Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/366

 VAUX-DE-CERNAY

316

VAVASOUR

fession he was appointed sub-prior; and when the prior resigned in 1577, to pass over to the Carthu- sians, there w;xs a strong movement to elect Vaux in his stead. Some, however, apparently feared that he would use his position to introduce a large number of his fellow-countrj'men with a view to training them for the English Mission; a marginal note in the "Priory Chronicle" records, "Coenobium nostrum in seminarium pcne ereclum Anglorum." Three years later at the instance of Allen, he was summoned to Reims by papal authority to take up once more the perilous missionary work in England; the Chronicle notes his departure " with the blessing and leave of his Prior", 24 June, 15S0. Vaux left Reims on 1 Aug., and Boulogne on the 12th, arriving that day at Dover in company with a Catholic soldier named Tich- borne and a Frenchman, who turned traitor. Escap- ing detection at Dover, the two Englishmen passed on to Canterbury, and thence to Rochester, where they were arrested on infonnation lodged by the spy. After several examinations Vaux was finally commit- ted by the Bishop of London to the Gatehouse Prison, Westminster. According to an account of the arrest in the "Douay Diaries", Bishop Aylmer de- manded: "What relation are you to that Vaux who wrote a poi>ish catechism in English?" The aged priest admitted the authorship and that confession settled his fate.

For the first three years of his imprisonment, owing chiefly to the wealth and influence of noble friends, Vaux wa.s treated with comparative mildness. In a letter which he sent to the Prior of St. Martin's a few months after his arrest he speaks quite cheer- fully of his condition and surroundings. But later another letter addressed to John Coppage, Aug., 1583, was intercepted and the following sentence underhned by some member of the Council: ily friends here be many and of much worship, especially since my Catechism came forth. This communication also mentioned the disposal of as many as 300 copies in the Manchester district alone. Thereupon the aged confessor was transferred to the Clink. Ac- cording to Strype, he was brought up again before the relentless .Aylmer, in 15S5, and found guilty "and so in danger of death". What happened further we do not know; if actually sentenced, he must have been reprieved. In all probability he was abandoned to a lingering death in prison. The common tradi- tion is represented by this contemporary item from St. Martin's Chronicle: "The venerable Father Lawrence Vaux, martyr . . . for the confession of the Catholic Faith thrown into prison, where he was starved to death, and so gained the crown of martyr- dom, 1585." Vaux's catechism, to which we may fairly attribute his imprisonment and death, was first published in Louvain, in 1567. Six further editions in rapid succession, emanating from Antwerp and Liege, testified to its widesijread popularity and use- fulness. The Liege, 1583, issue was reprinted with an excellent biographical introduction for the Chet- ham Society by Thomiis Graves Law, in 1885. This edition contains also Vaux's paper on "The Use and Meaning of Ceremonies", and a few further pages of instruction added by the Liege publisher. The catechism is practically formed on the same lines as its successor of to-day, explaining in sequence the Apostles' Creed, the Pater and A\e (but the latter has not the second half, Holy Mary), the Command- ments (these at considerable length), the sacraments, and the offices of Christian justice. The treatise on the ceremonies discusses the use of holy water, candles, incense, vestments, etc. The style is old- fashioned, but the matter in both is as useful and edifying to-day as it was four centuries ago.

Catholic Record Society's Af<«cdtanea. 11; Dodd, Ch, Hial. of Engl.: Douay Diaria: GiLLOw, Bibl. Did. of Engl. Calh., s. v.; XiAw in his Introduction tq Vaux's Catechism (Chotham Society,

1885); Pitts, De Anglix Scriptoribus (1619); The Rambler (London, 1857).

Vincent Scully.

Vaux-de-Cemay, a celebrated Cistercian abbey

situated in the Diocese of Versailles, Seine-et-Oise, in what was called the "Isle-de-France". In 1118 Simon de Neaufle and his wife Eve donated the land for this foundation to the monks of Savigny, in order to have a monastery built there in honour of the Mother of God and St. Jolin Baptist. Blessed Vital, Abbot of Savigny, accepted their offer, and sent a band of monks under the direction of Amaud, who became their first abbot. Besides their first benefactors, numerous others of the nobility came to the aid of the new community. As soon as they were well es- tabUshed, many postulants presented themselves for admission, rendering possible the foundation of Breuil-Benoit (1137) in the Diocese of EvTeux. In 1148 Vaux-de-Cernay, with the entire Congregation of Savigny, entered the Order of Citeaux and became a fihation of Clairvaux. Up to this period their sub- stance was only enough for them to live on, but from this time they became prosperous, built a church in the simple Cistercian style, and, little by little, con- structed the other regular places, ^iany of its abbots became well knowTi. Andrew, the fourth, died Bishop of Arras; Guj', the sixth, was the most celebrated, having been delegated by the General Chapter to accompany the Fifth Crusade in 1203. Three years later he was one of the principal figures in the crusade against the Albigenses, in recognition of which service he was made Bishop of Carcassone (1211) and is commemorated in the Cistercian menology. His nephew Peter, also a monk of Vaux- de-Cernay, accompanied him on this crusade, and left a history of both the heresy and the war. It was under his successor. Abbot Thomas, that Porrois, a monastery of Cistercian nuns (later on the famous Abbey of Port-Royal), was founded and placed under the direction of the abbots of \'aux-de-Cernav. The ninth abbot, Thib.ault de Marley (1235-1247), was canonized and worked many miracles both before and after death. Towards the end of the fourteenth century the monasterv' began losing its fervour, both on account of too great wealth and because of the disturbed state of the times. But after the intro- duction of commendatory abbots (1542) there was little left beside the name of monks. In the seven- teenth centurj' it was restored in spirit by embracing the Reform of the Strict Observance of Denis Lar- gentier. It was during this time that its commenda- tory abbot was John Casimir, King of Poland. The monastery was suppressed at the Revolution (1791) and its members (twelve priests) dispersed. The buildings, after passing through various hands, are now partly restored and are much admired both by artists and archteologists.

Gallia Christiana, VII; Jongeunub. Nolilia Abbaliarum, O. Cislerciensis (Cologne, 1640); Tissiek. Bibliolheca Palrum Cis- tercienMum, VII (Paris, 1669); Merlet and Moutier, Cartu- lairf de I'.Abbaye de N. D., des Vaux-de-Cernay, I-III (Paris, 1S.')7-5S) ; MoRizE, Etude archiologiguc sur r.-lbbaye des Vaur-de- Cernay with introduction by de Dion (Tours, 1889); de Dion, Carlulaire de Porrois plus ronnue sous te nom mystique de Port- Royal (Paris. 190:1): Beai'mer, Recueil hislorique des archf- v^rlw.-i. fn'rh,'.^. ,i!'fh,i/,-^ ,t prieures de France, prorince ecclisi- 3-7; d. at Hull. 2 May, 1585. On 25 June, 1549, at the disputations held before the king's commissioners at Cambridge, \'iivasour was one of the disputants in f:ivour of Transubstanti:vtion and (he Sacrifice of the Mjuss. He subsequently went to ^'enice where he took the degree of ALD., and on 20 Nov., 1556, he