According to tradition St. George was a Roman solldier who was
venerated as a Christian martyr. His feast is celebrated on April
23rd, which this year was Holy Saturday so it was changed to today.
He is said to have been born between 275 AD & 285 AD. A favourite
legend about him was his encounter with & slaying of a dragon. His
tomb is in Lod, Israel.
'O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, & our most gentle Queen &
Mother, look down in mercy upon England your Dowry & upon us
all who greatly hope & trust in you. By you it was that Jesus our
Saviour & our hope was given to the world; & He has given you to us
that we might hope still more. Plead for us your children, who you
received & accepted at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother!
Intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true
fold they may be united to the chief Shepherd, the Vicar of your
Son. Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith fruitful in good
works we may all deserve to see & praise God, together with you in
our Heavenly home'.
Amen.
St George pray for us.
1.5.11. The Beatification of Pope John Paul ll
O Blessed Trinity,
we thank You for having graced the Church
with Pope John Paul II and for allowing
the tenderness of Your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendor of the Holy Spirit,
to Shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus
the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that
holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and
is the way of achieving eternal communion with You.
Grant us, by his intercession,
and according to Your will,
the graces we implore...,
hoping that he will soon be
numbered among Your saints. Amen
29.4.11.
The Royal wedding day
Our preparation for this joy-filled day began last night with
a Holy Hour, then it was onto the more practical, such as table
setting & flag hanging. See opposite. It has been truly
wonderful to join the millions of those who participated in the
wonderful coverage of the wedding throughout the world.
28.4.11
Like many of you we have a busy weekend ahead, we're going to a
wedding tomorrow & a beatification on Sunday! Praise the Lord for
modern media which enables us to share in two such happy occasions.
And how we are looking forward to it. We won't be celebrating with a
'street party' but with a 'monastery party'. Tonight we will have a
Holy Hour to ask God's blessing on our Prince & his bride-to-be.
26.4.11.
Some of our little lambs have been bottle-fed & so are very
friendly. Sr. Clare Chantal went out to see them in the orchard on
Easter Sunday, check opposite their short bursts of inquisitiveness
that give us such joy.
'It
is at the foot of the cross that we should remain always. It
is the place where the imitators of our Sovereign Master and
Saviour ordinarily abide. For it is from the cross that they
receive the heavenly liqueur of holy charity. It streams out
in great profusion from a divine Source, the bosom of our
God's divine mercy" (Lenten Sermons of
St. Francis de Sales).
21.4.11. Maundy Thursday
In our monastery garden there are wild places, there
may be stones, there may be gravel, there may be grass,weeds or an old lichen- covered wall. Nearly always
within this wildness we can find beauty. It grows without
cultivation, is independant & sturdy, alone & apart, often
small & insignificant, bringing hope & joy to a place of
barreness.So it is within the wild parts of our hearts - there
is always beauty, often unknown, unrecognised. Sometimes
dormant, waiting to bring forth hope & promise to our lives.
We walk these last days of Holy Week with Jesus in silent
contemplation, we ask for the grace to seek out the beauty
within our own wildnesses.
Our Sacristan, Sr. Clare Chantal has arranged a
lovely 'Easter Story in symbols' at the back of Choir.
19.4.11.
We have lambs in the orchard, they are very frisky &
very friendly. It's such a joy to see them under the apple
blossom.
17.4.11. Palm Sunday
Today we begin Holy Week. We walk with Jesus the path
of suffering. Uniting ourselves with Him means we also unite
ourselves with all the suffering peoples of our world. Most
of themwill never hit the headlines of our newspapers, most
of them have no face, no name, they suffer in silence &
anonymity.
16.4.11.
Click opposite to read a sermon St Francis de Sales
gave on Palm Sunday 1615.
When we first arrived in
Waldron 52 years ago the big field at the bottom of the lawn was
covered with heather, so we promptly named it 'Scotland'. And so it
has remained over the years although now it's hard to find a sprig
of heather as cows & sheep have grazed there. It's interesting how &
why we name things.
The cuckoo is here. Usually he arrives around April
17th, & is very punctual each year, but because of the warm
spell we're enjoying he's come early & it's Spring at last!
turn up sound
7.4.11
Seeing a rainbow lifts our hearts & makes the day a
better one. We all know the feeling of awe it invokes, we
often go & find others to share its beauty, we
watch till it fades & disappears.
