Here in the Midlands there were once several monasteries of women, one of whom was St Werburga, who died in the year 699. She is the first recorded Abbess of Repton Abbey, a double monastery of monks and nuns, under the authority of an Abbess. These monastic personages, although often forgotten, are the seed-bed of […]

Both these saints lost their lives under Henry VIII, and were friends. Of St John Fisher, St Thomas More said: ‘I reckon that in this realm no one man, in wisdom, learning and long approved virtue together, meet to be matched and compared with him’. St Thomas More, in meeting his own death, said: ‘I […]

This sixteenth century Jesuit died as a result of his dedicated care of plague victims. Thus he may be invoked for all who care for others in this time of pandemic, especially the Jesuits in India, some of whom have died in the course of their devoted care. We also pray for the parish of […]

From today’s Gospel, from St Mark: ‘On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them, just as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves […]

St Romuald, Italian Founder of the Camaldolese Order, lived in the tenth to eleventh century. The monastic order he founded was cenobitic, but integrated many elements of the eremitical life. The Rule which he wrote is, in Latin, 100 words, and here is a translation: ‘Sit in the cell as in paradise; cast all memory […]

Today we celebrate the Dedication of our beautiful Cathedral here in Birmingham, St Chad’s. Designed by Pugin, it is an oasis of stillness and beauty in the heart of the city. In these days of pandemic, we need these places more than ever. Beauty speaks of holiness; and holiness can never be anything but beautiful, […]

‘A sincere and pure devotion to Christ …’ These words, from 2 Corinthians, are in our first reading today. They set out, in a way, the entire response of our Christian lives. St Benedict wrote that we should ‘prefer nothing to the love of Christ’ – ‘Nihil amori Christi præponere’. The journey into the ‘pure […]

From today’s Gospel: ‘When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you’. The fourth century Syriac writer, Aphrahat the Sage, wrote: ‘The moment you start praying, raise your heart upwards and turn your eyes […]

For today, some words from Isaiah: ‘Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. … The Lord is the everlasting God, the […]

From today’s Gospel, from St Matthew: ‘If any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles’. St Benedict, in the […]