Golden Jubilee Celebration of Dom Wulstan Probert

6th April 2007

In the presence of his Community, family and friends Dom Wulstan presided at a midday Mass in thanksgiving for 50 years of Priesthood, since his ordination in 1957. Dom Wulstan is a much-loved senior member of the community and it was indeed a joyous occasion.

The actual date of his anniversary fell on Good Friday this year so the celebration was tranferred to Easter Wednesday. The whole congregation was invited to a buffet lunch that followed in the Monastic refectory.

Ad multos annos, vivat!

Abbot Paul preached the following homily:

Dom Wulstan Probert - Golden Jubilee of Priesthood

This is not a Requiem Mass, so I am not going to preach a panegyric. We all hope and pray that Fr Wulstan will enjoy many more years of happy semi-retirement here at Belmont.

We have just heard that wonderful account from St Luke of the meeting between the two disciples and Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It's a story we all know by heart and love dearly. We never tire of listening to it. The words of Cleopas and his companion never fail to strike a chord, "Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?" For a Benedictine in particular, who spends a fair chunk of his day at Lectio Divina, those words really sum up the monastic experience.

Like the Gospel itself, it is the Mass that lies at the very heart of the Christian life and makes the Church what it is, the mystical Body of Christ. Each day a Benedictine community celebrates the Conventual Mass, the most important part of our day, which brings the whole community together and unites us to Christ and to one other. Each day, as we sit with Jesus at table, he takes the bread and says the blessing, then he breaks it and hands it to us. Our eyes are opened and we recognise him to be our Crucified Saviour and Risen Lord. It is only in the breaking of bread that we discover who Jesus really is.

St Luke tells us that the two disciples "set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem", where they met up with the Eleven and their companions. They were told, "Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and he has appeared to Simon." Now comes the important bit, "Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread." They told their story.

Each one of us has a story to tell, the story of our encounter with Jesus, of how he has spoken to us, of how he has come into our homes, into our lives, and of how we have recognised him in the breaking of bread. Today we have come together to give thanks to God our Father for Fr Wulstan's journey of faith and specifically for fifty years of faithful service as a priest. Fr Wulstan's journey has taken him a bit further than the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

Vincent James Probert was born at Evesham on 2nd March 1926 and went to school there, taking his school certificate at the local Grammar School. On reaching the age of 17 he enlisted in the Royal Navy, though, as yet, hasn't been offered £100,000 to sell his story to the newspapers. After working in the family business, he came to Belmont in 1950 and was clothed by Abbot Anselm on St Michael's Day. He was solemnly professed by Abbot Alphege on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes 1955 and ordained at Evesham on 6th April 1957 by Archbishop Grimshaw. It wasn't a Good Friday, but I mention Evesham again because of Fr Wulstan's devotion to Our Lady of Evesham.

Then began that long journey which has led us to this Mass today. For over 20 years he taught little boys, first at Alderwasley and then at Llanarth. At the same time he did a lot of pastoral work. For 11½ years he was priest in charge of Matlock Bath and Cromford, then for 7½ years parish priest of Llanarth. In 1979 he went up to Harrington where for 8½ years he was curate and then parish priest. He returned to Belmont in 1987 where he was parish priest for 2½ years before moving down to Abergavenny as assistant priest for 6½ years. Although there are a lot of halves there, Fr Wulstan never did anything by half. He always threw his heart and soul, not to mention bus, train and plane tickets, into everything, for his hard work has always been peppered by jaunts to exciting and often far away places.

Although he returned to Belmont in 1995, he has done extended supplies as acting parish priest at Egremont, Queensferry, Dolgellau and Bala and several other places. Everywhere, without exception, he earned the love, respect and collaboration of the local people. Although at Belmont we are a community of saints, it is not unusual to hear complaints and criticisms about the brethren, sometimes from each other. Fr Wulstan must be one of the very few monks who has never had a bad word said against him. He has now retired from active service, though he is always willing to help out where he can and, of course, he is confessor to our Poor Clares at Much Birch.

They told their story. The telling of our story encourages others in their journey of faith. Being a Christian today isn't easy for anyone. By telling their story of what happened on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and his fellow disciple not only reconfirmed Simon Peter's testimony that Jesus had risen from the dead. For over two thousand years they have helped countless Christians and non-believers to recognise Jesus Christ as their Risen Lord and Saviour. No less does Fr Wulstan's story give us new heart and new hope as we too journey along our road, often like the two disciples, taking a long time before the penny drops and we come to know that it is Jesus who is walking beside us.

Fr Wulstan, in the name of the Belmont Community and all those you have served over 50 years, I thank you for your faith, kindness, generosity, patience, humility, friendship and extraordinary sense of humour. And lest we forget, almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we thank you for calling Fr Wulstan to be a monk of Belmont and your priest, alter Christus, Christ's living presence in the world