Mungo Founder of Glasgow

St Kentigern (or St Mungo) Feast 13th January

Nunraw Abbey Publications

"Mungo: Tales of Kentigern"

Online (Cleared Formatting)

http://liamdevlin.tripod.com/nunraw/mungo.htm

Saint Kentigern Glasgow’s Coat of Arms includes a bird, a fish, a bell and a tree, the symbols of Kentigern. The Bird commemorates the pet robin owned by Saint Serf, which was accidentally killed by monks who blamed it on Saint Kentigern. Saint Kentigern took the bird in his hands and prayed over it, restoring it to life. The Fish was one caught by Saint Kentigern in the Clyde River. When it was slit open, a ring belonging to the Queen of Cadzow was miraculously found inside it. The Queen was suspected of intrigue by her husband, and that she had left with his ring. She has asked Saint Kentigern for help, and he found and restored the ring in this way to clear her name. The Bell may have been given to Saint Kentigern by the Pope. The originalbell, which was tolled at funerals, no longer exists and was replaced by the magistrates of Glasgow in 1641. The bell of 1641 is preserved in the People’s Palace. The Tree is symbol of an incident in Saint Kentigern’s childhood. Left in charge of the holy fire in Saint Serf’s monastery, he fell asleep and the fire went out. However he broke off some frozen branches from a hazel tree and miraculously re-kindled the fire.

Lord Macleod, founder of the Iona Community, wrote of this book: "No other biography . . . has caught, in a such concise compass and with such warmth of appreciatiion, the true image of the saint . . ."

900th Anniverary Ailred of Rievaulx

This year, AD 2010, we honor the 900th anniversary of Saint Aelred's birth.

Saint Aelred of Rievaulx
2nd Patron of Nunraw Abbey

Solemnity 12th January 2010.

St. Aelred - Born 1110, Hexham,Northumberland. Died 12 January 1167, Rievaulx,Yorkshire, England

Chapter Sermon by Fr. Nivard (Bamenda) When Aelred was in the court of King David of Scotland he was admired for his talent. He was loved even more for his friendly and gentle personality. In the presence of the king, another courtier insulted Aelred. He accused him of many misdeeds. Aelred listened patiently. Then, when his accuser had finished, he quietly thanked him for his charity in telling him his faults. The accuser was so surprised by Aelred’s humility that he at once asked him to forgive his unwarranted accusations. Even by that time he was pondering a vocation to the monastic life. He hesitated to enter a monastery because it would have meant giving up the companionship of his many friends. Gradually, however, he came to see, in his very hesitation, a cowardly attachment to human beings rather than to God. Aelred took to the Cistercian rigours like a fish to water. The strict rule was to mould him, and he in turn would help to mould the Cistercian spirit. Aelred's many gifts, natural and supernatural, attracted the attention of his brethren. They chose him as abbot first at Revesby and then at Rievaulx. He accepted both promotions with reluctance. He knew that this would involve giving up much of his beloved silence. But of course he proved ideal for the role, accepting its duties as a cluster of necessary crosses. As superior, nobody was stricter than Aelred, yet he ruled with winning gentleness. Aelred’s monks were deeply grieved to lose him to death. In his writing on Spiritual Friendship, Aelred wrote a passage that could be used to describe himself. “I would say that Br Simon was friendship's child. Simon’s whole occupation was to love and to be loved.” After Vatican II, many communities, especially in the English-speaking world, undertook programs of ‘building community’, conflict resolution and communication skills, and so on. In most communities there is a concern for cultivating affective maturity and for the quality of relationships among the members. The theme of schola caritatis adopted for the 1996 General Chapter indicates the widespread concern in the Order to make our houses affectively viable. According to Michael Casey, the greatest obstacle to this is individualism. Most Orders have the same problem. A Franciscan General has said that the main reason given for secularization in his Order was ‘loneliness’. However the desert experience or the dark night of the soul is part and parcel of the Christian life. True communion, kononia, as they had it in the early Church provides the key for true family life. In this spirit the ‘school of love’ of our Cistercian Fathers and Mothers, provides the best means of overcoming loneliness. The psalmist says that the just man falls seven times a day. He also says that a brother helped by a brother is like a strong city. However it is unlikely that we will ever be all down at one and the same time. May St Aelred, patron of this monastery, grant us the grace of true family life and so attract more courtiers to friendship with Jesus here in the Lammermuir Hills. Amen.