Ancient peoples recognised the rainbowas a symbol of peace, love & freedom. Ancient Hebrews
recognised it as a special sign given by God that He wants
all living things to exist & flourish in peace &
harmony.
In hebrew the word 'rainbow' means battle-bow, a
warriors weapon. We can all read the scientific explanation
of this optical illusion, this spectrum of light. But it's
good to remember too that's it's the promise of God to all
humankind, a covenant of grace. 'When the rainbow appears in
the clouds I will remember the everlasting promise between
me & all living beings'.
Genesis 9. 12-18
Our good friend, Ann, comes every few weeks to
recharge her batteries in the peace & quiet of the
monastery. While here she loves to help in the garden& in the kitchen. She is a an avid gardener & has an
allotment at home where she grows her own vegetables.On her allotment lives Alice, her scarecrow.During the winter months we had Alice as a 'house
guest',
see opposite. Alice has her own website
www.allotmentlifeandadvice.org
check it out.
The word 'halcyon' means peaceful, calm & tranquil.
In his 'Introduction to the Devout Life', our Holy Founder,
St Francis de Sales, when
speaking of the 'Poor in Spirit', tells of the story of the
Halcyon, a legendary birdwhich
was said to have nested at sea & been able to calm the rough
waves for the 7 days before & after the winter solstice.
The Halcyon is akin to our modern day Kingfisher.
Click on the picture to read what he says.
29.3.11
Do you know what has been discovered about the way
geese fly in formation? We are surrounded by lessons of
life, often where we least expect to find them. This is one
little lesson for us today.
27.3.11.
For everything there is a season;
a time to be born & a time to die, a time to plant & a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill & a time to heal, a time to break down & a time to build up;
a time to weep & a time to laugh, a time to mourn & a time to dance;
a time to throw away & a time to gather together, a time to embrace & a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek & a time to lose,
a time to keep & a time to throw away;
a time to tear & a time to sew,
a time to keep silence & a time to speak;
a time to love & a time to hate,
a time for war & a time for peace.' Ecclesiastes 3. 1-13
The Church's year has 'seasons', as do we throughout
our years. This is celebrated in all of Gods creation.
How fortunate we are to live in a climate which also has the
blessings of 'seasons'. As we gaze out of the monastery
window this is so evident with the passing months of the
year.
20.3.11.
Yesterday was a real Spring day, we had blue skies,
sunshine & birds singing. The daffodils are out in full
glory. Click opposite to see them. These beautiful daffodils bring
hope to our hearts.
'I wondered lonely as a cloud
that floats on high
o'er vales & hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
a host of golden daffodils;
Fluttering & dancing in the breeze'
William Wordsworth
'Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are
the morning yawn'.
Kathy Sue Loudermilk
Today is the feast of St Joseph, the patron saint of
the Universal Church & also the patron saint of Pope
Benedict XVIth. We have been making a novena in preparation
for this special day, as we do every year. 207 years ago
today the Visitation was founded in England. You can read a
short account of this on our 'Birth of the Order' page. Click opposite to
read the beautiful homily Pope Paul V1th gave on this day in
1969.
We have begun our 40 days of Lent, a 6 week journey
of contemplation, reflection, prayer & penance, in
preparation for the celebration of the Resurrection. We are
all called at this special time to repentance & conversion,
& it's good in our busy world to perhaps slow down a bit &
take time just to to be with God. St Francis de
Sales wote a sermon on the 1st Sunday of Lent, February 13th 1622,
click opposite to read it. Each day during Lent we say the Litany of
the Passion, please click opposite to if you would like to say it with is.
Today is the first Friday of the month. We have a
special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus & each first
Friday we have a community day of recollection & Exposition
of the Blessed Sacrament. Each Sister has a time of
adoration during the day. So much to pray for, so many
intentions. Today is also 'Women's World Day of Prayer'. We
unite ourselves with all those, who in over 170 countries
throughout the world, will hold special services of
reflection & prayer. The theme this year is 'Chile, How many
loaves of bread have you?' Together we will bring the needs
of the people of Chile before the Lord. Please join with us
in thanking God for for all He gives us, while especially
remembering today our less fortunate brothers & sisters of
Chile.
"The
heavens proclaim
the glory of
God".
