THE AUSTIN FRIARS IN NEWPORT- Part I

 The Friars were established by the Staffords early in the 14th century. I am wiring this as a 'follow up to my last post on Mediaeval Newport and thank James Matthews from Newport Public Library his limited edition book of 1910 'Historic Newport' with a chapter on The Friars.We probably never will know exactly which year, but 1347 would be a good date and would have been completed by December of that year, because St Augustine

Because their patron St Augustine of Hippo was consecrated by Bishop Aurelius of Carthage as co-ajutor to Bishop Valerius of Hippo in that month (Christmas 395AD) They dedicated their church to St Nicholas whose charism was his charity, being also one of the saints of the month of December, and honoured by seamen as their patron saint. So St Nicholas Churches are often found in seaports, as here, near the harbour. 372 churches have been named in his honour in Britain. The ‘Austin Friars Preachers’dedicated their first chapel and monastery to St Nicholas and it became the first sailors church in the port.

Old possible Carmelite Priory

The Old Priory in Belle View Lane (writing 1910) must not be confused with the chapels of St Nicholas and the Chapel of St Thomas the reason is they do not conform to the description being of by the ‘key (quay) beneath the bridge’.

When the Carmelite Friars occupied this Friary, a thick avenue of trees extended from the garden grounds to the present ‘Mountjoy Inn’(1910)and from there it ran down in a crescent form down the late Poplar Row to the precincts of the Friary near the River, to which those ancient religious wended their way , at the hour of prayer to the lower chapel of the Austen Friars.The planting of the sacred grove was the work of the Austen Friars, long before the agreement in 1377.

St Nicholas

The little community of Augustinians, after working and labouring among the indigent poor of Newport for upwards of thirty two years, found their work flagging through lack of support, and so the order became less and less efficient, for this reason alone.In addition, they were working in the aftermath of the most terrible placue ever to hit Britain, and the town needed a new lease of life.

Earl of Stafford gives Friars burgages and places it under the governance of St Peter’s Gloucester

The Staffords were great patrons of the Austen Friars, and it was about this time 1377, when their position was precarious, that Hugh the son of Ralph who had succeeded his father in 1372 as second Earl of Stafford and Lord of Newport and Wentllwch/Gwynllwch came to their assistance and gave them 32 burgages of meadow land and the site to build a new church , the site of their former building. Being aware the Brothers Hermits never accepted money, houses nor lands , owing to their charism, and at the same time understanding their function serving the poor had to be put on a sound financial footing, he gave the deeds over to the Benedictines of St Peter’s Abbey, Gloucester, in trust for them in the form of an agreement.The burgages were in the Parish of St Woolos and hence in the parish of Gwynlliw’s Church and the Abbot of St Peters was in charge of that Church.The Benedictines would be under no misapprehensions as to what the loss of the tithes from the St Woolos burgages would mean to the Church of which they were custodians.

As judicious managers of property , the monks of the Benedictine house had no equals . They were businesslike ,exact and prompt in their dealings and they required from their tenants and servants a just and faithful performance of their services and duties and at the same time were not harsh and ungrateful masters. This document was found by Messrs Wakeman and Morgan, and we mut be grateful to them for finding out this very early history,as it proves beyond doubt that the Austin Friars were established in Newport and existed as a free religious  body a considerable period after the treaty, which was drawn up at the earnest request , of Lord Hugh , Earl of Stafford .

Know all men, that it is settled and accordedand decreed among the reverend and religious men, Thomas Horton, by the Grace of God, Abbot of St Peter’s Abbey, Gloucester, and the Convent of the same place, appropriate Records of the Parish Church, Newport, in the diocese of Llandaff in Wales, and Brother Henry Tesdale Prior Provincial in England, of the Order of the Hermits of St Augustine , and Brother Thomas Locke the Prior, and bretherein of the same order at Newport’......

An annual payment of 13s and 4p was to be paid by the Brothers Hermits in quarterly instalments of 3s 4d to the Parish Church in compensation of the tithes from the lost burgages and oblations. Also the Prior and Brethren had to renounce all prescriptions, customs,papal rescripts of their order, devices, frauds, nullities, indulgences, appeals and all other abatements in law obtainable or to be obtained by which the agreement may be evaded. Prior Thomas was sworn to keep all the conditions of the agreement and undertook that his successor should take a like oath to the vicar for the time being. This was ratified by Bishop Roger Craddock of Llandaff  July 2 1377.

St Nicholas Friary

The new Friary was constructed on the site of the old delapidated house of the friars and Benedictines  were sent from Gloucester to facilitate matters but before eight years had passed (as seen in the Charter of 1385 the Brother Hermits were in trouble again, though their habit of giving everything away and possibly because of their improvidence and their lax discipline, in contract with the Benedictines, who had a stable rule and discipline.The Benedictines had to sort them out again and tried to institute a more rigid and economical management plan for them.

Laxity in the Rule

It is a recorded fact, that laxity among the religious orders in the latter part of the fourteenth century and the Benedictines had to sort their hermits out again. That there was a fall off in the austerity of the rule, among the Friars everywhere. Possibly people were becoming a little more affluent, and the orders got used to their work and were given more gifts.Decay was in many houses because of laxity. It is also possible that an eremitical lifestyle was simply not compatable with urban living as Newport got larger, and no doubt our own brothers suffered from this. The problem was so great, that there had to be change and severe pressure was brought to bear on the bretheren sometime between the years 1377 and 1385 , in order to save them from extinction.

