Chronology of the life of Dom Marmion

The early years
1858-1873

  • 1858, 1 April: Joseph Marmion was born at 57 Queen Street, Dublin, the seventh of a family of nine
  • 1858, 6 April: He was baptised at the Church of St.Paul, Arran Quay, Dublin
  • 1864, May: He made his First Communion also at St.Paul's, Arran Quay
  • 1868, April / Dec: He attended the Augustinian Fathers' Primary School, St. John's Lane, Dublin
  • 1869, 11 January: He started secondary education at Belvedere College (S.J.), Dublin
  • 1870, 4 August: Sister Lizzie (Elisabeth) entered Convent of Mercy, Clonakilty, Co. Cork. She received the name in religion Sister Columba
  • 1873, 2 July: Sister Flora entered Convent of Mercy, Clonakilty. Her name in religion was SisterLorenzo
  • 1873, 18 December: Having finished his secondary education Joseph Marmion left Belvedere. He won a scholarship to Holy Cross College, Clonliffe, Dublin, the diocesan seminary

The long road to the cloister 1874-1886
1874-1886

  • 1874, 11 January: Joseph Marmion entered Holy Cross College, Clonliffe
  • 1874, 3 October: Started study for a philosophy degree at the Catholic University, Dublin
  •  ● 1876, 12 February: Sister Rosie entered Convent of Mercy, Clonakilty, receiving the name Sister Peter
  • 1877, October: Joseph Marmion graduated 'Bachelor of Arts' (BA), the Catholic University, Dublin
  • 1878, 9 April: His father William Marmion died, aged 58
  • 1879, 13 March: He signed 'A Promise' with two fellow students, one of whom was James Dunne
  • 1879, 24 December: Joseph Marmion arrived in Rome to continue his theological studies
  •  ● 1880, September: He visited the Benedictine monastery, Monte Cassino. First call to the Benedictine life
  • 1881, 27 February: Received Minor Orders
  • 1881, 12 March: Ordained subdeacon
  • 1881, 15 April: Ordained deacon
  • 1881, May: Awarded the Gold Medal. Named ‘Student of the Year', Propaganda College, Rome
  • 1881, 16 June: Joseph Marmion ordained priest at the Church of St.Agatha of the Goths, Rome
  • 1881, 17 June: He says his First Mass
  • 1881, 11 July: Left Rome for Dublin
  • 1881, 24 July: Joseph Marmion visited Maredsous Abbey for first time
  • 1881, August: Back in Ireland he refers to an illness, probably malaria contracted in Rome
  •  ● 1881, 14 September: Appointed curate, Dundrum Parish, Dublin; also chaplain to the Mental Asylum there
  • 1881, November: Ill again. The nuns of Sacred Heart, Mt.Anville, show their solicitude for their chaplain
  • 1882, January: He refers to a third bout of his illness
  • 1882, 13 August: He baptises for the last time in Dundrum
  • 1882, 1 September: Nominated chaplain to the Redemptoristine Convent, Drumcondra, Dublin
  • 1882, 15 September: Joseph Marmion appointed Professor of Metaphysics and French at Clonliffe College
  • 1883, November: He gives up his undertaking in becoming a missionary monk in Australia
  • 1884, 18/19 August: He assists Sister M. Clare, a Redemptoristine novice, on her death bed
  • 1884, 6 September: Joseph Moreau, his Belgian friend begins his novitiate at Maredsous
  • 1884, November: He is forced to set aside the idea of becoming a monk due to family money problems
  • 1885, 11 February: Cardinal McCabe, Archbishop of Dublin, dies
  • 1885, 29 April: He decides to become a Benedictine monk
  • 1885, August: He visits Maredsous Abbey
  • 1885, September: Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. William Walsh asks him to defer entering for a year
  • 1886, June: He resigns his Redemptoristine chaplaincy. He becomes chaplain at Mountjoy Prison
  • 1886, 25 October: Dr. Walsh issues the 'dimissoriale' letter authorising him to become a Benedictine
  • 1886, 1 November: He visits his sisters at their convents in Clonakilty and Dunmore East, Waterford

The young monk
1886-1898

  • 1886, 18 November: Joseph Marmion left Dublin for Maredsous, Belgium
  • 1886, 21 November: He arrived at Maredsous Abbey
  • 1886, 24 November: He received the Benedictine habit as a postulant
  • 1887, January: During this month he began to keep his spiritual diary
  • 1887, 10 February: He began novitiate directed by Dom Benoit D’Hondt. His name in religion is Columba
  • 1887, 17/25 April: His first retreat at Maredsous
  • 1888, 11 January: He signed his Probationary Petition
  • 1888, 19 January: The Chapter of Maredsous unanimously approve he be received for profession
  • 1888, 10 February: He made his vows of Simple Profession
  • 1888, March: He is appointed teacher of English and a housemaster in the abbey school
  • 1888, 19 August: The Abbey Church is dedicated with impressive ceremonial
  • 1889, 9 February: Prompt action by Dom Marmion saved the abbey from a serious outbreak of fire
  • 1890, 9 August: Dom Hildebrand de Hemptinne elected the second Abbot of Maredsous
  • 1890, September: Dom Marmion appointed Professor of Philosophy to the clerics of Maredsous
  • 1891, 10 February: He makes his Solemn Profession
  • 1891, 15 February: He is given ‘various responsibilities’ in the Abbey
  • 1891, 9/23 September: He spends two weeks in Germany
  • 1892, 12 February: His sister Flora (Sister Lorenzo) dies of cancer at her Convent of Mercy
  • 1893, 9 March: His mother dies in Dublin
  • 1893, 12 July: Abbot Hildebrand de Hemptinne is nominated first Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Order by Pope Leo XIII
  • 1893, 2 October: Dom Marmion is appointed assistant to the Master of Novices
  • 1894, September: He writes his first article for the Revue Benedictine
  • 1895, January: He has an ‘illness’ that persists into February. He is appointed ‘Zelator’ to the Novices
  • 1895, 10 June/4 July: He returns to Ireland to attend the centenary of St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, the national seminary. There he meets Mgr. Mercier for the first time
  • 1897, September: Dom Marmion is appointed Prefect to the Clerics of the Abbey
  • 1897, October: The 25th Anniversary of the foundation of Maredsous Abbey is celebrated
  • 1897, November: He begins monthly conferences for the clergy of the Diocese of Dinant
  • 1898, June: Begins correspondence as spiritual director with Dame Cécile de Hemptinne, Maredret
  • 1898, 30 Nov/8 Dec: Dom Marmion gives his first retreat to the nuns of Maredret

