St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough

Saint Michael 's Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. The small community is known for the quality of the liturgy in Latin, Gregorian chant, their organ and their publications.

History

The foundation stone for the abbey was laid in 1881 by ex- Empress Eugénie ( 1826-1920 ). You should as a mausoleum for her late husband Napoleon III. Serve (1808-1873) and their son, both of their final resting place in the Imperial Crypt: found (about imperial crypt ). Together with Eugénie they are in a granite sarcophagus.

The church and monastery were originally operated by Premonstratensians. 1895 replaced the ex- empress by French Benedictine monks of Solesmes. Fernand Cabrol, monk and scholar, was prior and later abbot (1903), at the same time Henri Leclercq and a small group of French monks joined the monastery. Leclercq and Cabrol worked together for many years. The once vaunted for their scholarly writings and their musical tradition of Gregorian chant Community shrank in 1947 and was reinforced by a small group of English monks from the Abbey Prinknash. The last French monk, Dom Zerr, died 1956. 2006 chose the community, the English abbot of Farnborough, Right Reverend Dom Cuthbert Brogan.

Public tours of the abbey are held every Saturday by 15 clock. The tour includes the church and the crypt.

The Abbey Church

The abbey church was built by the famous French architect Gabriel -Hippolyte Destailleur in an overloaded neo-gothic style.

It houses a famous two-manual organ from 1905, which was created by the famous organ building companies Aristide Cavaillé -Coll & Company. However, the origins of the instrument are in the dark. Although it was not installed until after the death of Cavaillé- Coll, it bears his name instead of his son Charles Mutin. The interior work is of such quality that they give a clear testimony to the high standard of craftsmanship of this company to its best time.

The abbey church houses since 1899 a small organ of the company Mutin Cavaillé- Coll ( successor Aristides ). It was extended by the company Klais / Bonn in 2000. The instrument has 14 stops on two manuals and pedal, and three transmissions. The tracker action are mechanical.

• Pairing: Normal Couplers: II / I, I / P, II / P
• Suboktavkoppeln: II / I
• Superoktavkoppeln: -

Every first Sunday afternoon of the month organ lectures will be held.

The church also houses the hip bone of St. Alban of England, the most important relic of this saint in England.

Catholic National Library

The Catholic Central Library ( Catholic Central Library ) was established after the First World War by the Catholic Truth Society. She was cared for by Franciscan many years. In 2007, she moved initially to the St. Michael 's Abbey until a final decision is made about their future. In the same year it was renamed the Catholic National Library; it is one of the outstanding collections of Catholic literature in England.