Saint Aelred of Rievaulx

By Paul Zalonski on January 12, 2009

The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord, all my being, bless his holy name (Rom 5:5; Ps 102:1).

O God, who gave the blessed Abbot Aelred the grace of being all things to all men, grant that, following his example, we may so spend ourselves in the service of one another, as to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The New Advent bio

Saint Aelred authored several influential books on spirituality, among them The Mirror of Charity and Spiritual Friendship. He also wrote seven works of history, addressing two of them to King Henry II of England advising him how to be a good king. The twentieth century has seen a greater interest in Saint Aelred as a spiritual writer than in former times when he was known to be a historian.

This year AD 2010 we honor the 900th anniversary of Saint Aelred's birth.

http://communio.stblogs.org/2009/01/saint-aelred-of-rievaulx.

Ailred Ninth Centenary

Ninth Centenary of St. Ailred of Rievaulx

Cistercian Publications

Series - Aelred of Rievaulx (1109-1178)

"Son of the last of a line of hereditary priests, Aelred was educated apparently at the cathedral school at Durham and then in the court of David I of Scotland. On a visit south, he visited a new abbey of white monks in Yorkshire. '. . . whether his decision was long-pondered or pauline in its suddenness, Aelred's entry into monastic life on that day in 1134 was the defining act of his life. . . Whatever Aelred gave up to become a monk, he never forgot what he had learned in and about the world. The reputation his diplomatic abilities gained for Rielvaulx as he acted in affairs of Church and crown over the next thirty years contributed to the renown and prosperity not only of that house but of the Cistercian Order in England.'"

—Marsha Dutton, Introduction to Walter Daniel: The Life of Aelred

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Aelred of Rievaulx
A Study
Aelred Squire
A pioneer Aelred scholar, the late Aelred Squire introduces readers to `the English Saint Bernard' by chronicling his life, his monastic treatises on the spiritual life, and the historical and hagiographical works he wrote for those outside the clois...

ISBN: 978-0-87907-950-9
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Aelred of Rievaulx
Dialogue on the Soul
Translated by CH Talbot
An abbot and a disciple discuss the soul in practical as well as theoretical terms: what is it, how is it transmitted, how does it relate to the human body, how can it be restored to the image of God to which it was created?

ISBN: 978-0-87907-222-3
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Aelred of Rievaulx
Lives of the Northern Saints
Translated by Jane Patricia Freeland, Introduction and annotations by Marsha L. Dutton
A saintly twelfth-century abbot, born to a family of hereditary priests family in Hexham, Northumbria, and raised at the Scottish royal court, recounts the deeds of his saintly forebears in the North. He tells of flawed and foolish men—and women—on t...

ISBN: 978-0-87907-471-5
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Aelred of Rievaulx
Mirror of Charity
Translated by Elizabeth Connor OCSO, Introduction and notes by Charles Dumont OCSO
Aelred of Rievaulx possessed a personal charm which drew friends and disciples naturally to him. His own experience of human weakness in a worldly life at the court of King David of Scotland made him sensitive to the doctrine of charity which he foun...

ISBN: 978-0-87907-717-4
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Aelred of Rievaulx
Mirror of Charity and Spiritual Friendship
Mirror of Charity translated by Elizabeth Connor OCSO, Introduction and notes by Charles Dumont OCSO; Spiritual Friendship translated by M. Eugenia Laker SSND
Mirror of Charity Translated by Elizabeth Connor OCSO, Introduction and notes by Charles Dumont OCSO Aelred of Rievaulx possessed a personal charm which drew friends and disciples naturally to him. His own experience of human weakness in a worldl...

