Editor’s note: In our correspondence for this feature, Father Caesarius Marple asked us to write the article about Fr Dunstan. However, the biography he supplied pointed to something larger than the artwork: that of Fr Dunstan’s relationship with his community. We thought this was a beautiful testimony, so we decided to keep the biography unchanged.

In addition, for a more complete survey of Fr Dunstan’s work, please visit Westminster Abbey’s web page. There you will find many more images and, as we have included here, pdf documents of specific series describing the work, the philosophy and the creation process of this remarkable body of work. The link is below.

Bill Massey was born in Vancouver, on 16 April 1924, and baptised in Saint Patrick’s Parish. Already in elementary school, his natural gift for art was obvious to many. He recounts how the Sisters of Saint Joseph (who ran the school at that time) would have him draw seasonal designs on the classroom chalkboards. At the age of 15, with the help of a generous benefactor, Amelia Buckerfield, Bill was accepted into the Vancouver School of Art. A year later he was asked to give an exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. This was a very exciting time for Bill and his family seeing how he would be the youngest artist ever to participate. However, with the death of his grandmother, Bill, who was now 18 years old, entered a period of reflection. He began going to the library and reading books written by the Church’s spiritual Fathers. It was while reading Saint Bernard’s On the Love of God that his vocation became clear. He would become a priest.

In September of that same year, 1942, he was admitted into Deer Lake Seminary run by the Benedictine monks of Westminster Priory. It would be during his seminary years that he would make the decision to join the religious life himself. So, in 1949, Bill began his novitiate. He expressed to his superiors that he was ready to leave everything, even his gift of art, but the Lord had other plans for him. Throughout his life, Father Dunstan (Bill’s religious name) would produce many magnificent paintings and sculptures.

Sixty five years have passed since his novitiate days and it is difficult to find a room in the abbey not adorned by one of his works. For example, in the Minor Seminary Chapel there hangs his beautiful Ceramic Crucifix; or if one walks into the abbey church, one is surrounded by a myriad of reliefs emerging from the concrete walls. Perhaps Fr Dunstan’s most celebrated work is his fresco The Temptation of Saint Benedict. The painting radiates the triumph of a youth over the world and its riches. It reflects the life of Fr Dunstan who, like Saint Benedict, conquered Satan when tempted by the world. His artistic talent probably would have led him to a prestigious career in art, but instead, he chose the “path of life,” as Saint Benedict puts it in his Rule.

Our community is grateful for Fr Dunstan, not only for the many masterpieces he has left for our abbey, but for the man he is behind the brush. A confrere relates how he once heard Fr Dunstan speaking to a minor seminarian after a drama performance. The seminarian had played the part of Jesus and his acting greatly impressed Father. Afterwards, Fr Dunstan warmly shook his hand and said, smiling, “I always wanted to meet Jesus!” These words express the source of Fr Dunstan’s inspiration. The desire to meet Jesus, that is the gift he has shared with our community. For his vocation and presence, we are truly grateful.