Centenary in Shaftesbury (England)

A little history to understand

We easily forget today that a little over a hundred years ago, in 1903, the French religious congregations, after various persecutions, were dissolved and the religious were forced to leave France for other countries.

In anticipation of this expulsion planned by the anticlerical parties in power, the Congregation had purchased, in November 1898, in Shaftesbury (Dorset), in the southwest of England, a large house called Belmont House.

The arrival of the FMI allowed the diocese of Plymouth to restore the Catholic parish of Shaftesbury, which had disappeared after the Reformation, and Father Jérôme Boutin, FMI, was named “Parish Priest”. He celebrated the first mass in the chapel of Belmont House on December 8, 1898.

In 1903, the FMI novitiate and scholasticate then the superior general, Father Auguste Fort, and his council moved to Belmont House, where around twenty FMI lived until after the First World War, when the religious were able to return to France.

In 1921, the Congregation sold Belmont House, which has now become a popular hotel and restaurant: the Royal Chase Hotel.

The house chapel being too small, a church was built in 1909-1910 on the outskirts of the market town of Shaftesbury under the patronage of the Most Holy Name and Saint Edward, king and martyr.

Successive priests: 1898-1912: PP Jérôme Boutin, René Roger, Pierre Sivienne, Paul Chapleau; 1912-1928: Father Edwin Philip Harcourt; 1928-1946: Father Georges Donzé; 1946-1947: Father Alfred Mollé; 1947-1999: Father Ernest Jeanneau.

The memory of Father Jeanneau, parish priest for 52 years, remains very present in Shaftesbury and particularly honored. In 1987, the town recognized his action in the service of all, Catholic or not, by naming him an honorary citizen (“Freeman of Shaftesbury”) and a new street was named after him: “Jeanneau Close”. In 1998, he received the title of “Member of the British Empire” from the Queen. A plaque in the church commemorates the IMF, and in 1998 a modern stained glass window dedicated to the IMF was commissioned and placed behind the altar for the centenary of their arrival.

Celebrating the centenary of St Edward's Church, Shaftesbury

Everyone expressed their gratitude to the IMF and, particularly, to Father Jeanneau. Father Dylan James, the young priest also a professor of theology near London, never stopped thanking us.

On Saturday morning, September 25, a parishioner came to welcome us at Southampton airport and we had lunch at his home with his wife and young children before he took us to the presbytery where we stayed. L’après-midi, le curé nous a fait faire un tour dans la ville et, le soir, nous a amenés dîner au Royal Chase Hotel (ancien Belmont House) avec deux sœurs de Ker Maria invitées elles aussi, car leur congrégation a travaillé sur la paroisse avec les FMI de 1906 à 1908.

On Sunday morning, September 26, there was the solemn celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Saint Edward's Church with the presence of the local authorities. Then, in procession, the entire assembly went to pay their respects at the cemetery, about 200 meters away, at the grave, blessed by the priest, of the six FMI who rest there.

The celebration continued with a large meal for the entire parish in the presbytery garden, on the lawn behind the church where a large white marquee had been erected. The choir sang during the meal and activities were organized for the children. A beautiful family celebration!

Due, no doubt, to the persecution and marginalization suffered for centuries by English Catholics, the arrival of the IMF in Shaftesbury is seen as the work of Providence for the restoration of the Catholic Church. We noted, during these two days, how deeply grateful the parishioners of Shaftesbury remain to us.

Father Daniel Boulier, superior general.

Prayer of Fr James Dylan at Shaftesbury Cemetery

Our heavenly Father, in a spirit of gratitude, we are gathered here in memory of these priests, Sons of Mary Immaculate, who worked in the vineyard of Shaftesbury. We remember the difficult circumstances that brought them to England, and how it is your purpose to bring good fruit out of bad times.

In Holy Scripture we read that Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt but that his slavery became the means of feeding the children of Israel in the time of famine, that your chosen people were sent into slavery in Babylon, but that this misfortune became the means of their purification and their return to the Promised Land, that your Son died on the cross, but that his death became the instrument of our salvation.

And, in our own history, these faithful priests were driven out of France by religious persecution, but their presence here became the instrument of the restoration of your holy Church in this city.

We thank you, Lord, for the excellent work accomplished by these faithful priests, for the generosity they displayed in pursuing their religious life, for the care with which they surrounded the people of Shaftesbury in their work as pastors, for the work they accomplished in building our parish and our church.

In gratitude, we now pray for them: forgive their sins, grant them mercy in your judgment, that they may gaze upon your face and dwell in the joy of your presence forever.

We ask this of you through Christ our Lord. Amen.