We had some special visitors last weekend from St. Oswald's junior Church. There are a few photos below. (Used with permission). Sr. Reina ran the day with Vanessa who runs the Junior church.
At the moment the communities of Hyning and Brownshill are in retreat till Thursday 13th July. Please pray for all those in retreat ( and for those who aren’t!)
Sr. Mary Colette would like to thank everyone who has sent her get well wishes, cards and prayers over the past few weeks. She broke her hip and is recovering gradually and thanks all those who have been so kind to her. Please keep her in your prayers.
Sr. Mary Joseph's funeral will be held on Monday 29th May here at Hyning at 10:30 am. Please email hyningbookings@yahoo.co.uk if you are planning on attending the Mass and the buffet afterwards. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts at this time.
If you would like a Zoom link for Sr. Mary Joseph's funeral please email Sr. Michaela at srmichaelasbc@yahoo.co.uk by Sunday evening 28th May. I won't be checking email on the Monday morning or during the Mass. Thank you for your understanding.
The community ask you to pray for the repose of the soul of Sr. Mary Joseph who died peacefully earlier today at Nazareth House in Lancaster. Though she had not appeared to have been ill, she had lost interest in eating and drinking in recent days. Sr. Mary Joseph returned to the Lord she had served so faithfully all her life. Sr. Mary Joseph was a former student of our schools at High Wycombe and then Slough. She taught for many years and lived at Hyning in the 1980s and then retired from teaching in 1994 and moved to Hyning. Please pray for her and the community and her family who always kept in contact with her and visited regularly. There are no details for her funeral available as yet.
A massive thank you for all those who braved the rain today and helped on #TheBigHelpOut day. #TeamGarden #TeamCleaning, #TeamApplepeeling and #TeamKitchen. You were all amazing. It was lovely to meet old and new friends, enjoy a meal together, pray together, get soaked together as well and enjoy the Coronation tea!
We invite you to help the Sisters maintain their heritage environment, particularly the delightful but energy demanding eleven acre landscaped garden.
Tasks will include clearing and tidying wild areas, some outdoor painting, planting, path and wall maintenance. Other lighter activities also available.
Please wear clothes suitable for outdoor work including sturdy shoes or boots. Gardening gloves would also be greatly appreciated.
Most activities are outdoors. In the event of very heavy rain, please consult our website to see if the day is maintained. If it is raining lightly, please find something waterproof to wear!!
Please bring a packed lunch. Drinks and refreshments will be available throughout the day and we will conclude with a Coronation tea at 3.45 pm, featuring Sr Michaela's delicious cakes!!
A chance to discover the Monastery of Our Lady of Hyning, to meet the sisters and share in the beauty of creation.
Ideally, please register through thebighelpout app or through the website www.thebighelpout.org.uk
If you cannot manage this, please contact us and we will add you to the list.
Brownshill are hosting a vocations weekend in June. All details on the poster!
If you are free on the 8th May, we are down as a group for The Big Help https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PUXM5DPWdAXzUyW850Wl2kdyy9ZOvKzO/view and you just find the app, and search for us. See you on the 8th May perhaps! Help with gardening, kitchen, cakes etc.
Sr. Reina has been busy again. The bottles are back! £5:50 big and £3 for small ones.
We had a very successful Lenten retreat led by the sisters and Fr. Anthony, our chaplain at the end of February. This week we are hosting a Beginners’ Icon course led by Sr. Mary Stella and David, one of her icon group leaders. I’ve put a few images so far on the Icon Studio page but you can also view the Gallery here.
The next two events are the Card making Day and the Calligraphy Day. More details on the programme page. We are also open for Easter so please come and say hello. The Stations are also available online.
We also have an exhibit created by Clare McNamee, Sr. Mary Stella’s talented sister, on display outside the Icon Studio!
