Here is the Collect for today’s Memoria: ‘Lord our God, you are the shield and glorious reward of those who walk blamelessly before you. Keep us steadfast in your holy service so that by the example and intercession of the blessed Abbots of Cluny, we may with open hearts run the path of perfect charity. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever’.

There are many Benedictine resonances in this prayer: firstly, the ‘shield’ and ‘walking blamelessly’ relate to Abraham, whose journey in faith and obedience has inspired many a monastic. Then, ‘steadfastness’ relates strongly to monastic stability. ‘Running with open hearts’ recalls the Prologue of the Holy Rule; and finally, the ‘path of perfect charity’ encompasses the whole of the monastic endeavour, as it does for all the baptised.

May the Abbots of Cluny pray for us, especially in these difficult times, and may God bless you this day.