Every season is beautiful here on the southern edge of the North York Moors, and although the seasons are not as distinct or predictable as in the past, autumn remains spectacular, probably because our location is so wooded. However, this year’s unseasonably mild autumn injected a note of reflective questioning into the poem which follows, […]
On 24 October Pope Francis published his latest encyclical letter, “Dilexit nos”, which is widely subtitled “On the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ”. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a central theme and it is opened up in an expansive and inclusive manner. The opening words of the […]
Saturday 9th November, it was a great delight to host our second YouCAN Monastery Day: Young adult Catholics coming together from all over the country to support one another and at the same time come to be supported by the monastic witness of our community. We hosted our first YouCAN day in March this year […]
ALL SAINTS A spectacular sunrise marked today’s celebration of All Saints, the day we remember and give thanks for all those who have gone before us, witnessing with lives of holiness to the holiness of God to which we are all called. As the sun rose into a low band of stratus cloud, it shone […]
JUBILEE STUDY DAY 12 October 2024 This year we wanted our annual study day with oblates and friends to reflect the 400th Jubilee. So we were delighted when Dr Jacob Riyeff, who teaches at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, accepted our invitation to speak to us on the writings of Dame Gertrude More (1606-33), our […]
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth, And justice look down from heaven. Psalm 84(85) Sr Stephen has been gathering in the apple harvest – a good crop this year, including the Lord Lambournes shown in the photograph. Rather than one large orchard, we have several micro-orchards in the monastery grounds in sheltered, well-drained spots which […]
On 1 October Sr Laurentia led a webinar on Benedictine prayer. This was part of CAFOD’s series of webinars from different traditions during the Year of Prayer (2024) in preparation for the Church’s Jubilee in 2025, ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. Participants engaged thoughtfully with the story of the prophet Elijah and the call to us to […]
Celebration Mass at Colwich Abbey On Sunday 22 September Mother Abbess Anna, Dame Theresa Mary, Dame Benedict and Dame Davina attended a Mass at St Mary’s Abbey, Colwich to mark with thanksgiving the one hundred and eighty-six years the Benedictine community of Our Lady of Good Hope lived at Colwich. The Mass was celebrated by […]
JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE to FOUNTAINS ABBEY Ist party: Weds 18 Sept 2nd party: Mon 23 Sept Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, had long been on our list of desirable places to visit, and, through the generous offices of the National Trust we have at last been able to make a pilgrimage to the world-famous site during our […]
This year, for the first time, we will celebrate Our Lady of Walsingham as a liturgical feast; previously it has been a memoria, but Rome has granted permission for the elevation of the celebration, partly because of the importance of this national shrine to the English people. The shrine was established in 1061, following the […]
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross 2024 Numbers 21 – 4 -9; Philippians 2:6 -11; John 3:13-17 All three of the readings for this feast focus our eyes on the Cross or its foreshadowing and our minds on life-giving paradox. First, Moses’ standard, which has become the symbol of the medical profession, […]
I entered our abbey church for Compline, a little early, and found several sisters already sitting in the dimly-lit space. It was the evening before the Solemnity of the Dedication of the Church. As part of the celebrations a candle is lit at each of the twelve dedication crosses on the wall, giving a unique […]