In those magical few minutes between dusk & nightfall
the sky can become a true witness to the Majesty & Glory of
God. Ablaze with colours that change as you blink & if you
aren't quick enough you miss them. Here is God's art gallery
that we enjoyed for such a brief moment this evening.
24,2,11,
Throughout the world we have over 135 Monasteries.
Click opposite if you would like to meet our sisters of
South & Central America & Mexico. We haven't put all the
Monasteries on as there are so many. As part of our 4th Centenary last year 2 new foundations were made, in
Colombia & Uraguay. In honouring the mystery of the
Visitation, each day we say a special prayer to Our Lady,
see opposite, please join wih us in saying it.
Our Lady of the Visitation, Mother of God,
make a secret visitation to many hearts.
14.2.11.
The first Jonquil have appeared, the yellow hues of Spring
are beginning, that will bring with it a host of flowers,
Daffodils, Primroses. Little spots of sunshine after the
winter.
How swiftly the season of Spring arrives
after the eternity of winter;
Once sparkt the secret seed
contrives below the frozen ground
as the sunstar enters
the dainty jonquil from its sleep,
& thaws the aching heart of aching dread. David Kirk
9.2.11.
Yesterday the sun was shining in a clear, cold, blue sky, & everywhere
was still. The birds were singing their first tunes of the
year, practising for their big concert later on. The first
snowdrops are now in flower, but the small greenhouse & the
kitchen garden are bare, waiting, resting, for the first
sowing. Spring is in the air, you can smell it, feel it,
almost touch it.
3.2.11.
Towards the end of last year Sue Gaisford, the literary
editor for 'The Tablet' wrote an article about our
life. Some of our friends didn't see it. Click opposite to
read it.
Every year at our Epiphany recreation our 96 yr. old Sr.
Francis de Sales used to sing a little ditty,
"Count your blessings, count them one by one, & it will
surprise you what the Lord has done." Isn't it true our
lives are full of blessings if only we look for them.
Nothing big, each day small gifts from God. Todays Gospel
gives us the Beatitudes, making holy things that others may
see as negative, a recipe for becoming holy. We have the
first snowdrops popping up their buds, ponies grazing in our
fields, & the sun is shining, these for us are blessings.
May God send many blessings into your lives today, & may you
recognise them & give thanks.
28.1.11.
For the past few years there has been a Contemplative
community of nuns next to the Vatican at 'Mater Ecclessiae',
each remaining 3-5 years before returning to their
monasteries. There have been Benedictines, Carmelites & Poor
Clares. Since 2009 we have had a community of Visitation
sisters, coming from Spain, Italy & South America. On the
14th December 2010, for the close of our special 4th
Centenary Jubilee year the Holy Father visited our sisters &
celebrated an early morning Mass. They sent us a beautiful
Power Point Presentation of this happy event. Click opposite
to share it.
It's always good to prepare for an important day & so last
night we had a Vigil prayer service in honour of our Holy
Founder, click opposite to see short exerpts.
Tomorrow is the feast of our Holy Founder, St Francis de
Sales, our gentle, humble Saint. Click opposite to read some
of his writings & to see what he may be saying to you today.
May he bless you & all those you hold in your heart.
Today we begin the Novena to our Holy Founder, St.
Francis de Sales in preparation for his feast on January
24th.Our Constitutions remind us that our Order was founded
'to give to God Daughters of prayer, to share in the
evangelisation of the world by a hidden, apostolic
fruitfulness, giving genuine witness to the fact that God is
love'.
Const. Ch1.
"I say that we must neither ask anything nor refuse anything,
but leave ourselves absolutely in the arms of divine Providence,
without busying ourselves with any desires, except to will what
God wills for us."
St Francis de Sales
Tomorrow we begin the 'ordinary' time of the Church's
year in the Liturgy. Is there ever an ordinary time in our
lives? Each day is gift, each day has it's surprises, it's
joys & pains. Each day is what we make it. "My life tomorrow
will be the result of the choices I make today".
2.1.11. Feast of the The Epiphany
We begin this New Year with open, empty hands,
searching for Jesus. Like the Wisemen we follow our 'star'.
We know that we'll only find Him in the 'ordinariness' of
our daily lives. We're all on this 'faith journey' & as we
travel together in hope we are changed. What have we to
offer Him, what will be our gold, frankincense & myrrh?
1.1.11.
Solemnity of the Mother of God
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown!"
And he replied:
"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of
God. That shall be to you better than light &
safer than a known way."
