Crib in the Abbey Church

Cistercian Bl. Guerric
describes visit to Bethlehem 

A Bambino of no great work of art.
A vist to the Crib is
curtain up to the Life of the Lord

Make our way to Bethlehem and see this Word which the Lord has shown to us. (Bl. Guerric). 
27 Decembwer Saint John Feast

First Reading   From 1 Jn 2:4; Jn 20:31

Second Reading

From a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny (Liturgical Sermons, volume 1, pages 61-64: Cistercian Fathers Series, 8)    

You have come together, brethren, to hear the Word of God.

But God has provided something better for us. Today it is given to us not only to hear but also to see the Word of God, if only we will make our way to Bethlehem and see this Word which the Lord has shown to us. 

The Child embraces
the company
 God knew that human minds were incapable of perceiving invisible things, unwilling to be taught about the things of heaven, slow to yield their faith unless the object itself in which they were asked to believe was visibly borne in on the senses to convince them. For although faith comes from hearing it comes much more readily and promptly from sight. Because it is more difficult to believe in what is only heard, not seen, the faith of those who have not seen is rightly declared blessed by the Lord, because they have attrib­uted more to the authority of the Word than to the experience of their own senses or reason. Yet God wishes to satisfy our slowness in everything. His Word, which previously he had made to be heard, today he made visible to us, indeed even tangible, so that some of us could say: Our message concerns that Word, who is life; what our own eyes have seen of him; what it was that met our gaze and the touch of our hands. He was from the beginning of that eternity which is without a beginning; we heard him promised from the beginning of time; we saw him and handled him shown to us at the end of time.

A ladder in Bethlehem Barn
foreshadows Calvary
descent from the Cross

As for the word which comes from God, brethren, I have on occasion seen it heard without interest. But surely the Word which is God can only be seen with joy. I will pass sentence on myself first: when the Word which is God offers himself to me today to be seen in that which I am, if it does not gladden me I am godless, if it does not edify me I am reprobate.

If, then, any brother is found among us who is troubled with spiritual lassitude I do not wish that his ears should be wearied any longer by our contemptible sermon. Let him make his way to Bethlehem and there let him look upon that Word of God upon which the angels yearn to look, that Word which the Lord has shown to us. Truly it is a trustworthy word and deserving of every welcome, your almighty Word, Lord, which in such deep silence made its way down from the Father's royal throne into the mangers of animals and which for the moment speaks to us better by its silence. Let those who have ears to hear what this loving and mysterious silence of the eternal Word speaks to us. If I were allowed I would gladly be dumb and be brought low, and be silent even from good things, that I might be able the more attentively and diligently to apply my ear to the secret utterances and sacred meaning of this divine silence, learning in silence in the school of the Word if only for as long as the Word himself was silent under the instruction of his mother.  

Shepherd, apprentice's
David after Michelangelo,
the foresight/foreshadow
of the Good Shepherd

Responsoru

Blessed the apostle *

to whom heavenly secrets were revealed

- as he reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper.

He drank from the streams of living water flowing from the heart of the Lord,

- as he reclined ...

----- Forwarded Message ----

From: Donald ...
Sent: Fri, 24 December, 2010 15:27:53
Subject: Fw: Christmas message = Eve of Christmas

Welcome Window in body of the Church  Bethlehem Crib

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Donald Nunraw
Sent: Fri, 24 December, 2010 6:13:38
Subject: Fw: Christmas message 8

Dear Friends
The Email to fill up the gap of Christmas CARDS, ...

I had to hurry the makings of the Christmas Message to the Far East missionary, Mary and Christ and sent it 5.30am.

Rejoice in your own Christmas.

Mary remembers the Crib Set of figures she sent to us from Taiwan, 1977?

Can she also remind me of Jesuit workshop carving the figures?

In the body of the kirk we have a Window of Welcome for the Bethlehem House crib.

Beyond the window, in a clear night we see the city Borealis light over Edinburgh - prompting our prayer for all the people.

