Fr Alban Crossley

DIED 2ND FEBRUARY, 2021

AlbanCrossley’s life was outstanding for two features, his spirituality and his friendship. Both of these are best illustrated by an excerpt from his last circular to friends and family at Easter 2020: ‘If I get Covid and die, that’s OK: I’ve had a good innings and I trust in God’s mercy. I am only sorry that I won’t have seen any of you again and that you will not be able to come to my funeral [because of Covid-restrictions], which is a pity’. His final years were hampered by age: after he broke his hip in a fall he could never walk unaided, but insisted on walking at least a kilometre twice daily on his walking-frame, admiring the flowers on the way. Invincible, on his final holiday he even hiked his zimmer up a ski-lift into the snow. As time advanced he developed throat-cancer which demanded first the removal of polyps in his throat which left him with only a barely audible voice. At the time of his death he was on the point of entering uncomplainingly into a gruesome course of further treatment. Nevertheless, a visit to Alban in the monastic infirmary was an unfailing source of peace and encouragement for the visitor. His friendships were life-long: his holidays were spent circulating between a host of long-standing friends from Austria to USA, a few days with each family. He kept up with his friends on zoom till the end, and frequently had running on his computer a scroll of photographs of his many expeditions with them.

Born in 1934, like many a good Amplefordian monk, in Lancashire, Edward was the only child of elderly parents. Growing up in Leyland, he was fascinated from an early age by church ornaments and ceremonies. He was educated at the Catholic College in Leyland. It was no surprise when he applied to enter the monastery at the age of twenty. There he went through a conventional training, including a physics degree at St Benet’s Hall, Oxford. He was also a member of the first post-war batch of EBC students to be sent (in 1961) to Fribourg for theological studies. There he became co-editor of the fortnightly English-language bulletin on the progressing Vatican Council – information sent direct from the Vatican Press Office.

Alban was one of the few members of the community who functioned in each branch of the Ampleforth apostolate. He did not seek distinction but devoted himself to hum-drum tasks with solidity, kindness and initiative. After the conclusion of his studies and his priestly ordination he served for a decade as assistant housemaster of the Junior House, while also teaching physics. At JH his speciality was scouting, which for him was not only fun but an important means of education in country pursuits, camping, hill-walking and friendships which lasted a lifetime. He also practised scouting in a wider field, as District Commissioner and finally the Chief Scout’s Commissioner for RC Scouts.

As soon as he left the Junior House Alban was appointed Master of Ceremonies at the Abbey. He began this ten-year ministry with a half-year of sabbatical, travelling to monasteries in Europe and America to pick up ideas, many of which have become permanent features of the monastic liturgy at Ampleforth (the static incense-burner at solemn Vespers; never begin the Office without the Hebdomadarius in position). He possessed a combination of qualities not always found in Masters of Ceremonies, a fierce clarity on details of how to proceed and the tolerance not to bully others into exact conformity.

In 1990 began his apostolate on the parishes, for six years at Brownedge, later followed by four years at Kirbymoorside-with-Helmsley, where he skillfully held together the two mutually suspicious villages (Helmsley is said to have trashed Kirbymoorside market as recently as 1136). At all his parishes he still has a legion of friends. Between these appointments fell a decade in the nascent Ampleforth foundation in Zimbabwe at Christ the Word. Soon after his return he was appointed Guestmaster (2012), an office he fulfilled with care and affection until shortly before his death. On the 2nd February, the Feast of the Purification 2021 he was unexpectedly taken into York Hospital, where he mercifully died, later that day, of a heart attack.

DIED 8TH AUGUST, 2021

FrMichael Phillips had an extraordinary ability as a quiet, reliable administrator which carried him through important offices both within and beyond the monastic community for half a century. There was never any fuss. He held his cards close to his chest, and in discussion with him there was always an uncomfortable feeling that he was leading from a stronger suit than was immediately obvious.

At Oxford (St Benet’s Hall) he did a four-year course in mathematics and physics, and after a surprisingly short time of teaching in the school he became first senior physics master (1966) and then senior science teacher (1969), a post he held for a decade until he left the teaching staff to become Abbey Procurator for a dozen years (1979-1990). During all this time as a teacher he quietly acquired other jobs besides his main activities, in all of which he was highly valued. For ten years he was the much-loved chaplain to the nearby St Martin’s Preparatory School (1969-1979); when on becoming Procurator he relinquished this activity he was made a governor of the school. Every couple of years he would lead (with Richard Gilbert) school expeditions with important scientific research to a variety of different and far-flung places (Iceland, Morocco, Norway, Himalayas), as well as functioning in the summer holidays as chaplain to the cruise-ship for youngsters, Uganda. More surprising, especially in view of his slight figure and thick spectacles, he was a devoted coach of the 2nd XV Rugby, honoured and feared as an impeccable and perceptive referee, aloof and dauntingly fair. He even functioned as Games Master for a short stint. Few were aware that for twenty years of this period (1962-1983) he was also playing an increasingly important part in the national Association for Science Education, ending up as Minutes Secretary and both setting and marking examinations; his importance in this role also is clear from the fact that on leaving that administration he was made a Trustee of the Association.

