Welcome to the Belmont Abbey website.
On behalf of the monks of the Abbey of St Michael and All Angels, Belmont, Hereford, England, I invite you use this vastly improved site and so get to know more about our life and work as a Benedictine Community, members of the English Benedictine Congregation and part of the Roman Catholic Church.
Belmont is a place of great beauty with a fascinating history, a magnificent church and attractive gardens. Today it is a thriving, hardworking Community following the Rule of St Benedict and committed to sharing its rich spiritual and liturgical life with others, both at Belmont, in our foundation in Peru and in the many parishes and chaplaincies for which we are responsible.
You
can discover all this through the website or you can visit us and see for
yourselves. I pray that your contact with us may be a real blessing and that
you will find exactly what you are looking for.
Abbot Paul Stonham
Stations of the Cross Appeal
Fr Abbot and the Belmont Community would like to thank all those who contributed so generously in helping us to restore the Stations of the Cross in the Abbey Church. To date £15,507 (of which £3,655 is Gift-Aided) has been given to the Appeal. The Stations are now with the restorers and should be returned to Belmont in the near future. Some of them were severely damaged and in a precarious state. They will not be changed or transformed in any way and will simply look as they did when installed in the Abbey in 1873 to celebrate the Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Cuthbert Hedley O.S.B. Any money over and above the cost of restoration will be used to repair vestments and, possibly, to acquire a new set of white concelebration Mass vestments.
Latest News
Clothing of Novices We wish our two novices every blessing and the grace perseverance in the monastic life.
On the evening of Friday, 1st February 2013, our two postulants were clothed in the habit by Abbot Paul Stonham and so began their novitiate under the Novice Master, Dom Brendan Thomas, and his assistant, Dom Andrew Berry.
Br Dunstan Nelson comes from Ipswich and is a convert to the Catholic faith. He has a BSc in Molecular Biology and an MSc in Soil Management. He changed his name from Paul as there are already two Pauls in the community. Br Alistair Findley is from Tynemouth and is also a convert. He studied at Durham University, where he obtained a Cert.Ed. Prior to entering the monastery he had a distinguished teaching career. He was able to retain his baptismal name.
First Profession of Br David Yates
During the Conventual Mass on the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, 2nd February 2013, our novice Br David Yates made his First Profession as a monk of Belmont. He has an MA in Ancient History and an MSc in Heritage Museum Studies. We are delighted that Br David has made his profession and wish him every happiness and blessing as he continues his formation in the monastic life.
Abbot Paul's homily
Retreats
New Retreat Programme for 2013
The new retreat programme for 2013 is now available please click on the following links for more information or visit our retreat page.
Residential Retreat Programme 2013
Day Retreat Programme 2013
Forthcoming Retreats
Faith of our
Fathers
May 31st
to June 2nd (2 days, Registration Fee £26)
Abbot Paul Stonham reflects on the experience of ordinary
Catholics throughout the ages as they strive to live out their faith in an ever
changing world.
Click Here for further details
The Wisdom
of Good Pope John
June
28th to 30th (2 days, Registration Fee £26)
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death
of Pope John XXIII known simply as the
Good Pope. In this retreat Dom Brendan Thomas reflects on the life and work
of Pope John who in the short time that he occupied the Throne of Peter showed
himself to be a man of good pastoral sense, humility and simplicity.
Click Here for further details
Book Launch
On 4th September we successfully launched our new book, "Belmont Abbey: Celebrating 150 years" at a celebration attended by friends, oblates and many of those who had contributed chapters for the book. Edited by Dom Andrew Berry, a member of the Belmont Community and assistant novice master, it contains contributions on the history and life of Belmont including chapters on the School, our foundation in Peru and the architecture of the church and monastery. Illustrated throughout; "Belmont Abbey: Celebrating 150 years" has proved very popular among those who know the community well and those who are interested in monastic life as it continues to be lived out in the 21st Century. In the words of Abbot Paul Stonham: "This story is one of fidelity to the Rule and to the Gospel, to the Benedictine tradition and to the Church. At the same time it is the story of men with hearts open to the call of Christ, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the needs of the world around and beyond them". At a cost of £24.90, this book provides a fascinating insight into the history, life and work of one of the great Benedictine communities in this country. "Belmont Abbey: Celebrating 150 years" can be purchased from the Abbey bookshop or by mail order. Please ring 01432 374752 between 2.00pm and 5.00pm Monday to Saturday and after Mass on Sunday for further information.
Book Review in the Hereford Times