The community at Brownshill wishes you all joy and peace
Christmas Newsletter 2023
As we celebrate Christmas and mark the turn of the year, something ends and another part of life begins. These turning points are moments to pause, take stock, reflect, to give thanks and to share our news of the past year.
The same six Sisters who began 2023 at Brownshill are here at the cusp of 2024, but our numbers have fluctuated over the last 12 months between ten and four, signifying welcome visitors and necessary absences. In November, Sr. Maria attended a meeting of the Extended Council of Our Order in Lille, France. Sr. Michelle Marie travelled with her, pleased to be in France again, having lived in France and Belgium at various stages of her Bernardine life.
Sisters from three or four of the seven communities that make up our Order have stayed at Brownshill in 2023. In September Sr. Marthe travelled to England from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she had just completed her service as headmistress of the lycée Amani in Goma. She was preparing to take up her new role as Sister in charge of our community on the other side of Africa, in Burkina Faso. Sr. Marthe came to Brownshill, after a week at our Monastery of Our Lady of Hyning, Lancashire, where she had lived when Sr. Mary Lucy was Prioress in the 1990s. It was sobering to hear about the constant presence of violence and corruption in and around the city of Goma; and the insecurity with which everyone lives day in, day out. In Burkina Faso the challenges are different, but no less significant: among them the fierce climate and the increasing threat from militant Islamists.
In June Sr. Elizabeth Mary, our Prioress General (known to many of you from her 16 years at Brownshill), came with her Assistant, Soeur Félicité a Congolese Sister, to conduct our Regular Visit. We appreciated S. Félicité’s prayerful, calm presence and gladly accepted her help, especially in the kitchen, where she seemed to feel at home.
The timing of our Regular Visit coincided with the golden jubilee of ordination of Fr. Peter Craddy OCSO, our former Chaplain, at Mount St. Bernard Abbey. Sr. Elizabeth Mary, Sr. Maria and Sr. Mary Philippa represented us and thoroughly enjoyed the celebrations. Fr. Peter returned to his own community in April 2022 and very soon found himself serving as their superior, but he has managed to make a few fleeting visits back to Brownshill, much to our delight.
In July it was Sr. Audrey’s turn to go to Mount St. Bernard Abbey for the annual course for Cistercian nuns and monks in temporary vows within the Region of the Isles (UK, Ireland and Norway!). Dom Elias Dietz OCSO, a monk of Gethsemane Abbey in the USA, gave lectures on the life and work of the Cistercian Saint, Aelred of Rievaulx. The group visited Rievaulx in Yorkshire, and walked the six miles from there to Byland, another ancient Abbey, all of which helped to deepen both their appreciation of our Cistercian heritage, and the fraternal relationships between our different contemporary communities.
The course followed immediately after our annual retreat, held this year at Hyning, where Fr. Nick Crowe OP gave stimulating homilies and interesting talks on God’s call in creation and the patriarchs, reflecting on Genesis and Exodus.
Our thoughts and prayers were especially with our Sisters at Hyning in May, as they mourned the loss of Sr. Mary Joseph at the age of 90. Sr. Mary Joseph was a lovely, gentle person, who did not like to make a fuss. It was quite in character that she died quietly in her sleep. Sr. Maria and Sr. Mary Philippa went to Hyning for her funeral Mass, which was attended by many members of her large and loving family. In August we were very happy to welcome Sr. Mary Joseph’s great niece Katy for a short stay at Brownshill.
While four members of our community were on retreat at Hyning, two of our friends spent a weekend at Brownshill, continuing the sterling work they have done over the last year or so to spruce up the grounds. We are very grateful to all our friends and volunteers for supporting us in various ways: maintenance and sewing, administrative tasks, cleaning, driving, helping in the garden and in the laundry.
For 4 weeks in August/September Sr. Audrey participated in the course of monastic formation, run by the Order of Cistercians (O.Cists) at their Generalate house in Rome. Among the thirty or so participants were two other Bernardine Cistercians, Sr. Agnes Hanh from VietNam and Sr. Annie from Goma in the Congo. It was a wonderful opportunity to widen their experience of monasticism and the Church through an intense programme of study, visits to some of the sights in Rome and, very importantly, living together with nuns and monks from all over the world, who try to be faithful to the call to monastic life in their different situations and cultures.
In September Sr. Maria had a week of Pastoral Sharing with the superiors of the Region of the Isles at the Mariakloster at Tautra in Norway. These are always valuable opportunities for mutual support and building up the links between our communities.
Engaging with the wider monastic world, Sr. Maria was invited to be co-visitor to the Anglican Benedictine community of Malling in Kent. Their Bishop, Adrian Newman, came to meet Sr. Maria at Brownshill in July in preparation for the visitation in August.
Another very welcome contact with our Benedictine Sisters came in the form of Sr. Mildred Maria of Minster Abbey, who had a week in September and another week in November with our community to give her time for reflection and prayer, in preparation for her solemn profession. We appreciate her fraternal presence among us, and we keep her in our prayers, as she prepares to make her definitive commitment to the Lord in monastic life.
In September Sr. Elizabeth Mary and Sr. Félicité were at Brownshill again on the way north for Hyning’s Regular Visit. With them came S. Cécile Marie, one of our French Sisters, for a time of rest at Brownshill. Sr. Elizabeth Mary made her retreat and renewed her passport. There was more business on their way back in October, when all the trustees came to Brownshill for the first in-person trustees’ meeting in over 4 years.
