Raymond Sabbatical

One of the world's busiest shipping centres. More clear in the origin photo.

Hong Kong return.

Fr. Raymond sends this word,

“Just a note to say that I have at last returned from the Sabbatical trip of a life-time 'down under”.

I would have been in touch regularly but for the fact that I discovered that the so called world wide web is not so easily accessible as its name would suggest!” (Raymond)

The Saturday BVM Missa de Beata was celebrated by Fr. Raymond to mark his home coming from the abbatial retirement. It does mean picking up the monastic threads of community life.

The final stage of his Sabbatical was at the monastery of Our Lady of Joy, Lantao Island, Hong Kong. He was there hile there the community celebrated the canonisation of Saint Rafael, Cistercian Monk, when visiting Trappistine Sisters joined in the event.

At the first Saturday of the BVM Missa de Beata he recalled his blessings in Hong Kong.

“Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed”.

The Liturgy of the monks at Lantao is in Chinese, but at Compline eack evening they sing the SALVE REGINA in Latin Gregorian. It made him at home with the Salve.

As he experienced the monks and sisters in Asia he felt the role of Mary, the Mother of the World.

From the southern point of his pilgrimage, the monastery of Kopua, NZ, he took photos of the Maori Madonna, named “The Southern Madonna - at Southern Star Abbey, Kopua”.

(See note on the artist;

“Julia B. Lynch 1896 – 1975 Julia Lynch (Sister Mary Lawrence of the Trinity RSM) trained at the Palmerston North Technical School and later at the Slade School of Art of University College London. She was a regular exhibitor in the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, also in Paris, Australia, Rome and in the London University Gallery”).

Hopefully, Raymond is to give to the community some account of his experience of the three countries and the Cistercian Abbeys; Tarrawarra Aus), Kopua(NZ) and Lantao(HK).