Louvain
1899-1909

  • 1899, January: Dom Columba informed of his nomination as subprior and prefect of Clerics of the Mont César community at Louvain, a new foundation by Maredsous Abbey
  • 1899, 12 February: He becomes confessor to the Carmelite Convent, Louvain
  • 1899, 13 April: He arrives at Mont César with the group of founding monks
  • 1899, June: He is appointed External Examiner in Theology at the Catholic University, Louvain
  • 1899, 8 July: Dom Robert de Kerckhove is named first Abbot of Mont César
  • 1899, 11 July: Dom Columba Marmion becomes Prior of the monastery
  • 1900, 31 January: Stephen Joyce, his brother-in-law, dies
  • 1900, 28 April: He assists at the deathbed of Mme Bodart
  • 1900, 14 June: He baptises a young English jockey
  • 1900, 8 September: He attends the abbatial blessing of Dame Cécile de Hemptinne, first Abbess of Maredret
  • 1900, 12/16 September: He gives a retreat to the Maredsous community during which Dom Pius de Hemptinne, a novice, comes to his notice
  • 1900, 22 December: He baptises a young Protestant woman
  • 1901, 30 November/8 December: He gives a retreat to the nuns of Maredret
  • 1902, 1 April: The incident involving the supervision of his letters to Abbess Cécile of Maredret
  • 1902, 13/21 September: He gives a retreat to the nuns of Douai, France
  • 1902, 18/26 December: He gives a retreat to the monastery of the Benedictine Abbey of Erdington, England
  • 1903, 17 January: He receives Ethel Longhurst into the Catholic Church
  • 1903, 23 May: The Abbot of Maredsous asks him to change his ’stability’ to Mont César Abbey
  • 1903, July: He ‘arranges the affairs’ of the Douai nuns at Reading in England
  • 1904, Mid July: He gives a retreat to the community of the Benedictine Abbey of Ampleforth, England
  • 1904, End July: He gives a retreat to the Benedictine community of Douai, Reading
  • 1904, 15 September: His ‘stability’ is transferred to Mont César Abbey
  • 1905, 29 January: He receives Beatrice Longhurst, Ethel’s sister, into the Church on her deathbed
  • 1905, 15 February: The Belgian bishops ask him to deal with the ‘Becker Affair’
  • 1905, 1 March: He converts Violet Susman
  • 1905, 16 May: He submits his report concerning the writings of Professor Becker
  • 1905, 1/8 December: He gives a retreat to the nuns of Maredret
  • 1906, 7 February: Mgr. Mercier is appointed Archbishop of Malines, Belgium
  • 1906, 16/23 March: He gives a private retreat to Mgr. Mercier
  • 1906, 25 March: He assists at the Episcopal Blessing of Archbishop Mercier at Malines
  • 1906, 1 April: He becomes involved in the ‘Tyrell Question’
  • 1906, 16 June: He celebrates the 25th anniversary of his priesthood
  • 1906, 8/20 July: He attends the Chapter General of the Beuron Congregation (Germany)
  • 1906, August: The inauguration of the Statue of Our Lady, Mont César
  • 1907, 27 January: The death of Dom Pius de Hemptinne
  • 1907, 20 March: Certificate of Good Conduct from the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Walsh
  • 1907, 26 March: Violet Susman is baptised
  • 1907, September: He spends a month in Britain: giving a retreat at Ampleforth Abbey (8/17); visiting Iona (12/19); giving a retreat at Fort Augustus Benedictine Abbey, Scotland (25/1 October)
  • 1907, 9th/18th December: He gives a retreat at Erdington Abbey, England
  • 1908, April/May: He gives a retreat at Downside Abbey, England
  • 1908, 2 August: He is invited to Maredsous with Cardinal Mercier for the ordination as deacon of several Clerics. He attends the annual dinner of the Past Pupils of the Abbey School
  • 1908, 3/12 September: He gives a retreat to the nuns of Haywards Heath, England
  • 1908, 13 September: Archabbot Placide Wolter of Beuron dies
  • 1908, 14/20 September: He attends the funeral of Dom Wolter at Beuron and the election of Archabbot Dom Ildefonse Schober
  • 1908, 25 December: Dom Columba composes his ‘Consecration to the Blessed Trinity’
  • 1909, 12/17 March: Dom Marmion and Cardinal Mercier make a retreat at Paray-le-Monial, France
  • 1909, 4/17 July: He is at Beuron for the Chapter General
  • 1909, 28 July/2 August: He gives a retreat in Reading
  • 1909, 1/11 August: He gives a retreat to the monks of the Abbey of Ramsgate, England
  • 1909, 11/19 September: He gives the annual retreat to the monks of Maredsous
  • 1909, 19 September: Abbot Primate de Hemptinne relinquishes his duties as Abbot of Maredsous