Sunday May 25th. 2008
Of the three Scots monasteries, two were suppressed and only St James in Ratisbon remained (probably because Napoleon's Marshall Macdonald, son of a Scot from South Uist, used his influence). But the difficulties were too great. In 1862 Scottish monastic life in Ratisbon came to an end.
However, it was not the end. The last Scottish monk, Father Anselm Robertson, who belonged originally to Fochabers, Aberdeen shire, came back to Scotland and gave the monastic habit to a novice in Fort Augustus, making the Abbey there the successor and continuation of his ancient monastery of St, James of the Scot in Ratisbon
Sometime in 1862, Fr Anselm Robertson loaded a horse-drawn cart with as much as it could carry and set off on the long journey from Regensburg (or Ratisbon), to his native Scotland. He took as much of the library as he could, and these books became the priceless possession of the library at Fort Augustus Abbey.
When the Abbey was dissolved in 1999, these books were gifted to the National Library of Scotland. Pride of place went to the 11th century volume of patristic texts written by the Irish Benedicitne monk, Marianus,, the founder and abbot of the community at Ratisbon. This contains, in Marianus’s hand, the earliest written Gaelic word to be found in any work currently held in Scotland. Many of the original manuscripts from Ratisbon were also held by the library in Fort Augustus Abbey.
Sadly, because of the decline in vocations, the Abbey closed its doors in 1999.
The school had become too costly to run, because there were no longer any monks available
to teach the boys, and lay teachers had to be enrolled on the staff. Even after
an attempt to turn it into an historical centre for visitors, it proved impractical
and hastened the early demise of the abbey.
Where the divine office was sung, and
high mass celebrated daily; where the monks walked silently in prayer in the grounds;
where youths received an excellent education and their faith nourished—all this is
now only a distant memory of the Abbey’s days of glory. The former Abbey and the
cells of the monks are now converted into luxury flats for the rich. A sign of the
times!
The ancient Scottish Monastery of St. James, Ratisbon
St. Benedict’s Abbey, Fort August, the continuation of the old Scottish Abbey of St. James, Ratisbon