Canons Regular of Prémontré | Canonry of Corpus Christi
A Brief History
The early years of Saint Norbert
St. Norbert was born
around the year 1080 in the town of Xanten near Cologne, Germany.
As a small child, he was sent to be educated by the cathedral chapter
of St. Victor in Xanten where he was later ordained a sub deacon and became
a canon of the cathedral.
It was from here that he was called into service at the court of the emperor
Henry V. He soon become
noted for his charm and good company which meant he was distracted by the
pleasures of Court and neglected his religious life.
However, in the year 1115, Norbert was thrown from his horse and
nearly killed. At that
moment he heard the words of the Psalmist: “Turn away from evil and do
good.” This he now
desired to do with all is heart.
He immediately began to live the life of a penitent and wandered the
country, barefoot and dressed in sheepskin.
So much did he desire to be of service to the Lord that he was
ordained deacon and priest on the same day.
After this he continued to wander about the countryside, often
barefoot in the snow, preaching the Word of God with passion and denouncing
heresy and the abuses of his fellow priests.
This criticism did not win him any friends and he was condemned by
some bishops as a mad fool.
But he was blessed by Pope Gelasius II and later by Pope Calixtus II
who both gave him enthusiastic support.
The pope also encouraged him to settle in one place and found a
religious community.
Saint Norbert founds the Order
St. Norbert spent a great deal of time looking for the right place to settle
and build his monastery and eventually chose a desolate valley in the north
of France called Prémontré.
Here, in a small chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist, he had a
vision of our crucified Saviour who revealed to him that this abandoned
wasteland would be the sight of a glorious monastery proclaiming with joy
the truth of the Catholic Faith. In the year 1121, St Norbert laid the
foundations of his new religious Order.
He remained faithful to his life as a canon and chose the Rule of St
Augustine to be the guiding light of his new community.
The new monastery quickly became known for its austerity of life, for
its poverty, for its intense liturgical prayer life and for its complete
fidelity to the ideal of community as depicted in the Augustinian rule.
As the monastery grew, St Norbert continued his life of preaching and
attracted many men and women to his new Order.
St. Norbert and his followers all had a deep and unswerving faith in
the Sacrifice of the Mass and showed great love and devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament. Armed with
this, they fearlessly preached against the errors of the day and brought
about a great spiritual renewal among thousands of people.
The later years of Saint Norbert
On July 25th
1126, St Norbert was ordained archbishop of Magdeburg and relinquished the
leadership of the Order to Blessed Hugh of Fosse so that Norbert could begin the work of shepherding his
new diocese. During his
years as archbishop, St Norbert constantly fought for the freedom of the
Church and proved a devoted and loyal son of the Roman Pontiff.
His labours and travels took a toll on his health and he died in his
cathedral city on June 6th
1134. To this day, the
whole Church celebrates his feast on the anniversary of his death.
St Norbert is usually depicted with the cross and pallium of an
archbishop and holds a monstrance, which recalls his abiding devotion to
Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Order’s name
The Order is known by many different names!
Our official title is “The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré,” but
we are also known as the “Norbertines”, after our holy founder, and as the
“Premonstratensians”, after our mother house in France.
In England we are also known as the “White Canons” because of the
colour of our habit.
After our names we put the abbreviation O.Praem which is Latin for Ordo
Praemonstratensis, the Order of Prémontré.
Saints of the Order
In
addition to St. Norbert, there are 14 saints of the order recognised by the
Church with their own liturgical feast days.
Beyond this list, there are hundreds of members of the Order who have
distinguished themselves by great holiness of life and for service to the
Church. Notable among
these in recent years is the late Father Werenfried Van Straaten, founder of
Aid to the Church in Need, popularly known as 'The Bacon Priest'.
The Religious Habit of the Order
The distinctive white habit of the Order was revealed to St Norbert in a vision of the Blessed Virgin. She presented him with the habit and told him that his followers would be angels proclaiming the glory of God to the world. The habit consists of four parts: the tunic, the scapular, the cincture and the shoulder cape. The small hood on the shoulder cape is a symbolic leftover from medieval times when the full monastic hood was worn.
Corpus Christi Canonry
The Canons of Prémontré first came to England in 1143 and, at the
dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII, the Order had 33 abbeys and 2
convents. The last house
to close was the abbey of Egglestone, which was suppressed in 1539.
After an absence of 333 years, the Order returned to England and made
its first foundation at Crowle in Lincolnshire in 1872.
The Canonry of Our Lady of England, Storrington was established in 1882.
In 1889, the first priest of the Order came to Manchester and
immediately started making plans to build the basilica which still towers over the surrounding area today.
The Canonry is dedicated to “Corpus Christi” and under the patronage
of St Norbert and St Juliana, two saints who showed zealous devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament. In
accordance with this, the community began the Archconfraternity of the Mass
of Reparation. Its aim
was to inspire devotion to the Blessed Sacrament to make reparation for all
those who neglect or insult the presence of Christ in this Most Holy Sacrament.
In 1904, Pope St. Pius X bestowed his apostolic blessing on the building of
the Votive Basilica as the centre of the Archconfraternity and in 1907 he
graciously presented the basilica with a chalice. The community celebrates
a Mass of Reparation every Thursday.
Times Change
After 118 years of service to the people of Miles Platting the Canons, with great regret, made the decision to look for a new home. Sadly, the parish is not what it was a century ago and decades of decay and neglect have taken its toll on the once glorious basilica. The increasing debt of Corpus Christi Parish and its Social Centre coupled with a declining Catholic population and Mass attendance made the closure inevitable. The Social Centre closed in early March 2007 followed by the closure of the Parish. Bishop Brain of Salford celebrated the Last Mass in Corpus Christi Basilica on 27 April 2007. Since then numerous attempts have been made by local hooligans to break into the now deserted Priory and Basilica and several windows have been broken. All the windows of the property are now boarded up like so many homes in the area.
Following upon the closure of the Parish, Basilica and Priory in April 2007, the Community published an illustrated history of Corpus Christi Parish and Basilica. Please click on the link below for the online version.
A history of Corpus Christi Parish and Basilica
Pre-Reformation Abbeys in the British Isles
Saints of the Order of Prémontré