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

The American Caldey Committee,
formed at the time of the visit OF
Abbot Carlyle to America in the early
months of this year, has issued an
appeal for the assistance of American
Catholics in tiding over the difficulties
the Caldey BenedictineS have been
facing as q consequence of the war
coming just at the time when their
conversion to the Catholic Church had
thrown upon them financial problems
sufficiently difficult The fact Of this
remarkable conversion is already
pretty widely known, but hitherto
very little has appeared concerning
the events which led up to it, or about
the religious history of the man
whose personality was principal
factor in it.
In the summer of 1913 there ar
rived on this side of the Atlantic a
booklet containing copies OF letters
which passed between the Archbishop
of Canterbury, the Bishop of Oxford,
the Bishop of Fond du Lac (Wiscon-
SIM, all prelates of the Anglican
Church, and a correspondent who
signed himself ID. Aelred, O. S. B.,
Abbot" manifestly, also at the time
the letters were written, member
of the Church of England.
What was revealed at the close of
the correspondence was that ID.
AeIred, o. S. B., Abbot" and nearly
all the members of his community
had decided that they must leave the
Church of England. They had become
converts to the Catholic Church and
were preparing to make formal sub
mission to the Holy See, with the
hope of being admitted to the Order
of st. Benedict. They had believed,
while in the Church of England, that
they were Catholics, that they We're
entitled to restore the Benedictine
Order within the Church of England.
They had been encouraged by the
Archbishop of Canterbury to do so,
they had attained a considerable
measure of success in their work and
then they were suddenly compelled to
take decisions which resulted in their
leaving the Church of England and
seeking haven in the Catholic Church.
The incident was the most significant,
perhaps, in English religious history
since the conversion of Cardinal
Newman.
Workings of Providence.
There was this difference, however.
The throes of Newman's spiritual agi-
tation had shaken the world for years
before he found peace. The Caldey
conversion was bolt out of the blue.
Neither did the correspondence reveal
at all clearly the inspiration, as in the
Newman case, of definite personal
lty behind the controversy which went
ON by letter over various matters OF
spiritual and temporal interest. What
ever may have been the case in Eng
land, few on this side of the Atlantic
knew much about the Abbot of Galley
up to the time he appeared before
them in the flesh in the winter OF
1918, seeking support for the work
he had set up within the Church, at
the wish of Pope Plus x, soon after
the conversion took place.
Doubtless there are plenty of choice
spirits in the world who are content
in presence of such a fact as the
translation of whole community out
of the Anglican and into the Catholic
Church to see in the event so striking
an example of the inscrutable work
ings of Providence as to allay all feel
ings of curiosity concerning the per
sonality of the participants. And yet
the Newman incident lost nothing IN
significance from the fact that the
white light beat constantly for years
upon the individual character of the
convert. True, Newman was literary
gladiator. whereas the Anglican Bene
dictines were devoted to the cloistel
and to the contemplative life. AnC
now here was the Abbot of Caldel
himself telling in person on American
platforms, to American audiences, thu
story of the Caldey conversion, bu
telling us nothing about the Abbot o
GdlQ6y. 1u6 OlAIooAOh ID ouhOAJ -
TO be supplied from such materials a.
are to be had.
First, there is the Abbot in person
as he is seen on the platform-a mai
in his early forties, quick of speecl
and of motion, bright of eye, cheerful
confident, one would say confirme
optimist. He tells the story OF hi
own. and his brethren's conversion an
of the trials the war has impose
npon them, but he tells nothing Q
how the Anglican Order of st. Benz
dict came to be where it was or ho'
there came to be an Anglican Orde
of St. Benedict at all. Now that, a
it turns out, is the life story of tn
Abbot Of Caldey, and a story we
worth knowing.
Dominated by One Ideal.
The truth seems to be that from n
earliest youth the Abbot has been don
mated by one ideal and that under il
inspiration he followed the straigl
road wherever it has led. At the az
of fifteen he has written, the ldt