Sources for January edition of Faith Basket

-Tyburn Convent Benedictine Monastery Largs Newsletter
-Catholic Truth Society online website and articles
-Google searches on the Tyburn nuns
-Word of mouth through friends and peers

News Feed and Prayer Requests

Tesco, despite a fall in sales is still trying to expand and take over the supermarket and convenience store markets. With an increasing market share, visible from the close proximity of stores even in Cambridge, some within less than a couple miles of each other, Tesco is taking over like  lava overflowing from a volcano. This big Juggernaut is devouring many small businesses, which are suffering as a result.

Please pray that those who are dependent on small, family run businesses or small scale chains like Mace and specialised stores are not overwhelmed by the presence of Tesco, and that, if it is God’s will, they may be able to come up with ways of competing with Tesco to help them survive, and perhaps try to show Tesco its diminishing marginal returns of trying to expand too much. Amen.

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Advanced Level exams are currently taking place until the end of January 2012. Many students, including myself have conditional offers from Universities and other apprenticeship or training schemes to fulfill. Most of them are based on grades, and with the highly competitive market for such ventures, students are really starting to feel the pressure—missing the grade by one mark may mean losing a place on the course/training of one’s choice, causing stress as students will then have to think about alternative next steps after Sixth Form. Please pray for all those affected, that they may be able to remain calm and collected and do their best so they can go to wherever it is God wants them to be. Amen.

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Please pray for all God's children.
"Many who you don't know will benefit from your prayers"
-Mother M. Edmund Campion OSB

"Listen and attend with the ear of your heart"

This is a quotation from St Benedict. When he says listen, I do not think that he means the mental act of hearing sound go through one’s ears, but the engagement of one’s whole self in the “listening”. My interpretation of this would be that what Benedict was saying was that if we integrate our thoughts, feelings, whole-hearted desires and everything of ourselves to “listen”, then we may be mindful of God’s presence in every aspect of our lives. I guess in the monastic life, this comes as part of lectio divina (holy reading) and prayer—listening to what God is calling one to do by looking into the deepest desires of one’s heart to see exactly what kind of problems one might face and what strategies and solutions one can come up with. Tell me what you think?

Inspirations From Mother Marie Adele Garnier

Let me begin with a quotation from Mother Marie Adele Garnier, shared with me by the Tyburn Nuns. “God knows all, He can do all, and He loves us. We are in His hands. Let us live our life then, as He arranges it ... In heaven we shall understand the ‘why’ of everything.” For all of us there have been times where we simply do not understand why certain events have taken place, and sometimes it seems like it is such a cruel world that people often forget our loving Father and Mother in Heaven who are watching over us so lovingly we could not define it lexically in any human language. So, in the times where we are left wondering, rather than turning to  this materialistic world for ideas, perhaps we should take some time just to “listen” and find peace in the silence because “it is better to make an act of trust and faith at all times ... we must see all things in the light of heaven.” And with that thought, I leave you to reflect  and think about the things Mother Marie Adele Garnier said.

Tweeting with @digitalnun (Sr Catherine Wybourne)

“A nun on twitter?” - who  would have ever heard of such a thing! , but in this day and age it seems that there are so many ways to spread the Word of God, including that of social media. Sister Catherine Wybourne is one of the Benedictine nuns from Holy Trinity Monastery who has been blessed with being a “web developer” as one of her “community duties”.  She writes on her twitter profile that she is “keen on God, books and technology”. She “likes people too” and blogs at www.ibenedictines.org.  Sister Catherine Wybourne often recommends the community website, http://www.benedictinenuns.org.uk/ as a useful source to answer any questions one might have about their community in East Hendred, although occasionally other questions not included on the website may be asked via an email form on their website. However, It was through twitter that I was given some advice—to read Regula Benedicti in Latin as translations are often “interpretations”, and in discussing languages, Sister said, “Mother M. Xavier is an accomplished Hebrew scholar, I believe” - which intrigued me since I always wanted to learn more languages, including Hebrew and Greek, as well as improve my Latin which is not good at the moment. The last time my friends and I tried to tell our Economics teacher in Latin that he had shed light on a curved graph, we accidently said that he was a “wonderful circle” and he only laughed and said, “yes, I do need to sort out the weight problem!”. Although funny, we don’t fancy that again!

