Tyburn Nuns set up new convent in Rome

The Tyburn Nuns, who pray night and day before the Blessed Sacrament in central London near the site of the scaffold of Tyburn Tree to honour the 105 Catholic martyrs who suffered and died for their faith, have just set up their ninth world-wide institution, this time in Rome.

The Italian monastery joins the world-famous Tyburn Convent, the mother house of The Tyburn Nuns, The Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre, Order of St Benedict, and monasteries in Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

The latest monastery, Monastero Madonna Dell'Eucaristia (Monastery of Our Lady of the Eucharist) is in the Via Cardinal Bofondi, off the Via Aurelia in Rome.

Mother Xavier McMonagle, Mother General of the Order, said: "It is a small villa not very far from St. Peter's. With its garden, and being in a cul-de-sac, it manages to have the atmosphere of a property in the country".

The villa already had a chapel and has enough space for the community and a small number of guests. There is a garage-cum-workshop area which can be transformed into the community's work rooms.

At the beginning of the Year of the Holy Eucharist, the Tyburn Nuns made a promise to the then Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, to found a monastery in the city of Rome which would have perpetual adoration because so many of the churches in Rome are closed during the day, or only open as museums.

"Quite suddenly a suitable property was offered to us close to St. Peter's and generous benefactors came forward to offer help with the initial payments", said Mother Xavier .

"It seemed that God did in fact want us to go ahead with the project".

At present there are three Sisters at the new Rome monastery, while another three are in the process of obtaining the necessary visas to be able to take up their positions there. Already, Eucharistic Adoration has started and local lay people are expressing their willingness to share this adoration so that it will, as soon as possible, become perpetual.

It has been a busy time for the Tyburn Order as another group of six Tyburn Sisters have gone on a temporary mission to assist a Benedictine community in Luxembourg. The objective is to see whether it is possible for Tyburn to help them retain their monastery in the longer term.