News Round-Up

Advent will soon be here, so it is time we sent out a newsletter although those of you who keep an eye on our blog, iBenedictines, or our Facebook page, are probably up to date with our news.

It has been a good year, despite the amount of time we seem to have spent on the A40, travelling to and from hospital appointments for D. Catherine. In between treatment sessions, we have been able to welcome a record number of people for private retreats and group days of recollection. It just takes more meticulous planning than usual to ensure that visitors don't co-incide with zero immunity times, and we apologize to all those we've had to disappoint.

As you can see from the photo, it hasn't been all work and no play. Thanks to the generosity of a friend, we enjoyed a day of falconry on the Shropshire hills but didn't quite master the art of recall. No wonder Bro Duncan PBGV has problems with that, too!

We have almost completed the redecoration of the inside of the house — just the main guest bedroom and stairwells/corridors to do now. Outside, the garden has been made much more private by the erection of a new fence; and we are hoping to plant our mini-orchard in due course. The library now fills every available space in house and garage and it is rumoured we may have to take some books to Oxfam soon. That could lead to a 'monastic'!

Bro Duncan PBGV continues to be our chief 'welcomer', always on duty when anyone calls. He recovered well from acute pancreatitis earlier in the year and copes admirably with Cushing's and arthritis. He is still our favourite blogger — and yours, too, we think.

Of course, our chief work is, and always will be, prayer. In the light of the distressing events in Paris, Mali, Lebanon, Nigeria and, above all, Syria, that work becomes ever more important. How can we expect the world to be kinder or more compassionate if we do not ask our merciful God to show us how?