MALPAS -Saint Trioc, St Twroc, St Brioc, St Briavel, St Twrog

St Tecla, a North Welsh princess, who had worked with lepers came to Beachley point and in this lonely spot started a religious foundation. It may have been a leper colony as she was known to work with lepers. Hoever after her martyrdom, or even before she was killed by Vikings, it seems the chapel may have also been used by St Briac, Tric Briavel or Twrog. This remote place can only be accessed by driving to Beachley through Chepstow, Partking under the old Severn Bridge and walking to the point. Much of the rocky outcrop is now submerged, but you can still see the remains of the chapel on the island where these two great Gwentian Saints lived and worked. St Briavels is close to it and from here, St Trioc/known in French as Brieux may have travelled to Brittany. It is a wonderful spot.He may have also gone from Wadebridge in Cornwall, where another saint is dedicated to him, and Cornwall was a safer route with a shorter sea crossing to Britanny.

Here you see another photo of the near perfect reproduction of the Benedictine Priory Church at Malpas, and some photos of St Twrog's chapel remains on the small remote island of Beachley point at Chepstow, site of the Martyrdom of St Tecla. Tecla had been named after St Paul's disciple Tekla, recently (last week) found to have been buried in the catacombs. A roundel depicting St Paul was also found there.









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Before Malpas ever became a cell of Montacute Abbey in Norman times, it was another Celtic Llan -a monastic settlement of religious and laity and families, either founded by or dedicated to St Trioc. This saint is a bit problemmatic, but as Bruce Copplestone Crowe says below, it was likely to have been a diminutive of St Brochfael, who had connections to the Gwent area.He certainly seems to have had a connection with St Briavel (now in Gloucestershire, but his chapel is marked off Beachley Point on the Wye . It is suggested that he went to France to Britanny and founded the monastery at St Brieux and it was from here that French nuns came, when they were dispossessed at the beginning of the twentieth century back to Monmouthshire to found convents at Abergavenny, Pontypool, Monmouth and Usk and Newport as a direct consequence to 'reward' the Welsh for St Brioc/Triog, who gave his name to Saint Brieux.

The Name

Bruce Copplestone Crowe has done a great deal of research on the name St Triac, a name which is obviously well known in the twelfth century.The charter of Ranulf the Physician , and one by the king’s son dedicating the church to St Triac, seems to make him an unkown saint. We know, however that many foundations were built on the site of earlier churches,Saxon churches or even Celtic churches and therefore Malpas Priory could certainly been built on the site of the Celtic Church, St Triac. Crow says the same saint seems to be involved at the chapel on the rocky island off Beachley Point at the mouth of the Wye.

His name occurs there as Tryak in 1290, Tyrioc in 1394 Tiriocus/ Tiriotus 1405-7. Of course, St Tryak may have taken up occupation after St Tecla’s martyrdom. In the Bishop’s registers for the 14,15,16th centuries the firm is generally ‘Thirioc William of Worcester in 1478 to the Chapel of St Tyriaci and the rocks of Seynt Tryacle.Later antiquaries seem to have tried to turn this name into St Tecla or even Twrog , but without foundation. It is more likely to be St Brioc . If the forms of Ti and Te represent the reverential prefic ‘To’(later Ty) it is possible that Tyrioc is a form of St T(y)(F)riac or Brioc.St Brioc was reverenced at another Church in the Forest of Dean district, St Briavels and seems to have had a special connection with the Gwent area. The name itself is a diminutive of St Brigomaglos or Brochfael , a name which appears at is full frorm in St Briavels and which occurs in the royal house of Gwent in the eighth and ninth centuries.

The Vita

In the ‘Vita Sancti Brioci’ or ‘Life of St Brioc’ written by a clerk living in Angers in the County of Anjou in the eleventh century , Sanctus Briomaglus is made a native of Ceredigion (Cardiganshire)and the names of his parents are given as Cerpus and Elduda . Cerpus seems to be a version of the name Cors, born by three men in the Book of Llandaff in eighth and ninth century contexts and also recalls Calpurnius , the name of the father of St Patrick who lived in the Severn estuary area. His mother’s name is clearly an Anglo Saxon name Aetheldreda . The details of his life would therefore seem to connect him with Gwent rather than Ceredigion. He may have been one of those so-called group of Letavian saints , who under the leadership of St Cynllo, St Cadfan and St Tydecho and including St Padarn, left the Gwent (Llydaw, Letavia) for West Wales and Ceredigion under the reign of Caradog Vreichfras From there he passed on to Cornwall , where there is a church with his name rear Wadebridge on his way to Brittany ,where he founded the important monastery of Saint Brieuc. In Ceredigion he founded a Landa Magna or great church at Llandyfriog a place name that preserves the form of his name with the hypocoristic ‘Ty’.

So who was St Brioc/St Briavel?

Trioc was originally named Briafael but, on the advice of an angel, he took on the pet-name of Brioc instead. Before he was ten, Brioc was sent to Paris to be educated by Germanus, in the company of both SS. Patrick and Illtud. Brioc was eventually ordained a priest, but by the age of twenty-five, he felt it was time to return home to Wales.

In Ceredigion, he set about the task of converting the locals to Christianity from a monastic centre which he established at Llandyfriog. But, not long after his arrival, he was persuaded, by another angelic visitor, to sail away to Italy with 168 followers. The journey was rough and not helped by their boat being attacked by an enormous sea-creature. Eventually the travellers landed in Cornwall - possibly at Padstow Harbour near St.Breock - where they encountered a pagan king named Conan. Brioc soon turned the monarch and the rest of the Royal Court to Christ , before pressing on into Europe. He crossed the Channel to Brittany and landed at Le Conquest in Plouguerneau (Finistère). From here, the companions moved down the River Jaudy and founded a monastery at Tréguier. However, hearing of a pestilence ravaging his Wales, Brioc decided he must return home. He left his new church in the hands of his 'nephew', Tudgual, and delivered his people from their plague by advising the people to confess their sins.

