THANKS to Sr Esther OSB of
• the Priory of Our Lady of Peace, Turvey Abbey in Bedfordshire, I have news of the annual meeting of the Free Association of Benedictine Nuns in the British Isles, which took place recently at Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire.
The theme of the meeting was "The rule of St Benedict as Source of Life and Renewal", and the main speakers were Fr Mark Sheridan. Prior of St Anselmo College in Rome, and Fr Richard Yeo of Downside, secretary to the Abbot Primate.
The Benedictine Nuns are seeking to deepen their Christian commitment within their particular calling, and this setting an example for all of us for whatever vocation in life we have chosen. The Benedictine nuns have always impressed me with their unity in diversity within the Benedictine life.
Coming together in Belmont Abbey the sisters heard Fr Mark Sheridan speak on the monastic
search for God through "wisdom", as he examined this concept in early monastic and Benedictine traditions. Fr Richard Yeo looked at the practical details of life in the Rule of Sit Benedict, particufarly those relating to the acceptance of newcomers into monastic life.
The various 'Workshops' of the week included a look at the role of the Abbot as 'a physician', and the living mission of Benedictines. Observers were present from France, Germany and Holland.
If ever you want to share the prayer-power of the Benedictines I suggest you drop in to the chapel of Perpetual Adoration at Tyburn Convent, near Marble Arch, in London, which keeps perpetual vigil before the exposed Blessed Sacrament. It is a stone's throw from the gallows spot, where, such noble saints as the Jesuit Campion and his colleagues met their hideous deaths praying for their persecutors.