Sunday, 21 December 2014

'graceful monks of Nunraw' Scottish Daily Mail 20 Dec 2014

          Scottish Daily Mail  


'graceful monks of Nunraw' Scottish Daily Mail  20 Dec 2014  



The graceful monks of Nunraw Abbey... and proof that silence really can be golden
Scottish Daily Mail  20 Dec 2014

 Devotion: Father Mark, left, main picture, and fellow monks in the Abbey grounds.
Above, writer Kevin McKenna joins them in prayer.
  AFTER too many years where willingly you became imprisoned in ceaseless noise and exclamation the silence you first encounter in a living Cistercian monastery is quite, quite shocking. And then, at last, when your senses become accustomed to the slower heartbeat of this place a sort of liberation occurs and you begin to catch the echo of something long concealed but never quite forgotten. There is peace here but you are troubled just the same.
Nunraw Abbey lies 20 miles or so from Edinburgh, near the ancient burgh of Haddington in the midst of the Lammermuir Hills. These fells are gentle in the summer but now, at the onset of winter, have become moody and the isolation in this stone fastness becomes profound. The abbey and its quadrangles, built over a 17-year period from 1952 by volunteer labour from parishes all over Scotland, once quietly resonated to the chants and cadences of about 60 Cistercian Trappist monks. Now only 12 are left, all elderly and all waiting to see if their numbers will be swelled by other men similarly seeking the presence of God in the silence and, perhaps, His voice; the call of the mild.
Once, a long time ago, I came here during student days when my Christian faith was still constant and unmitigated but already beginning to fray with exposure to the blandishments of a world which rebuked spirituality and reviled all that could not be touched or safely predicted. Along the way there were oases of belief amongst good people but too often these were diminished by their terrifying certainty about a world in which all I could see was glorious uncertainty and perfect doubt.
Now I am desperately clinging to the remnants of faith after 30 years in a fast and loud industry where contemplation is held captive by the tyranny of the here and now. I’m not sure what I was searching for then and, 30 years later, I’m still unsure but almost fearful now at what has brought me back here.
These monks follow the strict Rule of St Benedict, a daily and austere regime of prayer, spiritual exercise and manual labour which was set down almost 1,000 years ago. In a world where the constant striving for material advantage has wrought war and widespread inequality you could reasonably ask of what relevance is a life of such devotion to something invisible and seemingly intangible.
I AM still asking myself this when I rise at 3am to prepare for vigils. I reflect that the last time I saw this hour was in the company of some brazen cocktails and loud blues music in one of Glasgow’s edgier nightclubs. I am also reflecting that my day will end at 8pm and follow a strict agenda which would make Mahatma Gandhi look like a slacker.
As well as vigils there is Angelus, Lauds, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline; all of these being the sung psalms and responses of the ancient Church which in turn praise, thank and entreat God. During these spiritual interludes the monks line up in wooden stalls – six on either side of the chapel – facing each other and singing the psalms in faltering and wispy voices. I have been accorded the rare privilege of joining them and, feeling bewildered and self-conscious in jumper and jeans, I bow and genuflect in the wrong places amidst a mosaic of white and black habits. And gradually the cause and purpose of their day and this life begins slowly and silently to reveal itself.
The previous day I had been welcomed by Father Mark Caira, Abbot of Nunraw, who leads this community. He is a fit and youthful man in his mid70s who doesn’t look old enough to have collected his bus pass and whose laughing eyes belie a lifetime of austerity and spiritual devotion. He is from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, originally and soon we are talking of the independence referendum, a topic which has replaced football as the icebreaker when men from the West of Scotland first encounter each other.
‘We all voted that day,’ he says. ‘But I don’t know what the split was among the community, it wasn’t really discussed much.
‘Recently I attended an annual international gathering of our Order in Assisi and it seemed that all my international brethren wanted to discuss it. Every one of them, it seemed, had a comment to make about it.’
Soon though, we are talking about silence and the idea of God in a world that has never seemed so far away from concepts of spirituality and the divine. ‘We have all the essentials of life here and we’re not over-pious, but gradually you come to understand that God doesn’t reveal Himself until you are quiet enough to listen.’
Last year, the monks were forced to sell the 16th century tower adjoining the abbey which has served as their guest-house. Lately, the work of maintaining it had simply become too onerous for a community diminishing in numbers and advancing in age. A smaller guest facility is under construction within the main building.
Quiet little miracles occurred in the old building, attested to by generations of those who visited. There are abundant tales of people, wounded and broken by separation, violence, drugs and alcohol who found healing at Nunraw and an epiphany.
‘They come here and can gain an insight into their own needs,’ says Father Mark. ‘Some seem surprised that we haven’t taken a vow of silence. Instead of that I like to think we have taken a vow of stability here and that there is instead a spirit of silence.’
He has been at Nunraw for almost 50 years: ‘I believe I was led here and if
this happens you have to be true to yourself. This isn’t prison; it’s hard to enter and easy to leave.’