In 1990, refreshed by a short recyclage course in Rome, Michael was moved to the other half of the Ampleforth apostolate, becoming parish priest, first of Parbold and then of Workington, each for a decade. With this he exchanged the financial responsibility of Procurator for that of Economus of the Mission Fund. In this role his insistence on careful accountability, and especially of exact presentation of the accounts, was not always popular with his brethren, the other parish priests. On the mission his pastoral warmth and openness to people of every kind won him a devoted following, while his careful refurbishment of the lovely Pugin church at Workington fully justified his co-option onto the Historic Churches Committee (1995-2008). However, Michael remained a very private person, careful not to over-commit himself. Apart from a great family holiday to Santiago to celebrate his 70th birthday, he always took his holidays alone, mostly a last-minute booking to a Greek island.

After a score of years on the mission Michael returned to the Abbey, but was quickly whisked away to Oxford to become librarian and chaplain at St Benet’s Hall, a task to which he devoted himself with characteristic energy, becoming an important resource for staff and students alike. Here he also became chaplain again to Summerfields Preparatory School, for which he wrote a series of catechetical booklets with a strong scriptural basis. An unexpected additional value was that it enabled him to be near his brother Jonathan as a support to his declining health and eventual death.

Michael’s health was similarly declining, and in 2017 he moved to the monastic infirmary, where he stoically endured increasingly complex and painful illness, mostly respiratory. For his last couple of years he said that he hardly knew a day without pain. This did not prevent him in his final year engaging in a spirited campaign in The

Tablet and other publications about parish administration, insisting that a healthy parish is run by its community, not exclusively its parish priest.

DIED 24TH APRIL, 2022

FrMatthew was born in Birmingham in 1940 and, after a local prep school, came to Junior House and then St Wilfrid’s House. He read French and Spanish at St Edmund Hall and tried his vocation as a Dominican novice for a year after coming down from Oxford. He then taught refugees for a year before joining the novitiate at Ampleforth in 1962, later gaining a Pass degree and a Dip. Ed. at St Benet’s.

From 1968 he was active in the school: teaching modern languages and RE, helping boys produce good work in the carpentry shop and the printing shop, taking games and acting as Assistant School Guestmaster. He spent five years teaching at Gilling before coming back in 1981 to be Housemaster of St Wilfrid’s House for eleven years. In 1992 he returned to Gilling as Chaplain to the Prep School and Priest in Charge of the Gilling Parish. This was followed by five years on the parishes at Brownedge and Lostock Hall, returning to the Abbey in 2003 and serving as Infirmarian, Postulant Master, Guestmaster, looking after Gilling Parish and the West Wing Garden as well as three years as Chaplain to St Dunstan’s House. It was in 2018 that he became unwell and then lived in the Monastery Infirmary suffering from increasing dementia until he died peacefully on 24th April, 2022.

Because of these four years, which he found very frustrating, it is easy to forget how widely he was respected and loved in so many different roles: as a friendly and supportive housemaster – (where he was sometimes known affectionately as ‘Oddie’), as priest in the parishes, on the Lourdes Pilgrimage, as a spiritual director, in his work with Alcoholics Anonymous, for his devotion to Our Lady (which he tried to express in carving a number of wooden statues of the Madonna), in talking to children about God and enjoying playing with them as well as teaching them to pray, using his mantra of ‘power in praise’ to seek God’s hand in all, even the darkest moments. They would sometimes ask him years later to officiate at their weddings. He enjoyed showing people round the Abbey and they enjoyed and appreciated what he shared with them. More than one of the letters received after his death spoke of his great gifts of empathy, sympathy and gentle pastoral care. It was striking how many people came to spend time with him in the Infirmary in his last years, talking with him and listening to him and just being with him in his confusion. Even then he had the knack of bringing out the best in people as Jesus did, as Fr Abbot reminded us in his homily at Matthew’s funeral.

He loved playing golf and playing and watching cricket – the more informal the better. One of the photographs sent to us was a welcome reminder of his joy in playing golf with a family group. And he took a simple pleasure in picking apples in the Orchard. A day after his burial in the Monks’ Wood, a piece of apple blossom was placed on his grave. May he rest in peace.

