Blackfriars, Oxford I first discovered this beautiful, simple monastic chapel when I attended Fr Simon Tugwell OP's lectures on the English mystics while I was a student at Oxford. Whenever I visit England, if I make it to Oxford I always spare a moment to pray in this simple, austere sacred space. The chapel [...]
Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire, England After a dispute and riot in 1132 at the Benedictine house of St Mary's Abbey, in York, 13 monks were expelled (among them Saint Robert of Newminster) and, after unsuccessfully attempting to return to the early 6th-century Rule of St Benedict, were taken into the protection of Thurstan, Archbishop of York.[3] He provided them with land in the [...]
Cloister, Mont St Michel, France When I lived in England I made my annual retreat with the small community of Benedictines at Mont St Michel. The architecture is a Gothic marvel of economy and engineering brilliance. The lower levels with thick walls support common rooms with thinner walls and pillars and the whole living [...]
Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight, UK