Brownshill Monastery Christmas Newsletter 2008

One of the questions you frequently hear in Community is, “Did we do this last year or was it the year before!” Time passes with such speed that events run in to one another as the months fly by. For all we live in a village in the Cotswolds, it is not a sleepy one! The doorbell is not silent for long.

Three big events are marking the year ’08. First, Goma. Many of you following the worrying developments around Goma will be aware that we have a Monastery right by the town, and walking distance from the Rwandan border. This is not the first time our sisters there have had to witness harrowing scenes of deprivation, anxiety, hunger, as refugees pour into an area already hard pressed and far from stable. Watching Orla Guerin commentating from the roadside, some of us here realised we had walked that road. Each time there is an outbreak of troubles in Goma, we marvel at the buoyancy and sheer spirit of faith of our sisters there. As we write to you there is a tentative hope that peace will be established. We feed off that hope. Here, outside the chapel, we have a display of photos to stimulate our prayer. We also have notelets on sale made for us by a friend of the Monastery, and we have decided to donate the proceeds to Goma. Seeing that, another friend and neighbour added knitted goods, and a little “shop” has sprung up! Our friends remember Sr. Ernestine from our house in Goma, who was with us until August.

That brings me to the second big event: Our General Chapter. Every six years representatives of the Order gather at the Generalate in Lille. Two main areas fill the programme: an overview of how we have lived our Bernardine calling since the last gathering in order to seek to respond to the Lord’s call in the Church and society in the next six years, and the election of the new Government of the Order. Because the Chapter is prepared by reflexion in the different communities worldwide, it is always exciting to hear how the same spirit can be at the service of places as different as Japan, France, Goma, and indeed Brownshill! The joys and hopes needs and fears are basically the same. Only the accents differ. Our new community in Burkina Faso is as concerned about caring for the planet in their arid, poor country as we are, as we reflect on Globalisation and caring for the Planet. Security in our Western cities is as pressing a need as in the Congo. The messages of Truth, Love, Goodwill echo from our Japanese Monastery as our sisters reach out to Brazilian and Filipino immigrants seeking employment around their town of Mikkabi. Living far from their loved-ones, isolated by problems of language, these people often seek only a kind word and a little companionship.

And that is our experience in every community we live in. We are not here to remove problems, we are not big enough. But a welcome, a listening ear, an understanding word go a long way. We are fortunate as a monastic community to have a constant and very beautiful instrument at our service: our community and personal prayer. We really do pray for your intentions. So many letters, e-mails, phone calls ask only for that. It is as if we are finally seeing that the materialistic trend of our society is not delivering the hoped-for Shangri-la. Even if we do not always know what we want or how to seek it, we do know there is something and the plastic card is not producing it. As Christians we also know there is Someone. That is the message of Christmas, and finally the only riches we have to share. And not just at Christmas, but from one Christmas to the next! We try to do that at Brownshill.

That brings me to our third event. Most of you who know our foundation at Brownshill, know too, that after two years and four months, we are about to enlarge our house. Neither Community nor guests have the space we and they need. We have been working with our architects and have elaborated a plan that should be underway by the time you read this. It is a leap in the dark, a big project in a time of recession, credit crunch, negative equity, financial muddle…and the rest! But we believe that if people matter more than things, then this is a worthwhile project. We may feel less starry-eyed as the project gets underway: drains up, power supply cut, heating off, mud in the house, JCBs in the garden, builders on the roof. But as one of our Lancashire sisters puts it, “You have it to do!” And we encourage ourselves with the thought that we should have exciting things to tell you in the next Christmas newsletter. Even before that, we plan to keep our website up to date with photos etc. of the chaos: So look out for our doings in the New Year.

This has been a full and interesting year for all of us. As Guestmistress, Sr. Mary Stephen has had a regular flow of visitors: for formation courses, for days of prayer and reflection……...or just for her cheerful and encouraging chats which she is so good at. She has also a considerable programme under way for her own formation, including a correspondence course with the Maryvale Institute.

For Sr. Mary Lucy, a lot of work focuses on the new building, which she is masterminding with Sr. Elizabeth Mary. This demands fine-tuning of builders’ plans, reading the small print, tweaking details of design …… and not least working out where we will go when the builders need access to our living space: emptying rooms, setting up temporary accommodation for kitchen, dining room, possibly some bedrooms.

Meanwhile Sr. Catherine’s duties as Bursar keeps her tied to her desk for long hours, as she watches over our finances and matters relating to the charity. She is currently following a Digital Photography course, and has captured some truly stunning views of our surrounding countryside. We never tire of our new home!

Sr. Mary Philippa has had a full and interesting year which included a trip to Spain. In June the International Lay Cistercians held a meeting near Madrid. This is a body of people, who, while not feeling called to live monastic life within the Monastery, value the contribution of monastic spirituality and culture to our world. They draw inspiration for their Christian life and social commitments from studying and praying with the literature and teaching of Cistercian writers of every century. They meet, stay in contact, organise study sessions and do whatever helps them wherever they are, from the United States, to Nigeria, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK…. Their enthusiastic love of the Order reminded me more than once of our own Oblates whom we welcomed here for their Retreat Day last May.

What about Sr. Frances? Some people seem to be a Jack of all Trades. Sr. Frances is no exception. She is an enthusiastic supporter of the Planet in our own small area and can be seen carrying our cardboard, plastic and glass contributions up to the bin where every fortnight there is a collection organised locally. Sr. Frances has a totally uncanny knack for finding lost items: books, watches, letters. She seems to have been born with the reflexes of a retriever.

We were delighted to welcome Sr. Mary Johanna to the Community in August. She made her First Profession at Hyning in 2006 and had been there since. Now she is with us and not only are we enjoying the gifts we thought we knew about, but we are also discovering unsuspected ones…such as flower-arranging and cooking! For monasteries too have occasional re-shuffles, especially in important years such as General Chapters…As many will know, the Prioress of Hyning, Sr. Mary Helen was in July elected Prioress General. And Sr. Elizabeth Mary has been elected a General Councillor. Meanwhile Hyning were awaiting their new Prioress Sr. Josephine Mary, who after 18 years leading the Order was having a break before assuming her new role. To compensate for these losses and to rebalance our ‘local families’, Sr. Ernestine and Sr. Maria were asked to ‘go North’. And the news we get is that they are settled happily at Hyning. But we do miss their respective gifts including playing organ and tamtam! And we just miss them as sisters.

These glimpses tell you we are thriving. And as you can guess, there is so much more to tell. But as well as news, the purpose of this letter is to assure you as ever of our prayers and warmest wishes for this Wonder-ful Christmas season.

Joy and Wonder are very Christian gifts, more precious than so many we endeavour to acquire by ourselves. May these be yours in full measure in the year ahead.

With our love and prayer for all your intentions.