Saint Michael's Abbey, Farnborough
Encyclopedia
Farnborough, Hampshire
-History:Name changes: Ferneberga ; Farnburghe, Farenberg ; Farnborowe, Fremborough, Fameborough .Tower Hill, Cove: There is substantial evidence...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The small community is known for the quality of its liturgy, which is sung in Latin and Gregorian Chant, its pipe organ, and its liturgical publishing and printing. It is also the national shrine of St Joseph.
History
The Abbey was founded in 1881 by the Empress Eugénie (1826–1920) as a mausoleum for her late husband Napoleon IIINapoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
(1808–1873), and their son the Prince Imperial (1856–1879), both of whom rest in the Imperial Crypt
Imperial Crypt (Farnborough)
The Imperial Crypt at St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough, is the burial place of the exiled Emperor Napoleon III of France and his wife, Eugénie de Montijo...
, along with Eugénie herself, all in granite sarcophagi provided by Queen Victoria.
After the church and monastery were founded, they were initially administered by Premonstratensian
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
Canons. In 1895, the Empress replaced them with French Benedictine monks from St Peter's Abbey, Solesmes. Fernand Cabrol
Fernand Cabrol
Fernand Cabrol was a French theologian and Benedictine monk.Cabrol was born in Marseille. He became prior of St Michael's Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire in 1896, and abbot in 1903...
, monk and scholar, became prior and afterwards abbot (1903); Henri Leclercq and a small group of French monks joined the house at the same time, and Leclercq and Cabrol collaborated for many years in scholarly endeavours. The community, once famed for its scholarly writing and musical tradition of Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
s, became depleted in number by 1947, and was augmented by a small group of English monks from Prinknash Abbey
Prinknash Abbey
Prinknash Abbey is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery situated in the Vale of Gloucester in the Diocese of Clifton, near the village of Cranham....
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
. The last French monk, Dom Zerr, died in 1956. In 2006 the community elected the first English Abbot of Farnborough—the Right Reverend Dom Cuthbert Brogan.
Public tours of the Abbey take place every Saturday at 3pm, with the tour comprising a tour of the church and a visit to the crypt.
Abbey Church
The Abbey Church was designed in an eclectic flamboyantFlamboyant
Flamboyant is the name given to a florid style of late Gothic architecture in vogue in France from the 14th to the early 16th century, a version of which spread to Spain and Portugal during the 15th century; the equivalent stylistic period in English architecture is called the Decorated Style, and...
gothic style by the renowned French architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur
Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur
Gabriel-Hippolyte Alexandre Destailleur was a renowned Neo-Renaissance French architect noted for his designs and restoration work for great châteaux in France and in England....
.
The Abbey Church is home to a renowned two-manual organ, installed in 1905, built by the renowned firm of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll & Company
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was a French organ builder. He is considered by many to be the greatest organ builder of the 19th century because he combined both science and art to make his instruments...
. The instrument's origins are shrouded in mystery. Although installed after the death of Cavaillé-Coll, it bears his name rather than that of his son-in-law Mutin, and the internal works are of a quality which identifies this model with the highest standards of workmanship of the high days of that company. Organ recitals are held on the first Sunday afternoon of the month between May and October at 3pm.
The church also contains the thigh bone of St Alban, the largest relic of the saint in England.
Catholic National Library
The Catholic Central Library was set up by the Catholic Truth SocietyCatholic Truth Society
Catholic Truth Society is a body that prints and publishes Catholic literature, including apologetics but also prayerbooks, spiritual reading, lives of saints and so forth...
after the First World War. It was for many years maintained by Franciscans in Westminster until they were obliged to withdraw. It moved into the care of St Michael's Abbey in 2007 for a probationary period pending a final decision on its future. In 2007 it was renamed the Catholic National Library, and is one of the finest collections of Catholic books in England.