ISBN: 978-0-87907-075-5
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Aelred of Rievaulx
Spiritual Friendship
Translated by M. Eugenia Laker SSND
Throughout his life, Aelred took great joy in his friends and he believed that by loving and being loved by them, we learn to accept and return God's infinitely greater and enduring love. Real friendship always includes a third person, the Lord Jesus...

ISBN: 978-0-87907-705-1
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Aelred of Rievaulx
The Historical Works
Marsha L. Dutton, Editor; Jane Patricia Freeland, Translator; With an introduction and annotations by Marsha L. Dutton
Aelred of Rievaulx was an heir of Saxons living under Norman rule, a native speaker of English daily speaking French and Latin, a descendant of generations of married priests in an age when priests were forbidden to wed, an English monk in a French o...

ISBN: 978-0-87907-288-9
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Aelred of Rievaulx
The Liturgical Sermons I
The First Clairvaux Collection, Advent—All Saints
Aelred of Rievaulx; Translated by Theodore Berkeley
During his twenty years as abbot of the Yorkshire monastery of Rievaulx, Aelred preached many sermons: to his own monks, in other monasteries, and at significant gatherings outside the cloister. His disciple and biographer, Walter Daniel, mentions hu...

ISBN: 978-0-87907-258-2
ISBN: 978-0-87907-458-6

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Aelred of Rievaulx
Treatises and Pastoral Prayer
On Jesus at the Age of Twelve; Rule for a Recluse; The Pastoral Prayer
Aelred of Rievaulx; Introduction by David Knowles
Meditation on Christ's humanity and a letter of instruction on a disciplined spiritual life for his sister epitomize Aelred's gentle spirituality. His pastoral prayer reflects a man conscious that he is accountable to God for the souls of others.

ISBN: 978-0-87907-702-0
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The Life of Aelred of Rievaulx
And the Letter to Maurice
Walter Daniel; Translated by F. M. Powicke and Jane Patricia Freeland; Introduction by Marsha Dutton
Walter Daniel knew Aelred well and attended him on his deathbed in 1167. He remembered, and portrayed, him as abbot, counsellor, and friend. Contemporaries who had known him as a public figure so immediately criticized the Life that Walter was driven...

ISBN: 978-0-87907-257-5
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Baptism of the Lord

SUNDAY 10th Jan 2010

We have had heavy snows since Christmas time but today laity were able make access.

The Mass began with some unexpected dramatics. It was announced, “It is the Baptism of the Lord”. Then, “Heaven was opened”, and immediately there was the sound of loud rumblings. In the silence we could hear the chuckles from the congregation.

The noise was from the seeming thunder from the banks of thick snow thawing and slipping from the roof. And other crashes of long icicles from the eves.

There is a big word of COSMIC but full of little things.

“And the voice came from heaven”.

There is a lovely word from Pope Benedict xvi.

He speaks of the mystery. From the wonders the cosmic, Benedict sees the great step to the mystery of Baptism.

We all feel, we all inwardly comprehend that our existence is a desire for life which invokes fullness and salvation. This fullness is given to us in baptism ..

The Baptism of the Lord This ... is the mystery of baptism: God desired to save us by going to the bottom of this abyss himself so that every person, even those who have fallen so low that they can no longer perceive heaven, may find God's hand to cling to and rise from the darkness to see once again the light for which he or she was made. We all feel, we all inwardly comprehend that our existence is a desire for life which invokes fullness and salvation. This fullness is given to us in baptism ... The Son of God, who from eternity shares the fullness of life with the Father and the Holy Spirit was "immersed" in our reality as sinners to make us share in his own life: He was incarnate, he was born like us, he grew up like us and, on reaching adulthood, manifested his mission which began precisely with the "baptism of conversion" administered by John the Baptist. Jesus' first public act. .. was to go down into the Jordan, mingling among repentant sinners, in order to receive this baptism... Why, therefore, did the Father desire this? Was it because he had sent his only-begotten Son into the world as the Lamb to take upon himself the sins of the world (see Jn 1: 29)? The Evangelist recounts that when Jesus emerged from the waters, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, while the Father's voice from heaven proclaimed him limy beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Mt 3: 17). From that very moment, therefore, Jesus was revealed as the one who came to baptize humanity in the Holy Spirit: He came to give men and women life in abundance (see In 10: 10), eternal life, which brings the human being back to life and heals him entirely, in body and in spirit, restoring him to the original plan for which he was created. The purpose of Christ's existence was precisely to give humanity God's life and his Spirit of love so that every person might be able to draw from this inexhaustible source of salvation. (Pope Benedict XVI - from MAGNIFCAT Missalette).