Returning once more to Brittany, Brioc decided to try his luck in new territories. With eighty-four companions, he travelled to the mouth of the River Gouet. The local king, Riwal, was not happy with these strangers arriving in his Kingdom but, upon meeting them, realized that their leader, Brioc, was his own cousin. The king gave Brioc his home, the "Hall of the Champ du Rouvre," and removed the Royal court to nearby Licelion in Hillion parish. The saint was obliged to visit King Childebert of the Franks in Paris in order to confirm this grant, and he travelled with St. Samson and other bishops. Slowly, Brioc's men built a monastic complex around their new hall and this become the great monastery of St. Brieuc.

St. Brioc died on 1st May, but it is difficult to say exactly when. St. German of Paris was bishop there between AD 555 & 576. St.Germanus of Auxerre died in AD 448. Conan Meriadog was King of Dumnonia (including Cornwall) in the mid-4th century. St. Tudwal lived in the mid-6th century. Riwal was King of Domnonée (in Brittany) in the early 6th century. St. Patrick lived in the late 5th century. St. Illtud lived in the early 6th century. St. Samson lived in the mid-6th century. King Childebert ruled from AD 511 to 558. A lifetime covering the early to mid-6th century seems likely for Brioc. Like King Riwal, St. Tugdual appears to have been St. Brioc's cousin, rather than his nephew, since he was actually Riwal's maternal nephew. The family relationships would indicate that Brioc's mother, Eldruda, was a Princess of the Royal House of Domnonée.

Malpas, though prone to all the problems of the Plague and the unrest that followed it was a successful priory, which succeeded all the way to its final seizure by Henry VIII.It only every had two monks and a Prior and was valued at barely more than £15 when it was seized.Montacute Abbey was sold to one of Henry VIII's henchmen and is now Montacute House.

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Welsh Blessing

May the blessing of the Light of Christ be on you –

light without and light within. May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire, so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself.

And may light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm.

And may the blessing of the rain be on you, may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, and sometimes a star.

And may the blessing of the earth be on you, soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day;
and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it.

May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God. And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly.

Amen

GOLDCLIFF 2- Kidnappings, Expulsions, embezzlements and Tsunami!

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The next five pictures are about Goldcliff's 'Mother House' in Normandy (1) Also a sea side location, perhaps these monks had special skills in sea defences and fishing.....Perhaps it is why Robert de Chandos offered it to Bec. Wool was an important commodity as were fruit farms and arable land. Goldcliff owned lands at Membury, Caerleon (Churches of Julius and Aaron and all their lands) and most of the surrounding area.

The Archbishop of Canterbury visited Bec recently, as you can see. Bec is a thriving Benedictine Community again, has a guesthouse where people can stay for retreats and rest, and there are many businesses undertaken by monks to pay for the outkeep of the monastery. Goldcliff was only a Priory of this great house, but would have had similar architechture to some of these pictures of the older bits of the Abbey.
















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The Fourteenth Century Squabbles and Excommunications

In 1304, the prior began litigation against Ralph, Earl of Gloucester and Joan, his wife on some things touching the freehold. There was a squabble between Philip de Columbers and Ralph de Runceville over who should become Prior! Philip was supposed to stand down but refused to do so and went around all the various lands taking oxen and money, and forcibly stopped the collector of the monies to give the money to Ralph. This dispute rumbled on until it was sorted out when the abbot of Bec dismissed Ralph in 1318, appointing his brother William de St Albino in his place(June 10th 1318 he was admitted by the king) Ralph in turn refused to go and said he had not been canonically removed and was still prior!, but is appeal failed and in 1319 William was accepted by the King.. The Pope himself nominated Adam Brette of Trellech a ‘poor clerk’ to be a priest in one of Goldcliff’s churches.

Robert de Runceville

Ralph de Runceville ‘disobeying his abbot and resisting the king’s mandate’ held the priory for another half a year and during that time ‘probably with is connivance, broke the treasury of the priory and took and carried away the chalices and other silver gilt vessels with other goods and the miniments, and the seal of the priory for sealing divers writings and quilt claims alienated divers lands and tenements, granted pensions and corrodies and charged the priory with divers debts’ One of the four men was William Walsh of Llanwern who at this time gained the lease of the priory mill at Milton and shortly after this troubled spell (1320) Prior William acknowledged the indebtedness of the Priory to Philip de Colombers to the tune of £63-13s 4d. Obviously Philip was right in his estimation of De Runceville-a bad apple in the barrel if ever there was one!

Earl of Norfolk and Welsh attacks

Sadly news had reached the king of the bad running and problems at Goldcliff and in April 1321 and the king issued letters of protection and support to the prior and at the prior’s request the Earl of Norfolk was appointed Keeper of the Priory. It had become very difficult for Bec to keep order when there were problems. Old Father William was beaten up by seventeen Welshmen at Morburne at Goldcliff. The kidnapped him for seven days and afterwards took him to Usk castle , and ransomed him for 100 marks. They also robbed the priory of all its horses and cattle at Morburne, Nash and the Coldra and stole other things. In May 1322 there were only ten robbers left but gives some detail about how they ‘ broke a chest secured with four locks , wherein the priory’s seal was kept.’(David Williams makes the point that this might ave been part of an ongoing problem with de Runceville and, whilst in prison, Prior William might have thought over how Prior Ralph had been treated three years previously before being imprisoned by a band of men including Roger de Wallington. He was temporarily excommunicated for the offence and absolved only on making satisfaction and doing penance. )William le Walsh then tried to prosecute the prior and his tenants in the lord’s court of Lebenydd and Caerleon.’although the Prior was a lord of the Marches and ought not to answer, save as lord of the Marches’.

The Sea, Shipwrecks reclaiming land.

