Blackfriars - Dominican Priory of St. Michael

Introduction

The medieval Dominican priory in Cambridge, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was founded either in or shortly before 1238, and King Henry III gave oak trees to help with its construction that year.

History

By 1296, through the benefaction of Alice de Sanford, the Countess of Oxford, the friars were able to enlarge greatly their original buildings. In perhaps 1314 the Cambridge Priory was made into a 'studium generale' for the Order, and it continued in this role until the house was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1538.

In 1955 the friars bought the neighbouring house Howfield, and the two houses were connected by a new wing in 1961-2 designed by David Roberts. At Easter 2000, Blackfriars became the noviciate house for the English Dominican Province. The most famous medieval Dominican to teach in Cambridge was probably Robert Holcot.

Architecture and furnishings

An aula on the first floor eventually became a chapel for daily Mass and the public celebration of the Divine Office. The second floor housed the Priory's theological and philosophical library.

Music and liturgy

The public celebration of the Liturgy is open to all. From 1980 to 1999 the Priory was home to young lay-people who shared the friars' daily life of Divine Office and common meals. A friar long contributed to a Blackfriars Theology Group and ran a Bible Study Group.

Parish life

Blackfriars hosts the monthly meetings of the Cambridge Lay Dominican Fraternity. In 1999, people connected with Blackfriars established the Jean Grove Trust, a charity supporting several schools in Ethiopia.

The Priory had close involvement with the Catholic Chaplaincy at Fisher House in Cambridge. From 1994 to 2000, a friar was the Senior Catholic Chaplain to the University.

Many of the community help out in local parishes, providing cover for local clergy during absences. One of the priests is the Assistant Chaplain at Fisher House. During term time, two friars teach in the Dominican Studium in Oxford.

The noviciate offers a place where entrants can begin to make the Dominican way of life their own. Novices share in the prayer life through the Divine Office and daily Mass, and take their turn in cooking and house jobs. Novices have classes on the Dominican charism, history, spirituality, and the constitutions, as well as on the wider life of the Church. Novices may visit schools and parishes to talk about the Dominican way of life.