Monks pay tribute to medieval missionaries

THIRTEEN Benedictine monks from Ampleforth Abbey, North Yorkshire, have processed through the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey to celebrate a Mass to mark the 875th anniversary of the foundation of the abbey.
The procession was a reminder of the arrival of 12 Cistercian monks a number chosen to reflect the 12 Apostles at Rye Valley in 1132. They had been sent by St Bernard of Clairvaux as part of a mission to England and included his secretary, Abbot William.
The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII.
In his homily Fr Colin Batten, the prior of Ampleforth Abbey, said that the Cistercians had regarded the valley as "a new paradise of wonderful delight".
"These silent walls testify to the Christian truth that man cannot live by bread alone," he said.