With the troubles of 1318-22 the sea was making life difficult for the monastic lands in Gwent. (Allteuryn). Goldcliff was bounded to the South by the sea wall, which protected the surrounding landscape from the River Severn.

Shipwreck at Goldcliff!'There be wrecking tonight!

In 1331, the takingof a shipwreck (which had been assessed at being worth 2shillings per annum to the priory in 1291, was the cause of a long running dispute with Robert Gyene of Bristol, a ‘king’s merchant’ over the ship, which he had chartered at Bordeaux to carry wines and other goods to Bristol It had been driven ashore at Goldcliff by stormy weather and ‘notwithstanding that those in the ship escaped alive to Clevedon’ when twenty tuns of wine were washed ashore at Goldcliff, Nash, Clevedon Walton and Portishead, a number of men ‘carried the wine away’they included Prior Gopylers of Goldcliff and Thomas de Bec, one of his monks.’ The case was stopped because of an irregularity and then another merchant William de Upton took up the case, a taverner from Shrewsbury-presumably because he ad ordered the wine. A further plea later in the year even adds for good measure the name of Geoffrey , Abbot of Bec in the list of culprits (!) but this was probably legal cover. In any case, Prior Gopylers died a few months before at Goldcliff and the outcome of the case is unknown.

The Sea attacks the Priory

In the next (fourteenth) century, there was continuing coastal erosion and flooding and in 1424, the prior wrote to the king about the attacks. The Priory walls were on the point of being destroyed , and ‘half the parish church of the priory was destroyed by the sea. The Prior was allowed to take stone cutters and labourers to repair the walls . paying them reasonably for their work and food . This was necessary as ‘there are such customs in Wales that no labourers will leave the lordships wherein they dwell to any work, so there is a great dearth of labourers’ For such a huge amount of damage, there must have been huge tidal violence at that time and the new parish church for Goldcliff was built well inland for the parish, but it still suffered in 1606 from the Tsunami of 1607.

Laurence de Bonville-A Controversial Prior!

Laurence was appointed by Bec and in 1439, he was the legal prior , successfully appealing for the restoration to the monastery of its Devon Manor of Membury. Shortly afterwards he was summoned to Bec on a charge of embezzling money out of the priory’s revenues. He refused to go and was excommunicated by his abbot who complained to the commissioners for the alien priories. The Archbishop of Canterbury presented John Twining , a monk of St Peter’s, Gloucester as Prior of Goldcliff and the King ratified his position in September 1441. A few months previously (March 1441) Tewkesbury Abbey , using its Cellarer John Abingdon as proctor, began to negotiate with the Bishop of Llandaff to annexe Goldcliff as a cell of its abbey. This was approved in 1444 ‘to the end that the priory might be appropriated in perpetuity to the said monastery’. The annexation did not take effect until the death or resignation of John Twining, and when it did become effective ,the abbot of Tewkesbury had to maintain at Goldcliff a prior and two monks, there to celebrate divine office for the king, the priory founders and other personages.

Laurence de Bonnville was ejected and kidnapped to Usk Castle! -Llandaff v Tewkesbury

David Williams believed John Twining remained Prior until early 1442 Laurence de Bonneville complained bitterly to Pope Eugenius IV about being deposed and to have ‘transferred it, as far as it lay in him to the convent and abbot of Tewkesbury’. He told how John Twining with a hundred or so lay accomplices attempted to eject him from the Priory, but ‘ was prevented ‘by the resistance of Laurence, the monks and other persons of the Priory’. However on another occasion, about dawn, Twining ,now an official of Llandaff, was more successful, broke into the Priory , kept Bonneville and the monks without food all day, broke the doors ad windows and did much damage, to the extent of more than 100 gold coins. Then at night, they set Prior Laurence on a horse and ‘led him by the bridle like a thief ‘ to Usk Castle where he was imprisoned for five days, chained by one foot . Then he was taken and for one week was imprisoned in Abergavenny Castle, while Twining took control of he Priory bullying money from its tenants . Despite threats, Bonneville refused to resign, he was allowed to return t the Priory (with, he claimed, the King’s license) but for fear hid in the Priory church for three days and nights .

His enemies, one of whom was Thomas Herbert said if he 'would not resign’ they would make him resign with violence, even if he were on the high altar of his Priory’. In another petition to the Bishop of Bath, Chancellor of England, Bonneville claimed have been Prior of Goldcliff for thirty one years(an exaggeration). He mentioned his ‘supposed resignation arguing he had not resigned and claimed that the entry of his resignation in the register of the Bishop of Llandaff had been forged! He describes his eviction by Twining as ‘about midnight’ now and talks about his imprisonment at Usk . (like one his predecessor)

Tewkesbury Wins! Bec Monks are 'violently expelled' then Glyndwr expells the Tewkesbury Monks!

Bonneville also talks about the annexation of the Priory by Tewkesbury Abbey. It was not a peaceful thing. The eight monks of Bec still living in the Priory were ‘violently expelled’ by Sit Thomas Herbert and a crowd of men-at-arms and ‘thereby caused to wander about England’. Lawrence claimed that the King, through the chancellor had intervened on his behalf, but the only result of this had been two more periods of imprisonment in Llandaff. The Pope (1445) therefore ordered the archbishops of Canterbury , Worcester and Hereford to restore Lawrence to the Priory, to test his allegiance and if found to be true, to excommunicate Sir Thomas Herbert and the other offenders. How effective the papal ruling was cannot be known. What is known is that the monks of Tewkesbury were expelled from Goldcliff by the Welsh uprisings of Glyndwr in 1445, but that they returned in 1447.

