The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-07-27

favored the career in surgery for which
he was preparing, and his mother, one
of the strongest influences in his life,
was not only committed to the idea,
but held any other career to be un-
thinkable. Incidentally, she was easily
alarmed by anything that saVored of
Rome" although she afterwards fol-
lowed her son into the Church. Thus
it came that young Mr.. Carlyle found
himself a medical student in London.
Here he came under the spiritual at
traction of Father Maturin, then a
member of the Anglican Cowley Faith
ers. AS he listened to Father Maturin,
the fascination of the contemplative
life in community was again upon
him, and what he saw was the relig
ious life of England, which he natural
ly conceived to be mirrored in the Ma
tional Church, without a single mon
astery of the sort of which formerly
there were very many. Nothing left
but empty ruins; the voice of praise
silent in the moss-grown choirs." He
wanted to change that.
Shortly afterwards he heard of
community of Protestant ladies who
had adopted the cOntemplative life
and observed, as far as they knew how,
the Benedictine rule. They had chap
lain, who grouped about him, at Twick-
enham, number of young men who
called themselves the Oblates of st.
Benedict. They went about their or
dinary work, awaiting an opportunity
to form a community. Mr.. Carlyle
joined them, and was known as Broth
er Aelred. Presently the confraternity
disbanded. The early ideal of Brother
Aelred, however, had become more
firmly fixed, and he organized another
group, who gave their spare time to
works of charity and their week-ends
to prayer and conferences.
This lasted until 1895, when young
man who had been trying to do some
thing for the poor of an East London
parish sought the aid OF the little con-
fraternity. Here was chance to found
the long-desired community. The con-
fraternity was not ready for real alb
negation. Brother Aelred was. He had
reached another stage on his road.
His companions stayed. He went. The
road took him to the Isle of Dogs, a
little island in the Thames Dock re-
gion, opposite Greenwich, place of
longshoremen, seamen and the harpies
who prey upon both. Here the two
young men, Brother Aelred and the
one who had invited him, worked as
laymen until Lent of 1896, at which
time Brother Aelred gave up his med
ical career, renounced all home ties
and opened house they called pri-
ory, where they did what we know as
| settlement" work. There was plenty
of room for it, and the response was
satisfactory. They wore the habit of
the Benedictines from Holy Week,
1896. The suspicion of "Popery" was
very strong in the Isle of Dogs when
the two young men appeared in monks
clothing in the streets, but they lived
it down Presently Brother Aelred's
companion fell i'll and was sent away
on long sea voyage. Brother Aelred
continued alone The next spring a
novice joined him, and together they
went on until the autumn. Then
Brother Aelred decided that while the
work he was doing was we'll worth
while, it was not satisfying his domi-
mating aspiration, which was the res
toration of the contemplative life un-
der the Benedictine Order.
Their First Monastery.
He therefore went to Archbishop
| Temple of Canterbury, who gave him
the necessary sanction for his purpose
and who arranged to have his profes-
sion properly received. so another
milestone was passed. On February
20, 1893, Brother Aelred made his pro-
fession as monk, and became Father
Aelred. The Rev Morley Richards,
who received him and his companion.
died in Mexico a priest of the Domini-
can Order.
The two now left the priory on the
Isle of Dogs and went to their first
monastery, place offered them few
months before by the Bishop of Glou.
cester, at Cutting, in the Cotswold
Hills, village four miles from rail
way. Here they lived in prayer and
penury until their host, the parish in
cumbent, got into quarrel with his
people, in which he was worsted. The
monks had to hunt new home, the
Cowley Fathers at London offering
them temporary shelter. This included
a summer visit to Iona, where the
Great Irish ST. COLUMBIA had carried
the Christian religion to the pagan
north. Then they had the choice be
tween a comfortable home with tn,
I Cowley Fathers in London and cot
tage on the edge of a village in Dor
set. They went to Dorset, taking
novice with them Their new monas
terry was a ganekeeper's cottage, tw
miles from the nearest house, with
little used road on one side and
beech forest on the other three. Mi
ton Abbas the nearest village wa
called. AS the house was bare, the
slept on the floor for while. Th
view was magnificent, but the foo
was mainly berries and mushroom!
The farmers were friendly, if curious
and did not much object to the monks
1