Message of Abbot Paul - Monday 13th March 2023
Abbot Paul • March 13, 2023
Yesterday was a special day for the monastic community here in Lurin and, therefore, for Belmont too, which is the mother house, as Br Bernard always used to remind us. How we miss him and how our Peruvian brethren miss him, too, for they all had a special love for him. At 6.50am, following on from Lauds, we processed to the Chapter Room, where in a moving ceremony our postulant Saul Castillo, entered the noviciate and was clothed in the habit of the English Benedictine Congregation. He asked to keep his baptismal name. I was reminded by Dom Richard Yeo, the Novice Master, that there should be a homily on the Scripture reading as well as a few words about humility and obedience after the novice has been clothed and given a copy of the Rule of St Benedict. So, no corners were cut and we had the full Rite of Clothing as described in the Monastic Ritual. I hope I can attach a few photographs this evening, as it’s raining again and we’re told that Lima could well be hit by a cyclone, possibly on Tuesday. I hope it spends itself out further north, where things are very bad indeed, poor people.
In today’s Gospel from Luke, (Lk 4: 24-30), Jesus is rejected by his own people and forced to leave his own town. This reminds me to ask for prayers for the Church in Nicaragua that is being persecuted by the government. My beloved Cistercian nuns, whom I have visited many times, and supported through AIM, have been forced to leave the country and are now in exile in Panama, experiencing in their own flesh what Jesus experiences in today’s Gospel.
When Jesus tells the synagogue congregation that, “A prophet is never accepted in his own country,” and points to examples in the lives of the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, he so angers his hearers that they physically hurl him out of the town and try to throw him over the brow of a hill and down a cliff. Jesus is able to save himself at the last minute. This episode is surely a prophecy of his arrest, trial and crucifixion. I wonder how we might have reacted had we been in the synagogue that day. Would we have joined in with the crowds or done something to help Jesus? What do you think?
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.
