{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Dame''' '''Felicitas Corrigan''' [[Order of Saint Benedict|OSB]] (6 March 1908 – 7 October 2003, '''Kathleen Corrigan''') was a British [[Benedictine]] [[nun]], author and humanitarian.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/dame-felicitas-corrigan-37286.html ''Independent'' obituary]</ref>
==Biography== Corrigan was born in [[Liverpool]] in 1908 to a large family. She learned to play the organ at an early age and by age 15 was working as an organist at a local church. She then won an organ scholarship from the [[Archdiocese of liverpool|Archdiocese of Liverpool]]. While studying Gregorian Chant at [[Stanbrook Abbey]] in [[Worcestershire]], she met [[Laurentia McLachlan|Dame Laurentia McLachan]], who would later inspire Corrigan to become a nun.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2003-10-23|title=Obituary: Felicitas Corrigan|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/oct/23/guardianobituaries|access-date=2021-11-15|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Corrigan read English at the [[University of Liverpool]], delivering a dissertation on the poet [[Coventry Patmore]].<ref name=":0" />
In 1934, the 25 year-old Corrigan entered Stanbrook Abbey as a novice. She became a nun and eventually the Abbey [[Choir|choir director.]] One of her projects was to develop an English version of the office of [[Compline]] for the abbey.
Corrigan wrote the book ''The Nun, the Infidel, and the Superman'' (1985). It was about the friendships between McLachlan and [[George Bernard Shaw]] and the scholar [[Sydney Cockerell|Sir Sydney Cockerell.]] The book was adapted into [[The Best of Friends (play)|''The Best of Friends'']], a [[The Best of Friends (play)|play]] by [[Hugh Whitemore]] that was staged in the [[West End theatre|West End]] of London.<ref name=":0" /> It also became a [[The Best of Friends (play)|film for television]] starring [[Wendy Hiller]].<ref name=":0" /> In the course of her career, Felicitas corresponded with poet [[Siegfried Sassoon]], actor [[Alec Guinness]]; and novelist [[Rumer Godden]].
Corrigan's [[biography]] of [[Helen Waddell]] was awarded the 1986 [[James Tait Black Memorial Prize]].<ref name=":0" /> Corrigan also wrote about [[Hildegard of Bingen]] and edited publications for the Stanbrook Abbey Press. Her other works include:
*''In a Great Tradition: Tribute to Dame Laurentia McLachlan, Abbess of Stanbrook'' (1956) *''George Thomas of Soho'' (1970) *''Siegfried Sassoon: Poet's Pilgrimage'' (1973) *''Benedictine Tapestry'' (1991)
Corrigan was Stanbrook Abbey's organist from 1933 until 1990. She died at [[Cheltenham]] on 7 October 2003.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,3604,1068754,00.html ''Guardian'' obituary by Peter Stanford]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Corrigan, Felicitas}} [[Category:1908 births]] [[Category:2003 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century British Roman Catholic nuns]] [[Category:British Roman Catholic writers]] [[Category:British people of Irish descent]] [[Category:Benedictine nuns]] [[Category:Writers from Liverpool]] [[Category:Musicians from Liverpool]] [[Category:James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients]] [[Category:20th-century British biographers]] [[Category:Private press movement people]]