The Very Rev.

Bede Jarrett

O.P.
Born
Cyril Jarrett

(1881-08-22)22 August 1881
Greenwich, England
Died17 March 1934(1934-03-17) (aged 52)
London, England
Education
Occupation(s)Clergyman, writer

Bede Jarrett OP (22 August 1881 – 17 March 1934) was an English Dominican friar and Catholic priest who was also a noted historian and author. Known for works including Mediæval Socialism and The Emperor Charles IV, Jarrett also founded Blackfriars Priory at the University of Oxford in 1921, formally reinstating the Dominican Order at that university for the first time since the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII.

Early life and education

Born in Greenwich as Cyril Jarrett, he was the fifth of six sons to parents Colonel H.S. Jarrett, Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE), and Agnes (Beaufort) Jarrett.[1][2] Beginning in 1891, Jarrett studied at Stonyhurst, and in August 1898 he joined the Order of Preachers (OP), also known as the Dominican Order, at St Dominic's Priory in London.[2] Jarrett continued to study at the novitiate in Woodchester and became a novice on 24 September 1898 under the new name of Friar Bede.[2][3] His religious name was for Bede, known as "the Venerable Bede", an early British Catholic saint sometimes called the Father of English History.[1][4] On 30 August 1900, Jarrett moved to continue his studies of philosophy, theology and history at Hawkesyard Priory and received minor orders and the subdiaconate, and diaconate in 1902.[2][3]

In 1904 Jarrett became the first Dominican friar since the Reformation to study at the University of Oxford,[5] matriculating as a student with the Benedictines at St. Benet's Hall. He studied history and completed his degree in 1907.[1] On 18 December 1904, after his first term at Oxford, Jarrett was ordained in Woodchester.[3] To complete his formal education, in 1908 he received his lectorate in theology at Louvain.[1]

Career

St Dominic's Priory became Jarrett's first and long-time station.[6] Appointed prior at the "unusually early"[3] age of 33 and beginning his position on 17 June 1914, Jarrett became the elected provincial two years after on 5 September 1916 and held the office until his death in 1934 after a record four successful elections.[3][6] His accomplishments at St Dominic's included expanding the Laxton Dominican School for Boys, beginning a series of Thomistic lectures sponsored by London University and launching missions in the Middle East and South Africa.[3] He felt it was important that Dominicans preach abroad rather than concentrate efforts domestically, a departure from the previous provincial who had not pursued the South African mission for that reason.[7]

Blackfriars Priory

Jarrett also founded the Blackfriars Dominican priory in Oxford.[3] Construction began on 15 August 1921; it took Jarrett eight years to raise the funds to build the new priory, the success of which peers attributed to his frequent trips to and fundraising in the United States.[8] The event earned a letter of congratulations and encouragement from Pope Benedict XV.[9] The priory opened in 1929 but was incomplete at the time of Jarrett's death.[3][10]

Writings and publications

Jarrett authored numerous books, prayers and articles, including five entries in the Catholic Encyclopedia.[11] He also purchased Blackfriars, a Dominican magazine renamed New Blackfriars in the 1960s, for £40 in 1919 and persuaded publisher Basil Blackwell to publish it, which prevented it from being discontinued.[12][13]

Death

Jarrett died of sudden illness at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in London on 17 March 1934.[3][14] He is buried in St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Woodchester.

Influence

  • Jarrett knew author Graham Greene, also an Oxford graduate, and instructed his wife Vivien prior to her reception into the Catholic Church in 1922. He became godfather to Lucy Caroline Greene, their daughter, in 1933.[5] Greene biographers W.J. West and Michael G. Brennan speculate that Greene's relationship with Jarrett and Jarrett's works, including Mediaeval Socialism and Social Theories in the Middle Ages, influenced Greene's writings.[15][16]
  • The Encyclopedia of World Biography lists Jarrett's The Emperor Charles IV as the standard biography of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.[17]

Bibliography

Books

TitlePublication dateNotes
Mediaeval Socialism1914
S. Antonino and Mediæval Economics1914
Meditations for Layfolk1915Later published under the title Classic Catholic Meditations[18]
Saint Catherine of Siena: Her Life and Times1916With Catherine Mary Antony
The Abiding Presence of the Holy Ghost in the Soul1918Later published under the titles He Dwells in Your Soul and The Little Book of the Holy Spirit[19]
Living Temples 1919
The Religious Life1920
The English Dominicans1921
Life of St. Dominic1924
Social Theories in the Middle Ages: 1200–15001926
A history of Europe from earliest times to the present1929
The Space of Life Between1930
House of Gold: Lenten Sermons 1931
No Abiding City: Lenten Conferences Given at Our Lady of Victories1932
Our Lady of Lourdes: Meditations on the Saleve Regina1934
Contardo Ferrini1934
The Emperor Charles IV1935Published after Jarrett's death[20]
Purity 1937

Letters

TitlePublication dateEditor(s)Notes
Letters of Bede Jarrett1989Simon Tugwell, Aidan Bellenger

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bullough, S. "Jarrett, Bede". New Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Reeves, John-Baptist (June 1939). "Biography of Father Bede Jarrett, O.P." New Blackfriars. 20 (231): 420–426. doi:10.1111/j.1741-2005.1939.tb00186.x.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Delany, Bernard (May 1934). "Father Bede Jarrett, O.P." Blackfriars. 15 (170): 303–312. doi:10.1111/j.1741-2005.1934.tb04225.x.
  4. ↑ "The Venerable Bede". Durham World Heritage Site. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 Brennan, Michael (2010). Graham Greene: Fictions, Faith and Authorship. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 4. ISBN 9781847063397.
  6. 1 2 "The Author". Catholic Education. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Denis, Phillipe (1998). The Dominican Friars in Southern Africa: a Social History, 1577–1990. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninkijke Brill. ISBN 978-9004111448.
  8. ↑ Pepler, Conrad (April 1984). "Remembering Father Bede Jarrett 50 Years After". New Blackfriars. 65 (766): 186–190. doi:10.1111/j.1741-2005.1984.tb02664.x.
  9. ↑ The Catholic Historical Review: Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America. 1922. pp. 396–399.
  10. ↑ "Obituary". The Tablet. 18 April 1936. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  11. ↑ The Catholic Encyclopedia and its Makers. The Encyclopedia Press. 1917. p. 85. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via archive.org.
  12. ↑ West, W.J. (1997). The Quest for Graham Greene. New York City: St.Martins Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780312314781.
  13. ↑ Kerr, Fergus (October 2003). "The First Issue". New Blackfriars. 84 (992): 434–447. doi:10.1111/j.1741-2005.2003.tb06312.x. JSTOR 43250756.
  14. ↑ "Father Bede Jarrett". The Guardian. 19 March 1934. p. 14. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ West, W.J. (1997). The Quest for Graham Greene. New York City: St Martins Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780312314781.
  16. ↑ Brennan, Michael (Summer 2006). "Graham Greene's Catholic Conversion: The Early Writings (1923–29) and the Man Within". Logos. 9 (3): 134–157. doi:10.1353/log.2006.0022. S2CID 170701698.
  17. ↑ "Charles IV (Holy Roman Empire)". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  18. ↑ Jarrett, Bede (2004). Classic Catholic Meditations. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press. p. i. ISBN 9781622820184.
  19. ↑ Jarrett, Bede (2005). The Little Book of the Holy Spirit (PDF). Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press. p. i. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  20. ↑ Jarrett, Bede (1935). The Emperor Charles IV. London, UK: Eyre and Spottiswoode.
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