The Abbey and College of Eton

In 1451, the Priory was given to Eton College by the King, and Eton now had to send monks. In 1462 it was returned to Tewkesbury (and confirmed 1464-1465 by a lost Papal Bull)In 1467, it was given to Eton. David Williams writes tat because of the uncertainty of what happened 1445-50. We do now that in 1474-5 the property was split between Eton and the Dean and Canons of Windsor (the lands in Devon/Somerset)Whether monastic life continued 1465-72 is also not known for certain, but likely. In the troubled days of the 1440’s a monk of Bec, Hugh de Morainville was sent by Bec to Goldcliff and it is possible he was prior there in 1445-7.We know he stayed two years and one record terms him late monk, alias Prior of Goldcliff ‘ and we learn ‘being expelled there from by the abbot of Tewkesbury’ he stayed for a while with Nicholas St Loo of the diocese of Bath and Wells where he ‘duly and with decency performed his priestly office as far as the bishop knows’ The Bishop f Bath and Wells (1455) asked all people ‘to receive him kindly, treat him favourably ,and hold out helping ands to him.’ Perhaps as an alien monk, loose in the English countryside, the Crown took a different view, however, in 1457 he was granted a pardon ‘for all ‘treasons, felonies, offences, and other trespasses or misdeeds’.
We believe monastic life may have ended here, the money for the lands and tithes going directly to Eton College. The Priory had had a turbulent fifteenth century with great floods some murky priors, Welsh outlaws, Glyndwr’s uprisings and politics of greedy men trying to get their hands on the lands chartered to the monks granted by Chandos. Yet through most of it, monastic life had continued at the Priory overlooking the sea. The monks filed in and out for Divine Office every day and night and fulfilled the Benedictine Opus Dei, praying to God for the sins of the world.

I am most grateful to the outstanding local historian David Williams for most of this information and scholarship, without which I could not have compiled information.

The Priory buildings lie on the site of Hill Farm and the church is grassed over. I am not sure if it as ever been excavated in recent times. The sea wall and drainage system (The Monks' Ditch) maintained by the monks still stands and their spirit and work made a huge contribution at this time


If you wish to read Dr David Williams Article, from which much of this information comes, please look at the Monmouthshire Antiquary-available in any library in Monmouthshire.

NEXT****The Year of a Breakaway monk from Tintern as Prior of Goldcliff!

Happy Whitsun to All the World- A Holy Spirit Story

Newport and the Whitsun Marches

When I was small, I was not a Catholic. In fact I was christened an Anglican and never really understood more than I had to be good and nice. This was really important and as my Mother being not being British, was a Lutheran, once a month we went to the Lutheran church and as soon as I could play the piano I played the organ. I did speak German, so I did understand what was going on, but never felt very comfortable. The sermons were long and I was small, although the people were very kind and loving. . My sister and I used to go to the Baptist church Sunday School and had collected a plethora of prizes for a diligent study of the Bible which I must say I have always been grateful for, but Catholics were quite beyond the pale as they were 'brainwashed' and 'anti christ'. Even more sinister, they did not go to 'normal'Schools!

The Newport Whitsun March

One thing they allways did well, though, was the 'Whitsun Treat'. Pentecost is known as 'Whitsun' in Britain or 'White Sunday' and a lot of fuss was made of this because we did not have 'Corpus Christi'. For weeks before hymns would be learned in Sunday School from special books. Then the week before was a rehearsal in one of the big chapels and at the rehearsal the prizes were given out. I was always told off for not buying 'proper' books. I always chose 'King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table' and such books. On Whit Sunday all the Sunday Schools would gather outside the Chapel and it was tradition to always have a new white dress. Each Sunday School marched behind its banner and hymns were sung as we marched through the streets.The parents lined the streets and the traffic was stopped for the long march in which I believe all the SAnglican Sunday Schools took part.

The Whitsun Treat

When we reached the Castle over the bridge we turned and marched back to the other side of town where we had started and then everyone went home. The New St Julians Junior and INfant School was chosen for the 'Whitsun Treat'.In the afternoon at 2pm we all went there and all afternoon, there were races and competitions, a fete and refreshments. We really loved it, even though I was not all that keen on the races-especially the one where you had to crawl through a ladder! I remember it was always a fine day, the field (Whitsun Field) always smelt of new mown grass and a long afternoon laughing with friends. There were always ice creams galore and a lovely couple Mr and Mrs Hancox donated a lot to keep it all going, and we really looked forward to the day. So Whitsun was always a strong memory.

The Picture

I remember looking at a picture with a narrow path and a wide path going up a mountain. The good people always chose the harder path and the slack people always chose the easy way but it did not reach to the top, you kept going round. It was a sort of Babptist St John of the Cross and Mr Carmel. But I had a lot of questions about this. How did God teach you to be good, why did he not help you? What had this narrow path got to do with Jesus. How was life going to be hard.Why did Jesus have to die?

However, rebel that I was,when I went to grammar school, we had a lady who was a very High Anglican teaching us Religious Instruction. She began by getting us to learn important chunks out of the Bible. We had to write them in elaborate writing and decorate the outside of he pages with Christian Symbols we could find. She suggested looking in her church which was always open for prayer and looking for these symbols. One day she marched us over there and the minute I went in, I thought, this is more like it. The altat reredos (carvins behind altar were amazing full of great angels and it looked like they were leading to heaven .I was captivated. I thought of the little mission hall we had to go to for the Lutherans and the chapel we havd for the baptist, but what drew me most of all was the magnificent staue of Our Lady full of grace, who stared down on me. It was like meeting someone for the first time-at the age of 11! Hi May I said .Lovely to see you. I would often sneak in there to see the statue and had never really considered about Mary-never spoken of really except at Christmas where she belonged to the Nativity set.She belonged on out mantlepiece with Joseph and the Baby Jesus in a crib three shepheards and three Magi.

