On Wednesday, September 15th, the first portion of the New Church was solemnly consecrated and dedicated to St Laurence, with St Edward the Confessor as secondary patron. The Bishop of Lamus consecrated the Church itself with the High Altar. After the first part of the ceremony, other prelates proceeded to the consecration of the altars in the side chapels. The altar of St Benet, which is actually the stone of the old High Altar of Byland Abbey, was re-consecrated by the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle. That of SS John and Oswald, in the crypt, was consecrated by the Bishop of Lancaster. This chapel will form a memorial to the late Abbot Smith, and, as soon as possible, we shall put in it a fitting monument. Abbot Cummins consecrated the altar of Mater Monachorum, which was erected by some of his friends, and celebrated Mass there afterwards. The other prelates returned to the Church at about 12 o'clock for the Solemn Mass of the Bishop of Lamus at the High Altar, which was dedicated to St Laurence, the altar on the Choir side being that of St Edward the Confessor. The altar of the Memorial Chapel had already been consecrated by Fr Abbot last term, and that of the two English Abbot Martyrs was unfortunately not able to be consecrated. The whole ceremony took four hours and a half, and our thanks are due to the Master of Ceremonies, Dom Gregory Swann, for his admirable organization. Many of the mission fathers and other guests were present, of whom a list is given below.;
After the luncheon which was served in the Study Hall, Fr Abbot proposed the toast of the Pope and King. Next, Fr Paul Nevill proposed that of the Benefactors of the New Church. Without our benefactors it is no exaggeration to say we could not have accomplished what we have done. There had been many generous contributors, but he thought he might, without any fear of seeming invidious, mention certain names in particular. These were Mr Francis Gibbons, to whom we owed the magnificent High Altar with its reredos, —a gift for which Ampleforth would be eternally grateful; Mr W. C. Milburn who had furnished so exquisitely St Benet's Chapel, and who never failed to encourage by word and deed any project connected with the building of the
Church. We had also to thank Mr Barton for the altar of the English Martyrs and the friends of Abbot Cummins who had erected the Mater Monachorum altar and reredos. Turning to the War Memorial he thought that so far as it was possible to have a worthy memorial of those who had given their lives for their country we had one in the beautiful chapel, designed by Sir Giles Scott—a chapel not only beautiful in line and proportion but redolent of Catholic faith and piety. It had been paid for entirely by friends—Old Boys and relatives of the fallen. To all we were deeply grateful. Amongst the contributors to this fund he thought he ought to mention Lady Encombe, Lord Eldon, Hon. Michael Scott, Mr J. P. Smith, Mr Joseph Rochford, Mr J. McDonald, and the untiring treasurer, Mr V. S. Gosling. This toast was coupled with the name of Mr Raby—an old friend of Ampleforth.;
contained something which the modern world could not give, which he could only describe as the spirit of poetry, which inspired a hope and enjoyment in life which it was hard to find elsewhere. It was the spirit of St Benedict, who, with his few words, sent a great influence through the whole of our history. Those who possessed such a spirit, and encouraged it in others, would always find support from their sons, and that was the secret of Amplefordian loyalty.;
The next toast was that of the Architect, proposed by the Rt Rev. Abbot Cummins. He referred to Sir Giles Scott as the greatest exponent of Gothic art to-day, because he had shown that it was still a living thing, and could be adapted to our own particular taste. His work at Liverpool, Ampleforth and Downside set an example to the whole country, and we especially were pleased that we had allowed him to develop his ideas with the greatest possible freedom in our buildings.</p>
In reply, Sir Giles Scott thanked the Community, and Fr Abbot and Fr Prior especially, for the free hand they had allowed him at Ampleforth, which had been a great source of inspiration. He believed there was a subtle influence on the characters of the young from the surroundings in
which they lived. Hitherto, especially in our Catholic schools, buildings had been erected when the art of architecture was at a low ebb. He had tried in the new Church, and in the school buildings at Ampleforth, to remove the atmosphere of an institution which had such a cramping effect on the mind. The boys might not realize at school the effect which their surroundings had upon them, but he thought that future generations at Ampleforth would experience a greater homeliness, freedom, and beauty, and so would possess a powerful educational factor in the buildings they occupied. This, at least, had been his aim all through the work.;
Fr Prior next proposed the health of the Visitors. All who had attended the consecration of the New Church, had become, in a sense, sponsors at its Baptism, and they would thus have a perpetual interest in its welfare and the progress of the Ampleforth Community.;
The Bishop of Lancaster, in replying, recalled his past association with Fr Abbot and other Amplefordians. They had witnessed he said, one of the Church's most wonderful ceremonies, beautifully carried out, and their wish was that the New Church might quickly be completed. The Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, who also replied, said that he had been privileged to re-consecrate the old altar stone of Byland Abbey that morning. In that stone, which was now in St Benet's Chapel, a real link was effected with the glories of monastic history in the Middle Ages.;
Finally, the toast of Ampleforth was given by the Bishop of Lamus. He paid a tribute to the Benedictine spirit, which had continued the same through many centuries of great variety. The world owed a great debt to St Benedict, and his spirit was living and flourishing to-day at Ampleforth, where, as of old, those who looked to the monks always received of their best. Liturgically, intellectually and artistically, we were keeping up the traditions of Westminster, from which our descent was directly traced.;
Fr Abbot replied. He offered sincere thanks to the Bishop of Lamus and all the other bishops and guests for helping to keep worthily what would always be a great day for Ampleforth. As a memorial to the Old Boys who died in the War, a chapel had been set aside in the New Church. This had
seemed the most suitable monument we could raise to their memory. In their Catholic Faith they had something which even the great public schools of the country could not give them, and it was our intention always to make this the centre of our educational work. He assured the Bishop of Lamus that Ampleforth was always loyal to the Bishop of the Diocese, and would be so. He referred to the connexion which we had with the other bishops present, especially with the Bishop of Lancaster, in whose diocese much of our work lay ; and in conclusion he thanked Sir Giles Scott for the work he had done for the Community and school.