St James the Apostle - Feast.

    There is no doubt

that you are called

God calls you

according to the unique person

you are made to be.

 

In fact, God calls you

to the very best place

and way of life for you.

 

It may not be the easiest place

in the world to be

or the simplest thing to do.

 

But it is where you will be

most at home

most at rest within yourself

and best able to serve Jesus Christ,

This is taken from www.vocationquest.org - and also check out www.free2become.org/ - a beautiful video.

Loving God, may I take on the mind and heart of Christ, that I may hear your call for my life and embrace your world, through my prayer, my work and my life with Jesus Christ, Amen ( site as above).

I thought I would give you some food for thought on this Feast of St James who followed when Christ said ‘come follow me’. A blessed day to you all and special prayers for those who are discerning, Sr Marie-Therese.

One year today.

Hello again, today is the Feast of St Bridget of Sweden one of the co-patronesses of Europe - with St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross ( Edith Stein) and St Catherine of Siena. So Happy Feast Day to you all

 It is also the fourth anniversary of my reception into church and a year today since I entered here which is amazing really. On Friday it will be six months since my Clothing too. Time is flying so fast and the year has been very full, in some ways I feel like i have always been here and in others it seems like yesterday since i walked through the enclosure door, took part in our simple yet beautiful entrance ceremony and became a postulant. We don’t keep admission anniversaries but I had a nice surprise when it was mentioned in passing at choir practice as I thought no one would have noticed, how wrong I was and it was lovely. Today Abbot David came for his monthly visit from Buckfast - he comes to give us a talk and hear confessions - we have confession every week with our chaplain but it’s good to be able to go to Abbot David too and give Fr Edmund a week off. Please pray for me as I begin my second year in community, pax Sr Marie Therese.

Jaimie’s formation.

Jaimie is a postulant - nearly novice - with a community of 3rd order Franciscans in Peoria, USA. As she left a lovely  comment I was able to check out her community web site and blog which is definitely worth a visit. Find out lots more about this great community, follow Jaimie on her journey into a deeper relationship with Christ and keep her in your prayers especially now as she will soon be going into retreat before recieving the habit and becoming a novice - http://blog.franciscansisterspeoria.org - the link is also on the side. pax Sr Marie Therese.

St Mary Magdalene

Happy feast day of st mary magdalene - we all know who she was and what an inspiration she is. She reminds me that we are totally accepted and loved by Christ and that if we turn from the past - whatever it contains - we really can have new and vibrant life in Christ. I think she is awesome and would have chosen the name if I could have.

However, it is also Sr Mary Magdalen’s feast day, her first in community, and I would like to ask you all to join us in keeping her especially in your prayers today, and those who have also taken this name.

Today, Sr Mary Magdalen and I have been identifying a herb in our garden. Mother Anne said she thought it was St John’s Wort, but Sr Benedict thought not so out came Culpepper’s Herbal and a book on wildflowers and we identified it - it does help a lot that Sr is an artist so notices things that I don’t. It turns out that Sr Benedict was right - it is Loosestrife ( good for haemorrhage/bleeding in many forms ) not St John’s Wart. We had a nice time in recreation later looking at the Herbal and finding interesting uses for common things - did you know that you can stuff pieces of red beetroot up your nose to clear your head? Neither did we and it’s not something we are going to rush out and try, no it’s far nicer to eat instead. pax sr marie therese, St Mary Magdalene - pray for us.

Ora et Laboura.

This last week we have had some good things and some bad. It began badly when I checked a comment sent to this blog and found it was a hoax containing hundreds of virus’s and spyware - I was so shocked and mortified! I hadn’t approved the comment so it was never put on - don’t worry - but we had to call someone in to check it all and clear it - and we updated our protection again. I guess these things change so fast. I have always been very careful about clicking onto things so it is a first for me but I will now have to be even more careful - I imagine many people get caught out at sometime or other and thankfully we are now clear.