These monks are almost entirely self-sufficient, having become adept at farming they adhere rigorously to a vegetarian diet and eat daily the produce of their own soil. On special commemorative days they will allow themselves some meat. Christmas Day is one such occasion, of course, and so some of the rituals will be observed.
Already there are Christmas cards gathering on a table and, on the Saviour’s day itself, there may be telephone calls to close relatives. Otherwise though, the rhythm and cadences of their day will remain unaltered. What f ew bills and expenses they incur are met with the help of gifts and donations from a wider community of Nunraw friends and relatives stretching throughout the Scottish diaspora.
It’s during meal times that you first encounter proper silence. The first minutes you experience in a dining hall where these 12 are seated two to a table, eating their food with no conversation are unnerving. And then you gradually grow accustomed to it and are glad of it; no requirement for empty speculation and idle wit – just you and your food and thoughts about where it came from and how fortunate you are that it is always here. And thoughts, too, of those many among us who must live in hunger or in the fog of war. And then you find your own absorption in shallow concerns ebbing away.
The story is told of a harsh winter in these parts, not long after the monks came in 1946. The nearby village of Garvald was cut off by snow and no provisions could get in. In those early days these strange men in their hoods and medieval robes had been an unnerving presence and there was suspicion and fear. Then, as the hamlet gathered itself for a winter of hardship and scarcity, the monks came down from the abbey bringing with them the bounty of the land, provisions in abundance and no little expertise in the ways of making mechanical things work.
The misunderstanding vanished and the monks now occupy a special place in the heart of the village.
So how do you begin to explain even the concept of prayer in a society which has deemed entreaty to the Creator as obsolete? Even among many of us who believe in these things prayer is a resource you turn to only in extremis; in mortal peril and when your team is looking for an equaliser in the last minute. To those who have no religious belief it is merely the hallmark of an older age of superstition and ignorance.
But I recognise that even among my atheist friends there is occasionally an acknowledgment of things beyond human comprehension and an admission of the possibility of design in beauty. That some thanks and praise may be due to someone does not seem to be entirely unreasonable in the circumstances.
Nunraw welcomes people of all faiths and none. ‘Of course many Catholics come here to stay a few days but so also do Protestants, Jewish people, Muslims and Hindus and people with no faith,’ says Father Mark. ‘We do not preach at them or seek to convert them. They can do as much or as little as they please. We just ask that they respect the spirit of this place. And if they take something away with them and it helps them, as it often seems to do, then we feel that a purpose is being served.’
Several of the other monks venture something of what brought them here and the lives they left behind: of running boats up and down the West African coast; of carefree days among alcohol and girls at university. And there is Father Aelred from Tyneside, who has twice left the community, but on each occasion felt compelled to return. He says: ‘I was attracted to the idea of monasticism but wasn’t leading the type of life conducive to it. I was seeing a girl for a while but I knew that I would only really be happy living this life.’
THEN behold Brother Philip. Approaching 90, he is the oldest member of the community but reminds you of a slightly older version of the actor Edward Fox. Gradually though, as he remembers a Geordie childhood, the elongated vowels of Tyneside emerge and, when he talks of his dad, a miner, the years roll away and he is mourning him anew.
The future is uncertain and each monk knows that, in a few years’ time, their community will simply cease to be unless some more men are called to join them. ‘We’ll leave that in the hands of God,’ says Father Mark.
Already, though, a subtle shift in policy has occurred. Once they would only have received men in their 20s and 30s, now they are open to older inductees, or novices, as they are termed.
Brother Michael is one of these. He is at the start of a five-year journey which will hopefully see him become a full member of the Nunraw community. He is a Glaswegian in his mid-50s who recently retired after 37 years with HMRC.
‘I have come here over the years to find silence and to escape the increasingly loud and meaningless noise of the world and to truly encounter God,’ he says. ‘I enjoyed my career and the many good people I worked with and I shall miss them and my family, but this is the place where I think I’m meant to live out the rest of my life.’
And you observe these men again and you ponder their relevance in the 21st century where we seem daily to be unlocking the secrets of the universe and discovering the sources of earthly happiness without the aid of The Almighty, thank you very much. And yet you wonder again at how we conspire to put these riches beyond the reach of many of our fellow humans.
And you wonder at how increasingly empty and unhappy your own life can seem even when you think you have it all. And you know that, for a day or so, you were given a glimpse of something that you once yearned for and you felt a momentary desire once more to cast off the world and its empty promises.
And you know, too, that deep within yourself you wouldn’t experience contentment like this any time soon unless, perhaps, you returned here. And you wonder why the very thought scares the hell out of you yet thrills you, too. And then you are thankful just for the knowledge that this place exists at all and that you will carry it with you in your heart for the rest of your days. 

