Beginning of Kitchen Refurbishment
Today saw the start of the kitchen refurbishment. The main work will take place in July and August. We will be closed from the 23rd of July - 9th of September to allow for a full scale of refurbishment of the monastery kitchen. The first part of the work involves the taking out of the old windows and the putting in of the new. (During this time of refurbishment, we can be reminded to get rid of the "old-self" and let in the "new". This always need to be done with the help of other people!)
Last night and this morning, we took a picture of the kitchen and we will continue to update the website when more work has taken place.
Hyning Garden Open Afternoon
This Saturday in conjunction with the Arnside and Silverdale AONB, we are hosting an Open Garden Afternoon. There will be a talk from one of the AONB team at 2 PM, followed by tours of the garden and cream teas! You do not have to book to come but we are suggesting a £5 donation. Tickets are available on the door from Saturday, 21st May 2016 at 1 PM onward. #Hyninghomemadecakes
#HyningOpenGarden@HyningMonastery
Come Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ, Our Lord, Amen.
May News!
It seems like a long time since we've posted any news. Life has been rather busy. We had 2 weeks of the Regular Visit, with Sr.Mary Helen, Sr.Marie Philomene and Sr.Claire Marie. They stayed for the celebration of Easter. This was quickly followed by Sr.Mary's Diamond Jubilee on the 9th of April. Since then we have a series of guests and groups for the weekend and during the week.
This week, we are waiting for the arrival of St. Peter's Roman Catholic School from Lancaster. They are 24 students from Year 4, accompanied by several teachers and adults.
At the weekend, we will be hosting a "Walking and Prayer Weekend". There are still places available! Details are on the poster below.
The Way of the Cross
Click on the link if you want to listen and watch the Hyning Stations of the Cross
Holy Week
THE MYSTERY OF THE CROSS
Question of the day:
How can gazing upon the crucified God transform us?
This deep gazing upon the mystery of divine and human suffering is found in the prophet Zechariah in a very telling text that became a prophecy for the transformative power of the victims of history.
He calls Israel to “Look upon the pierced one and to mourn over him as for an only son,” and “weep for him as for a firstborn child,” and then “from that mourning” (five times repeated) will flow “a spirit of kindness and prayer” (12:10) and “a fountain of water” (13:1; 14:8).
I believe we are invited to gaze upon the image of the crucified to soften our hearts toward God, and to know that God’s heart has always been softened toward us, even and most especially in our suffering. This softens us toward ourselves and all others who suffer.
from Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p. 192
March News!
Last Thursday (10/03), we welcomed five new oblates: Pauline Wright, Chris Doyle, Angela Lee, Mary Jackson, Kathryn Such who made their commitment for a year. We also had Francis Dawburn who renewed for three years, and Mary Tierney and Maureen Ryan Craig who renewed for another year. We rejoice in the growth of our oblate family and we ask your prayers as they continue on their Bernardine journey.
On Saturday, Sr.Michaela visited Furness Abbey as a part of a Weekend on Furness and the Cistercians. The weekend was organized by Sr.Margaret Atkins and held at Boarbank Hall, Grange. Here are some pictures of her visit.
Brownshill's Chapel Project
Over the last few weeks, our sisters at Brownshill have had major works done on their chapel. The lighting was redone and the chapel repainted, there were also some minor changes. Click here and spot the difference.
Year of Mercy page
We hope to provide people with resources for the Year of Mercy and Sr. Michaela will post her reflections on here as well. Why not visit our page and remember to be merciful this year!
Into the Desert...
"During these days, therefore, we will add the usual measure of service something by way of private prayer and abstinence from food or drink...and look forward to Holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing."
(Rule of St.Benedict, Ch. 49 - The Observance of Lent)
Lent Retreat is On The Way!
On February 12th-14th 2016, Sr.Michaela is going to give a talk for this year's Lent Retreat at Hyning. The theme is "The Valley of Achor to the Door of Hope", deriving from the Prophet Hosea. This theme relates to the Year of Mercy, how we could discover the door of hope in our valley of trouble.