Fr. Peter Logue Mt St Bernard Abbey

Friday, January 8, 2010 Father Peter Logue - RIP 1913 - 2010 This morning at 12:50 AM Fr. Peter died. He was a monk at Mount St. Bernard Abbey for 75 years, recently turned 96 years of age. Fr. Peter was the oldest monk at Mount St. Bernard Abbey. He was the oldest monk to ever be at Mount St. Bernard Abbey and may have been the oldest monk in England. He is lying in repose in the monk's church at the abbey. His small frame belied a great man. He was greatly loved. He will be greatly missed. Thursday is the day we remember the Lord's Last Supper. Thursday was the last day Fr. Peter shared in the Eucharist, a foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet. On Friday we remember the Lord's own death. It was on the cross Christ said to the good thief, “I assure you: this day you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43). May Fr. Peter share in the Heavenly Banquet today. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. Requiescat in pace

Informmation from Blogspot

Declan Brett

http://scholacaritatis.blogspot.com/2010/01/father-peter-logue-rip-1913-2010.html

Fr. Nivard of Bamenda Cistercian Abbey, Cameroon, having known Fr. Peter Logue in both Foundation of Mount Saint Bernard & Bamenda, writes: Peter Logue was born in Fife , he was brought up in Motherwell/Glasgow. He entered 1935 after some years in seminary. Under Abbot Malachy (1933-59), he joined in the daunting work of the Church construction, part of the lovely Pugin style Cistercian monastery. I first met Fr Peter in 1952 when I entered Mt St Bernard Abbey. As from Glasgow , because of our accents, we made an immediate rapport, this in spite of the strict rule of silence and isolation of the novices. The novices sometimes helped Fr. Peter in the vegetable garden and flourishing glass-house. He was a hard worker and took his responsibility very seriously. However he had a fund of common sense and a good sense of humour. My cubicle was next to him so at times there was a bit of banter in sign language, of course, at which both of us were rather adept. Father Peter’s father used to visit Mt St Bernard and quite a few times he came when my parents were also visiting me. As a young man he came from Glenfin parish in Co Donegal. This was also the parish of my parents and also of the father of Fr Andrew of Mellifont. The latter was also born in Fife . When I entered, Peter was one of the youngest of the seniors and was impressive and businesslike at the liturgical ceremonies. He had a good voice and articulation and so from time to time he served as one of the assistant cantors or one of the ‘buffers’ on either side of them. He taught moral theology and canon law. When we were doing the Sacraments, he told us the story of his mother. She had been a Presbyterian and on good terms with her minister. After her conversion and marriage, the minister used to visit her and was anxious to know the precise formula of the words for Baptism. Peter was an excellent teacher and it was in this capacity that he came to Bamenda Abbey in Cameroon . Here he was perfectly at home and became an immediate favourite with the African monks. His Guest House Retreats were also much appreciated especially by the Africa seminarians preparing for ordination. His last student at Bamenda was Dom Raphael of Nsugbe Cistercian Abbey whom he prepared for ordination. He returned to Mt St Bernard after eight years and was sorely missed by the monks in Cameroon . He always gave me a huge welcome on my home visits to Mt St Bernard, especially the last one, two years ago. Br Celestine from Nunraw visited him some time ago. As they said farewell Fr Peter said, “I’ll be seeing you in Heaven”. Just before that Fr Peter had two bad falls. So he had one of the juniors, Br Adam, wheel him around the monastery so that he could greet the brothers. He always kept in touch with his brothers and sisters. No doubt this was the fruit of his keeping in touch with God in his daily following of our hidden Cistercian way of life. (Fr. Nivard).