Mrs Coles, my RE teacher gave us a much deeper view of the Bible, we knew the stories but not really the meanings.I had been quite worried in the Baptists about the 'Plagues'. I knew God sent them because the Egyptians had been horrible to the Isaelites etc but thought killing the first born was awful. What If God did that to us-I was a first born! I was enjoying my little trysts with the statue of Mary. It always drew me back. Of course it was a sculpture but fascination with what she represented drew me to a sense of a much greater truth behind the scripture.

Confirmation Day-Eek!

Suddenly my mother told us we were to be confirmed in Germany in the Lutherans. My grandmother was very ill and not expected to live and it was her dearest wish to see us before she passed away. I did wonder at it, but My mother said 'You believe in God, don't you?' and so we began to have visits from the Lutheran Pastor who gave us long and earnest talks and a copy of 'The Little Catechism'. I always feared what God could do and the Pastor was not an inspired teacher. We learnt the apostles creed, but with 'I believe in the Holy Christian Church' in it. We went to Germany we bought lovely white dresses and there was a huge family party of nearly eighty people on the lawn of my grandparents' house. We had lots of presents. Only one thing stood out. We had to pick a verse from Scripture and I cost 'For lo I am with you always. even unto the end of time'. Mary was gone here and there was a big church, very modern with next to nothing in it. I remember thinking 'What am I doing?' The Pastor had told us earlier when I was asking about Tobias and the Angel and Judas Maccabaeus that Luther had decided to drop these books from the Bible as they were 'less true' and I remember saying to the Pastor 'Who said he could do that??' I don't think he was pleased.

I still slipped out to Mrs Coles Church. My history teacher was Catholic Irish and she would often explain a quite different version of the history served up in the history books concerning Henry VIII and his various wives. We later learned the history of Ireland for A level and I actually felt for the Irish people and was fascinated by its stories.

University and the Carmelites

I went up to University in Wales and there I met some friends who invited me to go to Mass with them. I started going and liked everything about it. It always took about an hour (churlish to say this-but anyone who has had to listen to long long sermons will understand) There was a nice statue of Mary and I was introduced to the ordinary portions of the Mass. I was thrilled that when we sang the plainsong Kyrie-people all down the ages from the beginning of the Church had sung this. I was fascinated by the Gloria-the Credo-much longer and The Sanctus and Benedictus and Agnus Dei (not sure about the lamb and why he was there but found out that it was Christ and not one of the lambs from the Christmas Story! In fact how had I got to University and understood nothing? One of the Carmelite Brothers, Father Fitzgerald answered all my questions faithfully and I did ask a lot. Suddenly I realised my whole life and the whole of Creation was part of an amazing plan of Salvation. I suddenly week by week being catechised by this amazing priest, realised the enormous love of God, and that I wasn't going to die. I understood Mary ad been calling me to her Son. Irealised he was Love so amzing so Divine and what a miserable little nothing I was compared to all this, but he still wanted to bother with me anyway.

My 'Journey Home'

I was in a quandary, but decided on balance not to have aconfrontation with my parents. It was not negotiable and decided I would have to be devious about it. They did not go to church much. My Dad was a fantastic man, very loving and caring, always putting himself out for others, but not really understanding church.My mother went once a month . The pastor was still the same but I was aways from home and spared the long sermons.When I got married I would have to tell them, but it would give me the time to learn answers to my questions. When she did find out she was gutted, but realised my conversion was a deep seated thing. It did not impinge on the love in our family and I never mentioned it when I was with her out of respect. She would say to the (thankfully new Pastor) 'Oh she's gone and become a candle now' and I would grin and shamfacedly smile! Eventually she did come to my wedding and to my son's baptism and Confirmation, even though according to my sister she laughed when the bishop had a job to put his hands on my son's head because he was so tall.

Since then I never wavered. My involvement through my theatre work with Catholic Stage Guild, and one or two amazingly lose encounters with God and studying at Maryvale, and more recently with the Frends of Our Lady of Tintern, where we are now trying to raise some money for votive candle stands and arranging some masses and pilgrimages in what was a miraculous statue. You can read about it else where on the blog, but these statues , whilst not being Mary herself, who is up on high with the Father now, have a way of focusing the mind and drawing us to the son. We don't worship her, but we give her honour as the Mother, and God specially picked her to be the mother of his Son on earth. And yet she did tell me the other week, 'Yes-but he picked you too!'

Holy Spirit draws you inexorably to God

So what is the moral of the story? When the Spirit calls you, respond! All the goodness, good intentions with Wisdom, Understanding,and Courage have to do with you.Confirmation gives you these gifts.When you realise, that like a giant TV screen of pixels you are just one, and your light has to shine or people can't see God's picture is when you have got it. One day you will see it all clearly. In the meantime I am glad I am in a church of sinners, as Jesus in the Eucharist is always on hand to help, with his helper, the Priest.God bless the Priests today, and above all Father Fitz that brilliant mind at Aberystwyth.

Veni, Creator Spiritus

One of the most widely used hymns in the Church, Veni, Creator Spiritus, is attributed to Rabanus Maurus (776-856). It is used at Vespers, Pentecost, Dedication of a Church, Confirmation, and Holy Orders and whenever the Holy Spirit is solemnly invoked. A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who recite it. A plenary indulgence is granted if it is recited on January 1st or on the feast of Pentecost.


VENI, Creator Spiritus,
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia
quae tu creasti pectora

COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made

Qui diceris Paraclitus,
altissimi donum Dei,
fons vivus, ignis, caritas,
et spiritalis unctio.

