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P O RT S M O U T H ’ S D E B T
TO THE
EBC HOUSES
F O R T A U G U S T U S , B E L M O N T, A M P L E F O R T H By Rev. Dom Damian Kearney ‘45, O.S.B.
Nearly all the monasteries in the English Benedictine Congregation have contributed in significant ways to the foundation and development of Portsmouth over a period of many decades. Dom Leonard Sargent, a member of the Anglican Order of the Holy Cross, was received into the Church at Downside in 1909. Here he first conceived the idea of establishing a monastery similar to Downside in the United States, and after his ordination to the priesthood, set about finding ways of realizing his dream. He therefore returned to Downside, was allowed to enter the novitiate with the understanding that he would return to America, enlist the help of friends, decide on a location, and find candidates. Abbot Cuthbert Butler encouraged Dom Leonard, but made it clear that the enterprise was to be entirely American in its staffing and financing; applicants would be received and undergo their formation at Downside, and then return to the United States. Through this sponsorship the foundation could become a domus religiosa, which it did in 1919 when Dom Leonard, having acquired a suitable estate, took up permanent residence in Portsmouth, RI, exercising authority, (to use Dom Cuthbert’s
phrase), ad instar prioris, and receiving the blessing of Pope Benedict XV the following year. What Portsmouth first gained from Downside under Fr. Leonard was its name, the new priory being under the patronage of Saint Gregory the Great. Although a school was not envisioned, he wanted his foundation to reflect the same spirit and sense of tradition that he had experienced at Downside, emphasizing learning, liturgy, monastic observance, and hospitality, providing a place for reflection in an atmosphere of peace, remote in its rural seclusion, but still accessible to the world. At the end of seven years, however, it was evident that the venture would not succeed, and Downside welcomed the offer of Fort Augustus to take over the monastery and establish a second house in America, having begun Saint Anselm’s in Washington, D.C., in 1924. Dom Leonard did not join the new community, preferring to retain his ties to Downside, to which he returned periodically until he finally settled at Portsmouth, where he died in 1944
Left: Dom Leonard Sargent, O.S.B., first conceived the idea of establishing a monastery similar to Downside in the United States. Above: Dom Wulstan Knowles, Abbot of Fort Augustus and first founding Prior of Portsmouth under Fort Augustus, 1926-9
WINTER BULLETIN 2010
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