Message of Abbot Paul - Monday 21st November 2022
Abbot Paul • November 21, 2022
Today the Catholic and Orthodox Churches celebrate the feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, the Mother of God, in the Temple. It is a feast based not so much upon the Scriptures as on the Protoevangelium of James, which scholars date before the year 200, and ancient Coptic Christian tradition. A very Eastern feast that spread into the West, it was celebrated in monasteries in southern Italy by the 9th century and gradually spread north and became popular in the Papal court at Avignon. It was introduced into the Roman Missal in 1472 and is undoubtedly one of the loveliest feasts of Our Lady that reflects the Presentation of her Divine Son.
Today, for us English Benedictines, it is the Dies Memorabilis, the special day on which, in the year 1607, the old English Benedictine Congregation, suppressed by Henry VIII, was restored through the person of Dom Sigbert Buckley, the last surviving monk of St Peter’s Abbey, Westminster. For us who live in Herefordshire, it’s interesting to note that the last abbot of Our Lady’s Monastery, Abbey Dore, became a Benedictine monk of Westminster at its restoration by Queen Mary Tudor in 1556.
The Gospel reading for the feast comes from Matthew, (Mt 12: 46-50).
“Jesus was speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’”
Jesus does not criticise his mother in any way. Rather, he would wish that all his disciples could be as obedient as Mary to the word of God and his will expressed in that word. At the Incarnation, she uttered the words, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word.” She is the first and the very model of one who, ”does the will of my Father in heaven.”
I attach a photograph of Adoration in the abbey church yesterday, feast of Christ the King.
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.
