussels in 1598. A house was later established in Belgium in 1665. Ypres Abbey attracted the daughters of Irish nobility as students. The Irish nuns of Ypres moved to Dublin in 1688 at the request of King James II. King James was the last Catholic King of England, and was defeated by William III, at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. After that defeat, the nuns returned to Brussels. So, the Benedictines lived their lives of spirituality in Ypres until their abbey was destroyed by bombs during The Great War, WWI. They escaped and bought Kylemore Castle in 1920.
An international girls boarding school was established after arriving at Kylemore, and the Benedictines resumed their mission to educate young women until they closed the school in 2010.
If you are unable to visit this beautiful abbey, I recommend that you go to their website and also learn about our own Benedictine nuns here in Erie.
by Cathy O'Neil
I recently traveled with friends to this beautiful location. The history is very interesting.
I am going to focus on the history of the Benedictine nuns, who have owned and lived on the estate since 1920.
To understand the history of the Benedictines, I went back in time to the reign of Henry VIII and the persecution of Catholics in England. I couldn’t figure out where all the money came from, but learned that the foundress of The Glorious Assumption of Our Lady, Lady Mary Percy was a Catholic noblewoman along with Dorothy and Gertrude Arundell, who were also wealthy aristocrats and leaders of the Catholic resistance against persecution and execution. Following the religious suppression of Catholics in England, Scotland and Ireland, these courageous women escaped the British Isles to open monasteries in Europe and live lives of spirituality and devotion to their patron saint, Benedict.
Saint Benedict’s Rule of the Master for balance, moderation and reasonableness was very influential with Christian religious communities throughout the Middle Ages. Pope Benedict XVI said that “with his life and work Saint Benedict exercised a fundamental influence on the development of European civilization and helped Europe to emerge from the “dark night of history” that followed the fall of the Roman Empire.
Lady Mary Percy founded the original Benedictine House in Brussels in 1598. A house was later established in Belgium in 1665. Ypres Abbey attracted the daughters of Irish nobility as students. The Irish nuns of Ypres moved to Dublin in 1688 at the request of King James II. King James was the last Catholic King of England, and was defeated by William III, at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. After that defeat, the nuns returned to Brussels. So, the Benedictines lived their lives of spirituality in Ypres until their abbey was destroyed by bombs during The Great War, WWI. They escaped and bought Kylemore Castle in 1920.
An international girls boarding school was established after arriving at Kylemore, and the Benedictines resumed their mission to educate young women until they closed the school in 2010.
If you are unable to visit this beautiful abbey, I recommend that you go to their website and also learn about our own Benedictine nuns here in Erie.
No comments:
Post a Comment