Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

L. I C. & M. I. CENNAD LLYDEWIG LUNRWST. of [e$enjjqr of the |b%Itc |;l| (Cambro Breton Mission), Llanrwst, North Wales. Vol. I. 16th OCTOBEE 1910. No. 11. ft? ft? 4? ft? 4? 4? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? ft? 4? ft? ft? ft? ft? >EEVI0US to the so-called " Eeformation," Wales or Cambria was indeed a " land of song," of sacred song: for a thousand years or more, from north to south and from east to west, in all parts of the country, resounded the Divine Praises, sung, from generation to generation, by multitudinous choirs of monks, friars or canons ; and these choirs were supported, in their sacred functions, by innumerable congregations of Welsh Catholics, who came to their churches to attend Holy Mass and to take part in the other religious services. Augustinians and Benedictines, Cistercians and Dominicans, Franciscans and Premonstra- tensians, etc., possessed, throughout the land, a greater or lesser number of monasteries. In fact, " there was a religious house for every thirty square miles of the country." To confine ourselves to the Cistercian Order, by far the most numerous in Wales, we may say that they had houses at Neath, Tintern, Trefgarn (and Whitland), Margam, Cwmhir, Strata-Florida, Strata-Marcella, Aber-Conwy (and Maenan), Cymmer, Olynnog-Fawr, Valle- Crucis, Dore, Grace-Dieu, Caerleon, Llantarnam and Basingwerk,—-together with nunneries at Llanlugan, Llanlyr and, perhaps, Gwytherin, etc. About our " own " Abbey at Maenan I have not much to say. Founded at Aber-Conwy (now Conway) by Llywelyn the Great, who there died (April 11th, 1240), it was removed, in 1283, by order of King Edward I, to the said Maenan, —three miles from Llanrwst. And there of it nothing remains now, except a small archway in a wall by the north end of the house. Glory be to the vandals who destroyed it! 1 ! But there was another Cistercian monastery in Denbighshire (near Llangollen). It was called Mynachlog Llan Egwestl or Valle Crucis Abbey. Established about the year 1200, by Madoc ap Griffith Maelor, and destroyed, in 1535, by order of Oliver Cromwell, of sweet memory, there are still remaining of its church the east and west ends, the south transept, and several pillars and arches,—-grand and majestic ruins of a magnificent Gothic temple. Besides, in front of where was once the high Altar, there are six well-preserved tombs, while the nave of the church, where large Welsh congregations once piously assisted at Holy Mass, is now converted into a beautiful—lawn !... In conclusion, leaving aside the question of the spiritual loss sustained by the Welsh people in consequence of the dissolution of all those monasteries at the time of the " Deformation," we will only say that " these religious houses, attracting the alms of the wealthy, were thus enabled to employ labour and to relieve the need of the poor and that, as a result, there were then no compulsory collections for the poor and workhouses were as yet unneeded and unknown." G.M. Trebaol, o.M.I.