Tag: prayer

Community Retreat

The monastic community is on retreat this week from Monday evening, 21st August, until Saturday morning, 26th August. This is a time when we try to step back from our usual day-to-day activities in the parish and our other works, focussing on our relationship with God.

For a reflection on why monks need a time of retreat, see this post.

During the retreat, the Conventual Mass is at 9.15 every morning, rather than 7 am.

At the end of the retreat, we renew our monastic vows at the Conventual Masss on Saturday 26th August.

Thank you for respecting our retreat time.

A crucifix

St Benedict Week Novena and Prayers

In 1964 Pope Paul VI declared St Benedict Patron Saint of Europe, with his Feast on 11th July. Traditionally, this is the date he was born. Pope Paul VI noted that St Benedict started a movement that had a profound effect on the Christianisation of Europe. Ealing Abbey and its parish are both dedicated to St Benedict. Therefore, this feast is doubly important for us, as the founder of western monasticism and as our patron. We prepare for the Feast of St Benedict with a novena. This is nine days of prayer and devotion in honour of St Benedict.

The Novena

During the Novena, we remember a different saint each day. Apart from St Thomas, whose feast is during the novena, these are all Benedictine saints or (St Gregory) have a connection with Benedictines in England.

2nd JulySs Placid and Maurus
3rd JulySt Thomas
4th JulySt Bede
5th JulySs John Roberts and Ambrose Barlow
6th JulySt Benedict of Aniane
7th JulySt Gregory the Great
8th JulySt Augustine of Canterbury
9th JulySt Benet Biscop
10th JulySt Scholastica

The novena leads up to the celebration of the Feast of St Benedict on 11th July.

Statue of St Benedict
A statue of St Benedict holding his Rule and a cross

St Benedict Week

As well as joining us as we prepare for the Feast of St Benedict with a novena, the Lay Community of St Benedict is also having a week of celebration centred on the 11th July. You can see details of the week here.

As we come to the end of the school year, you might want to consider that St Benedict described the monastery as a ‘school for the Lord’s service.’ If you have time away from work or study this summer, why not ask St Benedict to pray for you to serve God better.

Prayer

Stir up in your Church, O Lord, that spirit to which Our Holy Father Benedict was ever faithful, so that, filled with the same spirit, we may strive to love what he loved and to practise what he taught. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Liturgies in the Abbey over the Easter Triduum

The Easter Triduum, from the evening of Maundy Thursday until Vespers of Easter Sunday, is the most important time in the Christian calendar. From the commemoration of the Last Supper until the Resurrection the liturgy follows the Passion, death and Resurrection of Christ. On Maundy Thursday we join the apostles in the Upper Room for the Last Supper, when Jesus showed the depth of His love (cf. Jn 13:1). We follow Christ’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion on Good Friday. Holy Saturday is a time for mournful prayer and waiting. Then, on Saturday evening, we keep vigil and celebrate the Resurrection. Those who attend all the services of the Triduum enter deeply into the mystery of Christ’s love.

Our liturgy times are shown below.

Please note that these are the times of the monastic services. For other parish services, see the Parish Website.

Maundy Thursday
6:30 pmMass of the Lord’s SupperThis is the only Mass on Maundy Thursday. It is a solemn commemoration of the Last Supper, with washing of the feet.
8 pm until midnightVigil at the Altar of ReposeThe church is bare, and we pray in front of the tabernacle containing the Blessed Sacrament as we remember Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and His arrest and trial.
Good Friday
8:30 amTenebraeThis is a traditional Triduum morning office, combining Matins and Lauds. The Matins readings are sung in Latin from the Book of Lamentations. The lay clerks of the Abbey Choir also sing the psalmody today.
12:45 pmSextMidday prayer, in the St Rupert Chapel (Monks only).
3 pmThe Passion of the LordThe Church does not celebrate Mass on Good Friday. Instead, there is a liturgy including St John’s account of the Passion, with communion and veneration of the Cross. This liturgy also replaces Vespers and Compline.
Holy Saturday
8:30 amTenebraeSee Good Friday but note that here are no lay clerks today.
12:45 pmMidday prayer, in the St Rupert Chapel (Monks only).
1:45 pmNoneIn the St Rupert Chapel (Monks only).
6:30 pmVespersFirst Vespers of Easter Sunday.
9 pmPaschal VigilSolemn Vigil Mass of the Resurrection, including the Blessing of Fire, singing of the Exsultet (Easter Proclamation), and Scripture readings of salvation history. Those taking part in the Vigil do not pray Compline.
Easter Sunday
9 amLaudsIn the St Rupert Chapel (monks only).
10:30 amMonastic Conventual MassOther Masses on Easter Sunday are at 8 am, 9 am, 12:15 pm, and 7 pm. Note the extra Mass at 8 am and Mass at 12:15, NOT 12.
12:30 pmSextIn the St Rupert Chapel (monks only).
6 pmPontifical VespersSolemn Vespers presided by the Abbot. This ends the Easter Triduum.
Easter Monday
7:25 amMatins
8:45 amLauds
9:15 amMonastic Conventual Mass
12:45 pmSextIn the St Rupert Chapel (monks only).
6:30 pmVespers

Notes:

  • During the Easter Octave monks pray Compline privately.
  • For parish services in the church, see the Parish Website.

