St. Bernard's Convent
1, Langley Road
Slough
SL3 7AF
England
Tel 01753 523612  
Fax 01753 538294
e mail    St. Bernard's Convent

SOME EVENTS FOR 2006

FORMER STUDENTS REUNION - APRIL 29th, 2006

VIGIL OF PRAYER - Sat May 6th 6.00 p.m - 12.00 p.m for those aged 16-30

An evening of prayer and workshops on the theme of 'Christian Vocation' in the broadest sense. If you are searching for your own vocation or willing to support the Church's need for vocations by your prayer, please do come along - men and women
e-mail to let us know you are coming

MASS OF THANKSGIVING - JULY 9TH 

1.00 p.m, St Bernard's, Outside.

Principal Celebrant, The Right Rev. Mgr Peter Doyle, Bishop of Northampton.

Mass of Thanksgiving for the 100+ years presence of the Bernardine Cistercian Sisters in Slough.

Followed by a picnic - all welcome.

ALL WELCOME TO THE ABOVE EVENTS - PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE COMING!

8th March, 2006

Dear Each One,

I hope that this newsletter finds each one of you and your families well and happy. This will be the last newsletter written from Slough, but I will start it by re-iterating that the Former Students’ Association will continue, and that reunions will continue to take place here at St. Bernard’s Slough in future years. More of this later. This will be a long letter, but please persevere to the end.

I’ll begin with a plea – we are now in our last few months at Slough and as we get nearer to moving, life is likely to become a little chaotic. It would be a great help if subscriptions and forms could be returned quickly this year so as not to get caught up in the chaos! It would also help from the banking perspective, as at some point we will no longer be ‘St. Bernard’s Convent’. Having said this, post can always be sent to Hyning, and anything sent to the Slough address will certainly reach us for a while.

This time last year, I wrote in my letter that we were still searching for a new property; “we are convinced that the right place is out there waiting for us somewhere!” It took us another six months of serious looking up and down England to find that right place – but happily in November we visited a property in Gloucestershire that seems to fit our needs very well. The new house is owned by another religious congregation, so has a simple and prayerful chapel, large reception rooms, and various bedrooms and offices, and is in lovely, but not remote, countryside. We are in the process of going through the legal steps for the purchase, so it would be tempting fate to give you the address now, but as soon as it is definite, we will put the details on our website, www.bernardine.org (follow the news link), and may be able to give them at the reunion.

We hope to move from Slough sometime in August, and the reality of our decision is sinking in as we do many things for the last time. Sr. Elizabeth, Sr Mary, Sr Mary Stella, Sr. Mary Bernard, Sr Michaela and I will join Sr Mary John, Sr Mary Pia, Sr. Mary Joseph, Sr Mary Cecilia, Sr Mary Anthony, Sr. Anna Maria, Sr Mary Colette and Sue at Hyning. Meanwhile, Sr. Mary Stephen, Sr. M Lucy, Sr Catherine and Sr Maria will move to the new house in Gloucestershire, together with Sr Elizabeth Mary, Sr Mary Philippa and Sr Frances of Hyning. It is very strange to be dividing into two halves, and there is inevitable sadness among the sisters at leaving Slough. Nevertheless, we move on in faith and confidence, sure that this is what the Lord is asking of us now. Please do keep in touch – we continue to hold our past students in our prayer.

The Secondary School and its buildings and land have already been transferred to the Trusteeship of the Diocese of Northampton and all is going well. From September, there will be a new Governing Body. Fortunately, we know that we can count on the wonderful lay staff of the school to maintain the ethos of the school – we are leaving it in very good hands. I enclose a letter from Mr. McAteer, the current Headteacher to all our former students stressing your continued role in the wider school community at St. Bernard’s.