O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

Saints of Newport-Children of Gwynlliw-St Maches of LLANVACHES St Cynydir, St Bugi

This beautiful stained glass window is to be found in St Dubricius (Dyfrig's)Church at Llanvaches (The-Holy-Place-of Maches) Curiously earlier known as Merthyr Maches.This Church is not dedicated to Maches, because it was actually founded by St Tatheus is memory of her. It is to be found north of the A40 road going from Newport to Chepstow.Interestingly, the tower also contains a beehive.The presnt Church is Norman, but is now quite plain, although very ancient. Nearby is the oldest non-conformist Chapel anywhere, actually on the Chepstow Road, near the turn off to Llanvaches. The pastor of this church was a former Vicar of Llanfaches church who had left because of his doctrinal differences. He had, however stripped all sacramentals of Catholic interest out of the church which have left it quite plain. Its antiquity is undeniable, however, and the stained glass window showing St Maches very beautiful.
I was told bypeople in the church, who were preparing it for a wedding, that Maches was actually killed a bit further away under a tree commemorating the murder near the village pub. Testained glass window of Maches is to be found in the church of her father, St Gwynlliw (Woolos the Warrier) in Newport, and the image next to her is of Gwynlliw Farfog (Gwynlliw the Bearded) the pirate himself. The other images are of the altar (a) and nave(b) to the tower of St Dubricius Church, Llanvaches.The Latin form of her name is 'Machuta'




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Gwaldys, saintly daughter of King Brychan Brycheiniog after which Brecon is named.She was married to Gwynlliw the Pirate.They soon had a son, the famous Saint Cadoc the Wise. To celebrate his son's birth Gwynllyw went on another raid stealing cattle from Tatheus at Caerwent. When Saint Tatheus came courageously to demand the return of a cow, the King was so impressed he decided in return to send his son to Tathyw at Caerwent to be educated. Gwynllyw supposedly had other children also saints Cynidr,Maches, Bugi and Egwine.

We have heard about Gwynlliw and Gwladys and there was a whole podcast about St Tatheus (Tathwyn) of Caerwent, the famous Irish educator, and grandson of King Meurig of Gwent, King Tewdrig's son and benefactor of Caerwent College. He was succeeded by Maegwyn educated at Caerleon. When her brother was so impressed with Tatheus and begged to go back to the monastery with him, they often all talked about the things which Tatheus had told them. They were told about the Scriptures, the Apostles and Church and the Holy Wafer, which would bring them Christ, also how St Peter had organised the church, according to Christ's instruction. Even then there were severe fines for dropping the Eucharist on the floor. Maches was obverjoyed to hear the Good News -that Life is unending, death is not an end, but a beginning. She began to yearn , like her mother for the ife of a religious, or hermit. It was decided she was as yet too young and shoulod study when she came of age. In recompense Tatheus gave her a small farm near Caerwent, where she could study and pray and look after the sheep as well.She tended some of the beasts of particularly a valuable three year old ram.While she kept te sheep and lived tranquilly and in a most holy way. However two brothers who were thieves arrived in her little settlement. This was in the area of what is now the small hamlet of Llanvachesa small hamlet just north of the pub in Llanvaches, north ofthe A4 from Newport to Chepstow. Maches the young giel was dragged protesting in the forest and they decided to silence her, rather than let her talk. They bent her over and beheaded her. They also killed the stolen ram and took it home. The sheep wandered back to Caerwent by themselves and st Tathwyn was worried because the flock hed returend without her.He and Cadoc her brother grieved tremendously with Cadoc and Gwynlliw and Gwladys and prayed for help.
On the first night, they wondered what hade become of her, when she did not visit her parents. The two murderers became wracked with remorse and came to the monastery to do confession. They found the church and Tatheus said they should confess their sin for fear of their immortal souls and do penance. A search party including Tatheus found the body of the martyred girl. .A churh was built on the site near her martyrdom and although she is commemorated inside, the dedication is to their bishop, St Dyfrig -Dubricius. Maches was carried back to Caerwent to be buried. to the great grief of parents and the court.A sad story this. The sorrowing Tatheus, who blamed himself had her body brought back to Caerwent, where she was buried and where she bacame a saint because she was a martyr. Her relics are still at St Stephen's Church in Caerwent.
Maches is aommemorated i beautiful stained glass windows at St Woolos (Gwynlliw's) cathedral in Newport. All mourned beautiful Maches whose life had been 'snuffed out' at a vary early age and wom Gd ad taken to be one of his own.

CYNYDIR a son of Gwynlliw.

Although Cynidir no longer has a church dedicated to him in Herefordshire, Kenderchurch preserves his name (the church here is now dedicated to St Mary). Cynidir, like Clydawg, was the grandson of the King of Brycheiniog and founded several churches in Breconshire, including Glasbury, where he was buried.
P340 Married Goleu daughter of Brychan for wife.

Cynidir established a hermitage on an island in the river Wye near Winforton (only 9 miles down river from Glasbury). In 1675 Blount wrote that 'Walter, a Canon of Wormsley Priory, betook himself to an Life of a hermit in a little island on upon the river Wey (sic)... wherein he built a Chappel (sic) dedicated deo beatae Mariae, beato Kenedro - .
Vita Cadoci

Dispute between Saint Cadoc and King Arthur

All assembled when the sone of Elliman offended king Arthrwys and took sanctuary with Cadoc who did not fear Arthwys-He thought 'Fear not those who kill the body as they canot hkill the soul'. Cadoc hid the sons for seven years in Gwent. They were then betrayed to King Arthur by someone and Arthur came o the River Usk with a large force with the idea of laying a legal claim because he did not dare to violate the sanctuary of Cadoc. St David, St Teilo and St Oudoceus agreed to be judges, and Cynydir a Son or grandson of Brychan and brother of Cadoc met together on the banks of the Usk. They disputed for a time and then the judges agreed that Arthur should receive 3 oxen for every one of this three dead men-others fixed that one hundred cows should be given and Arthur would only accept those with a certain colouring. A miracle occurred when they magically turned into the correct colours. When Bedwr and Kai tried to drive them through the water thaey became ferns and the village became known as the Town of Ferns Trefredinauc, possibly Tredunnock, which also contains the relics of St Julian. Cynydir seems to have formed a monastery on the Wye and near Brecon, probably because he was close to his mother's family and the land there much more beautiful and remote (see location above)






Egwine

There is little about Egwine. He either became a warrior and looked after the Kingdom for his father and brother, as we have no special details about him, perhaps he did not embrace a saintly career.He may, however, as a younger son have simply joined his brother's monastery. There are no records of a marriage.