We value our links within our Diocese of Clifton, and it is a joy to see many friends at the priests’ Advent retreat day at Brownshill on the feast of St. Andrew.
In March we hosted a Vocations Weekend for the Diocese of Clifton. The young men and women joined the community in prayer and listened to the experiences of people with different vocations in the Church. The guesthouse was so full that three of the leaders had to stay in the local B&B!
Sr. Maria is on the Diocesan Vocations team, and as assistant to the Vicar for Religious, Fr. Tony Pazhayakalam CST, she organized an excellent day for the religious of the Diocese at Brownshill in October. The subject was the Synodal Journey, which Pope Francis initiated in 2021. We were led through the day by Sarah Adams, who has been deeply involved in the synodal process in the diocese, and at the national and European stages. She emphasized the importance of praying and celebrating the Eucharist together, to form the basis for fruitful listening as we ‘journey together’.
The starting point of all our journeys is with our families. The year began with the sad news of the death of Sr. Michelle Marie’s brother–in-law, Alan, whose funeral she attended. Happy times included visits from many of our family members, but old age or ill health sometimes make it impossible for them to come to us. Sr. Hilda has been to her parents, including a visit on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary in March. Later in the year Sr. Audrey made the long journey to spend some precious time with her mother at her home on La Réunion.
We were very happy when one of Sr. Mary Lucy’s great nephews, asked to visit in July. In December we welcomed her three nieces. Sr. Mary Lucy’s family, like us, had a year of “firsts”: first Christmas, first spring, first Easter without her, and we often think of her, especially at tea time!
Sr. Mary Lucy and all the Bernardines in heaven, will undoubtedly be celebrating with us in 2027, the bicentenary of the Order of the Bernardines of Esquermes. We are preparing for this jubilee in a spirit of renewal with a common programme of formation for the Order. The programme begins with the prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict, which is the first text most of us were given to read when we first came to the monastery. It is good to return and to hear afresh St. Benedict’s appeal to listen to Christ, give up all that hinders our progress in holiness, and follow Him to glory.
We continue to record our celebration of Lauds each morning and share it on our website. We are grateful to Fr. Ted M.Afr. for celebrating Mass each day, and for his dedicated service to our guests and the wider community. We are grateful also for the generous support of the many priests, who have celebrated the sacraments for us on the days in each month when Fr. Ted is with his community in London.
Our Oblates met at Brownshill for retreat days in May and October, organized by Sr. Catherine. They share in our prayer and work according to their circumstances, and Sr. Catherine stays in touch with each one, as far as possible. She is also mentoring 2 or 3 people, who are exploring the possibility of becoming Oblates.
We are aware of a great thirst for knowledge and understanding in people of all ages, and we like to support the educational work of the Church. We have welcomed several groups from Catholic schools, and the Kings School of Theology held a weekend course here in January. We have developed our links with YouCAN (Young Catholic Adult Network), and welcomed groups of confirmation candidates, catechists, Teams of Our Lady, priests’ retreat days, local parish groups, and retreats run by Notre Dame de Vie, a secular institute.
Our Lent and Advent retreats, both led by Sr. Mary Philippa, were well attended and much appreciated, as is her on-going work as a spiritual director. At the end of September we offered a weekend for “beginners” on prayer, which gave opportunities to experience different ways of praying. Brownshill Quiet Days have attracted new people, and it is encouraging to see many of them returning for another Quiet Day or a longer visit.
We held two “Seeking God” weekends for 18-35 year olds, discerning a vocation in the Church. They shared our work and meal times, and joined us for times of recreation, as well as the Divine Office. This has been mutually enriching, and we will hold more such weekends in 2024.
Several priests of the Church of England come regularly for quiet days or retreats to Brownshill. The Diocese of Gloucester has held quiet days, and their Curate Spirituality Day here. A new ecumenical link was made when a member of the local Baptist Church enquired about holding a healing retreat here in the summer. A programme of healing, dance, and talks on scripture kept the participants busy, and with 30 people eating most of their meals here all weekend, we were kept busy too!
The visit of year 6 pupils from St. Bernard’s Preparatory School, Slough was a highlight of our year. Three members of staff accompanied the bus load of pupils, who completed a quiz about the monastery, had the chance to ask us questions, and gave the community great pleasure by participating in the celebration of Midday Office and performing songs from the musical they had been working on. We maintain our links with the school as prayer partners, and particularly enjoy opportunities to meet them on-line, if not in person.
We continue to make good use of virtual means to meet people, but always encourage them to come and visit us at the Monastery. Guests tell us that it is beautiful here, and we know they are right. When the opportunity arises, we love to show people the walk down the banks, up past the chickens, call in at the Church of St. Mary of the Angels, go up through the village via the allotments, and back down to the Monastery. We feel very much part of the village, and it is good to hear our neighbours’ news and to include their intentions in our prayers.
We close with our wishes and prayers for you at Christmas, when we marvel at the humility of the Son of God, born into our fragile world. We pray especially for the people in the land of his birth, and for all who are living in fear this Christmas. We ask Jesus, the Word made flesh, to make his home in us and give us His peace.
Sr. Maria, Sr. Catherine, Sr. Michelle Marie, Sr. Mary Philippa, Sr. Hilda, Sr. Audrey