Christmas 
Blessings
and a
New Year
filled with
Peace and Joy

fr. Donald  

 

NATIVITY CRIB
Carved figures sent by missionary Sister from Taiwan (1970s).
Crib made by volunteer Michael G.  - Nunraw Abbey

Response so QUICK from Mary(now in Philippines):
Dearest Donald,
. . ..  I was delighted to see the lovely carved crib from the Jesuit workshop in Taiwan and as far as I know they later put it into lay hands. I can always contact an FMM  over there if you really want precise details as she can find out very easily..

How fortunate you are at the monastery with so many great views and even seeing as far away as Edinburgh on a clear night.

Archive 1

Sunday, December 05, 2010 Glasgow Friends this evening are going to the film in Glasgow. The Times Fri December 3 2010 'This film is more about men than gods' His story of a monastery in crisis has had audiences across France in tears. Kate Muir meets Xavier Beauvois Outside a boutique hotel near the Jardin du Luxembourg, director Xavier Beauvois is sneaking a quick fag and shivering in a grey hoodie. Beauvois has come down to Paris from Normandy, where he lives "directly opposite Brighton". A reluctant celebrity, he has suddenly found himself in the international spotlight thanks to his movie Of Gods and Men, France's bestselling entry for the Oscars (see review, page 13). Beauvois' film is intensely passionate, and the fact that the passion is religious makes it no less moving. The winner of the Cannes Grand Prix, it opens in Britain today, but Gallic audiences have been weeping prolifically at the picture of French monks facing attack by Muslim fundamentalists in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria. Based on real events in 1996, the film has become an unlikely sensation in France, with five weeks at No 1 and nearly four million tickets sold. The director is not religious at all, and seems bemused by the reaction ­in America there is even talk of church groups arranging screenings as they did for The Passion of the Christ and The Blind Side. But Of Gods and Men is in a higher league than those efforts, with a fine cast of actors, including Lambert Wilson as the patrician abbot who reads the Koran. "I never wanted it to be a Catholic film. It comes from left and right; it is about men more than gods. But it is true that something in this story resonates with people," says Beauvois. "The culture of crashing banks, conspicuous consumption, and others working hard for less and less, all those problems mean people want breathing space for a few hours, an escape. They have a need for growth, spirituality, silence. A moment without Sarkozy.” Etienne Comar, his co-writer, agrees. "Nowadays it's rare to die for what you believe in, to have conviction and passion. And there's also our French obsession with the fallout from colonialism."

THE TIMES I Friday December 3 2010 arts film reviews Their faith under fire A portrait of French monks menaced by Islamic terrorists moves Wendy Ide Of Gods and Men 15 (l20mins) ***** A prizewinner in Cannes in May and one of the most quietly powerful films to have screened on the Croisette in several years, Of Gods and Men approaches the hot-button topic of religious extremism with a meditative intelligence. Inspired by an actual event, the abduction and murder of a group of French monks in Algeria in the mid 1990s, Xavier Beauvois' (see interview, page 14) film explores the mundane day-to-day routines and the  crises of faith among the men of God in a small monastery that co-exists with a rural peasant community in North Africa. The simplicity of the film's style reflects the austerity of the men's existence: their routines of devotion and drudgery are reflected in the rhythms and repetition within the picture. In the service of the Lord and the locals, the monks run a clinic and toil on their little plot of land, producing honey for sale. They are embraced by the immediate community. "We are the birds and you are the branch. If you leave, we'll lose our footing," explains one of the villagers. But the larger picture is clouded by unrest. Muslim extremists and corrupt government forces do battle; when a group of Croatian labourers are murdered, the monks realise that they may be the next foreigners to get caught in the crossfire. Impressive performances are complimented by unobtrusive camerawork that captures the flickers of disquiet on the faces of the brothers. Much is said without resorting to pages of expository dialogue. When one monk howls in anguish, pleading with his Lord not to forsake him, the others eavesdrop uneasily. For most of the film, the soundtrack consists of the devotional chants of both the monks and of the Muslim villagers. But in one potent scene, the men listen to Swan Lake and drink red wine with their simple evening meal Their joy at the transcendence of the music gives way to a shared grief at their inevitable fate, all without a word spoken. The film refrains from offering judgments: on whether the monks are right to stay while the tensions mount, or whether the instability in the country is a result of the French colonization in the first place. Instead it's a human portrait of faith and spirituality put to the ultimate test.