So I went forth & finding the hand of God, trod gladly into
the night. And he led me toward the hills & the breaking of
day in the lone East. by
Minnie Louise Haskins 1908
'May the New Year
bring the warmth
of home & hearth
to you.
The cheer & goodwill
of friends to you.
The hope of a childlike heart
to you.
The joy of a thousand angels
to you.
The love of the Son
& God's peace to you.'
Mary McSweeney
25.12.10
CHRISTMAS DAY
'Venite Adoremus'
May the peace of Jesus reign in your hearts & find a home
with you.
It's Christmas Eve, the Liturgy is prepared, we've sung
our Geat O Antiphons. Now we wait in joyful expectancy to
celebrate the birth of Jesus. We unite ourselves with all
our sisters & friends throughout the world, we hold you all
in prayer. May you all have a wonderful, blessed Christmas.
Sr. Clare Chantal is beginning to sort out the
Christmas decorations in the community room.
21.12.10.
Our 4th Centenary Jubilee Year has finished. The
Celebrations are over but the memories remain. Memories of a
year filled with blessings & graces, memories of friendships
& of beauty. We are grateful to all those who shared our
special year with us in so many different ways, & who gave us the opportunity
to share our Salesian spirituality & life with them.
17.12.10.
Today 5 very couragous ladies from our nearby village of
Waldron ventured through the snow blizzards to give us a
Christmas concert with their hand bells. It was much enjoyed
by all although our singing wasn't very good! The bells are
pitched very high & we seemed to find it impossible to hit
the right notes! But Sr. Josephine Margaret got her big
moment during 'Jingle Bells'!See opposite
'Rejoice in the Lord always'. Today at Mass the
vestments are pink & we light the rose-pink candle in the Advent
wreath. It is a day when we celebrate with joy in our hearts
that the birth of Jesus is almost here.
We have blue skies & sunshine so are slowly 'defrosting'.
2.12.10.
The days of Advent; a very special time when we are
invited to go deeper into the mystery of the Incarnation.
To walk in simplicity & allow ourselves to be transformed as
we wait in the stillness, the darkness & the holiness of
each present moment. May these days be for us & for you a
blessed preparation, as our hearts resound 'Come Lord Jesus Come'.
We have had over 12 inches of snow & all around is muted
in dazzling beauty. We have a winter wonderland. See
opposite.
Today we kept the Feastday recreation for our dear
Mother, Sr. Jane Margaret. The 'theme' was bees, a favourite
topic of our Holy Founder, St Francis de Sales. It's always good to have an opportunity to say
thank you, to share & celebrate community together in joy &
laughter. We had dinner in
the community room and enjoyed a log fire after a very icy
start to the day.
20.11.10
It is the custom of our Order that each year on Nov.
21st, Feast of the Presentation, the Sisters publicly &
individually renew their vowsduring Mass.
This year because the 21st is also the Feast of Christ
the Kingwe are keeping it today. We unite ourselves with our Sisters throughout the world. For each it is a very special
moment, renewing our commitment to 'Live Jesus' as
Visitandines & Daughters of Prayer. Afterwards each Sister
writes & signs her vows in the vow book.
On the 2nd Sunday in November each year we keep
Remembrance Sunday, a special dayset aside to remember more than 1 million men & women
from Britain & the Commonwealth who sacrificed their livesfor us during World War 1, 1914 -1918 & World war 11,
1939 - 1945& other conflicts.Services are held throughout the country & abroad and
wreaths of poppies are laid to honour the dead.We wear a
poppy to remember them.May they rest in peace.
7.11.10.
As religious sisters we proudly wear our habit. Nurses,
policemen, firemen and those in the military all wear a
uniform that denotes who & what they are.Today at our monthly meeting of the Daughters of St.
Francis de Sales, Geraldine showed us a gift she had
received for her birthday -
her 'uniform'.
See opposite.
4.11.10.
Our dear Sr. Francis de Sales, who is originally from
Adelaide had a wonderful visit today from one of her great
nephews who was visiting from Australia.What a blessing family is.
2.11.10. All Souls Day Today, we remember especially all those we hold in our
hearts who have died. We ask God to enfold them into the
embrace of His Eternal Love. Our sisters, families &
friends. We pray for those who have no-one to remember them&we pray for the souls of your loved ones during this
month of November.
'Death is not
extinquishing the light
but only putting out the lamp
because the dawn has come.'
