Transfiguration – the end of the journey Why is our Lenten trek through the Desert interrupted at this point, just twelve days after we set out? Last week Jesus was in the wilderness, now he is seen transfigured on a mountain top. What’s going on? On any journey, especially one that is long and arduous, […]
1st Sunday of Lent Year A 22 February 2026 St Benedict in his Rule reminds us that we are in a fight, that the community is a battle line and that we need weapons. By being human, let alone monastic, we are already in a fight, one that started in the garden of Eden. […]
Ash Wednesday On the first day of Lent, my true love sent to me, ground ash and a fast that left me hungry… Yet, St Benedict mentions ‘joy’ twice in the chapter of the Rule about Lent (RB 49). Today is the only feria in the Church’s year when we have three readings and a […]
Saint Scholastica Scholastica was the sister of St Benedict of Nursia and is revered as the patron saint of Benedictine nuns. She was born about the year 480 in Nursia, the modern Norcia, in Italy and her death is given as the 10th February 547. There is little evidence about her life, apart from the […]
On January 1st we celebrate at least four things: Today is the Octave Day of Christmas. The event of the Incarnation, of Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, being born in time, is too mind-blowing to celebrate for just one day, so the Church celebrates for a whole week to allow us to enter […]
From the beginning the Word was of that eternity which had no beginning; we have heard him promised from the beginning of time; we have seen and touched with our hands the one who is now shown to us at the end of time. Sometimes I have noticed that God’s words arouse no interest when […]
Behold, I am doing a new thing; even now it is coming to light… Isaiah 43: 19 In the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, that we might become his adopted children. Galatians 4: 4 The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is ‘the only new thing under the sun.’ […]
FOR MASS TIMES ONLY, please see the banner on the Home Page Compline at 7.30pm on 19, 20, 22 & 23 December CHRISTMAS EVE (Wednesday) 9.00 Mass 5:15 Vespers 10:50 Vigils MIDNIGHT MASS CHRISTMAS DAY (Thursday) 11:30 DAY MASS (Incorporating Midday Office) NB: 5:15 Vespers 7.00 Compline (Blessed Sacrament Chapel, crib) ST STEPHEN […]
As we journey through the last week of Advent, inspired by the Great ‘O’ antiphons, we anticipate that fullness of time which Christ’s birth initiates. This fullness if reflected in our Advent wreath which now contains tiny crab apples, as shown on the accompanying image. The earth has yielded its fruit, for God… has blessed […]
On this third Sunday of Advent, at the darkest time of year in Northern lands, the keynote of our celebration is JOY. The entrance chant for Mass in the Roman liturgy bids us Gaudete, ‘Rejoice!’, taking the words from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians (4: 4). After repeating this exhortation, Paul explains why we […]
In northerly latitudes we are entering the darkest fortnight of the year when daylight hours are at their shortest. When we hear world news it is easy to see this naturally occurring cycle echoed in the manmade darkness of war and all kinds of human-induced suffering. But the power of grace is deepening as we […]
This year’s Advent wreath, confected with local greenery: holly, variegated and traditional, and pine branches, is a joy to behold. While so much of nature lies dormant, these cheerful evergreens are a powerful reminder of God’s abiding presence. The single candle for the first week of Advent is a kind of preview of the Paschal […]