God at the Heart of Darkness

Catherine of Siena’s Way by Mary Ann Fatula (p.83) As in the evening Chapter Reading as part of Compline, I have been listening to the community reading of the book, Catherine of Siena’s Way. It happens at times there is nothing to grip the attention. But this evening, the regular Thursday Discussion ended quickly and for once the Reading seemed to shine with significance. The Holy Spirit can speak like this as in the prompting of this passage. GOD AT THE HEART OF DARKNESS: After a long period of these trials, Catherine seemed to experience one day a new light from the Holy Spirit. She began to understand that this struggle was in fact an answer to her own prayer for the gift of faith and courage, and she resolved to stand steadfast in it for as long as the Lord desired. In the light of this new understanding, the Lord made his presence known to her. Catherine begged him to tell her why he had abandoned her: "Where were you, Lord, while my heart was suffering the agony of all those horrors?" When the Lord answered that he had been present in her heart the entire time, she asked him how this could be, since her heart had been filled with "obscene and abominable thoughts." Jesus asked her who had kept her faithful and caused her to feel grief rather than delight at these tempta­tions: "Was it not I myself, hidden in your heart's core? .. It was I who was working in you all this time. Hidden in your heart, I was guarding it from your enemies on every side." This experience so impressed itself upon Catherine that she would later encourage others with the truth she had learned during this time. She realized that even when we love God, we often grow "not only lukewarm but altogether cold." Discouraged at feeling no love for God, we often give up prayer entirely and in this way only weaken ourselves still more." But Catherine herself learned that we most need to pray when we least feel like praying, because the time of trial greatly increases our self-knowledge and dependence on God. "This knowledge is more perfectly gained in time of temptation, because then you know that you are nothing, since you have no power to relieve yourself of sufferings and troubles you would like to escape."

Epiphany Sermon in Chapter

Epiphany of the Lord Community Chapter Sermon by Fr. Aelred ‘The Solemnity of the Epiphany’ The Magi were searching for Christ. When they found him, they worshipped Him and offered Him gifts. Millions of people have followed the footsteps of the Magi and come to Christ. And we monks can count ourselves among those fortunate millions. The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord originated in the East in the third century, and by the fourth century it ranked with Easter and Pentecost as one of the three principal festivals of the Church. Matthew is our only source for the account of the three Gentiles who come from a far country to pay homage to the Christ Child. For Matthew, the story of the Magi becomes an anticipation of the fate of the good News of Salvation, a fate that He knew in the aftermath of the Resurrection! God revealed Himself to the Jews through the Scriptures and the Gentiles through nature. Hence, Matthew shows the Mage receiving a revelation through astrology. The story highlights the paradox: the Jews who have the Scriptures reject Jesus, while Gentiles come, and with the help of the Scriptures, find and adore Him. There is nothing to be gained by speculating where the Magi came from and what exactly the star was. The star was only the means by which a great mystery was revealed – the revelation of Christ as the Saviour of both Jew and Gentile. The second reading in today’s Mass, from Ephesians, expresses the same theological truth of today’s feast. God invites Jews and Gentiles to share on an equal footing the benefits of Salvation brought by Christ. The Feast of the Epiphany is a revolutionary feast. Christ is revealed as the Saviour, not only of the Chosen People, but of all peoples. Jesus broke down the barrier that existed between Jews and Gentiles. In fact, all the barriers of tribe, of kinship, are transcended by the message of Jesus, the Universal Brother. Yet in today’s world we still see many barriers: racial, social and religious. All these divisions are reflections of our separation from God. When Christ was born in Bethlehem , some people saw just another child. Others, such as Herod, saw the Child as a threat. But the Magi recognized the Christ Child as their Saviour. All those people had the same eyes, yet they did not see the same things with those eyes. It was faith which enabled the Magi to glimpse the mysterious parting of the veil and see the reality beyond. People sometimes travel long distances in search of spiritual experiences which they could have in their home place. We don’t have to travel anywhere, for Christ’s light was not once lit in Bethlehem and then extinguished. For two thousand years his light has shone upon the world, and it will continue to shine on all who believe in Him and follow Him. So, let us imitate the Magi, and walk in the light of the Lord.