Tagore
30.10.10.
Croquet is a quintessential English game, see opposite
how it was played many years ago, and then click on the
little video to see how it's played at the Visitation
Monastery on a very windy day!
If you've watched the short Channel 4, TV video below
from 30th September, you'll remember seeing Sr. Josephine
Margaret showing Jay Raynera heart-shaped potato she'd dug up that morning. It was
such a lovely symbol, & here it is, still firm. We are
reluctant to eat it!
26.10.10
Sr Mary Joseph has arrived home after 4 days in
Moulins, where she has been participating in the
'Colloque International'. Continuing the celebration of our
4th Centenary Jubilee this was a symposiusm of the Art
& History of the Visitation over the past 4 centuries. On
Friday she presented a paper on the history of the
Visitation in the United States with particular reference to
the foundation of the monastery of Georgetown D.C.
Today, during dinner we had a freak hail storm, with
thunder & lightening & lashing rain. We thought the
refectory roof was coming in, the noise was so deafening.
Afterwards when we looked out, the ground was white over
with balls of ice, very beautiful & very awesome.
19.10.10
Autumn days here at the monastery are very
beautiful, mixtures of blue skies, gentle sun, green &
golden leaves that are beginning to flutter onto the soil.
There's only a splash of bright colour here & there, all
enfolded into crisp, cold days.
Seeds, fruits, apples hanging in
abundance in the orchards and the sheep peacefully enjoying
the tranquility of it all.
16th October
Today is the feast of St. MargaretAlacoque, one of our sisters. She was born in 1647 in
Burgandy, entered the Visitation at Paray-le-Monial in 1671
and died in 1690 aged 43 years. In 1675 she had a number of
apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus where she was
invited by Him to spread this devotion. It was in 1765 that
Devotion to the Sacred Heart was officially recognised &
approved by Pope Clement Xlll. Today, for us, is a 'holy'
day. after a beautiful sung Mass we have Exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament & adoration all day, where we bring to the
Lord all those we hold in our hearts, YOU
who are reading this page, our families, friends, all those
who have asked our prayers and all those in our world who need
our prayers.
Sister Mary Blog-arina is going into retreat tomorrow.
Please pray for her - & watch this space! The TV programme on 'Food'
with our sisters was televised last night on Channel 4. It's
only short.
click opposite to view.
If you want to know what the Holy Father thought of his
visit to England & Scotland, read the lovely article on the
right, taken from the Times, Thursday 23rd.by Richard Owen,
the retiring Rome correspondant.
Today we are having a Harvest Festival, celebrating
all the wonderful vegetables & fruits from our kitchen
garden & orchards.
In praising God for the abundance of His blessings,
we remember also all those who help us to grow, pick,
prepare & cook these foods, as well as all those of our
world who today are hungry.
click below to
read
Fr. Thomas's Harvest sermon given at Mass this morning
Today Cardinal John Henry Newman was beatified in
Birmingham by Pope Benedict XVI, see our Newman page for his
links to our community.
17th September
Our dear Holy Father has arrived in England & at the
crack of dawn Sr. Paul Miryam journied to Twickenham, to
join Religious from all over the country who were invited
to meet him. It had been hoped she would be able to present
a framed letter from Cardinal
Newman, but this wasn't possible. Nevertheless Sister
returned home with a memory beyond words
&full of joy at the privilegeshe had had.
TodayCatherine, from BBC Television came to interview
Sr. Paul Miryam & Our Mother to be shown on BBC South
East News this evening at 6.30.pm. about Cardinal Newmans
lettersthat we have in our archives, & Sr. Paul Miryams
journey into religious life.Everyone that has visited us from the Media, be it
newspapers or television have been delightful & a joy to
meet.
Today our dear Sr. Paul Miryamcelebrated her Silver Jubilee.
25 years of saying 'Yes' to the Lord. We had a concelebrated Mass at midday with Fr. Michael,
Fr. Thomas & Fr. Seamus, during which sister renewed her
vows.
We welcomed Mary and Kathy from America, and Michael
Moran from London, for a short visit. They are members of
the Society of St. Francis de Sales, the female branch being
the Daughters of St Francis de Sales & the male counterpart,
the Sons of St. Francis de Sales. They met with our group of
Daughtersand the sistersand wehad a wonderful 'Salesian' time together. God be Praised!