DIED 1ST OCTOBER, 2022

FrCassian was born in 1941 and went to school at Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen and then worked in the family pharmacy business for a couple of years during which he was baptised into the Catholic Church. He trained as a Chartered Accountant for two years before reading history at Aberdeen University and then, after a Dip Ed at Edinburgh teaching at St Mirin’s Academy in Paisley. He spent a year at the Scots College in Rome, reading philosophy at the Gregorian and then lectured in liberal studies at Peterborough Technical College and was the prospective Liberal Candidate for Peterborough before becoming Assistant Head Teacher at St David’s High School in Dalkeith. In 1988, he entered the novitiate at Farnborough Abbey and was happy there but two years later was clothed as a novice at Ampleforth. He served in a number of roles, both in the school – housemaster of St Aidan’s for two years - and on no less than eight of our parishes. Most Mondays he went to help and at the Cenacolo community in Kendal where he was able to offer real support to some of the most vulnerable in society.

In 2019, in ill health, he moved to St Mary’s Leland to join Fr Jonathan and Fr Bernard. He was soon diagnosed with cancer and surgery, followed by radio- and chemo-therapy, offered hope of recovery but after a year it was apparent that this was not to be and after three years he came to the monastery infirmary in May of 2022 where he died peacefully on the 1st October, 2022.

He was a person who knew something about almost everything and was widely read but never dominated conversation. If asked a question, he would ponder with careful thought before answering. In all his difficult time, suffering from cancer, he remained very positive as he became weaker and was much loved by all who cared for and looked after him, both at Leyland and in the monastery infirmary.

DIED 19TH NOVEMBER, 2022

Thomas Andrew McCaffrey was born in Glasgow and read classics at Glasgow University followed by an MPhil and gaining a First in an M Ed and started a teaching career, first at St Anthony’s Glasgow, then two years VSO teaching in Kenya and as Head of Classics at St Joseph’s Academy in Kilmarnock. He tried his vocation as a Jesuit in 1980 but left during the 30-day retreat. Three years later he tried his vocation at Ampleforth but left a year later. He returned in 1986 and, after gaining an external B Div degree from London University and a year at St Benet’s studying at Blackfriars, started teaching Classics and RS in the school and later teaching Scripture to the Novices in the Monastery for a year before making his Solemn Profession in 1994. He then went to St Anselmo in Rome to gain a Licentiate in Scripture and was ordained priest in 1996. After two years as Assistant Priest at St Austin’s, Grassendale, he was appointed parish priest of St Mary’s, Knaresborough where he was for four years. After four years as Abbey Librarian, he was sent on the parishes again, this time at St Mary’s, Bamber Bridge as Assistant Priest for three years. There followed a period of ill health during which he was away from the Abbey for two years until 2014. After this he was resident in the Monastery, giving occasional retreats until his deteriorating health caused him to move into the Infirmary for three years until he died peacefully.

The following is taken from Abbot Robert’s Funeral Homily:

Anyone who knew Fr Andrew, knew that he was gifted academically. Those whom he taught in the schools in Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Kenya, Ampleforth College and Gilling would readily acknowledge this, they benefited from his scholarship. Those who listened to talks or homilies in the parishes of Bamber Bridge, Grassendale, Knaresborough or on retreats here in the Grange all appreciated another side to Andrew, his pastoral concern. As one parishioner wrote about Andrew:

‘…during his time at Brownedge I came to know him as a kind and compassionate monk, with a great gift for pastoral work. Please forward this email to Fr Abbot so he can know how well-respected Fr Andrew was and that his great gifts far outweighed his failings.’

People knew that Fr Andrew had a sharp mind, but they also knew that he had a sharp tongue, a quick ability to articulate what he thought, which was a gift, but it also cost him and others dearly.

Though teaching was his first choice, Andrew felt that God had another vocation in mind. At first, he thought that this was to the Jesuits, a thirty-day retreat made clear that that this was not the way. Eventually he came to the monastic life here at Ampleforth first in 1984, leaving after three months and then again in 1986 making Solemn profession in 1994. Andrew would be the first to acknowledge that he struggled to be at home in the community and he would readily admit that nothing in his vocational journey came easily to him. His final request before ceasing to speak was that a member of the community pray with him. It was a privilege therefore to be able to pray the Apostolic Pardon for him, assuring him of full pardon and the remission of all his sins.

Fr Andrew’s intellectual capacity meant that he knew many things but the one essential thing that escaped him time and time again was the crucially important truth that he was appreciated and loved by God. Here was his Achilles heel. But then he is not alone in that respect. His vulnerability was evident and yet there were moments when the guard came down and one became aware of a keen sense of humour, a lively interest and deep sensitivity. In one of those moments just weeks ago in our last conversations, he smiled that cheeky smile he had and remarked, ‘Well when all is said and done the community has put up with me all these years (pause) so there might be something good here after all!’ Many true things are indeed said in jest.