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 CANONS

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CANONS

lect evidence with a view to canonization. The body was translated in 1405 "de mandato Domini Papje", and Boniface XI by a Bull, the original of which was found in the Vatican Archives by J. A. Twemlow a few 7 years ago, formally canonized him. The holy prior was a very popular saint in the North of Eng- land. A rich shrine had been built over his tomb, from which the people begged Henry VIII to with- hold his hand; but all in vain. "Lest the people should be reduced in the offering of their money", the shrine was pulled down and destroyed. Sem- pringham saw the beginning by St. Gilbert, and the wonderful growth of the only pre- Reformat ion insti- tute of distinctly English origin. Here, too, Peter de Langtoft, the historian, lived and wrote his well- known works. Within the walls of Merton Abbey Thomas of Canterbury, when a youth, received his education and made his profession as a canon regular before he was consecrated archbishop. Chic Priory, whence came William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Can- terbury, was renowned for the learning of its religious clerics: "clerici litteratura insignes". Thurgarton was the home of that spiritual writer, Walter Hilton, who, about the year 1400, wrote the "Scala Perfec- tionis", usually attributed to some Carthusian monk. St. Frideswide's, founded for canons regular at Castle Tower by Robert d'Oiley, and translated to Osney in 1149, became, as Cardinal Newman tells us, "a nur- sery for secular students, subject to the Chancellor's jurisdiction". At Lilleshall Prion- lived John Myrk, the author of "Instructions for Parish Priests", a work written in irregular couplets, doubtless that they might be easily committed to memory. It has been edited by the Early English Text Society. The fol- lowing verses, where Myrk gives excellent and ex- plicit directions for behaviour in church, are a fair sample of the author's style: —

That when they do to Church fare,

Then bid them leave their many words.

Their idle speech and nice border [jests]

And put away all vanity

And say their Pater Noster and their Ave.

None in the church stand shall,

Xor lean to pillar nor to wall.

But fair on knees they shall them set,

Kneeling down upon the flat,

And pray < iod with heart meek

To give them grace and mercy eke.

Suffer them to make no here [noise]

But aye to be in their prayer.

Some twenty-five years ago the canons regular of (!)'■ Lateran Congregation returned to Bodmin, Corn- wall, where before the Reformation their brethren the Austin Canons had a beautiful priory in honour of St. Mary and St. Petrock. The new priory is now the residence of the provincial, or visitor, the novi- tiate-house for England, and the centre from which several Missions — as Truro, St. Ives, and Newquay — are served by canons regular.

Although when the storm of persecution came and the religious houses were either seized or surrendered, the canons regular were not as faithful to the Church and their profession as might have been desired, yet there were nol wanting many who preferred to lay down their lives rather than bet ray their Faith or give up < tod's property. Of this number were W. Wold, Prior of Bridlington, the Sub-Prior of Walsingham, with sixteen canons, and Ven. Laurence Vaux. The canonical order is now represented in England by Premonstratensians at Crowley, Manchester, Spal- ding, and Storrington. The Canons Regular of the I.ateran Congregation are at Bodmin, Truro, St. Ives, and Newquay, in Cornwall; at Spettisbury and Swan- age, in Dorsetshire: at Stroud (ireen and Eltham. in 1 ondon. Besides the occupations of the regular life at home and the public recitation of the Divine Office

in choir, they are chiefly employed in serving mis- sions, preaching retreats, supplying for priests who ask their service, and hearing confessions, either as ordinary or extraordinary confessors to convents or other religious communities.

The canonical order must have been introduced into the New World soon after the discovery of that country by Columbus. In fact, tradition tells us that some canons regular from Spain were his companions in one or other of his voyages. Certain it is that at the general chapter of the Lateran Congregation held at Ravenna in 1558, at the request of many Spanish canons, Don Francis de Agala, a professed canon regu- lar from Spain, who for some ten years had already laboured in the newly-discovered country, was created vicar-general in America, with powers to gather into communities all the members of the canonical insti- tute who were then dispersed in those parts, and the obligation to report to the authorities of the order. At present there are canons regular of the Lateran Congregation in the Argentine, and in Canada the Canons of the Immaculate Conception serve different missions. The Preinonstratensian Canons also are in different places in South America.

Reforms and Congregations. — As we have al- ready observed, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries a great reform and revival took place in the canonical order. A great number of congregations of canons regular sprang into existence, each with its own dis- tinctive constitutions, grounded on the Rule of St. Augustine and the statutes which Blessed Peter de Honestis, about the year 1100, gave to his canons at Ravenna, where also he instituted the first sodality, called "The Children of Mary". In order to preserve uniformity and regularity among these numerous con- gregations, Pope Benedict XII, in the year 1339, is- sued his Bull "Ad decorem", which may be rather called a book of constitutions to be observed by all canons regular then existing. JBy this Bull the order, then extending through Europe and Asia, was divided into twenty-two provinces or kingdoms, among them being Ireland, England, and Scotland, forming each a province. The abbots and visitors were to be con- vened at a provincial chapter to be held in each prov- ince every four years. Visitors were to be elected, whose duty it was to make a canonical visitation of every house in their respective provinces. Minute regulations are laid down for the daily recitation or singing of the Divine Office in choir, clothings, profes- sions, studies at the universities, expenses and other details in the clerical life, and the general discipline of the canons in the cloister. The Roman Martyrology mentions the existence of more than thirty-three dif- ferent congregations of canons regular. The histo- rians of the order number no fewer than fifty-four. It is evident that it would be quite impossible to give here even a short account of each in particular, there- fore we shall content ourselves with making special mention of a few.

By common consent the Lateran Congregation, of- ficially styled Congregatio SS. Salvatoris Latt runensis, stands first in antiquity and importance. As the title implies, this congregation takes its origin from the Roman Basilica of St. John Lateran, the pope's own cathedral. History, confirmed by the authority of Pontifical Bulls, informs us that Pope Silvester estab- lished in the basilica built by the Emperor Const an- tine clerics living in common after the manner of the Primitive Church. In the year 492, Gelasius, a dis- ciple of St. Augustine, as we have already mentioned, i nt ro.l need in the patriarchal basilica the regular disci- pline which he had learnt at Hippo. Pope Gregory tin- ( treat, Eugenius II, Sergius III. and Alexander II, all endeavoured to maintain the observance of the regular life established among the clergy of the basil- ica. As relaxation had crept in. the last named pope, at the request of St. Peter Damian, called some canons