St Robert of Newminster - remains where?

COMMENTS:

----- Forwarded Message ----- ----- Forwarded Message ----- 
From: Trevor G. . .
To: Donald . . .
Sent: Saturday, 9 June 2012,
Subject: Re: St Robert of Newminster

Hi Father,
Thanks for the info' about Robert of Newminster.
Interesting and filled some gaps.
Do we know where his remains are? 
- - -
Trust you and community are well.

Regards,


Trevor.

+ + +

Regarding the question, Trevor, I have to go back to George's book?

June 7: Saint Robert of Newminster

Posted by Jacob

Today, June 7, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Robert of Newminster(1100-1159), man of God, and co-founder of the Cistercian (Benedictine) Abbey at Shedale, England. While little is known about the life of Saint Robert, what is remembered is his gentle spirit, merciful judgment, and love of the Lord. His daily sacrifice and self-denial, through concern for sinfulness, remains a model of temperate living today.

Robert was born in Gargrave in Yorkshire, England. He studied for the priesthood in Paris, France, during which time he wrote a commentary on the Psalms which has unfortunately been lost to history. Upon ordination, he returned home to his place of birth, where he served as a parish priest.

After years serving as rector of Gargrave, Robert joined the Benedictine Order, having received permission from his local bishop, and working with a group of monks founded a monastery in which the strict Benedictine Rule would be revived (a movement initiated by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, whom Robert met). For their community, they chose a beautiful spot—surrounded by natural springs-- in the valley of Sheldale (within the town of Sutton) on land given to them by the local archbishop. The monastery became known as Fountains Abbey, given the natural flowing waters mirroring the flowing of the Holy Spirit from within. The group of monks became known for their holiness, poverty, and austere way of life, with Robert recognized for his devotion and self-denial. In time, Fountains Abbey became the center of religious study in North England, and eventually affiliated with the Cistercian reform.

Given the success of Fountains Abbey, a local lord built another abbey on his land, the Abbey of Newminster. To Newminster, he brought Robert and a dozen companions. Robert was appointed Abbot, and under his leadership, the community prospered, establishing two additional abbeys in later years.

While Robert grew the religious communities at Newminster, his life was not without trials. At one point, while serving as Abbot, members of the community accused him of impropriety, suggesting that he had engaged in lascivious acts with a local pious woman. Saint Robert traveled to France, visiting Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the head of the Order. Saint Bernard determined the accusations to be false, and as a symbol of his belief in Robert's innocence, presented him with a golden girdle to be used to affect miraculous cures of the sick at Newminster.

Robert ruled and directed the monks at Newminster for 21 years. He was a man of prayer, favored with gifts of prophecy and miracles. He is described as a devout and gentle man. While he is known for being merciful in his judgment of others, and a warm and considerate companion, he was also very zealous toward his own vows of poverty. Saint Robert is recorded as having had supernatural gifts, including visions and encounters with demons, and the gift of exorcism. In one such encounter, the Devil himself entered the church while Robert and his brothers were praying. The Devil, seeking a weak soul to tempt, was thwarted by Robert’s prayers for strength and encouragement for the monks in his charge.

Saint Robert is said to have fasted so rigorously during Lent that his brothers grew concerned, and asked him the reason for his refusal to eat. Robert responded that he might be able to eat a small piece of buttered oatcake, but once it was placed before him, fearing gluttony, he requested that it instead be given to the poor. Over the protest of his brothers, the food was taken to the front gates of the Abbey, where a beautiful stranger took both the cake and the dish it sat upon. While a brother was explaining the loss, the dish miraculously appeared on the table before the abbot, leading the men to realize that the beautiful stranger had been an angel of the Lord.

Saint Robert was close friends with the hermit Saint Godric, whom he visited frequently. On the night Robert died, Godric is said to have seen a vision of Robert's soul, like a ball of fire, being lifted by angels on a pathway of light toward the gates of Heaven. As they approached, Godric heard a voice saying, "Enter now my friends." His relics were translated to the church at Newminster. Numerous miracles have been reported at his tomb, including one in which a brother monk is said to have fallen unhurt from a ladder while whitewashing the dormitory. His tomb remains a center of pilgrimage.

The life of Saint Robert of Newminster reminds us that one does not need to live a life filled with extravagant miracles or preaching, or die a martyrs’ death to be holy. Saint Robert lived a simple life, rich in the spirit of the Lord. He gave all that he have, sacrificed, and spent his days in prayer and self-denial—oftentimes for the souls of his brothers and those who were less fortunate. Robert considered his actions carefully, always on the look-out for temptation, and wary of the pathways to sinfulness. Through fasting and prayer he converted many souls, grew the Church of God on earth, and earned himself a saint’s place in Heaven. How might we better live up to the example of this holy man?

