Without Roots there is no Growth

As we launch this historical section of the Belmont Website, it seems good to recall the visit of the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, to Belmont for the 150th Anniversary of the dedication of Belmont Abbey Church. Speaking to a packed congregation he looked forward to the papal visit of Pope Benedict XVI, and the important role of Belmont in the ‘landscape of history’ as a witness to faith in England and Wales.

“Benedict XVI is an eloquent preacher of the Gospel, attending carefully to the audience he addresses, as every preacher must. One of the themes central to his work is the need for people today not to forget their deepest identity, their roots, their heritage.

Simply put, the message is this: Without roots there is no growth. Pope Benedict has often spoken of the need for Europe in particular to remember its Christian roots, to cherish its Christian heritage, to see within that heritage not a problem to be solved but a gift to be discovered afresh. He has said that while the West is making a praiseworthy attempt to be completely open to other values, perhaps it no longer loves itself. He suggests that we are tempted to see in our own history only what is blameworthy and destructive and that we may be no longer capable of perceiving in it what is great and pure.

Yet among the many influences which shape our lives, both personally and collectively, the saving message of the Gospel stands out as a source of hope, of compassion, of heroic generosity, of artistic inspiration of every kind. The Gospel has shaped our land just as it reveals the true shape of who we are and what we are to become. Christ is our Way, our Truth and our Life. While being humble and realistic, there is no need for us to be defensive about our Christian heritage, or apologise for our Catholic faith.

Churches are built to remind us who we truly are. They stand across our landscape as pointers to the truth that life is best lived in the conscious presence of a loving God.

If this is true of every church in our landscape, it is intensely true of the monastic church at Belmont. This beautiful church, and the entire monastic building of which it is the heart and soul, stand in the landscape of our history as a monument to faith, to perseverance, to prayer, and to the richness of the monastic tradition as a clear witness to faith in this land.”

Here many have been formed in the way of high principle and gentleness of practice, rooted in a search in prayer for the God who calls us to great holiness yet never deserts us in our poverty and failure. We thank God for the missionary spirit of the English Benedictine Congregation and the many ways in which that spirit is expressed. We pray that this well-spring of rich life in the Church may be sustained and renewed so that its contribution to this land may again be in full-flow, deeply rooted in prayer and community, and reaching out in compassion and love.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, 4th September 2010