7pm - 9 pm An evening in October 2023 Monday 9th October at Hyning
At Jacob’s well, Jesus broke strict rules of his time in order to reach a woman who was struggling with past relationships, exclusion and isolation; he listened to her in a non-judgmental way, saw her huge potential and she was transformed, finding her own confidence and her own voice. We will explore this intriguing Gospel passage, which helps to illuminate women’s inner soul journeys and offers an invitation to walk to the ‘well’, to Christ the One who restores us. The retreat will include a short theatre piece, discussion of the Gospel passage, Ignatian guided prayer based on the beautiful journey to the well and a short presentation of guitar music, words and candlelight.
Online and In Situ Christian Retreats led by Donna Worthington. Donna is a long time friend of Hyning and recently led a superb creative writing day for us at Hyning in February.
For bookings, please see the website or contact Donna Worthington: drworthington@live.co.uk www.christianretreats.live
All retreats cost £20, unless otherwise stated.
MARCH 2023
Monday 6th March 10am-1pm
Saturday 11th March 11:30am -3:00pm
Venue: Our Lady of Lourdes and St Gerard Majella RC Church, Brownedge Rd, Lostock Hall Preston PR55TA. Cost £20. For bookings, please contact the Parish office: 01772 335387 or email: office@saintgerards.org.uk Places are limited.
APRIL 2023
A JOURNEY WITH VAN GOGH | ‘There is nothing more artistic than loving people’ and ‘What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?’ These quotes from the artistic and wounded genius Van Gogh, are just some of the windows into this retreat which will offer creative, reflective sessions to deepen our humanity and spirituality.
Saturday 15th April 10am-1pm
MAY 2023
(ONLINE) PENTECOST | The divine fire and the call to go forth into a life based on freedom and hope.
Monday 15th May 10am-1pm
(ONLINE) GETTING CREATIVE! | A five week course on Creative Writing. 7-9pm. Cost £80
Monday evenings: May 1st, (NOT the 8th), then 15th, 22nd, 29th, June 5th. 7-9pm. This is a general course on creative writing. We’ll explore nature as a meditative window into writing and explore key writing strategies to deepen our understanding of character, dialogue, structure, dramatic action, the use of archetypes, how to evoke responses in readers / audiences etc. No writing experience at all is necessary to join this course, just a willingness to enjoy exploring creative writing!
JUNE 2023
Wednesday 7th June 11:30am -3:00pm
Venue: Our Lady of Lourdes and St Gerard Majella RC Church, Brownedge Rd, Lostock Hall Preston PR55TA. Cost £20. For bookings, please contact the Parish office: 01772 335387 or email: office@saintgerards.org.uk Places are limited.
(ONLINE) LEARNING FROM NATURE | We seek the divine through Creation…
Sunday 4th June 2-5pm
JULY 2023
(ONLINE) ‘’I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’’. | We explore Jesus' compelling words. Saturday 1st July 10am-1pm
Monday 3rd July 03-07-23 11:30am -3:00pm
Venue: Our Lady of Lourdes and St Gerard Majella RC Church, Brownedge Rd, Lostock Hall Preston PR55TA. Cost £20. For bookings, please contact the Parish office: 01772 335387 or email: office@saintgerards.org.uk Places are limited.
(IN SITU) OCTOBER EARLY NOTICE! One of the evenings will be at Hyning.,date tbc.
7pm-9pm Evenings in October 2023:
At Jacob’s well, Jesus broke strict rules of his time in order to reach a woman who was struggling with past relationships, exclusion and isolation; he listened to her in a non-judgmental way, saw her huge potential and she was transformed, finding her own confidence and her own voice. We will explore this intriguing Gospel passage, which helps to illuminate our inner soul journeys and offers an invitation to walk to the ‘well’, to Christ the One who restores us. The retreat will include a short theatre piece, discussion of the Gospel passage, Ignatian guided prayer based on the beautiful journey to the well and a short presentation of guitar music, words and candlelight.
It is lovely to be able to share our monastery with the increasing number of guests who are beginning to return. We rejoice to see people we have not seen since the pandemic and welcoming new faces as well. There are a series of days coming up on craft and calligraphy. There is a beginners icons course and the Lent retreat! All details to be found on the programme page.
