About Abbot Vonier
"His aim in taking up his pen was a purely apostolic one - that of opening the eyes of educated men and women to the splendors of the Catholic faith"
 Abbot Vonier was a
Benedictine monk who lived from 1876 to 1938. He was elected Abbot of
Buckfast Abbey, England, in 1906, and served in that capacity until
his death. During his lifetime, Vonier gained fame as the rebuilder of
Buckfast, which had been left in ruins following the Reformation, and as
the author of some 15 books of popular theology—works which developed "a
vast company of admirers who welcomed every new book of his with
enthusiasm."
The following biographical notes are excerpted from
Anscar Vonier, Abbot of Buckfast (1956) by Dom Ernest Graf, a fellow monk and
close acquaintance of Vonier.
Abbot Vonier — The Writer
Abbot Anscar regarded his literary
activity as part of the mission with which Providence had charged him.
The supreme aim of his life was undoubtedly the spread
of God’s Kingdom in England, the land of his adoption. The rebuilding of the
ancient Abbey church and the adjoining monastery was but one half of his
program, important though it was. For him the publication of a new book
was as gratifying an experience as the completion of a major section of
the church. How often he was heard to say: "We must give the people solid theology, for
they hunger for such spiritual food."
The dead are soon forgotten; so are their
achievements. In our days the printing-press churns out, year by year, an
ever-growing mass of reading matter, both religious and profane, yet Abbot Vonier’s books continue to be in demand though he has been dead these
eighteen years. There could be no more solid proof of their intrinsic
worth since it is a fact that most people tend to take up the latest book
almost before the ink is dry on its pages, rather than one by a writer
who, for so many, is now little more than a name.
The Secret of His Popularity: Solid Doctrine
Abbot Vonier was a teacher who
honored the intelligence of the average Christian man and woman. Very
properly he deemed "the ordinary man or woman" perfectly capable of
grasping, or at least of appreciating, the highest doctrines of the
Christian faith; all that was needed was to put these solemn truths before
them stripped of the technical terminology of the lecture-room.
Here was the real secret of his great popularity—he gave
the Christian people what they wanted—solid, substantial doctrine.
The Human Soul
It was in the year 1911 that Abbot
Vonier began work on the first of his many books, the subject being the
human soul.
It was interesting to watch him at work. The thousands who
have benefited by his books no doubt picture him as seated at a table
littered with books, or with books within easy reach. The reality was very
different. Apart from the Bible, the Summa of Saint Thomas, the two
Latin volumes already mentioned [i.e., Horace, and Cicero’s De Legibus],
and an English dictionary, I do not think he had as many as a dozen books
in his room.
The Human Soul was written, not at his desk, but in an
easy chair, on long, single sheets. The book seemed to write itself; sheet
after sheet was filled with astonishing speed and, apparently, without
effort, and almost before the ink was dry a noble lady tapped them out on
her typewriter.
There are those who regard The Human Soul as the
Abbot’s best work. The title should not lead anyone to think that the book
is only another of those stuffy volumes on psychology which clutter the
bookstalls these days. Abbot Vonier had taken a doctor’s degree in
philosophy and, had he been so minded, could easily have added yet another
"popular" manual to the many already in existence. But for him the writing
of books was part of his priestly activity. This book supplies the answer
to practically every question about the soul and its destiny that may
arise in the mind of a thoughtful Christian. In this work the Abbot
displays a youthful freshness and vigor, and though his theme bristles
with abstruse metaphysical problems, such is his grasp of the subject that
he is able to explain the most subtle topics in language that an educated
person should not find difficult to understand. The Human Soul
may be described as a synthesis of all we know about man’s origin and
destiny.
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