Mags GarganMagdalene College Cambridge has deep monastic and Catholic roots
Finola Kennedy
To attend Mass in the chapel of Magdalene College Cambridge is a reminder of the deep monastic and Catholic roots of the university. The motto of the College is in the old French: garde ta foy (keep your faith).
Those Catholic roots extend beyond the time when Cambridgeshire was Oliver Cromwell’s stronghold although East Anglia still has a relatively small Catholic population. Today the influence of Cromwell has waned but it is said that his head is now hidden in Sidney Sussex College.
The most famous graduate of Magdalene is Samuel Pepys. Among the gems of the library which he bequeathed to his old college is the earliest pamphlet of four pages regarding Our Lady of Walsingham, the focus of England’s national shrine.
Aside from Pepys, for an Irish person at any rate, the most famous student of Madgalene is Charles Stewart Parnell. The current Master of the college is Baron Rowan Williams of Oystermouth, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Mass which I attended was an optional feature of a three-day conference at Magdalene from September 22-25 organised by the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The society was founded almost 50 years ago in London by Martin Gillett, then an Anglican.
The aim is to advance the study and understanding of Mary and in light of such understanding to advance ecumenism. The theme of the recent conference centred on the Immaculate Conception, which was solemnly defined as a Church dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854.
Opening talk
The opening talk at the conference was given by Richard Clutterbuck, principal of Edgehill Theological College in Belfast. He asked if the ‘Christian perfection’ of Methodism and Catholicism’s ‘Immaculate Conception’ could help in understanding each other.
The second talk was given by Rowan Williams on the discipleship of Mary. Baron Williams said that a disciple is a learner, a listener and someone prepared to take up the cross. He spoke of how Luke’s Gospel is framed by two episodes of Mary waiting on the Holy Spirit – the Annunciation and Pentecost.
Another talk which stood out was given by Fr Pierre Najem, OMM, from Notre Dame University in Lebanon. Fr Najem spoke on the Queenship of Mary in the writings of the Fathers of the Church. At times popular devotion could be linked with profound scholarship.
The depiction of Mary by St John of Damascus as ‘Bride of the Father’ could be related to the wearing of crowns or garlands by brides in certain parts of the world.
Finding the common ground
As is often the case with conferences, some of the most interesting encounters are the informal ones. In addition to different religious backgrounds there were diverse social backgrounds represented. These included a 22-year-old student from Burundi who had lost his parents and siblings in a massacre, yet possessed one of the brightest smiles I have ever seen. Another participant had spent over 32 years in the BBC ñ he had produced the main news for 10 years.
There was time to visit some places in Cambridge with close Marian associations. For instance, the chapel of Kingís College with its stained glass windows in which Mary features prominently, a reflection of the full title of the college which is ëKingís College of Our Lady and St Nicholasí.
The organisers of the conference led by Fr Bill McLoughlin, a Servite priest, are all volunteers. They did a splendid job in bringing together a group which included representatives from England, Ireland North and South, Lebanon, the United States and Africa. Among the Christian traditions represented were Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and other Christian denominations. The common ground was love for the Mother of God.
*Finola Kennedy is the author of Frank Duff: A Life Story. She spent time as a graduate student of economics in Cambridge in the 1960s.