Brownshill Christmas Newsletter 2021 As we begin this newsletter we are celebrating the feast of all the Saints who lived according to the Rule of St. Benedict. You will know that one of the important elements of Benedictine life is hospitality. One of the nicest things about this year is to see the guest house reopen. We have been fortunate to see our families and friends. Sr Marie Emmanuelle who had contributed so much in the guest house was named back to La Plaine, in August, where she is continuing to work with guests. You will remember her cheerful and warm welcome. And I’m sure you will join us in thanking her for her contribution while she was among us. We started quite gradually with both our past guests and friends coming back but we were also delighted to welcome quite a lot of new faces. Among these were the seminarians who joined us from Oscott College for their pre-diaconate retreat with their spiritual director. Vocation ministry is very much at the heart of our service to the church and there have been opportunities for some of the sisters to connect with young adults and school students via virtual platforms. It is always lovely to see young people and less young people seeking to serve the Lord. We want to mention too St. Bernard’s Prep School at Slough. For many years we and the children have been Prayer Partners and we help each other to deepen our faith and grow in love and service. On the solemnity of the Assumption, our patronal feast, we met with the whole Order on Zoom for Reverend Mother General’s address from the Mother House. A few days later on the feast of St Bernard we were delighted to have a virtual meeting with all those in initial formation in our own Order. This gave sisters the opportunity to meet our young sisters from Africa, Vietnam and Europe. A special joy for us was the Solemn Profession of Sr Reina at Hyning many of you will remember her from her years here. Some of us were able to join the community at Hyning for the celebration. Her profession was live-streamed so that her family and friends in Indonesia as well as the rest of the community at Brownshill could participate virtually. For us here at Brownshill, 1st October was a very special day with the first profession of Sr. Audrey. As many of you will know, Sr. Audrey comes from Réunion Island, a French Department, but has lived in England for many years. Due to the distance and the restrictions of COVID Sr. Audrey was sadly not able to have her family present but thanks to livestreaming, they were able to follow the celebration from home. Sr Audrey’s booklet was in English and French. Several of her friends from Sheffield were able to celebrate with us. Sr Mary Gabriel, who joined our community from Hyning in August, made a beautiful profession cake decorated with a map of Réunion Island, with its motto, very appropriately ‘I will flourish where I am rooted.’ We rounded off this year of celebration with the final commitment of Kathleen Shaw as an Oblate of the Order during the oblates retreat day Mass.
Another form of our commitment has been the sense of responsibility for the care of the earth. As a community we are trying to do our part both following Pope Francis’ very inspiring encouragement (Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti) and of course the impetus of COP26. It’s going to be a very long and challenging journey but they say that the longest journey starts with the first step. During the year we have had help from a local ecological group supporting and sustaining wildlife in the area. Several times they have come to support us in our work in the garden which has been appreciated. We are also investigating the possibility of buying more food products from our local market in Stroud. As ever there is plenty of maintenance work to be done and this year we have continued the work on the roofs as well as replacing the guttering and improving the loft insulation. It’s been a busy year for Fr Peter who is always on hand with his advice and practical skills. One significant impact for us from the pandemic has been the accessibility of online formation in all sorts of areas. Some of us have followed courses on Scripture, prayer, many of us on the care of the earth. There were some interesting sessions on different aspects of faith in conjunction with the media, music, art and creation. We have also made our own contribution of talks on Zoom and we have continued to send out our morning prayer which several of you are joining in with.
General Chapters for Religious Orders which involve the government of the Order, usually take place at regular intervals. Ours was due to take place in 2020. As it was impossible to hold our General Chapter in France, the elected members are currently involved in a series of pre-Chapter meetings on Zoom in the hope of meeting together as soon as we can. This has been quite a challenge with different time zones and fine tuning the technical problems. We ask you to join us in prayer that we are able to come together for the General Chapter. Nothing replaces the opportunity to meet our sisters face to face.
As ever we are grateful to our growing group of volunteers, those who support us regularly and those who come occasionally. A special mention for a group who arrived one morning to relocate the greenhouse to the opposite side of the building providing it with a sheltered environment and easier access for the community. Some of you will be aware that Sr M Lucy manages the very important work of the archives and in the course of the year both Sr. Mary Helen and Sr. Elizabeth Mary came to work with her on these. We very much appreciate their hard work. We send our special love to Sr. Mary Lucy who celebrates a significant birthday. As this Christmas approaches we know that many of you will be saddened by the loss of loved ones. We remember particularly Sr. Mary Helen’s mother Mrs. Patricia Jackson who died in the autumn. Our community in Goma also lost two of their sisters, Sr. Marie Bernard and Sr. Marie Remi. You can all count on our love, sympathy and prayers. In this season of hope may we find peace and joy in the birth of the Saviour. With our love and prayers,
Sr. Maria, Sr. Mary Lucy, Sr. Catherine, Sr. Michelle Marie, Sr. Mary Philippa, Sr. Hilda, Sr. Mary Gabriel, Sr. Audrey
