Summer bulletin from Turvey Abbey

Mosaic of the Anastasis icon, Monastery of Christ our Saviour, based on a Byzantine fresco

Brother John writes from the Monastery of Christ Our Saviour, Turvey.

The day begins with a Hobby flying very low and fast through the garden on the prowl for any unwary bird to feed its young. The Swifts have now gone and so the object of its affections is the many juvenile passerines (perching birds) which are filling the garden now attentive in their turn to the masses of blackberries, honeysuckle berries and rapidly ripening apples and pears which adorn the wilder bits.

This is my reward for the daily half an hour meditation which sets me up for the more expected, and unexpected duties, of a monk: the daily office, dealing with accounts and visitors, preparing the evening meal and the occasional homily or summer bulletin.

The unexpected, of course, can take many forms; a leak or a blocked loo, a con man with a story to tell, news of a death or a sudden illness, no connection on the internet, and so on. And it's the unexpected that can often set the pace for the rest of the day. This is when a contemplative stance has to become second nature, not taking second place but, hopefully, so part of oneself that the world's turmoil becomes bearable, priorities identified, issues tackled but composure, on the whole, retained. It's useful to have places of retreat within the monastery itself, a dark room or today an office outside in the walled garden with a chair, a stool as a desk and a hat for protection (not a hard hat, it's not that bad yet - maybe later). And so to the listing of people and events since Spring and so many good memories to revisit.

Our run of helpers continues with a core group of two or three to deal with the immediate tasks of stripping away ivy or cleaning the guesthouse or cooking and so on. Denise and William continue to work in the garden and provide us with a wonderful crop of onions, courgettes, potatoes, runner beans, lettuce and much more. I still grow the wild bits and harvest the blackberries which are especially early and plentiful this year. Johan is now working at a distance but still willing to manage the website and advertising for us.

We have another creative day scheduled for 14th September entitled 'Gell plate printing and card making' and a second on 23rd November on 'Music Appreciation'. Marie and Tina are hosting an afternoon of Imaginative Contemplation on 7th September and I'm hoping to do a day on 12th October entitled 'The Flora and Fauna of Turvey - human and otherwise'.

So, plenty to look forward to. Recent groups have included a weekend ably led by meditators Jim Green and Edmund Giszter entitled 'Chaos and Silence', which seems to sum us up nicely, and a morning visit by members of the Bedfordshire Natural History Society.

Several experts in various fields were present including a conchologist who was finding snails so small (two or so mm) that I never imagined they existed. They were suitably impressed by the areas of wilderness in the walled garden and I was especially proud to name the thirteen butterflies so far seen using the grass plot only established last year.

We were taken back in time by memorial services for several people recently including Jim Smith and Mark and Irene Cheng. Jim was a protege of Dom Gregory's rescued from a life of waywardness in his early teens (that's Jim not Dom Gregory) but still unable to resist prison visits for most of his life. It was very healing for those who had known him to share memories afterwards. We could fill a book. Mark Cheng was a regular attender at Sunday mass in the Abbey Chapel and did indeed fill a book with a thinly disguised story of his own journey out of mainland China into Hong Kong during the Second World War. The family sang a series of traditional hymns at the service with no need for any musical accompaniment as they sang so well - another deeply healing experience.

And so we carry on with regular services on Sundays at All Saints at 11am and here at the monastery on Wednesdays at 11.50am. As well of course as the regular round of offices in the Abbey Chapel and the meditation group meeting here on Fridays at 3pm. We've also invited the All Saints congregation for tea and walkabouts on Sunday 1st September. If you wish to come please do but bring something to share for tea.

Br John

LINK

Monastery of Christ our Saviour: www.turveymonks.org.uk