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It is time to celebrate and to be thankful for what God has done through us on the grounds of Portsmouth Abbey. It's 100 years of Vespers, Morning Prayers, Compline and the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. God is Faithful!
On November 9th 1918 Dom Leonard Sargent purchased The Amos Smith Manor House from Mrs. George Gardner Hall of Boston to establish a monastery of the English Benedictine Congregation. The monastery was established and dedicated to St. Gregory the Great the very next year and the rest is, as we say, HISTORY.
Please check out our timeline of God's faithfulness towards us. -
Portsmouth Abbey
100 Years of Prayer and Work
1919
On June 25,1919 Dom Leonard Sargent formally established Portsmouth Priory under the sponsorship of Downside Abbey, England, and named after the patron of Downside, St. Gregory the Great.
March 26, 1926
Dom Wulstan Knowles
Portsmouth Priory was transferred from Downside to Fort Augustus Abbey in Scotland. Dom Wulstan Knowles was appointed first Prior of Portsmouth Priory. Dom Wulstan went back to Fort Augustus after being elected as Abbot in 1929.
Sept 26, 1926
Portsmouth Priory School was established under Headmastership of Dom Hugh Diman. Who also became Prior of the monastery on various intervals. Dom Hugh Diman has been the anchor of the community and priory on all the occassions of situational storms.
1949
Priory was given independent status from Fort Augustus as a Conventual Priory with Dom Gregory Borgstedt appointed Superior.
1951
Dom Gregory resigns as Prior in order to help in founding a contemplative monastery in Elmira, New York (Mount Savior Monastery). The Abbot President, Herbert Byrne, appoints Dom Aelred Graham, a monk of Ampleforth Abbey, to be Prior.
1960
New Portsmouth Priory Church was dedicated by Dom Ansgar Nelson, Bishop of Stockholm, and attended by Governor Del Sesto as well as by church and state officials.
1969
Portsmouth priory was elevated to Abbey status and Dom Mathew Stark was appointed as the first Abbot.
1976
Portsmouth Abbey celeberated 50th anniversary of Portsmouth Abbey School.
1990
On June 23 of 1990 Coeducation begun with introduction of day girls into summer school. Also Oct 30, 1990 St. Thomas More Library was dedicated and given anonymously by an alumnus.
2006
Rhode Islands first wind turbine was dedicated in Portsmouth Abbey on March of 2006, till now thousands have toured the turbine, including numerous school and environmental groups, and its iconic, graceful image has become a welcome addition to the 525-acre campus. The mid-sized turbine has performed flawlessly since 2006.
2012
May of 2012 Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto was Dedicated on Campus. The Lourdes Grotto, located on the west side of the Portsmouth Abbey campus, is the result of a generous gift of an anonymous former student and benefactor of Portsmouth. The Grotto is composed of large boulders harvested from Portsmouth Abbey land. There are votive candles inside the Grotto and a granite bench outside for quiet reflection. Each year our candlelight procession leaves from the Grotto at the edge of the Bay and processes to the Church of St. Gregory the Great at the top of campus.
2016
Collaboration have begun with St Louis Abbey for the renewed future of Portsmouth Abbey on December of 2016. Both Portsmouth Abbey and Saint Louis Abbey believe that we will be ongoing witness of Monastic life, and our common apostolates of Benedictine education are of service to the Church in the United States, and can play an important role in the New Evangelization.
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