New Drop-in Prayer Sessions

There are drop-in prayer sessions at the Benedictine Study Centre, 74 Castlebar Road, every weekday morning. These sessions, led by a monk of Ealing Abbey, are a chance to experience some aspects of Benedictine prayer. There are three separate parts each day; come for any one, two, or all three.

Monks have been immersed in Scripture and meditation from the earliest days. The monk seeks God in his life; God is to be found in the Scriptures. When Paul and Silas preached in Beroea, the citizens studied the Scriptures every day to see if their preaching was true (Acts 17:11). Studying the Scriptures helps us to understand them. This helps also with lectio divina, which is a prayerful reading of Scripture.

The most difficult aspect of prayer is listening. It is no use our talking to God if we do not listen to what He says to us. Both silent meditation and lectio divina give God a chance to talk to us and us to listen to Him.

See the timetable for the prayer sessions.

NB: There will be no sessions on Christmas Day, the 26th December, or Good Friday.

Christmas Services in the Abbey Church

At Christmas, even the monastic routine changes a little. Here are the Mass and other prayer times in the Abbey Church for the Christmas period.

Saturday 24th December (Christmas Eve)

6:30 amMatins
7:00Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Monastic Conventual Mass
3:00 pmBlessing of the Crib
6:00Vespers
8:00First Mass of Christmas
11:00Matins
11:30Carols
00:00Midnight Mass

Sunday 25th December (Christmas Day)

8:00 amMass
9:00Mass
10:30Monastic Conventual Mass
12:15Mass
6:00Vespers

Note that there is no evening Mass on Christmas Day.

Monday 26th December (Feast of St Stephen)

6:30 amMatins
7:00Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Monastic Conventual Mass
5:15 pmVespers
6:00Mass

Tuesday 27th December (Feast of St John)

6:30 amMatins
7:00Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Monastic Conventual Mass
5:15 pmVespers
6:00Mass

Wednesday 28th December (Feast of the Holy Innocents)

6:00 amMatins
7:00Monastic Conventual Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Mass
5:15 pmVespers
6:00Mass

Thursday 29th December (Feast of St Thomas Becket)

6:00 amMatins
7:00Monastic Conventual Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Mass
5:15 pmVespers
6:00Mass
7:45Confessions

NB: No Exposition on Thursday or Friday.

Friday 30th December (Feast of the Holy Family)

6:00 amMatins
7:00Monastic Conventual Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Mass
5:15 pmVespers
6:00Mass

NB: No Exposition on Thursday or Friday.

Saturday 31st December

6:30 amMatins
7:00Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Monastic Conventual Mass
10:00Confessions
4:00 pmConfessions
5:15Vespers
6:00Mass (1st Mass of Sunday)
10:00Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
10:00Confessions
11:30Mass

Sunday 1st January (Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God)

(As normal for Sunday.)

9:00 amMass
10:30Monastic Conventual Mass
12:00Mass
6:00 pmVespers
7:00Mass

Monday 2nd January to Wednesday 4th January

As normal weekdays except no Compline in the church.

6:00 amMatins
7:00Monastic Conventual Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Mass
5:15 pmVespers
6:00Mass

Thursday 5th January

6:00 amMatins
7:00Monastic Conventual Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Mass
5:15 pmVespers
6:00Mass

Friday 6th January (Solemnity of the Epiphany)

6:00 amMatins
7:00Mass
7:35Lauds
9:15Mass
5:15 pmVespers
6:00Monastic Conventual Mass
8:00Mass

One Day is as a Thousand Years

Towards the end of September I put a message on this website saying it would be offline for a few days. It is now Christmas and the website is only just back online. In Psalm 89 we pray, ‘To your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday, come and gone, no more than a watch in the night’ (Ps 89:4, Ps 90:4 in the Hebrew numbering). In the Second Letter of St Peter we read, ‘With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day’ (2 P 3:8). The ‘few days’ that I thought the site would be offline turned out to be about 2000 hours so, on God’s timescales, not very long at all, but on human timescales, far too long; but then, patience is a virtue I’m still working on.

‘Slow down!’

When I joined the monastery I was advised that I needed to learn to slow down to the monastic pace of life. St Benedict wrote his rule nearly 1500 years ago; monasticism is a couple of hundred years older than that. It can sometimes seem to take a long time for decisions to be made. Yet this is because we are thinking more of ourselves than the long-term future, which extends beyond our own lifetimes.

I was rushing to make sure the website was updated and on a new server before heading away for studies. I downloaded the site as a backup, switched to the new server, and then found out the hard way that I hadn’t checked that the backup actually worked. The moral of the story is: always check your backups.

Prayer

Before trying to updating the site, I prayed to God that all would be well. St Benedict tells us to pray before beginning any work (Rule of St Benedict, Prologue, v.4). Does the fact that I didn’t get what I prayed for mean that my prayer was unanswered? Of course not! ‘No’ is an answer, although not usually the one we want.

