Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 23rd December 2022
Abbot Paul • December 22, 2022
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,
exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:
veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver,
the Desire of all nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
I apologise for the brevity of today’s message, but I have contracted a heavy cold and I’m feeling pretty rotten this evening. An early night with Lemsip is called for. I only hope I can get rid of this inconvenience before Saturday afternoon.
The final O Antiphon focusses on the word Emmanuel, God is with us, for that is who the Messiah is according to the prophet Micah, (Mic 5: 1-5), God who is with us through his Incarnation in every aspect of our lives. This antiphon looks beyond the conception and birth of Christ to his universal mission to save all nations and peoples. He is the one whom all men and women desire, who reconciles the world and all that exists in himself with the Father, as the whole of creation awaits with longing his return in glory. You might be aware of the acrostic,
O Emmanuel
O
Rex
O
Oriens
O
Clavis
O
Radix
O
Adonai
O
Sapientia
Ero cras being the Latin for
Tomorrow I will come. Christians are always looking forward to the coming of Christ. Our life is a permanent vigil of joyful prayer and fasting, of longing for a deeper awareness and experience of Emmanuel, the God who is with us.
Today’s Gospel continues Luke’s Infancy Narrative, (Lk 1: 57-66) with the birth, circumcision and naming of John the Baptist, which prepares us for the birth of Jesus. May John pray for us in the final hours of waiting as we prepare for the birth of the Saviour.
“The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.
Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.”
Br Meinrad and Br Gildas attend a special service with the Benedictine community of St Paul's Outside the Walls with King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Honesty and Love Before God: Pharisee and Tax Collector; Pope and King - a homily by Abbot Brendan for the 30th Sunday of the Year.
We are sad to announce that Fr Stephen died on Monday 21st October 2055. He was 94. He died peacefully in hospital, having recently fractured his shoulder. He was a beloved member of the monastic community, who had settled back at Belmont after many years on Belmont parishes, including in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford and Weobley. He will be much missed. His Requiem Mass will be at Belmont on Wednesday, 5th November at 11.30am followed by burial in the monastic cemetery. The Reception of his Body into the Abbey Church will take place on Tuesday, 4th November, at 5.45pm.
With honoured guests we were delighted to open our doors again of our new guesthouse and conference centre: The Chapterhouse.
"A hymn to the human body." Abbot Brendan's Homily at the annual Mass celebrated at Rotherwas Chapel in Hereford that dates from the 1580s on the feast of the Assumption.
From Francis to Leo: A special event with Christopher Lamb of CNN in conversation with Austin Ivereigh who commentated for the BBC on the transition from Pope Francis to Pope Leo.
On 12th June an Ecumenical Service was held at Hereford Cathedral to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea.