On a better note, we have managed to get a little fruit before the birds eat it so I have been picking josterberries - a hybrid of blackcurrants and gooseberries, they are large, black, sweet and very nice; gooseberries -though not many; raspberries and wonderfully, Sr Davina spied a redcurrant bush growing through a Laurel tree, so I did get some of those too. I have also discovered that we have lots of Chamomile growing all over the garden, so have been picking and drying it for teas and scented sachets. This means that for some of us recreations have been spent topping and tailing fruit and cutting the flower heads off chamomile. I now have some in an airing cupboard in bags and some in the old print room where I make jam - it smells great in there.

We had a nice - if challenging time on Wednesday when Abbot Cuthbert came from Oulton to help us with our office. It must be said in all honesty that we are not great musically. When I visited I noticed this but was impressed with the fact that the sisters were still singing, very obviously trying their best and giving it to God, which is the whole point, so rather than putting me off, it drew me in.

However, we do need help and Father Cuthbert - who is from the Solesme congregation and a very talented musician and liturgist - is going to come every week to ’sort us out’ - think Whoopie Goldberg in ‘Sister Act’ - though I hope we are not quite that bad! But, maybe we are!!!. We were told some of our faults - firmly but gently, with humour and encouragement, and what we need to do to start correcting them - things like slowing down, emphasising words, keeping the rhythm and above all - Listen. Listen is the first word of out Rule and it seems we need to remember that and apply it in office too, after all, the only point of office is to turn our hearts, minds and souls - our holy being to God, and he does deserve our best. Perhaps it is my imagination but already we sound a little better though we do have a long way to go, hopefully it will be fun and pay off.

Please pray for us and Fr Cuthbert, to St Cecilia that we can begin to make beautiful music for our Lord. As always we keep you all in prayer too, pax, sr marie therese.

Happy St Benedict’s Day.

Today it is the Feast of St Benedict of Nursia our patron and patron of Europe. St Benedict actually has two feast days - the 21st March and today, because March is the pre-Vatican 11 date and today the post- Vatican 11 revised date although both have been used for some years. The March date falls in Lent so there is no festive tea. We actually keep the 21st March as our main celebration, so it is a Solemnity with two Vespers, today is a Feast, with one.

We are having tea with scones and jam at recreation and we are asking for St Benedict’s prayers, we also have Benediction in the evening.

Over the last few weeks our garden has continued to flourish and although I was initially a bit down at the pigeons eating all the currants ( that’s a novice gardener for you! ) I am laughing about it now. The first marrows are appearing and its amazing - at least for me as I grew them from seed so I am experiencing all the wonder of nature. I am working against the slugs though, a gardening magazine says they hate coffee grounds so I have been sprinkling them around the marrows and squash and saying a prayer. The aphids have been attacking some of the beans so I am making more nettle juice to stop it - it does work very well, but I keep forgetting to make it - probably has something to do with the fact that they are unpleasant to harvest and the juice smells awful - a guess that’s a small price to pay for getting some veggies though.

Sr Davina has been providing us with salad veg, strawberries and today for our Feast we had the first of the potatoes. In the court the birds have flown. Over two weeks we watched the newly hatched blackbirds grow steadily as they were very well fed by attentive parents. Sisters could often be found in the refectory looking out of the windows or in the cloister gazing into the nest and Chelsea was kept out of the court. I have never been a bird watcher but the experience of seeing this family has converted me! The most wonderful sight was 3 little heads popping up out of the nest, mouths gaping wide and calling for mom who arrived quickly and seemed to push her mouth down their throats to feed them asap. One was much bigger than the others and got out first, then I saw two sitting on a branch gazing through the window at me, no fear just interest, I guess they wanted a look into our home as we were theirs, I wondered who was watching who. All of the chicks now have homes in the trees nearby but the smallest keeps coming back to the nest and for a while mom came and fed him occasionally but now he too is fending for himself.

In the monastery life just potters on really. I am now refectorian as well as the other jobs and I am enjoying it. It doesn’t take long but it makes a difference,  I also now have a second habit which - and I know this sounds silly - feels like a treasure. I have noticed that since coming here my values are changing - I get real pleasure out of being given a new habit, it feels like an affirmation of my place here especially when I am so nervous about my forthcoming Chapter. Every 6 months we have to formally ask to continue with our novitiate. I spoke to Mother Abbess, she will call a council, they discuss me and vote, then I ask formally at Chapter in front of the whole community, I am told the result and Mother Abbess gives a talk. At Chapter I will kneel in the centre as I did on my Clothing day, and it is be powerfully reminiscent of it.