To discover more about the Nunraw monks, write to: Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw, Haddington, EH41 4LW. or telephone: 01620830223.



Published on 20 DECMBER 2014  

Some of The Scottish Daily Mail advertising team


Friday, 19 December 2014

The Great 'O' Antiphons: O Radix Jesse - December 19th - Independent Catholic News

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The Great 'O' Antiphons: O Radix Jesse - December 19th | O Radix Jesse , December 19th, Fr Robin Gibbons
Jesse Tree - Lambeth Psalter 1140s
The Great 'O' Antiphons: O Radix Jesse - December 19th
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The Great 'O' Antiphons: O Radix Jesse - December 19th - Independent Catholic News   

The Great 'O' Antiphons: O Radix Jesse - December 19th | O Radix Jesse , December 19th, Fr Robin Gibbons
Jesse Tree - Lambeth Psalter 1140s



O Radix Jesse  December 19th
O root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples:
before you Kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.


Our medieval Christian craftsmen and artists created wonderful Jesse trees, the sleeping Jesse at the base with a tree growing out of his loins and on each branch those ancestors of Christ opening out like leaves until we reach the final flowering of Mary with her child Jesus.

Some Jesse trees can be found in manuscripts but there still remain wonderful examples in stained glass and wood and stone carving. Canterbury Cathedral has one fragment of a panel dating from 1150.  In Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire, there is a wonderful north window which combines carved stone images with remaining fragments of medieval glass. In St Mary’s priory, Abergavenny, a most beautiful wooden 15thc Jesse figure is all that remains of the tree!
The Gospel genealogies of Jesus trace his descent from Jesse the father of David. This is to show the fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy, that the Messiah came from David’s royal house and lineage and would be born in David’s city, Bethlehem (Micah 5.2). The ancient world was fascinated by the genealogy of Kings, because a direct and confirmed lineage proved their right to rule. It’s no wonder that dynastic battles were fought over legitimacy rights, for any suggestion that the person claiming the throne was illegitimate usually meant conflict!
Today we are not so fixed on these claims as our ancestors were, for Christians a new and universal family is constituted, where all are one in Christ (Gal 3.28.) Nevertheless this antiphon acts as a catalyst to help us find our ancestry as children of creation.
In two quotes from Isaiah an image of strong roots and strong growth helps us understand how we too are part of the tree of Jesse. The prophet talks about the shoot that shall come from the stock of Jesse, from which a branch will grow full of fruit ( Is 11.1) On that day when the earth will be ‘filled with the knowledge of the lord as the waters cover the sea’, ‘the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for all the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious’(Is 11.9,10).
Because we are grafted on to Christ, our task is to continually bear good fruit, Jesus uses this type of metaphor for good works and acts, but we have also something more poignant to consider.
This root image links us to creation, to the ‘stardust’ which forms the heart of matter and life. O Radix Jesse challenges us to care, with loving concern, for all life’s growth and do everything we can to prevent harm to living creatures and our planet.

