Hospitality 2

Seek Peace and Pursue It

Sr. Mary Stephen shares with us on the hospitality of our liturgical prayer:

“St. Benedict lays great stress on receiving people who come to the monastery in a peaceful, joyful tranquillity that speaks to them immediately of Christ; in a habitat of prayerful silence, out of which they are encountered and welcomed and into which they are invited. That, presumably, is why they have been drawn to a monastery in the first place; to find just that. It is what guests seem to experience as soon as they arrive, judging by the remarks we hear fairly regularly about the peace and serenity of the gardens, and the feeling of an ancient holiness in this particular place with a heritage that goes back to the 7th century. St. Benedict says that we ought to pray with the pilgrims on arrival and although nowadays perhaps this spontaneous prayer is not as explicit as that envisaged by St. Benedict, guests are certainly invited to the Chapel soon after their arrival and it is then that they have their first taste of our Liturgical prayer. Our visitors are encouraged to feel free about the way in which they share in this prayer, following the Mass and Office music with the aid of books or absorbing the prayer, as it were by osmosis. The Divine Office is seen to be the Work of God indeed.”

Sr. .Mary Stephen

Minster A Place of Refuge

Sr. Johanna speaks of Minster, as a “Place of Refuge”. Minster Abbey was founded in 1937 from St. Walburga’s Abbey in Eichstatt, Germany. The political situation in Germany at that time was growing more and more dangerous. Minster was purchased because the Abbess of St. Walburga’s needed a place of safety for her nuns if they were required to flee the country. In the end, the nuns were allowed to remain in Germany, but by the time the situation clarified, a small group of sisters had already been sent abroad and Minster Abbey was well established.

On hearing this story for the first time some years ago, Abbot Thierry, our then Abbot President, remarked, “Minster Abbey is a place of refuge.” After Abbot Thierry’s visit, I went off thinking, “Can we not still be a place of refuge in some way?” Several things would indicate that perhaps we can, with God’s help.

First, almost all our guests at some time or other speak of the peace of this place. Then, perhaps flowing from that peace, there is a spirit of openness in the Minster community that extends to our work of hospitality in a great spirit of concern for those who are in need and are vulnerable: the elderly, the addicted, those who are on the margins of society.

So many of our guests care for those who suffer from disabilities, and they find refreshment here. So many guests themselves suffer from disabilities, yet they feel safe here, loved and respected. Our ecumenical work can be seen in this light as well. Meetings take place here with those who have no faith, with those of other faiths and with Christians of other denominations. The spirit of openness and joy that characterizes these meetings suggests that the participants can speak freely about their differing beliefs because they are in a place that feels safe.

We are intensely aware that the refuge our world requires far exceeds the little we are able to offer. Yet, through prayer above all, we can bring the whole world to the refuge that is Christ. May St. Mildred intercede for us that we may truly be what we have been called.

Sr. Johanna

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