Part of the film concerns the friendship between Muslim locals and the Cistercian monks, who lead a contemplative life in the sun-dappled olive groves, gathering honey - until fundamentalists attack. Fourteen years ago newspapers reported that the monks had been kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists during the Algerian civil war. The monks were eventually beheaded, but Beauvois was not interested in gore. "We made some severed heads and threw them away when we started filming, because the story took on a life of its own the minute it existed. It's like raising a child - you can't guess its character." What the director wanted to explain was the religious calling, and the film becomes gripping as each monk decides whether to stay and almost inevitably become a martyr, or to go.

Beauvois went for a week's retreat to a monastery in the Savoie to prepare. "I realised the film must be as austere as its surroundings. No tracking shots,just simple static shots indoors. And I added more of the rhythms of the religious day, the chanting and singing, once I'd been there." Beauvois made his actor-monks practise their chants for two months, "by which time they'd formed a group, a sense of brotherhood". The film's style is classical, and Beauvois takes his time without ever losing the tension. An actor himself, he gives his cast space to perform in a landscape of incredible beauty. Beauvois is 43, and was called an enfant terrible when he won the Cannes Jury prize 15 years ago with Don't Forget You're Going to Die.  (Contd.  Kate Muir)          

St Matthew is the only one of the Evangelists who speaks of dreams, and he speaks of them six times in fact

MATTHEW 2:13-15,19-23
FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
Homily Fr. Raymond  

St Matthew is the only one of the Evangelists who speaks of dreams, and he speaks of them six times in fact

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Raymond ....
To: 

...
Sent: Sun, 26 December, 2010 10:34:22
Subject: DREAMS

DREAMS

“.....an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream....”  St Matthew is the only one of the Evangelists who speaks of dreams, and he speaks of them six times in fact.  One of these dreams was a warning to the Magi not to return by the same route, so as to avoid Herod’s men.  Another was to the dream of Pilate’s wife at the Trial during Holy Week.  But the other four dreams all concerned Joseph.   
There was his first dream when he was advised not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife because her child had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. 
Then there was his second dream when he was warned to take the Mother and Child and flee into Egypt because Herod was seeking to do away with him. 
Then his third dream when he was told that he could go back to Israel because Herod was dead;
then his fourth dream when he was directed to Nazareth in Galilee that the child might grow up there and be called a Nazareen.  Not even St Luke, who gives us such intimate details of the annunciation and infancy of Jesus tells us about these things.  We are indebted to Matthew alone for these very colourful details surrounding the birth and infancy of Jesus.  So he must have had some very special reason for opening his Gospel with the account of all these dreams and I don’t think the reason is very hard to find. 
It is his way of underlining for us the fact that all these wonderful events were not just a fairy story but were very much the work of God.  They were the unravelling of the plans and purposes of God himself.  Matthew is underlining for us that if ever Heaven and the supernatural were at work in the affairs of this world it was in these days of the first Christmas.  And how wonderfully divine providence arranges all these events in such a simple yet compelling way that even the simplest of human minds can grasp them and rejoice in them.  How better could he have shown that he came for all, for the poor and the little as well as for the wise and the great.
The skills and artistry of the greatest of human dramatists from Shakespeare to Dante all fade into insignificance before the powerful artistry of the Christmas Drama.   Shakespeare and Dante write their Dramas with pen and ink with words on parchment
but the Divine Dramatist writes with the finger of his creative power with real people and events on the pages of history.