We have had the Channel 4 television crew here for a days
filming in the kitchen garden and the extern kitchen. It's
for the weekly series 'The Food Programme', which is about
sustainabilty, growing your own vegetables & fruit, and
making your own soup, bread, jams & yoghurt, also chopping &
using your own wood. Our 'film stars' were Our Mother, Srs.
Josephine Margaret. Mary Joseph & Clare Chantal. The rest of
the sisters were 'hidden' extras! The videos are noisy
because of the strong wind & you may need to turn your sound
down or off. click below
This morning at Mass Father Michael spoke about the
beauty of nature all around us as being Gods art gallery.
Early each morning the flowers of the Morning Glory open -
see opposite - and lift our spirits with their beauty. Today
was also the birthday of our dear Sr. Anne Jacqueline who
will be returning to our monastery of Boulogne next week, so
we had a little tea party in her honour.
22nd August
Our God is great & glorious, & yesterday we were
showered with graces, blessings - & rain! Our Choir & Extern
chapel were packed to overflowing as over 300 friends &
relatives joined us for the celebration of our 4th Centenary
Mass. Our Bishop Kieron, 7 priests, Deacon David and our
faithful friend & server Peterconcelebrated a joyous Eucharist.
The planting of an Acacia tree followed Mass & then
everyone made their way to the Marquee for lunch. Despite a
grey, dull day with a little drizzle at times, our hearts
were full of sunshine & thanksgiving as we continue the
journey begun by our first sisters 400 years ago. How
blessed we are to belong to our Visitandine family, united
throughout the world during this special year.
We're counting down the hours till our Celebration
Mass tomorrow.
The magnificant flowers have arrivedand the lace is on the altar, everyone seems is
doing a 101 last minute tasks. The hole is dug for Bishop
Kieron to plant a tree and now we pray for a little sunshine
and hearts full of joy & gratitude.
19th August
In the Heritage room our Archivist, Sr. Mary Joseph has
been busy setting up an exhibition of many of our treasures;
very old books, photographs, documents,
letters and embroidary plus a pictorial history of our
400 years.
18th August
Everywhere you look people are busy preparing for
Saturday.
17th August
Today Paul came to put up the marquee we are
having for the buffet lunch following the Jubilee
Celebration Mass with our Bishop this coming Saturday. He
was here all day in the rain, we didn't realize all the work
involved as watched it grow step be step.
11th August
Tomorrow is the feast of our Holy Mother, St. Jane
Francis de Chantal. This evening we held a VigilService with music, prayer, readings and reflection, it was
beautiful and after a dull day at one point a magical light
streamed through the choir windows.
7th August
Today we joined, via video-link, with our sisters &
friends in our monasteries and other venues all over the
United States for a live simulcast, to be with them for the
28th National Salesian Conference on the Spirituality of St
Francis de Sales & St Jane de Chantal. The theme this year
was the Visitation. It was wonderful and for over 6 hours we
shared with them conferences by Fr. Joseph Chorpenning
O.S.F.S., Dr. Wendy Wright and Fr. Joseph Boenzi S.D.B. The
organiser was our good friend Fr. John Graden O.S.F.S. and
Joanne Kinney.
If you would like to hear Sr. Jane Margaret speaking to
Jane Gledhill & playing the zither please click below. zither
2nd August
We've had a busy weekend. Jan Moir, a reporter from
the Daily Mail newspaper came for a mini retreat and to
write an article on the Visitation for her paper. On Sunday
Stephanie, a photographer from the newspaper came to take
pictures.
1st August Sr. Paul Miryam has received her officialinvitation to see the Holy Father in London when he comes
in September.She will celebrate her Silver Jubilee just two days
before his arrival.
31st July The last day of July is here and during this month we
have been blessed with an abundance of fruit; raspberries,
strawberries, red, black & white currants, gooseberries and
cherry tomatoes. Our sister jam-maker has been very busy
making many good things, conserves, preserves and jellies.
16th July Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Today we welcomed Ruth Gledhill, the Religious Correspondent
from the Times newspaper with Rhoda & Susanna, both
photographers, at the monastery. They are going to do an
article for the Times on monastic life.
9th July
Our dear Sr. Francis de Sales celebrated her 96th
birthday.
We enjoyed a little tea party with her.
We had the joy of welcoming our dear Sr. Anne Jacqueline
today for a two month stay. Sister is from our Monastery of
Loango, Africa & has been studying Accountancy & English in Boulogne,
staying with our sisters there.
