On the afternoon of the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, the Right Reverend Alban Riley, OSB, became the fourth abbot of Westminster Abbey, and he paid tribute to his own upcoming cross in his closing remarks.
“I would like to thank Our Lord Jesus ...,” said the new abbot, pausing slightly before continuing, “for giving me this cross.”
As the entire congregation chuckled, Abbot Riley continued by thanking his Benedictine community “… for also giving me this cross, as well as helping me greatly to bear it.”
Again, the congregation’s liturgical response was to chuckle. There is fresh air blowing in the abbey and it includes laughter.
The abbey church was filled by the monastic community and major seminarians in the east section, the minor seminarians, religious sisters, and Oblates in the north, the clergy in the south, and more Oblates, friends, and relatives of Father Riley and interested Catholics in the west.
The rare event of the abbatial blessing made an impression on the congregation, particularly some of the younger guests.
Chiara Yong, a Grade 4 student at St. Andrew’s Elementary in Vancouver, said it was hard to see from where she was seated at the back of the church, but she was particularly moved when Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, elevated the host at the consecration and when she received Communion from the new abbot.
After one week in the minor seminary, Dominic Lefebvre said that what struck him was the large number of priests who had come to witness the event and show their support. “As a priest you know you have all these brothers,” he said.
The organist at the abbey, Father Caesarius, had composed a special motet, a vocal musical piece, for the occasion. He asked for the permission of the new abbot who then chose the text.
Abbot Riley was elected abbot July 11 following the resignation of Abbot John Braganza, who had served for sixteen years and resigned in May.
The abbot serves as spiritual head and father of the 32 men living the Benedictine monastic way of life at Westminster Abbey. He is also chancellor of the Seminary of Christ the King, the abbey’s main apostolate.
Abbot Alban was born in 1956 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, the eldest of three children of Anthony Riley and Maria Walter.
In 1962 he and his family immigrated to Canada, settling in Kingston, Ont., where he completed his elementary and secondary education in Catholic schools and went on to Queens University, graduating with a major in history.
He arrived at Westminster Abbey as a postulant in 1979, completed his novitiate, and made first profession of vows in 1981, taking the name and patronage of St. Alban Roe, an English Benedictine martyr of the sixteenth century. He made solemn vows in 1984 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1985.
During his time in monastic life, Abbot Alban has been assigned to vocation work and has been novice master. As a professor he has taught in both the major and minor departments of the Seminary of Christ the King, teaching liturgy, Church history, Latin, and French.
He served as vice-rector of the major seminary and as subprior of the monastic community since 2006. In addition to his bachelor’s degree he obtained a licentiate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome.
Gifted with languages, Abbot Alban also enjoys Elvish, not to mention he reads Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings almost yearly.
Heraldic description and explanation of Abbot Alban’s coat of arms
Azure semy of fraises: the white strawberry flowers on blue from the Fraser arms, to recall the Fraser Valley where the Westminster Abbey is situated.
A saltire indented or: the x-shaped cross gold on blue from the arms of St Alban’s Abbey, England, the remains of which were important in the life of St. Alban Roe, Abbot Alban’s patron; the indentation recalls the zig-zag walls of Westminster Abbey Church.
On a chief argent, a roundel vert (charged with an oak tree or) between dexter a roundel gules (charged with a unicorn rampant argent) and sinister a roundel gules (charged with a Martello tower argent): three roundels give Abbot Alban’s personal origins: the white unicorn on red (arms of Schwäbisch Gmünd, the town where he was born); the gold oak tree on green from the arms of Nottinghamshire, where his father came from; the white Martello tower on red from the arms of Kingston, Ont., where he grew up.
As his motto, Abbot Alban chose “Prodesse,” as found in Chapter 64 of the Rule of St. Benedict: “Sciatque sibi oportere prodesse magis quam praeesse.” (And let him know that it beseems him more to profit his brethren than to preside over them).