Thursday, 18 December 2014

Notre-Dame de l'Atlas ou la joie retrouvée

Aged 92 years, the last survivor of Thibhirine, Father Jean-Pierre Schumacher shows his joy found.


Our Lady of the Atlas - the joy found

  
3,108
Published on December 8, 2014
Following the events of Thibhirine, Algeria, where seven Cistercian monks were murdered, the martyrs of the community of Our Lady of Atlas moved in 2000 to Midelt in the Moroccan Atlas. The program of the daily life of six Cistercian monks, "be praying among the praying" in harmony with the local Muslim population. Aged 92 years, the last survivor of Thibhirine, Father Jean-Pierre Schumacher shows his joy found. A co KTO / The eight productions, 2014. Directed by Lizette Lemoine and Aubin Hellot. 
Documentary 08/12/2014.
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COMMENTS:
The history of the monks of Tiber has a very important place in my life as a Benedictine oblate. Thank you for the video. The monks live in our hearts and pray that the Christians and musalmans finished with the war and was found peace.  


Thierry Boyer via Google+

1 week ago
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Thank you for the video. Very beautiful.
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The Great 'O' Antiphons: 18th December - O Adonai - Independent Catholic News

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The Great 'O' Antiphons: 18th December - O Adonai
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The Great 'O' Antiphons: 18th December - O Adonai  | The great 'O' Antiphons,  O Adonai , Robin Gibbons

St Isaac's Cathedral, St Petersburg

The Great 'O' Antiphons: 18th December - O Adonai - Independent Catholic News 
  O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with outstretched arm. (Common Worship trans)

Adonai is the Hebrew word meaning ‘My Lord’ used by Jews as a substitution for the holy name of God which a cannot be spoken, and so is a reminder of the heritage the Christian community receives from the people of Israel, the first to hear the promise of the future Messiah. This antiphon is the most Jewish of them all, we too pray the ancient name of my Lord,used by the oppressed children of Israel.

Here too is the story of Moses meeting God on Mt Sinai and receiving the Torah, the story of Israel’s oppression and exile but also deliverance from Pharaoh in Egypt and ‘Passover’ into the promised land! This is the Exodus story of our faith as well, a deep reminder of our intimate connection not only with the Hebrew Scriptures, but of the deep Jewish roots of Christian faith.

In the poetry of the antiphon we not only hear the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the God of redemption, who was revealed to Moses in the burning bush ( Is 3.2) but who continually reaches out to us with outstretched arm, dispensing justice and righteousness, particularly to the poor who are God’s special ones , but who will also bring the wicked to accountability ( Is 6.6; 11.4-5.).A Isaiah says, ‘the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our King, he will save us’.(Is 33.22) Here too we glimpse the outstretched arms of a suffering servant , the saviour of the world who redeemed us by the wood of the Cross!
Today we are brutally reminded of new atrocities perpetrated in the name of God by wicked people, innocent children and adults caught up in terrorism and murderous violence. As we call on the Lord, O Adonai, our prayer is caught up in the centuries of prayer offered by innocent and suffering people, from Exodus to the Pogroms, from religious wars of the Reformation, to the more recent Concentration Camps and Gulags all over the world , and of today's violence!

We must reclaim the name of God from misuse, from abuse by evil people, that perhaps is our deep unspoken prayer of O Adonai this day!

Feast of the Church: The Great O Antiphons:"O Adonai", Gospel Mt 1:18-24


William - Fw: The honour due to Our Lady (St Bernard)

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)  
Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk 
|
domdonald.org.uk 


On Thursday, 18 December 2014, 19:30, William ... wrote:

Dear Father Donald,
Just to share such a stunning interpretation in the DGO commentary on today's Gospel!
In honour of Our Lady,
William

Commentary of the day :

Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church Homilies on the « Missus est » no. 2, 13-15 (trans. St Mary’s Community, York)

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home"
“Joseph, her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly" (Mt 1,19). Truly, because he was just, he would not expose her to shame; for as he would not have been just had he countenanced one that was guilty, neither would he have been just if he had condemned one whose innocence had been proved. Since, then, he was just and unwilling to expose her, why had he a mind to divorce her? I give you on this point not my own opinion, but that of the Fathers: Joseph's reason was the same as Peter's when he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord," (Lk 5,8) and that of the centurion when he exclaimed, “I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof" (Mt 8,8).