30th June
The last day of June, a glorious sunny, warm day with
a good breeze, perfect for a gardening day
with retreatants and friends. Click opposite to see how we
got on.
(we really did do some work as well)
Yesterday evening two of our sisters represented us
at the Induction ceremony of the Rev. David Charles
as Vicar of the Anglican church of All Saints in our nearby
village of Waldron. Our Mother & Sr. Clare Chantal
enjoyed the beautiful Liturgy and great welcome they
received.
June 24th
Today we had a delightful group
of
children
from the Trefoil Montessori Farm School in East Grinstead,
West Sussex. The only Eco school of its kind in the country which
uses 100% green energy. This lively group of 14 year olds
were doing a project on Religious Life.
After seeing a slide show, armed with juice & biscuits they had a lot of questions.
June 1st - 10th
Mother Jane Margaret & Sr. Mary Joseph left
for Annecy, France by Eurostar, very early in the morning.They
were joining sisters who had gathered from all over the world to
celebrate this special year & to be at 'La Sainte Source' for
our Foundation day on the 6th June. They had a wonderful,
unforgettable few days, praying, visiting different places where
our first sisters had lived and most of all renewing friendships
and making new ones. These were gracefilled days uniting our
Visitation family. A beautiful Mass was concelebrated in the
Basilica of the Visitation on June 6th, by the Bishop of Annecy.
We are 400 years old!
On Trinity Sunday, June 6th 1610 in Annecy, the Order of the
Visitation was founded by St Francis de Sales & St. Jane de
Chantal. We thank God for the graces & blessings of the last 400
years and as our Order continues to spread throughout the world,
we look to the future in hope and joy.
GOD BE PRAISED
May 25th
Today we have three B's
Bluebells, Blackbirds
and Bellringers.
Our bluebell woods have been a sea of
blue/mauve flowers.
Our blackbird eggs have hatched in the Turn cloister and there
are very large, very hungry chicks in a nest much too small for
them.
Today we had the joy of welcoming the Hand Bell Ringers from our
local Anglican church in Waldron. They gave us a wonderful recital
of a medley of songs. We then had tea in the sunshine.
A beautiful Spring day and we have lambs in our orchard.
May 20th
The good news is that we must have got the dates wrong! This morning we excavated the flower
pot/ducks nest, and there is no sign of eggs or shell! So we
think the commotion the other morning was that the chicks
hatched and we missed it! What a pity we hadn't put a sister on
sentry duty.
May 18th
We had hoped to be able to put a photo here like the one
opposite, but sadly yesterday morning, very early, after much
quacking, Dilly Duck disappeared and hasn't returned to her nest.
We don't know if something frightened her, but we think she has abandoned her
eggs.
May 16th
Dilly Duck is still patiently sitting on her clutch of eggs,
we think it'll be another week before they hatch. Can you
spot her amid all the down & feathers she's lined the nest
with?
May 8th - 13th
As part of our 4th Centenary Jubilee
Celebrations we have had a WONDERFUL retreat given
by Fr. John Graden, an Oblate Father of St. Francis de
Sales. He travelled over from the United States to be with
us. Our Daughters of St Francis de Sales joined us as did a
few other guests. It was a time of joy and blessing. We
ended with a celebration barbeque
April 25th
Good Shepherd Sunday
Todays Gospel reminds us of God's loving care for us. We have a
tradition in our community, on this day, each year, to specially
thank our Superior for her care for us and to garland a shepherds
crook with beautiful spring flowers.
April 20th
We have a family of ducks, one female and two males that have
taken residence on our balastrade. The female has laid 3/5 eggs
so far in one of the large flower pots after digging out a nest
in the earth, surrounded by pretty flowers. Plenty more eggs to
come yet - so watch this space!
April 4th - Easter Sunday
Alleluia! Easter Blessings surround us. We've enjoyed beautiful
Liturgies and our Easter fire at the Vigil service last night set
the fire alarm off three times!
March 22nd
It's time to say goodbye to our two Columban sisters, as Srs.
Ana Margerita & Marta Matilde return to their Monastery of Pasto
today. It's been a joy having them with us.
March 2010
To see the world in a grain of sand
and Heaven in a wild flower,
to hold
infinity in the palm of your hand
and
eternity in an hour. William Blake