We hosted the day for Religious and Consecrated Life in our diocese on the 4th of February. We had a really stimulating online session with Gemma Simmonds, C.J. followed by questions, group work and of course, feedback! During the afternoon we looked at ways we could support each other and share each other’s joys and celebrations, learning to understand more the work of other religious of the diocese. Sr. Philomena and Sr. Anne, both Holy Child sisters had organised the day with a team and animated the day brilliantly.
Saturday 11th February saw a new venture, a creative writing day led by Donna Worthington. An inspirational speaker, she used imagery, nature, poetry and movement to get the creative juices flowing.
Our new event is the lent retreat with input from Sr. Mary Stella, Fr. Anthony and Sr. Michaela.
Today at Mass we celebrated the renewal of vows for Sr. Pauline, one of our juniors. pray for her as she continues to explore her monastic vocation with the Bernardines.
We re-open next week after a short January break and a list of this year’s events can be found on our programme page. https://www.bernardine.org/hyning-programme Please click for more details.
Happy New Year, we look forward to welcoming our guests again.
Hyning is now officially reopening and Sr. Mary Bernard is now taking guest bookings. Last week we had the family of Sr. Mary Lucy as the first official guests. They came for the burial on Friday morning. It was a lovely send off for her and those of the Hyning community who weren’t able to attend the funeral were able to say goodbye to her too.
On a more joyful note our junior at Hyning, Sr Pauline, will renew her vows on the 11th january. Please pray for her as she continues her monastic journey.
There are several events coming up if you check the programme page for more details, gardening days, drawing weekends etc. I’ve also been asked to advertise this event organised by a youth leader. It is aimed at 18-25 year olds but please check for more details. The posters will give all the contact details and for more information please contact .Rina
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bernardines These are some of the pictures from Lisa from the 5th October. There a series of days coming up, the next one is on Wednesday 12th october. There are some photos on the Garden page. Be prepared for all weathers, especially rain. Lunch will be provided. Contact Sr. Stella 01524 732684 or Sr Mary Bernard hyningbookings@yahoo.co.uk for more details.
After a long period of very limited activity because of COVID and then the refurbishment project, we are delighted to announce that our Guest House will be opening again from the 4th of November 2022 onwards. There may even be the possibility of bookings in the last week of October.
We are looking forward to welcoming back old friends and making new ones! The new en-suite bedrooms in the main house are splendid!
We are suggesting a minimum stay of two nights so that you can fully appreciate our lovely new rooms and help the smaller community maintain the guest house.
In August we finished the work of the General Chapter. Previously we had announced the election of our superior, Sr. Elizabeth Mary, as the new General of the Order. On August 15th Sr. Mary Helen was appointed prioress of Hyning. Many of you will remember her as our prioress in 2006 to 2008. So we are pleased to welcome her home. Yesterday we said goodbye to Mary-Ann who has been living with us for a year’s experience. Our community here for 2022 consists of Sr. Mary Helen, Sr. Mary Joseph who is in Nazareth House, Sr. Mary, Sr. Mary Stella, Sr. Mary Colette, Sr. Mary Bernard, Sr. Michaela, Sr. Reina and Sr. Pauline, our junior.
The building work is nearly complete and we look forward to re-opening in the near future, no dates decided yet, not before October because of work needed on fire doors.
Sr. Michaela is recovering from surgery for cancer but is making good progress and counts very much on your prayers.
Today we started our General Chapter, or in reality continued on from the work we began in September 2021. Please pray for the needs of the Order and the work of the new General Council. Changes in all the communities will take place and we will give news when that happens.
Work on the building project has been further delayed but much progress has been made. I hope to put some photos with this post. The first Slide show is from the First Floor, including the East Wing and LSR. The second is from the GRound Floor, including toilets! The third will be from the Top Floor and the Middle Section.
“The radical gift of oneself to God, loved and served for Himself alone, listening to His Word, and a humble attentiveness to His presence in all human beings and in events, are the characteristics of this life; its sole aim is the search for God, lived out in Community.”
