COVID-19
UPDATE
In line with current government advice, we are keeping our lodges closed until
at least 30 June. For bookings after 1 July, Please contact Sr Laurentia at crieflodges@stanbrookabbey.org.uk
Tel: 01347 868931
Shielding requirements at the abbey mean that, sadly, parlours and bookshop
have to remain closed until further notice. The bookshop is still operating a
mail order service and Sr Benedicta would be delighted to hear from you:
bookshop@stanbrookabbey.org.uk
Tel: 01347 868927
We await instructions from the diocese about when we might re-open the church
for visitors but again shielding will have to be factored into any decisions
made.
Meanwhile, please be assured of our prayers at this testing time and please do
continue to send prayer requests via secretary@stanbrookabbey.org.uk or the
Prayer Page of the website.
The telephone is checked frequently so do leave a message if you wish to get in
touch or need to speak with someone.
The Gospel today
from Ch 17 of St John speaks of 'glory' and Jesus prays to the Father for that
'glory' he had with the Father before the world was. This brought to mind the
familiar doxology which we pray at the end of psalms so often:
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to
the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
Before creation
the Blessed Trinity shared their life in constant giving. The overflowing love
between them meant that nothing was held onto, and all was self-emptying. Jesus
says: 'all I have is yours, and all you have is mine'. Creation is the
abundance of Life poured out to be shared by all that has been made.
'Glory' is
'fullness' as the Prologue to St John puts it: 'Of his fullness we have all
received. . .' . In the Old Testament
the glory of God filled the Temple, just as St Paul says that the fullness of
the deity dwelt in Christ bodily. We are all the 'temples' of God, so we should
all be filled with the glory of God, which is nothing else than the outpouring
of what we have received: the self-emptying exemplified in Christ.
These thoughts
are sketchy but I hope may start you thinking!
Sr Raphael, 24
May 2020
On Primroses and Tides: A Reflection for
Eastertide and Ascensiontid
The daffodils at the lodges have been spectacular this year, giving us a real
daffodil Easter, though it's been a pity not to be able to share them with
visitors to the lodges in the current crisis. Now they have been replaced by a
sea of bluebells which is scarcely less lovely. But the humble primrose, harbinger
to each of these great flowerings, can still be seen keeping close to the
ground: 'Easter's primrose tide of praise', in the words of Sir John Betjeman
('Septuagesima: To Easter's Primrose Tide of Praise').
This phrase conjures up for me the particular quality of Eastertide, a time which
combines great power and strength around the Resurrection - remember the
earthquakes on Good Friday and Easter day (Matthew 27: 31; 28: 2) and the
homely appearances of the Risen Jesus, cooking, eating and walking with his
disciples (Luke 24; John 21). And all wound round with wonder as he appears and
disappears at will, more randomly than any tide but with a similar yet surpassing
mysteriousness.
As the earlier liturgical seasons of Christmastide and Epiphanytide, this one
draws us into the life of Christ but even more powerfully. This Easter tide
obliterates mankind's sins, making all things as new as a shoreline scoured by
the highest spring waves. Week by week we have witnessed the new energy of
Christ's life being unleashed in the first Christian community in Acts; daily
we have heard the Risen Lord gently teaching the import of his unstoppable love
in dying and rising for us: remain in my love; if you love me you will keep my
commandments; the one who keeps my commandments will be the one who loves me,
feed my lambs, feed my sheep (John 15: 9; 14:15, 21; 21:16,17).
And what of the primrose?
A close look at the primrose flower reveals a catechesis of Easter: five
delicate, pale lemon petals, each toothed into the shape of a heart recalling
the five wounds of Christ. The base of each petal looks as if it has been
dipped in gold leaf and, as these five tips meet together at the centre of the
flower, they form a bright, golden five-pointed star. Earth meets heaven in a
primrose tide of praise!
As Eastertide flows into Ascensiontide, let's remember this primrose in all its
simplicity and power, and allow ourselves to be drawn upwards into the swelling
tide of God's relentless love. Alleluia!
Sr Laurentia
Weds 4 Easter: 6 May
You have probably had times when, like me, you have envied the clarity with
which Saul and Barnabas discerned their vocation - the Holy Spirit himself
telling the whole community that they are to be set apart for the work to which
they were called. Having said that the work itself wasn't exactly easy, and a
strong sense of vocation would have helped carry them through many trials.
In the Gospel we hear Jesus declare himself to be 'the light who has come into
the world'. In fact, an alternative to the Gospel acclamation we sang today is
'I am the light of the world, anyone who follows me will have the light of
life'. We are used to the convenience of electric light at the flick of a
switch. When there is a prolonged power cut, and we are trying to go do things
in our cells by torch-light, we are reminded of the deep meaning of Christ as a
light to our darkness, that precious light that we must draw near to and
cherish. The candles we carry and light at the Easter Vigil are a reminder too
of this.
Christ is the light who shows us the Father, the one who sent him. In our Lauds
hymn we sang 'Glory crowns creations Lord with light from light unseen'. What
is this light unseen? We are invited to use Christ as our light to gaze into
this mystery which is bright beyond all telling.