Yes, I enjoy small things much more now, a small kindness from a sister, a beautiful reading, watching the birds, seeing beauty in wildflowers ( or weeds), somehow more things touch me, perhaps because they speak of God in the  midst of us, they speak to me of our incarnate God who walked amongst us - Christ, who still does. Perhaps this is contemplation - looking beyond creation to the creator has always left me filled with awe..

      I wish  all joy and peace on this feast day, St Benedict - pray for us. Sr Marie Therese.

Another long update.

Oh dear, i have done it again - not posted for ages. I am full of good intentions but good intentions don’t get anything written. It is difficult to think of things to write as like most types of life most days just potter on without anything really happening. We live a rhythmic life following the liturgical seasons and at the moment we are mainly having ferial ( ordinary days) which is a nice rest after so much festivity.

Today is a memorial of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour - or help. A day to honour our Lady and turn to her, personally i have said the novena to our Lady of Perpetual Succour several times and found it very helpful - it has been a good way to think about her and get in touch with her - not very well said but it is hard to explain - I am sure some of you know what I mean.

Sometimes on feasts of Our Lady we process with banner, singing hymns around a small part of our garden - weather permitting - and it is lovely. Chelsea seems to think the whole community is taking her for a walk and she leads us.

A couple of weeks ago we kept the feast of the dedication of our local cathedral - St Chad’s in Birmingham. As we kept it as a solemnity we had a recreation day and planned a picnic in the garden, but of course our good ole British weather intervened and it poured down with rain ( we had had weeks of sunshine!) However - unlike Wimbledon - rain did not stop play. We had a buffet in the work room instead. I joined Sr Davina and Sr Mary Magdalen in the kitchen ( Sr Teresa Mary’s day off cooking ) and we made lots of goodies and chatted ( one of things we can do on rec days), we even had a punch using up old wine and fruit juice and a nice time was had by all. In the afternoon we had a video and chocolate cake at recreation itself.

A few days later Chelsea went to a local vetinary hospital for xrays to see why she is still limping badly. She had to be starved overnight then on light meals for a few days as it was under general anaethetic. The verdict was arthritis - she is 9 after all - and we were told not to let her run around too much. Welll, this was fine for the few days it took her to get over the anaesthetic, after that she made up for lost time and wouldn’t sit still so we just let her get on with it and have fun.

In the garden the birds seem to be a having a great time - it’s like our very own nature watch programme. For the first time blackbirds are nesting in a rose bush growing against a cloister window in the court, so we have literally a birds- eye view into the nest. We have watched the mother sitting on her eggs, now she has 3 chicks which need feeding and keeping warm. So far they are funny looking bundles of soft feathers but it won’t be long before they are exploring themselves. The court is a haven for birds as it is totally enclosed and protected, we have bird feeders in there, there are lots of things in the grass to eat and we have a great view from the cloisters and refectory. It is wonderful. As well as the blackbirds there are 2 families of sparrows nesting high beside the drain pipes in the court - this is especially good as they are in decline here.

The pigeons are eating our seeds too unfortunately. They have eaten all the cabbage, carrots, leeks, swede and spring onions so there will be none this year. The gourds, potatoes, sweet corn,  and strawberries seem to be doing well , the tomatoes are coming on and we are eating our first home-grown cucumbers - a first for me and they are so much juicier and nicer than bought ones. A local priest went to a pick-your-own farm last week and brought back a large punnets of gooseberries and strawberries for us and our own are starting to ripen. At last we have cleared the currants - the red and white have been eaten by the birds though we hope for a good crop of black ones. For the first time we planted garlic and after a difficult start - the birds kept pecking off the green shoots - it all seems to be growing well. We have tasted the green bit and they are delicious - though the tasters breath is not great for others!

