New Monastic Blog

Sr Eleonor the vocation directress at Glencairn Abbey in Ireland has now started a blog for her community which can be found at http://cistercianvocation.wordpress.com – it is a great new blog full of information about the Cistercian vocation and the way of life at Glencairn Abbey, with links to other Cistercian monasteries. Support her and check it out, we wish her and the community well. pax sr marie-therese.

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Oblates – Regular and Special

There has been a huge increase in recent years in the number of people wishing to become special oblates of monasteries.

These people live in the outside world and may have jobs, spouses and families. They may not even be the same denomination as the monastery they wish to become a special oblate of.

These are people who have become very interested in monastic life and usually a particular monastery.

They don’t make vows but just yearly promises to live their lives in accordance with Benedict’s Rule as much as their circumstances will allow.

They try and say as much of the Divine Office as they can which obviously differs greatly between oblates.

They are truly considered brothers or sisters of the monastery they choose.

Regular Oblates

There is much less known about regular oblates.

These are people who enter the monastery and receive the same preparation during the novitiate as the other members of the community. Instead of taking  simple vows for 3 years prior to making solemn proffession they make promises which are renewed every year.

The arrangement is flexible on both sides as the oblate is free to leave at any time and the community are equally free to discontinue the arrangement if it is not successful.

The oblate lives the same life as the rest of the community and wears the same habit although does not receive the cowl and the ring as no solemn proffession is made. They will also  not have a vote in chapter on important decisions.

Some communities do not like to take regular oblates because they make no binding commitments. However, many communites are happy to accept the arrangement and we have done so  ourselves successfully. We do not have any regular oblates at the prresent time.

More bells,

Thanks to a comment left by Mary i can now give you a link to a page that gives lots more info about our bells, go to  http:www.thehaywoods.co.uk/churches/stmarys.htm if this link doesn’t work check out Mary’s comment under the previous post.

To add to the page mentioned, our bells are called;-

8 – Jacob ( James); 7 – Maria; 6 – Gabriel; 5 – Joseph; 4 – Benedict; 3 – Scholastica; 2 – John and 1 – Magdalen. Appropriately Gabriel sounds like the clock and calls us most often.

I got through my first day as bell-ringer quiet well really despite a few mishaps – my hand slipped off some of the ropes a couple of times so ther were these odd silences and i found constantly swapping hands to ring a peal on 6 bells is a challenge. This week it is all Feria’s so i will only have to ring 4 bells for a peal which will help me to get used to the pattern. It is fun and energetic and the peals do sound great.

Pax, sr marie-therese.

Bell ringing and the rest…

Its spring so i thought i’d play with colour for a while to brighten things up and have some fun, it must be the spirit of life and vibrancy that seems to be around.

Our new blackcurrants are settling in well, we had an anxious few weeks wondering if they would as a few days after they arrived it began to rain and rain and rain accompanied by high winds. The ground became boggy so we wondered if they would just rot where they were – they were so small that the winds just missed them completely. Now they are full of leaves and buds and are a joy to see. The seeds we ordered have come so we are potting some and our new greenhouse is full of seedlings and seed trays – new life again.

We know we are in spring but over the last few weeks we could be forgiven for thinking we had relapsed into winter again as we had a few snow falls. The first was very light – just a light dusting which melted quickly, but a few days later we had a heavier fall. It was lovely crunchy snow – the sort that feels good to walk on  and makes great snow balls. Our dog Chelsea  is a great fan of snow, i made snow balls which i threw for her which she chaesed or caught in mid air. She ait loads of it and rolled in it too. As the snow melted it began falling off the trees so heavily that Sr Davina and i ( who were out in it) thought it had begun to snow heavily again, is was lovely.

‘Our’ wild ducks are still here – Chelsea will chase them when she can but they just seem to laugh at her – they fly around in circles until she goes away then land and go running back to the pond. It’s very funny to see them running out of the woods – Mrs Mallard usually wins the race.

These last few weeks i have been making more jam – or trying to. I had a bit of a disaster when i tried elderberry and apple as it just wouldn’t set. It tasted great so i didn’t want to give up, i added sugar containing pectin but no go – i think it would have set eventually but the amount would have reduced so much it wouldn’t have been worth it. However it hasn’t gone to waste as i bottled it and it is now a very nice ( though very sweet) cordial instead.

And, my joy of this last week – and this coming week is the bells!!!

We have 8 bells in our belfry which all have names and numbers – the smallest being 1 or Mary Magdalene and the largest 8 or Joseph. We ring diferent bells for different things – office, Mass, meals,Benediction and there is a definite way of ringing them. Usually we use one bell at a time but for Mass and Benediction we have a peal of between 4 and 8 bells depending on the day -Feria/Memorials = 4; Feasts = 6; Solemnities=8. I watched for a few days, had a go to get the feel and this week i am flying free.

It’s quite nerve racking actually, ringing the bells alone. I rang my first peal this morning and my hand slipped off one of the bells so there was a silence for a second while i scrabbled to find the next one – at least there was a silence to me, hopefully no one else noticed it. In a way the hardest thing is the timing as i am so used to just putting things down and go to wherever at the sound of the bell. Every Sunday i forget Benediction until i hear the bell then – if i am in the garden – i have to go running. Ohhhh, now i am ringing them i MUST make sure i remember. It’s quite a responsibility – and also GREAT FUN. I have a week of this, then my turn will come around on the rota. It also gives me another sense of belonging, it feels like another small step forward…

And to end, i need to thank Mary –  i do sometimes update the other pages and don’t think to tell you here so you may miss things – i wrote  on some of the other pages a while ago instead of doing a main post and probably will later today, so keep watching. I’m glad you found it Mary. Pax, Sr Marie-Therese.