Joseph looked on himself as a sinner and as unworthy to entertain one in whom he beheld a superhuman dignity. He beheld with awe in the Virgin-Mother a certain sign of the Divine Presence, and as he could not penetrate the mystery, he wished to divorce her. Saint Peter was struck with awe at the greatness of Christ's power; the centurion by the majesty of Christ’s presence; and Joseph was naturally afraid at the novelty and splendour of the miracle and the depth of the mystery. We need not wonder that Joseph thought himself unworthy of the society of such a Virgin when we hear Saint Elizabeth exclaim with fear and trembling: “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1,43)… 

But why divorce her secretly? So that people might not seek out the reason for their separation or come to demand an explanation. What could this just man have replied to… people always ready to dispute? If he had concealed his thoughts, if he had asserted his fiancĂ©e’s purity, those sceptics would have mocked him and stoned Mary… So Joseph, who wanted neither to lie nor to blame, acted rightly… But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid! What is born of her comes from the Holy Spirit.” 

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

O Antiphons of Advent: December 18th: O Adonai (Is. 11:4-5; 33:22)


The Great "O" Antiphons of Advent
UCAN SpiritualityThese last appeals to God seem to read as if the iron of our misery is in our very blood.

O Antiphons of Advent


The Great "O" Antiphons of Advent
http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/801/O_Antiphons_of_Advent.html

Antiphons of Advent - Vespers - Magnificat
Dr. Marcellino D'AmbrosioDr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio
In the Church's Liturgy of the Hours, Evening Prayer, also know asVespers, always includes the great prayer of Mary known as theMagnificat.   Each day, the Magnificat is preceded by a short verse or "antiphon" that links the prayer to the feast of the day or the season of the year.  In the last seven days of Advent (December 17-24), the antiphons before the Magnificat are very special.  Each begins with the exclamation "O" and ends with a plea for the Messiah to come. As Christmas approaches the cry becomes increasingly urgent.

These moving "O Antiphons" were apparently composed in the seventh or eighth century when monks put together texts from the Old Testament, particularly from the prophet Isaiah, which looked forward to the coming of our salvation. They form a rich, interlocking mosaic of scriptural images. The great "O Antiphons"  became very popular in the Middle Ages when it became traditional to ring the great bells of the church each evening as they were being sung.

Each of the O Antiphons highlights a different title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel.  Also, each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah. A particularly fascinating feature of the O Antiphons is that the first letter of each invocation, when read backwards, forms an acrostic in Latin: the first letters of Sapientia,Adonai, RadixClavisOriensRex, and Emmanuel in reverse form the Latin words: ERO CRAS.  These can be understood as the words of Christ, responding to his people's plea, saying  "Tomorrow I will be there."

Atiphons of Advent - Vespers - MagnificatSaying the O Antiphons as a family, whether during grace at meals, in front of the manger scene, or in front of the Christmas tree, is a wonderful Advent devotion.  To make this devotion even more fruitful, read and meditate together on the Scripture texts on which the antiphons are based.

December 17th:
O Sapientia (Is. 11:2-3; 28:29): "O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. O come to teach us the way of truth."

December 18th:
O Adonai (Is. 11:4-5; 33:22): "O Adonai and leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses in a burning bush and you gave him the Law on Sinai. O come and save us with your mighty power."

December 19th:
O Radix Jesse (Is. 11:1, 10): "O stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay."

December 20th:
O Clavis David (Is. 9:6; 22:22): "O key of David and scepter of Israel, what you open no one else can close again; what you close no one can open. O come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."

December 21st:
O Oriens (Is. 9:1): "O Rising Sun, you are the splendor of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."

December 22nd:
O Rex Gentium (Is. 2:4; 9:5): "O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man whom you made from clay."

December 23rd:
O Emmanuel (Is. 7:14) : "O Emmanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Savior. O come and save us, Lord, our God."


O Antiphons of Advent: O Emmanuel

  
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Published on 23 Dec 2013
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