In September Father Philip Willson came to Ampleforth to make his annual retreat with the Community. On the first day of the retreat he felt unwell and although in the following week he recovered sufficiently to attend a domestic celebration of his fiftieth year in the habit, he was obviously a sick man and only lived another month. He died piously on October 11th. It was as he would have desired, for he died comforted and strengthened by the Sacraments and the prayers of his brethren, to whom he was so devoted and to whom he had been such a shining example of genuine goodness.
The external circumstances of his life were very much those of so many of us. He came to Ampleforth as a small boy of ten in 1883 and after a short time spent at his home in Birmingham he joined the novitiate at Belmont in September 1891. He returned to Ampleforth in 1895 and was ordained priest in 1899. Until 1900 he taught in the school. Thenceforward he served many of our parishes. He was an assistant at St Peter's Liverpool, Brownedge, St Anne's, Liverpool, St Mary's, Warrington, and Workington. In 1919 he was appointed Superior at St Anne's, Liverpool, and in 1928 Superior at Brownedge, where he remained until 1940. Then he came to live near Ampleforth, at Easingwold, which, under the changed conditions of the war, had ceased to be a haven of rest. Here he became well known to many of the younger members of our Community, who can testify to his devotion to duty and to hard work up to the end.
Over and above the care of souls Father Philip, from December 1929 after the death of Father Wilfrid Darby, had borne the additional burden of Economus of our parishes. He showed himself a capable and careful administrator of the funds entrusted to his care. For many years he was a member of the Council of the Abbey, where his practical advice, given with characteristic diffidence, was greatly valued by all, and in 1935 he was created Cathedral Prior of Durham in recognition of his services.
We have lost in Father Philip a model priest and monk. His intellectual gifts were good without being brilliant. His factual memory, a strong family point, was above the average. He loved music which, with an occasional game of golf, was his chief recreation. His interest in music and church liturgy led him to lend a gentle hand in the reform of church music in some of our parish churches. But Father Philip will always be remembered by us for his outstanding spiritual and moral qualities To his brethren and his parishioners he was kindness itself and it is difficult to remember his ever saying an unkind word of anyone but not so difficult to recall the many simple acts of thoughtfulness for the welfare of others, for their comfort or their health. He seemed to love dispensing hospitality to everyone. He was, too, the sort of subject of whom Superiors must dream, ever ready to do hard things gladly and cheerfully. These sterling qualities were - need it be said - the outcome of his inner life, in which, with all its preoccupations, his uppermost thought was for the service of God and the salvation of souls. It was fitting that so good a monk, after spending the greater part of his life elsewhere, should happily return to his monastery to die. His end will not be forgotten by those who were privileged to be present. May he rest in peace.
To his family, old friends of Ampleforth and especially to his three brothers, all priests of our Community, we offer our sincerest sympathy.
JOHN PHILIP WILLSON 11 October 1941
1873 13 Feb Born Birmingham
1883 Educ Ampleforth
Had 2 years in business
1891 3 Sep Habit at Belmont
1892 6 Sep Simple Vows
1893 21 May Minor Orders
1896 12 Jan Solemn Vows Ampleforth
1897 9 Feb Subdiaconate
1898 29 Jun Diaconate
1899 20 Mar Priesthood
1900 Assistant at St Peter's Liverpool
Assistant at Brownedge
1903 Oct St Peter's Liverpool
1904 Nov St Anne's Liverpool
1915 Oct St Mary's Warrington
1917 Feb Workington
1919 Sep Head of St Anne's Liverpool for 11 years
1928 Feb Head of Brownedge parish
1929 Dec Succeeded Fr Darby as Economus of the Missions till his death
1935 Jul Nominated Cath Prior of Durham by the Abbot & his council
1940 Jan Parish priest at Easingwold
1941 Sep Came to the monastery for his retreat & was taken ill
He was anointed on the day of his golden jubilee in the Habit
Sept 3
11 Oct Died at Ampleforth