St Bruno in the Refectory My first visit to a monastery was during Lent. It was suitably austere, cold, damp and penitential. My second visit was in July, and it was the feast day of St Benedict. We had sherry and canapés. Plenty of wine with the soup, steak, fresh salad, new potatoes, then [...]
Tintern Abbey Tintern Abbey in South Wales is situated in the beautiful Wye Valley--the Wye being a river that runs along the border of England and Wales. The hills rise above the river valley on the England side, and crowning the line of hills is the ancient earthwork defenses called Offa's Dyke. When my [...]
Conversion of Life means your whole self must be transformed into a living icon of Christ.
They say the Carthusian Order of monks is the only one that has never had to be reformed. The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of Saint Bruno, is a Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own Rule, called the Statutes, rather than the Rule of Saint Benedict, [...]
Last week I posted the full chapter from Benedict's Rule on Humility, then commented at the end of the week on the first four stages. Here are some thoughts on stages five through eight. The fifth degree of humility is that he hide from his Abbot none of the evil thoughts that enter his heart or [...]
From the Old Red Book The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know what is [...]
Quarr Abbey If you came this way, Taking any route, starting from anywhere, At any time or at any season, It would always be the same: you would have to put off Sense and notion. You are not here to verify, Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity Or carry report. You are here to kneel [...]
I was introduced to one of the great treasures of English medieval spirituality (sadly neglected by most Catholics) the Revelations of Divine Love by the anchoress and mystic Julian of Norwich when I took a course in the fourteenth century mystics at Blackfriars in Oxford. Fr Simon Tugwell OP was the brilliantly witty and erudite lecturer. The Lady Juliana was born about [...]
English Country Church From the Book of Common Prayer: ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for [...]
Benedict instructs his monks about silence after worship: When the work of God is finished all should leave the church in deep silence and show reverence for God. Our own worship should be punctuated with silence and stillness. Altar servers are instructed to enter the procession in a slow and stately manner. A certain solemnity is [...]