 In refectory we are listening to the story of the Manquehue movement by Patrick Barry OSB and in the noviceship we have completed our study of the Rule. Now we are going over it using the very helpful reflections from Br Jerome OSB Petersham, USA ( see the link to the Benedictine way in resources page ). I have been asked to study our local saints - the only one I know off hand is St Chad who became Bishop of Lichfield. I may put up a page about them as I learn.  I think that’s all for now, i will try to write more often - i know, i keep saying that but i will. Now the  laundry is caling me - i have to iron the whites - our white head wear - which is fiddly for me. pax

First fruits and thankfullness.

Last year as a new possy i cut off a branch of damsons and put them at Mother Abbess’s place in refectory for her to see. The ground is very uneven near the trees and she hadn’t been out, they were so very beautiful that i wanted to share them with her - and it felt a bit mischeivous too. Mother tasted one ( it was too bitter for her), left it where it was for the day then it was taken to chapel and placed on the altar steps where it stayed until it shrivelled. It was done as a thanksgiving for our bountiful harvest and i was very touched by it.

Why am i telling you this now? Well, it’s because today i was touched in a similar way. This afternoon i went into refectory and found a single, bright red strawberry - like a small red heart - on my side plate - Sr Davina had shared out the first fruits of her labour and of God’s bounty with all of us. It was a lovely gesture and ifelt very much part of our community. For the record - it was very sweet and juicy too.

  By the way, i haven’t ignored your questions and comments - thankyou for them - they just need a bit of time to do and think out. Pax, be happy, God loves you.

Archiving.

This week the British library contacted us with a request to archive our web site and blog. This means that both will be archived and kept for ever… so that they will become part of our cultural history. We feel it is a great compliment so of course have said yes - it’s also slightly scarey to think that my ramblings and our doings are being preserved - hmmm - i now have to think carefully what i write and more pertinently i have to check my spelling and grammar. As you will have noticed i usually post without checking it too well so there are Big mistakes - i see them later but things being what they are - i have lost a couple of posts trying to edit them - i am just leaving them.  I find it lovely to read and see some of the things from the years of our community especially the written peices which ramble a bit and give some idea of the life, they make our sisters more human and real, so maybe on our site and blog we now are added our bit - as are all of you who write too!!! Please don’t let that put you off though. The link is www.webarchive.org.uk if it doesn’t work check the blog roll.

Happy Birthday.

Last Sunday was the birthday of our chaplain Fr Edward Dephine. Our friend and organist Peter came from the North West to play at Mass for us and it was wonderful, sisters and parishoners then went into the parlour were we sang Ad Multos Annos to the tune of Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday in English. This was followed by coffee and biscuits with lots of chatting. We had been there a little while when i remembered Chelsea up in the tribune so went to get her. She was so excited and ran down the stairs so quickly that she skidded down the last few and shot along the hall way - unhurt. She has already pulled a ligament in her one of back legs so doesn’t need anymore!

Fr Edward is a Benedictine monk of our Congregation. He was one of the Fort Augustus community and came to us in 1994 after it closed. Earlier thie year he celebrated his 70th profession anniversary and last Sunday he reached the grand and great age of 90. We give thanks and wish him well. Ad multos annos.

Diamond Jubilee

Last weekend was the 60th anniversary of Mother Abbess Clothing - from which we take our age in community here at Colwich. We kept it quietly as a community over 2 days, beginning the day before with greetings, tea and a sing-song. We had 3 priests concelebrating Mass on the day itself which was beautiful and followed by the cake cutting in the parlour with the priests, the community and a few of the congregation - unfortunately the camera batteries chose that moment to run out so i missed catching it on digital though we do have it on non-digital, which means i can’t share that moment with you. We did have festive recreations and watched a wonderful video in the afternoon too.Sr Benedict writes…

             Mother Abbess Gertrude Baker has just celebrated her Diamond Jubilee as a nun. She was Clothed as a novice  in 1948 at St Scholastica’s Priory, Atherston, Warwrickshire ( our daugher house) and moved to Colwich when her community amalgamated with St Mary’s Abbey in 1967. She was born in 1926 at Cobh, County Cork ( previously known as Queenstown, it is the place that the Titanic sailed from), but she came to England with her family whilst in her teens.

