Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 8th September 2023
Abbot Paul • September 7, 2023
Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. In ancient times, many of the churches dedicated to Our Lady were, in fact, dedicated to her Birth. Near Belmont, the magnificent medieval church at Madley was dedicated to her Nativity, as were the Cistercian abbeys at Tintern and Abbey Dore. This coming Sunday at 3pm, Vespers will be sung at Tintern by the choir of Newport Cathedral in honour of Our Lady’s Nativity. Lockdown years apart, for twenty years or more, Belmont monks have been taking part in this ecumenical service in honour of Our Lady of Tintern. Everyone is welcome to join us again this Sunday.
The Gospel chosen for the feast comes from Matthew, (Mt 1: 18-23), and recounts how Jesus, her Divine Son, came to be born. Yet, the Incarnation must surely begin with the Immaculate Conception and Nativity of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and end with her glorious Assumption and Coronation as Queen of Heaven.
“This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son
and they will call him Emmanuel,
a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’”
Today we ask our Blessed Mother to pray for and protect all our loved ones, our families and parishes, the faithful departed and all who need her prayers. May she also pray for world peace, especially for a lasting and just peace in Ukraine.
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