Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 10th March 2023
Abbot Paul • March 10, 2023
I apologise for there being no message as such today. Yesterday, after Mass at 4am, we set out for Paracas, arriving around 8.30. We said office in the car and had a full Peruvian fisherman’s breakfast on the pavement on arrival. After much negotiating, we hired a small boat and crew to visit the Ballesteros Islands, home to the guano producing birds, of which there are hundreds of thousands, and countless fairly tame sea lions. Afterwards we went back the the port and had the most spectacular lunch at one on the restaurants, the very best, spotlessly clean, perfect food and exceptionally polite staff. Eventually, we took the car to the museum, a few miles away, and spent a couple of hours there, learning all about the local pre-Inca cultures that populated that part of the coast, one of the windiest and most arid parts of the Peruvian coast. After an ice cream, we made our back slowly to the monastery, stopping only for an ice-cold beer on the way. We got back around 10pm, worn out but happy. It was an unexpectedly wonderful day.
On the Commemoration of All Souls, Abbot Brendan reflects on the experience of death within a monastic community, the meaning of Purgatory, and St Benedict’s invitation never to lose hope in the mercy of God.
The Belmont community visit Dowlais, and remember the Benedictine Mission to South Wales as the country remembers the Aberfan disaster.
We welcomed the Knights and Dames from the Midlands and South Wales and thanked God for their mission and service.
A double celebration on the feast of St Michael and All Angels
A School of Love by the Wye: Abbot Brendan on the Cistercians on the Feast of the Holy Cross.
The Blessing of new Icons for the Churches in Stratford-upon-Avon, with inspiring talks by the Abbot Primate and Dr Rowan Williams.
“O Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory abides.”
