Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 26th July 2023
Abbot Paul • July 26, 2023
The annual Mass in honour of St James, celebrated yesterday at Longworth Chapel, Bartestree, was the most wonderful occasion. The medieval Catholic chapel was filled to overflowing and resonated with joyful singing, as Fr Brendan, our Herefordshire Dean, celebrated the Mass and preached. He was accompanied by Canon Paul Millar and Dom James Norris. The event was organised by Des Keohane and was our first return to Longworth since before the Pandemic.
Deo gratias.
Today we keep the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and progenitors of Jesus Christ. It’s the day on which we pray especially for our grandparents, both living and dead. Our Gospel passage comes from Matthew, (Mt 13: 16-17). Jesus is speaking with his disciples, “Happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.” This must be one of the shortest Gospel readings there is. Joachim and Anne, like the Prophets of Israel, lived with faith in the fulfilment of God’s promises, in his own time and in his own way. They trusted that God would bring about the salvation not only of Israel but of the whole world through the birth of the Messiah. They were not to know that the Messiah would be their own grandson, born of their Immaculate Virgin Daughter, Mary our mother in faith. We thank God today for our heavenly grandparents, Saints Joachim and Anne.
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.”