God our loving Father, you inspired Robert
to establish a new monastery, and to preside as abbot
with gentleness and justice.
As we honor today this man of prayer, may we also learn from his example.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Inspired by the origins and spiritual history of the Holy Rosary, we continue our meditation on the psalms, one each day, in order, for 150 days. 
Today’s Psalm: Psalm 44: Israel’s Past Glory and Present Need


1 We have heard with our ears, O God; 
our fathers have told us 
what you did in their days, 
in days long ago. 
2 With your hand you drove out the nations 
and planted our fathers; 
you crushed the peoples 
and made our fathers flourish. 
3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, 
nor did their arm bring them victory; 
it was your right hand, your arm, 
and the light of your face, for you loved them. 
4 You are my King and my God, 
who decrees victories for Jacob. 
5 Through you we push back our enemies; 
through your name we trample our foes. 
6 I do not trust in my bow, 
my sword does not bring me victory; 
7 but you give us victory over our enemies, 
you put our adversaries to shame. 
8 In God we make our boast all day long, 
and we will praise your name forever. 
9 But now you have rejected and humbled us; 
you no longer go out with our armies. 
10 You made us retreat before the enemy, 
and our adversaries have plundered us. 
11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep 
and have scattered us among the nations. 
12 You sold your people for a pittance, 
gaining nothing from their sale. 
13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, 
the scorn and derision of those around us. 
14 You have made us a byword among the nations; 
the peoples shake their heads at us. 
15 My disgrace is before me all day long, 
and my face is covered with shame 
16 at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, 
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.
17 All this happened to us, 
though we had not forgotten you 
or been false to your covenant. 
18 Our hearts had not turned back; 
our feet had not strayed from your path. 
19 But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals 
and covered us over with deep darkness. 
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God 
or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 
21 would not God have discovered it, 
since he knows the secrets of the heart? 
22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long; 
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? 
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. 
24 Why do you hide your face 
and forget our misery and oppression? 
25 We are brought down to the dust; 
our bodies cling to the ground. 
26 Rise up and help us; 
redeem us because of your unfailing love.

  http://365rosaries.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/june-7-saint-robert-of-newminster.html

From: Donald  - - -
To: George T...
Sent: Thursday, 7 June 2012
Subject: St Robert of Newminster

Dear George,
At the celebration of the Mass in honour of St. Robert of Newminster this morning we prayed for yourself and for your years and the writing and devotion to the Saint. on Newminter and the Cistercian hertiage
- - -
fr. Donald

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International Eucharistic Congress - Sunday, June 10 – Feast: Corpus Christi – Theme: "Gathering"

This painting by the artist Fintan Tracey was painted to help us see and understand the theme for the Dublin Eucharistic Congress, ‘The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another’. In the reflection as seen on the chalice, we see the community of believers come and gather together with Christ. Then, from the Eucharist, we go out to our homes, communities, and workplaces bearing “the fruit of Eucharistic grace” (CCC, 1390).





The image on this card was created
by artist Fintan Tracey for the
50th International Eucharistic Congress,
Dublin, 2012.


The Eucharist in Ireland
with Fruit Wreath

This is represented
by the fruit in the painting,
as we go out and bear fruit, 

becoming like Christ to one another in the community. Within the fruit wreath framing the host and chalice is the outline of the map of Ireland, the location for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, Dublin, 2012.

The nail with the blue ribbon
tied around it in the top right of the painting
recalls the Passion of Christ, also of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Church. At the top of the painting, the three ears of wheat symbolise the Eucharist and the True Vine.

At the lower left of the painting, V2 recalls that 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the Second Vatican Council.

The dates for the happy coincidence with the 50th International Eucharistic Congress are seen on the bottom in Roman numerals – L (50) and MMXII (2012).

To the right of this is a bell  
which symbolises the invitation to come together
for the Eucharist and to share in the 50th International Eucharistic Congress.

TV: First Day


http://saltandlighttv.org/iec/salt-light-tv-online-streaming-coverage-overview


Sunday, June 10 – Feast: Corpus Christi – Theme: "Gathering"


Start: 8:00am-11:00am ET LIVE – RDS Arena – Opening Ceremony and Mass – Presider: Papal Legate, Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Prefect for the Congregation of Bishops; President of the Pontifical Commission on Latin America


Repeat: 8:00pm-11:00pm ET and Midnight-3:00am ET

St. Columba on 'The misty isle of Skye'

St. Columba - "The misty isle of Skye ...


