CNA—The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles have opened a new location at St. Mary’s Abbey in Colwich, Staffordshire, England. Among the founders of this abbey are three great-great-granddaughters of St. Thomas More. An extraordinary history The Benedictines became well-known after the body of their founder, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, who died in 2019, was discovered well preserved in 2023. The order was welcomed by Archbishop Bernard Longley of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, who invited them to consider the property. The Abbey had been up for sale since 2020 because of a decline in vocations. “We informed the local ordinary, Archbishop Longley, about the sisters soon-to-be in exile in his diocese and we certainly were not expecting an invitation to stay, but that is exactly what happened!” Mother Abbess Cecilia Snell, the Benedictines of Mary’s first abbess, wrote in a spring 2024 newsletter. “His Excellency has welcomed us most graciously to remain in the (arch)diocese of Birmingham.” Temporary chapel at Colwich. Courtesy of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles The Benedictines of Mary have now completed the deal, with financial help received from Stanbrook Abbey, who loaned them £2.5 million (over $3.1 million) to complete the purchase. In August, four sisters moved to Colwich to begin their apostolate in England. Connection to St. Thomas More Colwich Abbey was founded, amongst others, by three great-great-granddaughters of St. Thomas More, who came together in 1623 at Cambrai, Flanders after the dissolution of the English monasteries in the 1500s. The link to St. Thomas More is significant for the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, whom the...
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