     Mother was first elected Abbess of Colwich in 1994 and re-elected in 2006. Before becoming Abbess she served in most of the offices of the house and was responsible in particular for developing the apostolate of hospitality. She is a well-loved Mother, not only in our community but also in the wider world of our English Benedictine Congregation and the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

       Ad Multos Annos!

We do indeed love our Mother very much and thank her for all she has given to us. We hope you will join us in wishing her many more happy years.  Ad Multos Annos indeed!!! Pax

Gardening.

The few weeks since retreat have been a time of ‘catch up ‘ - hence the lack of blogging. During retreat we were blessed with long hot sunny days, it meant that we had to plant out the seedlings and keep watering by hand each day to keep them alive. Now we have rows of corn, beans, potatoes, leek, salad veg, marrow, squash and beetroot. I such a novice gardener that Mother is teaching me step by step and is very tolerant - she laughs at me actually. One day she made a shallow trench, gave me some cabbage seeds and told me to sprinkle them in - i did, all 200 in about 6 feet - what could she do but laugh, they are so tiny there was no chance of picking them out again, and as she said they have to be thinned out anyway - i think maybe not usually that much though!!!

The hot sun continues with only an occasional damp or dull day and we are praying for rain. Tomatoes are growing well in the greenhouse and so are Sr D’s lettuce and its very delicious too. It is so very nice to eat things we have grown ourselves, and i am really enjoying growing things from seed and seeing the transformation - there is something very spiritual in that. I also have that feeling about compost where dead,rotten, left over things are transformed and become nourishement for new life to begin again.

Oops, just noticed the time, must dash to midday office, more later if i manage it, til then, pax.     

I’m back and tried to post again earlier but no go on the pc so i’m trying again before Vespers. so, where was i…oh yes, the plants love the sun but…so do the weeds! I only cleared the blackcurrants a few months ago but there is now a forest of them once more and i have to begin all over again. Mother laughs at me over this too - when i first came and saw the amount of weeds i didn’t believe her when she said she had cleared it not long before - well i have my com-uppance now don’t I? I have been making nettle feed and aphid spray for the veggies ( will try not to nourish the weeds too ) which i am going to try out this week. I found this and other great gardening advice from HDRA - the Henry Doubleday Research Association site, for those who are interested the address is http://www.organicgardening.org.uk it’s well worth looking at and very helpful. Now i have been shown that we have comfrey which also makes a great feed too - i expect it will be as smelly and murky as the nettle feed which probably means it will do lots of good things too.

The woodland and garden have been a riot of colour and beauty over the last few weeks, the camera can’t even do it justice. I don’t know the names of many flowers but i can tell you well have had forget me nots,blue bells, pansies, buttercups and daisies in abundance. We let the area around our pond seed itself so the wildflowers just spread and the grasses grow high as they do along the quarry walk, and the rhododendrons have been out in variety from the softest bridal whites and debutante pinks ( thats how i see them anyway) to fiery latino reds and oranges. It’s like ‘come dancing’ in the garden - all those beautiful dresses.

The long grasses make me think of our dog Chelsea, because  they have been the refuge of the wild ducks which are still with us. Yes, our faithful hound has shown she has a taste for duck; last week whilst quietly hanging out washing i heard a bark and a flurry and the drake comes flapping past me with hound in pursuit - thankfully it took off just before the last bound walk have made it into dog food - 4 feet is too close for me. The ducks have become more adventurous and are exploring so we have to have Chelsea on the lead and shoo the ducks out of harms way. They are very friendly and come towards us which is lovely.

Inside the abbey we are almost back to normal with the Office again - and i couldn’t remember what ‘normal’ was so as it’s been so long - from Advent until now - so had to concentrate again on my Office books, it was very strange and on that point i will end this very long post. I hope you have all had a wonderful blessed Pentecost and Feast of Corpus Christi. Pax.

Retreat.

Our retreat finished a couple of weeks ago so i thought i would share a bit about it with you all.