Saint Columba (Columcille) 9th June 2012

The Skye Bridge that links Kyle of Lochalsh to Skye

At the Night this morning we listened to: 


1st Nocturne. Reading. Colosians 3:1-17,


2nd Noct. Reading. St. Columba –Breviary p. 220


It was that otherwise concealed in the Common of Abbots, not the assumed Adamnan’s Lesson on the Life of Columba.


There is a classic on "The misty isle of Skye : its scenery, its people, its story"


Full text at http://www.archive.org/stream/mistyisleofskyei00macc/mistyisleofskyei00macc_djvu.txt


and featurers references Admanan’s role on St. Columba as the first Church in Skye.


At the waiting room at the Outpatients Dept. In hospital I found a beautiful an ticle from the Peoples Friend magazine about St. Columba. For it I thank from the author Willie Shand, March 31, 2012.

Loch Coruisk Isle of Skye painted in 1874 by Sidney Richard Percy

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“On Sacred Ground ... to walk in the footsteps of St. Columba”

Just five miles from Portree, and a few hundred yards from the Dunvegan road, has brought me to an old briddge over the Snozort – a place one would certainly have been well advised to steer clear of in 1593. It’s a much quieter scene now.


If you walk over the stone bridge you’ll find a gate leading down to a track following the right bank of the river. In a short distance this track brings us to another bridge, a wooden footbridge which crosses on to a tiny island on the river – an island within an island.


Insignificant as it may look when you step on to this island you stand upon sacred, and historic ground.


For upon it are the ruins of chapel built by St. Columba himself. Some claim this to be the first Christian church to be built on Skye.


His decision to build it here, we are told, was due to a vision the Saint had before coming to Skye. According to Columba’s Adamanan, the Saint had foreseen being greeted by an old man seeking baptism who, upon receiving it,’would immediately die.


When Columba and his followers landed at the head of Loch Snizort Beag, they were met by a number of men carrying an old and frain chief by the name of Artbraham. He had heard about Columba’s teaching and was determined to hold on to life until he could meet the Saint.


Sure enough, just as Columba had foreseen, the old man passed away immediately after baptism. He was then carried to this wee island for burial – claimed to be the first Christian burial on Skye.


Columba then chose to build his chapel upon the very site and you can still see traces of it this day. From 1079 until 1498 this was the Catholic Church of the Bishop’s of the Isles.


Since pagan times the island has been used as a cemetery. One fine carved tombstone depicts a warrior with claymore. Another marks the resting place of Donald Munro, the father of evangelical religion on Skye.


Close to the chapel you’ll find another ancient roofless ruin – Nicholson’s Aisle – and, according to tradition within is are no fewer than twenty-eight Chiefs of the Nicholsons clan.

Somewhere off the beaten tourist trail, this is indeed a fascinating wee island well worth stopping to explore.

Gabrielle Bossis - Pentecost Sunday -after Benediction incense lingers

Pentecost Sunday -after Benediction incense lingers

Gabrielle  Bossis

Gabrielle’s longer day, on this Thursday, had the words from “My Heart” and begins “I am like a child”. Syllabic words, in simple phrases, and in not easy sentences take me to read over and over.

1.                 Suffer little children come to me.

2.                 The linguist Naom Chomshy on the universal grammar discovered in under five children touches in the mystery of language.

3.                 Dyslexics, geriatrics, those suffering communication problems open windows from the ‘YOU AND i’ pages of Gabrielle.

Gabrielle Bossis’ pages draw a magnetism in a childlike style. It is the grace through this voice. It begins to warm heart, to light thought, enliven the word.

YOU AND i – Gabrielle Bossis

1945  p214/5

November 22 1945

-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Thursday

“I am like a child who has been waiting all week for this day to come. You come to me and love Me. For an hour we are all in all to one another, forgetting created things to such an extent that if an angel announced the end of the world, that the message would make no impression on your mind and you would remain at rest on My heart.

You too do Me the honour of waiting for Thursday as for a festive occasion – the celebration of My heart. Summon up all your powers to love, to hope and to believe. Tell Me how helpless you are and I’ll fill the emptiness so that as you love, you will give the impression that it is I living in you.

I love to live My life again on earth through My children. If you knew how few allow Me to do this.”

“Lord, my body and my soul are your home. May all my powers be used for Your glory.”

Then do something to atone for your self-love and self-love of others. To make amends should be joyous you know, since it heals and since it is for love. It is sin that is sad – the continual tendency to self-love that often makes you forget your God.

