Chaplaincy
Religious Life at St Edmund’s
The 450th Anniversary Mass in Douai – September 2018 Before dawn on Saturday 29th September 2018, a fleet of coaches left St Edmund’s and headed down the A10, bound for the small town of Douai in northern France. The coaches carried a majority of our students and staff as well as some foirmer students and some staff from the Prep School. The reason for this mass exodus and this one-day return journey to Douai was to attend the Mass to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the founding of the English College, Douai – or Douay as it was spelt in those days – our first foundation, on the 29th September 1568. Our Schola Cantorum and some sports teams had travelled to Douai some days earlier. This trip was the brainchild of Paulo Duran, then Headmaster of the College, and had been a very long time in the planning.
Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and President of St Edmund’s, and the Bishops Conference of England and Wales. The Archbishop of Lille was also present and among the concelebrants were old Edmundian priests and priests of the Archdiocese of Westminster. Our Schola Cantorum, under the direction of Mrs Karen Salter-Kay, then Director of Music, provided the music for the Mass with great flair, Mr Chris Benham, our College Organist, accompanied on the organ and the serving was in the capable hands of our College Servers, assisted by some seminarians from Allen Hall, the Westminster Diocesan Seminary. After the Bidding Prayers the restored tabernacle from the English College, now installed in the Church of Sainte-Pierre, was blessed and it was moving to
Nothing now remains in Douai of the English College, known in France as the “College des Grands Anglais” except the tabernacle from the chapel. This had been restored, largely due to the financial efforts of generous Edmundians, and was due to be blessed during the Solemn Mass which was the focus of the celebrations. The Mass was celebrated in the Collegiate Church of Saint-Pierre by the Archbishop of Cambrai, Monseigneur Vincent Dollman, who had only been in office for six weeks. It was his predecessors who had ordained many of the students of the English College before they left for the English Mission and almost certain martyrdom. He was assisted by Archbishop Patrick Kelly, Archbishop Emeritus of Liverpool, who represented Cardinal Vincent
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