It was led by Fr Patrick Slaney who came here from Toronto in Canada for his private retreat and stayed to lead ours for us. As it was held in the week leading to Pentecost the theme was the Holy Spirit; each address began with a prayer - Epesians 3:14–19 - followed by a short story with a big impact and a reflection. I don’t have the stories but i have found another site that has some great ones in a similar vein - http://www.tommylane.com .

Over the week we were challenged to look at what was keeping the Holy Spirit from entering us and preventing us from receiving the Gifts God wants to give us - such as the seven deadly sins. Wow! It was powerful, cleansing and refreshing; most sisters enjoyed the retreat, some did not but it did make an impact in some way. Personally i found it very cathartic though not a rest and i was exhausted at times. We were able to talk personally to Fr Patrick and make confession if we chose to - i was invited to look at an empty chair, imagine Jesus was sitting in it and talk to Him… this was amaging for me and a new and richer way…Fr Patrick was very good to be with, he seems to have something special. Now he is off on a cruise ship as Chaplain for a few weeks, please keep him in your prayers, it was a gift for us to have him here.

Psychological testing.

In Questions and Answers, Sr Eleanor  ( of Glencairn Cistercians)  has given an interesting insight into why her community does use psychological testing - which is worth reading. I studied some nursing and psychotherapy before entering and can see both sides - which we agree are equally valid. If i had felt drawn to a community that did use it i would have happily gone along with it too, however  God seems to have called me here and it just happens that we don’t. Pax Sr Marie-Therese.

quick update.

This has to be a quick update - none of my verbal diarrohea as an old nursing tutor used to put it - as we go into retreat tomorrow for about 8 days. Our retreat conductor is Fr Patrick Slaney, a Canadian priest who came last year for a visit ( he found us online) then asked to come here for his own retreat  with ours to follow. We are looking forward to it. Please pray for us over the next week or so, thankyou.

Over the last few weeks we have lots going on the garden - Sr Mary Magdalen has cleared a patch of woodland and created a ‘grotto’ with a garden and path leading into it ( there is a pic in photo album). She has a statue of Our Lady just outside it, a bird bath at the beginning of the path and a large clay urn inside it along with her bamboo wind chimes. She has been working hard clearing the nettles ( inch thick roots to her surprise) so her garden is now full of primroses; bluebells, forget - me - nots; foxgloves and ‘lords and ladies’ so it really is a blaze of colour and a place of peace. The squirrels love it too - she tried hanging bird seed and nuts but they got the lot - any suggestions?

I have been potting up marrow, courgettes and squash. Last year we were given a butternut squash whoes seeds we dried and i planting not expecting much but they have come up wonderfully. I have also potted patty pan squash which should be good. Each day i am excited to see the rapid growth and new leaves - i have been watering them with ‘nettle juice’ i made ( check out HDRA website it’s great for organic gardening advice ). Sr D has lemons, oranges, and apples growing - as an experiment - and putting in green leafy veg and cabbage - ’something’ ate all her brocolli seeds just after they were planted. Mother is doing tomatoes and rhubarb and we are all on the spuds - hard work!!! Now Mother is onto the beans and i must plant garlic. Unfortunately the weeds are also coming up too and i need to redo the blackcurrant patch.

On Wednesday we had an unexpected  treat when four men from our local seminary ( Oscott) turned up. They have Wednesdays off, were passing through and decided to pop in, not having been here but knowing we were. When they got out of the car they were a bit daunted to find that they were being watched by a priest and two nuns - Fr Davitt ( Divine Word Missionaries) who had come for a few hours, and both Mothers. Fortunately for Craig, Craig and Michael they had with them Brother Andrew a junior Monk of Belmont Abbey ( part of our congregation) who they volunteered to knock on the door - and he did so. So then as our recreation we met and chatted and show the group around. We all enjoyed it a lot, it was fun and it was great to meet some of our future priests.  Please keep them all in your prayers - we do hope they will come again - or any others that are passing.

That’s enough for now I think, i must be off to finish some bits - cleaning, some tidying up and general closing down before prayers.

Have a great and prayerful week, Veni Sancte Spiritus, Sr Marie-Therese.