Getting in touch with Mother M. Catherine

I first heard about Mother Catherine when my RS teacher told me that a girl in our parish had entered with the Tyburn nuns during a lesson on Vocations in Year 11. I thought I had heard the name before so I checked my emails, only to find the prayer requests replies from Mother M. Edmund Campion—one of the Tyburn Nuns. It wasn’t until Summer 2011 when I stayed in a flat on my own for a couple weeks due to flooding in my village family home that I decided I would take the opportunity to go to Daily Mass at the local Catholic Church. That is where I spoke to the Sacristan who introduced me to Malcolm (the altar server/Mother Catherine’s father). They asked me about my family and why I was there alone and I told them about my situation and that I had wanted to be Catholic since I was three. Vocation was the next topic and then Malcolm mentioned his daughter (Mother Catherine) and that’s when I wrote to her in Largs—after a conversation about the Tyburn nuns with Malcolm. I called her a couple times too, and talked of  my College (where she went too). Blessings!

Update on the Benedictine Monastery Largs

The Big News of this year for the Benedictine Monastery Largs is that they now have a new email address and website (please see below). Gratitude expressed to Andrew Gallagher for setting these up for them.

Mother Placid celebrates her Diamond Jubilee (60 years of Religious Profession) on 21st January 2012 and it is said “her excitement is growing”.

 The friend’s of the Tyburn Nuns informed them of the Dumfries cemetery’s need for restoration. This is where the sisters who lived and died there between 1884 and 1988 were buried when the community moved to Largs. This was transformed into a dignified site.  The parish priest of the Dumfries Church, St Andrews organised a commemoration ceremony and Holy Mass with special readings, which was attended by many.

The former chaplain, Fr. Gabriel Kigozi passed away and news was received by the sisters on 12th April.

The Bishop, John Cunningham celebrated his 50th anniversary of priestly ordination. All-night Thursday Adoration for a year was offered for priestly vocations in the diocese.

For more information about the Benedictine Monastery in Largs, please see their website, or contact them using the email on the below.

info@benedictinemonasterylargs.com

www.benedictinemonasterylargs.com

Tyburn Convent DVD: Gloria Deo

The Tyburn Nuns, Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmatre released their DVD, Gloria Deo recently. It features some insights into their lives as contemplative Benedictine Nuns, showing their many convents and monasteries around the world. Mother Mary Xavier McMonagle, the Mother General has said she hopes those who watch the DVD will “serve God more sincerely in their own lives”.  When asked whether she thinks more vocations will result from the DVD, Mother said she was more focused on informing the general public that the contemplative monastic life is one of “vibrant, joyous, and holy dedication to God” and that it was “well worth living” for all those touched by it, not just the nuns themselves.

One of the features in the DVD is the expansion of the religious community, especially, it is emphasised, at a time where many of the female religious communities around the world are in decline.

Tyburn convent is situated in Marble Arch, at the site of the Tyburn Gallows, where many martyrs were hanged, and has become a centre for international pilgrimage. From parish groups to pilgrims from around the world, the number of visitors to Tyburn Convent has blossomed.

For a copy of the DVD, please contact the Tyburn Nuns.

£15 + postage (depends on where you live in the world)

www.tyburnconvent.org.uk

It's a small world

It's a small world because we are all related in God's world. We are all His little children, which makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. It's amazing to think that the more I talk to people in the community, the more I learn, even about people I know or know of. Just remember that whatever happens, God is with you, and that everything will work out fine in the end...

I always find that when I meet new people, they tend to know at least one person I already know, and connections and commonalities arise from there, which is why I said—we are all related in some way or another—even in this physical world…but it’s more important to remember not the worldly connections but the spiritual— just remember that you are God’s child.

2012: The New Year

Welcome back to a lovely new year everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed the festivities, should you have been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of sparkly bright colours exploding in the sky above us all.

2012 seems to be the year that many are afraid of— the so-called “end of the world” or “apocalypse”. Conspiracy theories seem to suggest that  the entire human race will be wiped out, or worse (for some people anyway) - we will all become reptiles as we will shed the human form that we are apparently hiding under with the current frequency on Earth. Others appear to suggest that we are living in a  particular dimension, and that we will travel to the next level and the next dimension, progressing up to a new level each time we “die” so they say...but where could one possibly imagine such a world? It’s like they’ve never heard of our Lord and Our Lady—the most loving parents anyone could ever have. I guess that is why the current Prime Minister, David Cameron is trying to bring back the traditional Christian values we once had in society—the ones that have deteriorated into thin air-or so it seems as the words “courtesy” and “consideration” have become archaic, if not obsolete. 

I cannot answer for everyone, but I think that it is high time we all prayed and did what we could so that society will one day be one big community of people who “love their neighbour” like they did in the past. I remember a time when I was very young, when we never locked the doors. I could go to my friends’ houses and knock and the door would be open—I could simply walk into their house. Now, no one does that due to safety reasons. What a predicament we have gotten into!

Well, all I can say is keep this intention in your prayers each day, and hope things will change in God’s time.