Visit to the - #PrioryChurch
The Benedictine family returns to the Priory! As part of the Monastic Guestmasters and Guestmistresses' course, we visited the former Benedictine priory at Lancaster. It had been a Benedictine monastery for over 400 years before the Reformation. The timing of the visit, fitted in well with the week of prayer for Christian Unity. We had a talk by the Vicar of Lancaster, Fr.Chris, and we had a tour by Rev.Brenda who is well known to us at Hyning. And we had an organ recital by the resident organist of the Priory. We were made very welcome by the team of "Priory Ladies" who served us tea and cakes.
Some of the pictures are from our visit to the Priory and a couple were taken at Hyning during the session on Social Media.
January News!
We have been enjoying a few days of holiday while we have been closed, but now we are ready to re-open and welcome a group of monastic guess mistresses and masters. One of the days of the course will focus on the role of spiritual direction in the Christian life and the other day will focus on the use of social media to promote monastic values. We also hope to have a trip to the Priory Church in Lancaster where we will have a guided tour and an organ recital. More news coming up!
Meanwhile, here are some snow picture which we took on Sunday (17/01).
New Sister
As we mentioned in a previous post, we welcomed Sr.Anne Chantal to our community.
She spent a year in here in the 1980s and has now taken charge of the dining room. She will be part of the cleaning team and flower arrangement around the house.
This is a picture of her that we have just taken!
2016 programme now online!
2016 programme now online. Visit our programme page for more details
Sr. Mary Cecilia's funeral
Sr. Mary Cecilia'a funeral will be at 11:30 am on Tuesday 5th January. Please let us know if you are coming. There will be a buffet lunch afterwards, all are welcome to stay.
Epiphany - a challenge to be changed, forever!
The Magi set out on a trip that would change them forever. Each of us is challenged to do the same.
“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kiking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.”
This year's Christmas Crib
"Look upon the Eternal Light which has tempered itself to your gaze, so that he who dwells in inaccessible light affords access even to weak and bleary eyes. See the Light in a lamp of earthenware, the Sun in a cloud, God in man, the Splendour of Glory and Brightness of Eternal Light in the clay vessel of your flesh."
{Bl.Guerric of Igny}
Christmas reflection
On the first Sunday of Advent each year, the Christian church begins a new year. It doesn’t start with sales, hangovers or TV specials but with the message of hope. It is the cry we heard from the prophet Isaiah and the same message John the Baptist took up, “prepare a way for the Lord”. It’s the ultimate message of hope at the time of the year when light is at its lowest ebb. Though we all associate the birth of Christ with December the reality is the actual event would have been in the Spring or Summer time according to biblical scholars. It is certain that Christ wasn’t actually born on that day. No Roman governor would have risked ordering a census in the Winter months. The Roman and Judean rulers knew that taking a census in winter would have been impractical and unpopular. Generally a census would take place after the harvest season, around September or October, when it would not seriously affect the economy, the weather was good and the roads were still dry enough to allow easy travel. So assuming the Romans used the normal dates for the census, this would probably be the season of Christ's birth. Evidence from Scripture also suggests it was not during Winter but between April and October. All we can say is the Christian church chose the day for symbolic and religious purposes. The winter festival of lights and the pagan gods was replaced by the feast of the Nativity from about the 4th century onwards. It is more symbolic in the Northern hemisphere because of the way the season works out. If the date itself is not important, what is? That Christ came to fulfill the promise God made to his people.
Scripture has been fulfilled, Christ has come, but not everyone knows it or accepts it. Maybe then when people are focussing on Christmas parties, on shopping for presents, on all the material side of the season it’s our responsibility to say to them and perhaps to ourselves, hang on a minute. Do you really understand what you are celebrating? Do you believe what you are celebrating or shopping for or cooking for? We don’t have to stand in the middle of a big shopping market with a placard or turn into rampant evangelists. Mother Teresa was once asked by a young girl, “What can I do for world peace?” The response was “Go home and love your family”. So this Christmas we could start with ourselves and then those around us if we truly believe that “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us”.