O try to exchange self-love for God-love. No longer thing of yourself at all. How this would lighten you! And what a new entry into Me! For I am eternally new, I am the infinite One, and it is for the Infinite that you have been created.”

Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Donald - - -
Sent: Tuesday, 5 June 2012, 14:29
Subject: Re: Fw: Garvald Village Website pictues

Garvald Village - Queen's Golden Jubilee.
On 05/06/2012 11:28, Donald Nunraw wrote:

Dear Heidi,

Congratulation on the amazing event of the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Here I quote as I was writing,

"Abbot Mark took his camera for the Garvald Queen Jubilee Celebration BUT he left the camera in the car.

. . .

Do you have any pictures of the amazing Garvald festivities on Sunday?

Later the Abbot gave the community some 'news' of the festivities. We we were thrilled to hear of the activities, entertainment, feast, 3 tug o'war competitions , Papana River Boat Race and the rest ...

Happy to hear from you

Donald

Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.

5 June 2012, 

at the Community Mass this morning, 

the Abbot said,

“Today is the official date of the Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.

We remember her especially because of her commitment and service to her country and people over the past 60 years.”

*********************************

June 5: Saint Boniface, "Apostle of Germany".

June 5: Saint Boniface Dawson, "Apostle of Germany".

The historian, Christopher, said that Boniface "had a deeper influence on the history on the history of Europe than any Englishman who has ever lived."

Intro. Mass  St.Boniface (5 June).

Today we celebrate in honour of St. Boniface.

Boniface was born in Devonshire, England about the year 673

After many years as a monk, he felt called by God to preach the gospel in what was then the pagan Northern Europe. He evangelised much of Germany before he was murdered by bandits when he was in his 80s. This Englishman is now patron of Germany.

Today, when we are more and more aware of the rest of Europe, St. Boniface is an inspiration to us.  We see how in his life he appreciated the wider meaning of ‘society' and 'Church.’ The historian, Christopher Dawson said that Boniface "had a deeper influence on the history of Europe than any Englishman who has ever lived."

And so we come to celebrate this Mass in thanksgiving for Boniface’s life and faith, let us pray that we become more aware of the needs of the whole body of Christ.

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Blessed Trinity - chart and commentary by William

Happily, William,
after the PDF challenge, 

it is possible to process your amazing Trinity of Chart
to illustrate your own commentary. 

It is a glorious exercise of conteplation in visual.

So many thanks.

Donald. 

 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William J. W - - -
To: Donald - - -
Sent: Monday, 4 June 2012, 19:24
Subject: The Trinity chart !

Dear Father Donald,

 

Thank you for pausing for even a moment to consider my Trinity chart! How ill equipped I am, but with delight I offer my commentary....

 

OLD TESTAMENT - the all powerful God was known to Israel and held the focus of all worship: thus He alone is 'in the frame'. All revelation was from the One God. Concealed behind Him, so to speak, yet made known through prophecy was the Messiah, and by faint references the Spirit of God. But the understanding was only of One God, and thus the other Persons of the Trinity remained concealed. The center-points of each overlapping 'frame' show the Father at the very centre, the Son (or Messiah) within the Father's 'frame' (as announced), but the Spirit remained outside of peoples' recognition at that time, thus out of the frame of God.

 

NEW TESTAMENT - suddenly God becomes present in the Son! All revelation is now through the Son. The Father was only to be known through the Son, with knowledge of the Spirit pending, so to speak. The center-points are now in closer proximity one to the other, each equidistant within the frame of Jesus' revelation as He explained His unique relationship with the Father and revealed the coming of the Spirit.

 

OUR TESTAMENT - we depend for access to the Trinity upon the Spirit. He is in the centre of the 'frame' of our belief in the Trinity. All revelation is via the Spirit. The center-points draw us in towards the center of the Trinity as the Spirit leads us through the Son towards the Father.

 

HEAVENS' TESTAMENT - we will gaze upon the center of the Trinity, the Godhead (yellow central infill from each of the earlier frames now the focal center-point). The center-points from each of the frames unite around the revelation of Jesus' Cross which is shown as the center of the revelation of the Trinity. In this final frame the center-points of each frame come together to reveal the unity of the Godhead.

 

I delight in the moment that my eye is drawn into the final focus on the Trinity! If I might be but a child for a moment, I should delight to make a cut-out of the final frame and spin it as a 'top' on a cord of elastic so that all the colours would merge into the glory of a rainbow!

 

With my love in Our Lord,

William

 

From: Donald - - -
To: William J W - - -
Subject: Fw: Understanding the Trinity 2

Trinity charted . . . .