When we don’t get what we pray for, we have to consider why we haven’t got it. The letter of St James suggests that we have not prayed properly, have prayed for something to indulge our own desires (Ja 4:3). St James was warning Christians about having worldly desires and ambitions. Sometimes we pray for things that are not for ourselves but are for the good of others, yet these prayers are also answered with ‘No’. God could have any number of reasons for this; we are incapable of fully understanding Him.

God can say ‘No’ because He has something better in mind. We can only think about the near future and what is near us; He can think about eternity and the entire universe. This is also seen as one of the answers to the problem of suffering. A person suffers but as a result there are greater benefits to more people. Unfortunately, the suffering person might not appreciate this, even after the suffering has ended. Sometimes, the greater reward is in the next life and it can need very strong faith to accept this.

Sometimes ‘No’ is ‘Not yet’. We ask God for something, we do not get it when we ask, yet later we do get it. Again, we have to trust in God; He knows the right time for us to receive His gifts. We often appreciate things more when we have to wait for them, even if we get impatient while we are waiting.

Now is the Right Time

The right time for the website to be back up and running is now, just before Christmas. Today is the 75th Anniversary of Ealing Priory gaining independence from Downside Abbey.

I hope people like the website or find it useful. God willing, it will be updated fairly regularly and frequently. In the meantime, merry Christmas!

Monastic Community Retreat

22nd-27th August 2022

Why do monks need to go on retreat? Surely their whole life is one of prayer?

To prefer nothing to Christ

The purpose of the monastic life is to search for God. When a Novice or Junior monk applies to make temporary or solemn profession, the letter to the Abbot states, ‘I … desiring to seek God in this monastery …’ So the life of a monk sounds like a life of constant prayer. But the Benedictine motto is ‘prayer and work’. This means that monks also spend time at work, whether on manual labour, administrative tasks for the monastery or parish, school tasks, or other work. Besides work, many monks are also studying. Sometimes, these other tasks can overtake the prayer part of life.

The prayer life of a monk involves the Divine Office (also called the Liturgy of the Hours), lectio divina, spiritual reading, the rosary, quiet prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament or the Tabernacle, meditation, and other prayer. This is a lot of prayer and can be difficult at times. One of the most difficult things is shutting out the concerns of daily activities and concentrating on God, yet if we do not manage this our prayer is the poorer for it.

‘There came a mighty wind, so strong it tore the mountains and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came the sound of a gentle breeze. And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with a cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

1 Kings 19:11-13

The monastic community retreat is a chance to take a step back and concentrate on that search for God. A retreat involves replacing work time with more prayer time. Social time is also replaced by prayer time. The Desert Fathers of the 3rd century (and later) lived in semi-isolation, coming together only for prayer or talk about God. Many of them lived in caves so that they would not be distracted by things they could see. There are still some religious orders today whose members spend their lives in almost total silence. When the external sounds are stilled, the internal sounds take over. Once those are silenced, there is space for God to make himself known in that ‘still small voice of calm’.

When we put away the wind of manual labour, the earthquake of study, and the fire of parish work, we can appreciate the gentle breeze of God. Then we can listen to His voice or just be with Him. that is when our seeking God is at its most productive.

Moses and Elijah went to a cave to see God

There is too much that still has to be done for the whole community to be able to go away for a retreat. Instead, we have someone come to us, to give a preached retreat. This involves a talk of about half an hour in the morning, with another in the evening. Usually, all the talks will be around the same theme, building on each other. During the day we try to meditate and pray on what we have heard in the talks. This is why we ask that people only contact us on the most urgent business. Some people try to go away for a retreat sometimes and switch of the phone and internet so that they can focus on God.

Elijah was tired and running from his enemies when he met God on Mount Horeb. After meeting God he had the strength to go back to Israel and carry on with God’s work. We pray that our retreat may strengthen us to continue with God’s work here at Ealing Abbey.

Faith Seeking Understanding

Reflecting on the Catechism of the Catholic Church

You are invited to participate in a fortnightly meeting led by a monk of Ealing Abbey.
We reflect prayerfully together on the teaching of the Catholic Church as presented in ‘Catechism of the Catholic Church’.

Participants who can afford to are invited to contribute £5.00 towards each session.

For further information please email
info@benedictine-institute.org

or write to:

The Benedictine Institute
74 Castlebar Road, Ealing W5 2DD Tel 020 8862 2156
A work of Ealing Abbey registered charity no 242715

Praying with the Bible: Lectio Divina

Benedictine Institute Ealing Abbey

New groups beginning after Easter 2022

Meeting together monthly 

Led by a member of the monastic community 

For many people an occasional or regular shared prayerful reading of the sacred scriptures is helpful. For the insights of others may bring light and life. The group must be small enough and harmonious enough (though variety in age and background may enrich) for each participant to feel valued. An awareness of the presence of Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit  when ‘two or three are gathered together’ is the basic condition. The purpose is never to show off, but to build Christian community and the love of God.

Adapted from the CTS New Catholic Bible page 2245
Catholic Truth Society

The Benedictine Institute 74 Castlebar Road, Ealing W5 2DD

Tel 020 8862 2156

A work of Ealing Abbey registered charity no 242715