News and Events

Following the popularity of our on-line retreats and events during Advent and Lent, we are preparing “Virtual Days of Reflection and Prayer”. The first will be next week. If you would like to join us in Eastertide to “Rejoice with the Risen Christ”, see our programme for details and to register.

You can also see a new photograph of the Sisters of Brownshill on our Community page. This may be your first sight of our new community. It was formed in August 2020 when Sr. Maria became Prioress and we were joined by Sr. Michelle Marie and Audrey. Sr. Elizabeth Mary is now Prioress of our community at Hyning in Lancashire, and Sr. Reina is part of the same community.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Lord is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Happy Easter

The community wishes you the fullness of Paschal joy

Before Mass on Easter Sunday Morning

Paschal Triduum

At the foot of the cross we wait in hope

Good Friday afternoon after the celebration of the Lord’s Passion

Lent Reflections 2021

Through a Glass Darkly” (I Co 13) in these Covid-19 times

We are offering a series of talks during Lent. For more information see the programme page

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Eight 25th January

“So that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11)

Reconciling with all of creation

“Through the crucified and risen Christ, a path of reconciliation has been opened up; creation too is destined for a future of life and peace.” “The newness of life that Christ brings, however hidden, is a light of hope for many. It is a wellspring of reconciliation for the whole of creation and contains a joy that comes from beyond ourselves: “so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11).” quote from CTBI resources for Unity Week

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Seven 24th January

“I am the vine, you are the branches” (Jn 15:5a)

Growing in unity

“Each tradition seeks to lead us to the heart of our faith: communion with God, through Christ, in the Spirit. The more we live this communion, the more we are connected to other Christians and to all of humanity.” “Christ’s will commits us to a path of unity and reconciliation. It also commits us to unite our prayer to his: “that they may all be one. . .so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21).” quote from CTBI resources for Unity Week

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Six 23rd January

“Go and bear fruit, fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16b)

Welcoming others

“Throughout his life, Jesus welcomed those he met. He listened to them and let himself be touched by them without being afraid of their suffering.” “Sometimes something as small as a kind look, an open ear, or our presence is enough to make a person feel welcome. When we offer our poor abilities to Jesus, he uses them in a surprising way. We then experience what Abraham did, for it is by giving that we receive, and when we welcome others, we are blessed in abundance.” quote from CTBI resources for Unity Week

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Five 22nd January

“You have already been pruned by the word…” (Jn 15:3)

Letting oneself be transformed by the Word

“The Word of God is very close to us. It is a blessing and a promise of happiness. If we open our hearts, God speaks to us and patiently transforms that which is dying in us. He removes that which prevents the growth of real life, just as the vine grower prunes the vine.” quote from CTBI resources for Unity Week

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Four 21st January

“I do not call you servants any longer… but I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15)

Praying together

“Jesus lived in prayer, intimately united to his Father, while creating friendships with his disciples and all those he met.” “If we pray with Christians of other traditions, we may be surprised to feel united by a bond of friendship that comes from the One who is beyond all division. The forms may vary, but it is the same Spirit that brings us together.” quote from CTBI resources for Unity Week

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Three 20th January

“Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12b)

Forming one body

“Jesus wishes that life and love circulate through us as the sap through the vine, so that Christian communities be one body.” “In Christ we are invited to be clothed in compassion, through countless new beginnings. The recognition that we are loved by God moves us to welcome each other with our strengths and weaknesses. It is then that Christ is in our midst.” quote from CTBI resources for Unity Week

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Two 19th January

“Abide in me as I abide in you” (Jn 15:4a)

Maturing Internally

We “need a long period of maturation, an entire lifetime, in order to plumb the depths of Christ's love, to let him abide in us and for us to abide in him.” “it is through prayer, by listening to the word, in sharing with others, by putting into practice what we have understood, that the inner being is strengthened.” quote from CTBI resources for Unity Week

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day One 18th January

“You did not choose me but I chose you” (Jn 15:16a)

Called by God

“The love of God seeks us. God became human in Jesus, in whom we encounter the gaze of God. In our lives, as in the Gospel of John, God’s call is heard in different ways. Touched by his love, we set out.” quote from CTBI resources for Unity Week

Christian Unity Week

Praying and working together with Christians of all traditions is very important to us at the Monastery of Our Lady and St. Bernard. Each year our community likes to participate in the week of prayer for Christian Unity, organized by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. This year we will be using readings and prayers for unity at Lauds each day. These are taken from the CTBI programme, which was prepared by the Monastic Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland. You can join us by listening to the daily recordings of Lauds on our Welcome page.

Happy Christmas!

Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth peace to people of good will.

The community at Brownshill wishes you a Happy Christmas. May the joy of Christ’s birth enflame our love and rekindle our hope.

Advent Service

Join us for a service of songs and readings as we offer our prayer and praise to the God who comes. Recording on the “Welcome” page of this web-site

Advent Wreath in Chapel with the fourth candle lit.

Advent

Sunset over the valley, Advent at Brownshill. The days are getting still shorter, summoning us to hope in the Light of the World, as we begin the great O-antiphons.

Sr. Elizabeth Mary says farewell to Brownshill

Here is a link to our Clifton Diocese news.

https://cliftondiocese.com/news/sister-elizabeth-mary-says-farewell-to-brownshill/

S Florence - Solemn Profession.....

Many of you will remember S Florence who returned to our Community at Goma last August after 2 years with us here at Brownshill.

We ask you to pray with us today for her and for S Veronique as they make their Solemn Profession (life vows) today. We celebrate with our Community in Goma and the whole Order, in great joy and with thanksgiving….hopefully a photo will follow…..

Community News - Letter from Sr Elizabeth Mary

Dear Friends

I hope that you have all been continuing to keep well. We do not forget you and have been remembering you in our prayers during these very strange weeks of the lockdown. The guesthouse remains closed. Our own situation concerning public worship is slightly different from that of a Parish Church as the Community, including its ‘vulnerable’ members, uses the Chapel five times daily to sing the Divine Office.

I am writing to share some Community news with you and apologise for this rather formal and impersonal nature of this post.

Our 6 yearly General Chapter meeting of the Order, due to be held this summer, has been postponed for a year. For various reasons, this has resulted in changes to our Communities in England.

I have been asked to move to our Community of Hyning, situated in north Lancashire. Sr. Reina will move ‘up north’ with me. There she will join our other two sisters in temporary profession.

The Community here will have the joy of welcoming Sr. Maria as Prioress. Sr. Maria is no stranger to Brownshill. She was here from 2006 until 2008 as part of the founding Community and shared the adventure of those early days of setting up the Monastery. I know that she is looking forward to being back.

Coming ‘down south’ with Sr. Maria will be Sr. Michelle Marie, who has been a relatively frequent visitor here over the last 14 years, and Audrey, who is a novice preparing for monastic vows.

I know that you will give them a warm welcome and will enjoy getting to know them. Change, while bringing new life, can be challenging, and I am confident that you will continue to support the Community through this time of transition and beyond.

Please keep me, too, in your prayers, along with my new Community at Hyning. It has been a wonderful privilege to be here for the last 14 years and to participate in the Lord’s work of building up this Monastery. I will leave with a deep sense of gratitude for the Community here, our wider community of friends, all we have shared together…….and no doubt with a few tears. It is no secret that I have loved the years here!

The moves are scheduled for mid-August. I hope that the easing of lockdown measures will now allow some face to face ‘goodbyes’.

With our love and the assurance of our continuing prayers,

S Elizabeth Mary

Pentecost altar.....and paschal candle….