Dear William,

It is a mind bender.

Nivard and I are tryng to work it out.

The PDF will not move to my Blog. Maybe it will work in an Attachment.

For the moment - we await in ecpectation of your commentary on the CHART.

Yours - - -

Donald.

PS. I am wondering how I can do the Charts which help doing the minatures from the illustration from the Mass Trinity Page - as in the Pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William J. W - - -
To: Donald- - -
Sent: Sunday, 3 June 2012, 19:18

Subject: Understanding the Trinity

Dear Father Donald,

 

As I read your Blog posting on the Trinity, I am remembering last year at the RCIA where I witnessed bewilderment on a number of faces at the description / explanation of the Trinity as defined / presented in the Catechism. One presentation could not encompass so great a mystery. It seemed to me that the mystery is only 'understood' when it is seen through the gradual process of revelation, and so I drew a chart (attached) using the idea of a visual 'frame' to view the stages of revelation, for the mysteries of faith are of the nature of revelation.

 

I just wanted to show it to you as I 'refreshed' my understanding today!

 

With my love in Our Lord,

William

 

Trinity Sunday Nicholas Cabasilas

 

Trinity Sunday, from the Night Office first Nocturne Reading to Vespers and Benediction enriches our whole day.

 

From: Donald - - -
To: nunraw - - -
Sent: Sunday, 3 June 2012, 20:45
Subject: Trinity

TRINITY SUNDAY 

Yr. B p274-273.

From The Life in Christ
by Nicholas Cabasilas

(Lib. 2: PG 150, 532-533).

The Life in Christ,  a Greek theological classic written some time after 1354, was intended not for monks or theologians, but for ordinary living in the world. Our extract shows the part played by each Person of the Blessed Trinity in our redemption , and explains why is fitting for each of the divine Persons to be invoked when baptism is conferred.

 

Although it was by a common benevolence that the Trinity saved our race, each one of the blessed Persons played his own part. The Father was reconciled, the Son reconciled. And the Holy Spirit was the gift bestowed upon those who were now God’s friends. The Father recreated us through the Son, but it is the Spirit who gives life.

Even in the first creation there was a shadowed indication of the Trinity, for the Father created, the Son was the Creator’s hand, and the Paraclete was the Life-giver’s breath. But why speak of this? For in fact it is only the new creation that the distinctions within the Godhead are revealed to us.

God bestowed many blessings on his creation in every age, but you will not find any of them being ascribed to the Father alone, or to the Son, or to the Spirit. On the contrary, all have their source in the Trinity, which performs every act by a single power, providence, and creativity. But in the dispensation by which the Trinity restored our race, something new occurred. It was still the Trinity that jointly willed my salvation new providentially arranged the means for its accomplishment, but the Trinity no longer acted as one. The active role belonging not to the Father, or to the Spirit, but to the Word alone. It was the only-begotten Son alone who assumed flesh and flesh and blood, who was scourged, who suffered and died and rose again.

Through these acts of his our nature received new life; through these acts baptism was instituted – a new birth and a new creation. Only in this new creation and the distinctions within the Godhead revealed. Therefore, when those who have obtained this holy re-creation call on God over the sacred bath, it is fitting that they should distinguish between the persons by invoking them as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

Responsory           Matthew 28: 18-19

  

To me has been given all power in heaven and on earty.
- Go and teach all nations.
Baptize them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
- Go and teach . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Catechism teaches that “[the Most Holy Trinity] is the mystery of God in himself.

Trinity page of Mass

The Catechism teaches that “[the Most Holy Trinity] is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, ..

Try: The Most Holy Trinity Blogspot

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Sunday, 03 June 2012

The Most Holy Trinity, solemnity

---

THE MOST HOLY TRINITY 

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.    

         The Incarnation of God's Son reveals that God is the eternal Father and that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father the Son is one and the same God.     The mission of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son (⇒ Jn 14:26) and by the Son "from the Father" (⇒ Jn 15:26), reveals that, with them, the Spirit is one and the same God. "With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified" (Nicene Creed).   
        "The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first principle and, by the eternal gift of this to the Son, from the communion of both the Father and the Son" (St. Augustine, De Trin. 15, 26, 47).   
        By the grace of Baptism "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", we are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, here on earth in the obscurity of faith, and after death in eternal light (cf. Paul VI, CPG).  
        "Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal" (Athanasian Creed).   
        Inseparable in what they are, the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do. But within the single divine operation each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, especially in the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Catechism of the Catholic Church § 261-267 - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana

TRINITY

SUNDAY

Page from Cistercian Breviary