Sr Therese
4 May 2020 Feast of the English & Welsh Martyrs
Acts
7: 55-60 & Matthew 10:17-20
St Stephen seems to be following me around! We keep hearing about Stephen,
full of the Holy Spirit. Earlier in
Acts we read The synagogue could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit
with which he was speaking.
Today we celebrate the canonised and beatified martyrs of England & Wales
of the 16th and 17th centuries. The most well-known of these
are the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales.
As a child I went to the little primary school attached to our parish church in
Neston. We skipped back and forth through the graveyard as we went between our
classrooms and the church, several times a day. I am not sure what Ofsted would
make of it all today! It was definitely a Catholic education in a very unfussy
and everyday way. One of the things that comes to my mind when we celebrate
this feast is how, at least once a day, we had a prayer for the canonization of
these Forty Martyrs. They were part of our lives even though most of us would have
been pushed to tell you much about them, apart from one.
Our parish was within what would have been the mission field of St John
Plessington. He was originally from Lancashire; did his studies at St Omer,
then came back and worked in the Chester area, and along the Wirral. No doubt
he ventured into North Wales and the shrine of St Winefride at Holywell. He had
a base at Puddington, in my parish, where he was tutor to the Stanley Massey
family. It was here that he was caught. After his martyrdom at Broughton outside
Chester he was thought to be buried at Burton, a few miles down the road from
Neston. In the 1960s this was disproved. His vestments are kept on display at
St Winefride's, and are worn occasionally. The last time I know of was at a
Mass celebrated at Puddington Hall by Fr Peter Phillips on St John's feast in
July.
Why this detour? Our Forty Martyrs, plus the many others from that time
recognised as blessed by the Church, as indeed all the saints, were
individuals. Each had their own story, belonged to a family, to a parish, a
location. In other words, they were just like us. Each was filled, like St
Stephen, with the Holy Spirit and bore witness to Christ. They would have known
fear and anxiety, and yet we know they spoke fearlessly: the Spirit of their
Father was speaking in them. Many of these martyrs had a great wit, a lightness
of heart and spirit, as shown by our monk martyrs.
They have much to teach us at this time, when people of all denominations and
beliefs are unable to gather in places of public worship. Now, as in the 16th
and 17th centuries, blessings and graces will flow from all of this.
We need to surrender ourselves to the Lord, as they did.
We should make our own the prayer that Stephen uttered at his death, which our
martyrs also prayed, those words of Christ which we sang in the response to the
psalm and pray each night at Compline : Into your hands, O Lord, I commend
my Spirit. And let us not forget the end of Psalm 30: Be strong, let
your heart take courage, all who hope in the Lord.
Sr Benedicta
Summer News 27 June 2019, Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sr Marian Sweeting-Hempsall made her Solemn Profession of Vows and thus became a full member of the Stanbrook community. 19 July, we celebrated the Requiem Mass of Dame Agatha Backhouse (1937-2019) who had died peacefully at Apley Grange, Harrogate,
on 12 July. R. I. P. News of a collaborative venture between our own Sr Philippa and Mirfield's Fr Nicolas Stebbing. These two veteran monastics share their vast experience of monastic life in a way that should be helpful to all Christians. 'Making space for God: an invitation', published by Mirfield. ISBN 978-0-902834-48-9. �6.50. Available via Stanbrook Abbey bookshop: bookshop@stanbrookabbey.org.uk A poem of D. Laurentia's, 'Mary Reflects', formed part of the programme of 'Carols from King's' on BBC 2 on Christmas Eve 2018. Links below: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/events/chapel-services/carols-kings.html The video download (just as an fyi): https://www.kingscollegerecordings.com/product/carols-from-kings-2018-video-download/ The pdf of the booklet: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/chapel/cfk_2018.pdf Photographs of Stanbrook. Aerial footage of Stanbrook Abbey
The monastery won a national RIBA award in June 2016.
Archive: The inaugural Mass in the new Abbey Church took place on Sunday 26 April 2015, thanks be to God and thanks to all our kind benefactors. Right: Choir of the new Abbey Church (still incomplete) Archive: The project since the start of the build: Click here for Blessing of the East Wing site 6 February 2014 Work in progress, Spring 2015 Inside the Blessed Sacrament Chapel March 2015 August 2015, the new chairs for guests arrive! Many of these have been sponsored by kind benefactors. West-facing view of the church East-facing view of the church 
News & Photo Archive
17 July, on the completion of Dame Andrea Savage's 12-year term of office, Dame
Anna Brennan was elected the new abbess of our monastery.
Made by students of the Kent School of Architecture
In November 2016 we were awarded the Presidents' Award for new church buildings.
The abbey church has also won an award from the Wood Trust for 'excellence in architecture and product design in the world's only sustainable material.'
For an article about Stanbrook in the Yorkshire Post April 2016, please click on the link below:
ABBEY CHURCH DEDICATION: 6 September 2015
Deo Gratias! The abbey church was duly and solemnly dedicated by the Right Revd Terence Patrick Drainey, Bishop of Middlesbrough, to much rejoicing.
For a full photographic record, please click here
Read more by clicking here
Below: Inaugural Mass: the Gospel is proclaimed at the ambo
Deo gratias, building work began February 2014
Click here for March 2014 update
Much activity inside the church which it is
hoped will be finished by the end of April.
So one more Easter in the Chapter House...
