Pope Benedict XVI said of Abbot Odo: ‘He fits into that period of mediaeval monasticism which saw the surprising success in Europe of the life and spirituality inspired by the Rule of St Benedict. In those centuries there was a wonderful increase in the number of cloisters that sprang up and branched out over the continent, […]

From today’s Gospel, from St John: ‘But when the Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me …’ A remarkable Carmelite poet, Sr Miriam of the Holy Spirit, also known as Jessica Powers, wrote: ‘To live with […]

Here is today’s New Testament reading, from 1 John: ‘Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God […]

Since a Saturday is a day on which we traditionally remember our Blessed Lady, here are some words of Julian of Norwich regarding her: ‘Our Lord God shewed our Lady Saint Mary in the same time: that is to say, the high Wisdom and Truth she had in beholding of her Maker so great, so […]

Here is today’s Gospel, continuing St John chapter 15: ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for […]

‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love’. The import of these words, from today’s Gospel, is easily missed. The love of the Father for the Son is total; and it is no less for us. The text is one we sing on the Feast of the Sacred […]

Here is today’s Gospel, from St John: ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to […]

St Ambrose Barlow was a convert from Anglicanism, and became a Benedictine monk in the year 1616. On 25 April 1641, he was arrested just after Easter Mass, and was later charged with the ‘crime’ of being a Catholic priest. He was hung, drawn and quartered on 10 September 1641. Two other Benedictine Reformation Martyrs […]

‘Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father”’. Jesus is the One who shows us the Father, and the total love of […]

Today’s picture has been sent in to us, and shows an empty beach in the early morning. It speaks so much of silence and stillness. Today is also the Solemnity of Easter for the Orthodox Churches, who follow the Julian calendar. We greet them and say, ‘Christ is risen!’ In these days, let us seek […]