Bugi

Bugi, another son of Gwynlliw was also obviously grandson of Brychan and was offered land on which to live in Powys. He married Beren, daughter of Llawden. The records said they lived quietly and were inoffensive to all and their lives were virtuous, They kept the commandments of God in all ways as far as they were able and no one ever accused them of anything. They had no son to be their heir and were in their forties and they no longer had relations, as they had passed the greater part of their lives. One evening they were sitting and talking when an angel came and told them they would have a son if they slept together.He said 'Be merry and joyful for God has heard your prayer. The angel said ' tonight your wife will become with child if you sleep with her and from that pregnancy a son will be born to thee and he will be honourable with respect to God and man'. Indeed nine months later a child was born to them. He was baptised locally and the Child's name was Beino-also a child who became a great saint. When Beuno was old enough, they sent him to Tatheus school at Caerwent, although Tatheus had died by then and was replaced by Tangusius, a former scribe and great teacher at Caerleon College.He learned the Holy Scripture and the Sacraments and the Rules of the Church(Canon Law). St Beino grew up, albeit moved to North Wales.Beuno was important in the Life of St Winefriede of Wales. near Holywell in Fflint.Since St Winifride's (Gwenfrewi)Well (Holy-well) was a major place of pilgrimage fro people all over Wales (and later by Saxons, because the Benedictines of Shrewsbury removed some of her remains from Gwytherin to Shrewsbury Abbey-see the ITV series of 'Cadfael'-A Morbid Case for Bones) I will deal with her a bit later on.During the times of persecution even in the sixteenth century the money collected at St Winefrides was so plentiful, Henry's Commissioners left it alone, and it is one of the few mediaeval pilgrimage sites left in Britain. It is still, with Our Lady of the Taper in Cardigan, and possibly now Our LAdy St Mary of Tintern one of the three important shrines in Wales

It is said that Ynyr Gwent himself, in his old age, granted Beuno lands in Ewyas (North Gwent) and that Ynyr became his disciple. This is now Llanfeuno, a chapelry under Clodock, near Longtown in Herefordshire. Whilst there, Beuno heard that his father,Bugi, was ill so he committed his foundation in Ewyas to three of his disciples, and hurried back to Powys, where, "his father, after receiving the Eucharist, making his confession and rendering his end perfect, departed this life." Beuno made founded a monastery there and planted an acorn by his father's grave. It grew into a mighty tree of which one branch curved down to the ground and then rose again "and there was a part of this branch in the soil, as at present; and if an Englishman should pass between this branch and the trunk of the tree, he would immediately die; but should a Welshman go, he would in no way suffer."(Life of St Beino)
All photographs are by Christopher Tottle, Photograqpher with permission.
The Church of Llangynydir is to be found near the Talybont Reservoir in South Breconshire, and area still named for Brychan Brycheiniog, Bugi, Egwine, Cynydir, Maches and Cadoc's grandfather through Gwladys (Latin Claudia) their mother.

Last Sunday in Lent- Spring is coming!

On Sundays in Lent, we do not need to fast because Sunday is always a Catholic celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord and a great celebration. Today we are having a special lunch in our house to celebrate. The days are lengthening . The crocuses are out as are the golden daffodils. The busy rhythm of the year starts again. You can smell the grass and the freshness of the trees.

This is the last full week of work before the Easter Celebration break and I am preparing a new podcast about Gwynlliw and his family. The best known saints of Newport. I am calling the podcast 'Big Bad Gwynlliw' because he was truly a great sinner-a pirate who used to keep his boat moored at Pillgwenlly (pill-water inlet,gwenlly(of Gwynlliw) and raid all the merchant ships coming up the Bristol Channel groaning with goods, and kill the merchants. The story of his conversion is interesting. Again there are problems. Anglo Saxon invaders (such as King Harold-with-the-arrow-in-his-eye of Hastings later) could not say Gwynlliw (Gwinn-thlew)and the name got corrupted to St Woolos. A monk of Gloucester (to which Benedictines Gwynlliw's church was given after the Norman Conquest)is to be congratulated for writing down the old legends concerning Gwynlliw and his family. The Saintly and very beautiful Princess Gwladys of Brecon whom he married, his famous son, St Cadoc of Caerleon after whom the parish church is dedicated and Cynydyr of Llancynydr and St Maches (Llan-vaches)who was buried at Caerwent. Again Gwynlliw and Gwladys and their children were contemporary with St Dyfrig/Dubritius.So more of that later.

Rest in Peace little Marie Luz Cortez. Once again a murdered child. So sad, a child named 'Mary Luz' -the Light of Mary.May she rest in eternal pece and may perpetual light shine upon her.

Psychics are predicting there will be a break through in the Madeleine McCann case-I certainly hope so.This has been an exhausting and long haul and you can only worry that she has been affected by her time away from her parents.Keep praying everyone.I keep feeling she is out there some where-just a gut feeling.

Yesterday there was a rally of abused people outside Haut de la Garenne Children's home. Shows you the scars never go away, and the very real existance of evil in the world.St Michael pray for us all.