On this day in 1997 I made my First Monastic Profession. I appear to have only one, slightly goofy photo. Brand new habit, just a bit star struck, but ready for the next leg of the journey! Thanks to all who walked ahead and alongside me.
This year I'm planning to tweet a 'Path Through Advent with St Benedict'. I hope to post on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I'm looking forward to walking with anyone who wants to make the journey.
I've been wearing Birkenstock sandals for nearly 25 years. That first week was like walking on rocks, but, thereafter, BLISS! Here's to the next 25!
Turvey Abbey: where socks and sandals will always be a thing.
If truth be told, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a UK nun or sister who has not shuddered at one of the most shocking podiums and policies in the past 13 yrs.
In every city and many towns you'll find nuns and sisters quietly, and not so quietly, trying to fill the gaps
Today we celebrate The Triumph of the Cross. It’s my monastic feast day. This means flowers and cards at your refectory place, extra snacks, whatever you wish for for breakfast (cooked, in my case), presents, a day free from ‘work’ and everyone being really nice!
You just can’t beat post from your 7yr old nephews. (Bib is my pet name. My little brother couldn’t pronounce my baptismal name, Birgitte. It seems to have stuck and is being passed down the generations.)
Starting on Sunday 3rd Dec I'll be posting daily reflections. This year I will be working my way through the alphabet, taking words from the Sunday and Weekday readings for Advent.
Dear Twitter,
For Christmas I would like an 'edit' button. Sometimes have to do things in a hurry and make mistakes. I am hopeless at proof reading.
Love,
Sr Miriam
It’s our Prioress’ Feast Day tomorrow. In the monastic calendar this ranks alongside Christmas and Easter for liturgy and festive food. This is my take on Ottolenghi’s roasted figs with pomegranate molasses.
My lovely mammy is 80 today. Always young at heart, always looking on the bright side. Picture here with my equally lovely grandparents Else and Henning Hansen🇩🇰❤️🇩🇰
At Turvey we are 2 monastic communities living in separate monasteries. Sometimes our post gets mixed up.
Today’s post included a letter for Br Herbert from Her Majesty.
He is 100 today!
@dlongenecker1
Dwight, this is beneath you. Is this what you really think? And especially as you ministered in the Anglican Church in the U.K. Hoping for a nicer, more theologically literate tweet on this matter.
Just listening to a great talk by
@MassimoFaggioli
. In the Q and A he said; ‘It’s clear who is attacking Vat II, but it’s not clear who is defending it.’
A very important point.
I am very much here to defend Vat II.
Anyone else defending too?
I have seen people recommending the gathering and laying out as a contemplative practice. I tried it and it was lovely. I gathered these things in 10 mins. We are blessed with a beautiful garden.
I was asked to make an Ordination card including the text ‘tu es sacerdos in aeternum’. I made a range so the customer could choose.
I quickly learnt that each creation is unique. So when I was asked for the same design but with different colours it was pretty tricky.
Holy Innocents
I have never found this feast easy. A part of me just doesn’t want to think about the slaughter of children.
Sadly, the actions of a merciless depot are not confined to Biblical times. Scenes from Gaza will forever be imprinted in our minds.
I came late to the work of John O'Malley SJ.
This quote on the shift in outlook and ecclesiology evident in all the documents of Vat II stopped me in my tracks:
'from commands to invitations,
from laws to ideals,
from definition to mystery,
from threats to persuasion,
I’ve been making some O Antiphon cards from our Turvey designs.
You have to zoom in for the artist’s mark. It stands for Vita et Pax, the name of our foundation.
My life in microcosm:
Long hair grips for my big veil
Small white hair grips for my work veil
Small hair grips for my actual hair
Cute pottery made at our Mother House by Sr Godelieve
Owl features painted by Sr Hadewijch
Functional, beautiful and quirky.
That’s monastic life!
I was the server at lunch and now my veil smells of dinner.
I am the incense bearer at Vespers.
Hoping to neutralise things!
Febreeze you have nothing on monasteries.
I’ve had butterflies in my tummy all day. Anyone else feeling like this? This feels like the most important election I have ever voted in. Haven’t been able to settle properly to work that needed my brain, but have done sorting out and cleaning.
#voteforchange
Several years ago a sister from a Benedictine community in Belgium stayed with us for a week. One night she made these little fellows for supper. Cutest hard-boiled eggs ever.
The exegetical hill on which I am prepared to die: if the Greek texts says ‘adelphoi’, it means brothers and sisters.
If your translation says anything else then it is not ‘more faithful’ or ‘more accurate’. You are being sold short.
Before we begin...
Welcome to A Path Through Advent with St Benedict.
I’ll be using the Advent Liturgy of the Word as a framework for our reflection. I’ll choose a theme from the readings and relate this to my experience of living the Rule of St Benedict.
Now this is a very rare monastic sight.
Each night a supper sweets are put out and the number you may take is indicated. Tonight is the eve of our Sr Beatrix’s feast and so we have a sweetie platter that reflects her.
She delights in every good thing.
#whennunscelebrate
Intercession at Vespers yesterday: Father you have invited us to the festival of heaven…
Me: Yikes, I hope I am in the glamping section. I mean this is for all eternity and I’ll need to dry my hair etc. 😂
Issues Arising from the Rupnik Case: a thread
1 of 17) I am privileged to belong to a monastic community which has a strong artistic tradition. This picture is the work of Sr Regina, a Dutch sister. Her art is found all over the world.
I don’t usually do food shots, but as there’s lots of Twitter talk about dispensations for St Patrick’s Day: red lentil and peanut butter croquettes, cauliflower cheese and potatoes.
St Patrick is a Memoria for us. 😊
A PATH THROUGH ADVENT WITH ST BENEDICT (1)
FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
Isaiah 2:1-5
Matthew 24:36-44
Each year as we celebrate the liturgical cycle, I am grateful for the opportunity to take stock and refocus my mind and heart.
Post about Advent and St Benedict and have your followers grow by 189 in 24 hrs! Who knew?! Thanks for all of the follows. Very much looking forward to Advent now.
This year I'm planning to tweet a 'Path Through Advent with St Benedict'. I hope to post on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I'm looking forward to walking with anyone who wants to make the journey.
So here’s my take on a Danish recipe. As always I made a few tweaks: added rum to the sponges and a bottom layer of confectioner’s custard. Happy New Year!
A sister in my community paints designs on tiles. She is 85 years old and her work is meticulous. As well as using a paint brush, she also spreads the enamel paint with a pin. It is extraordinary how she does this.
#nuntastic
#nunsarecreative
#godinallthings
You know your are a nun when new plastic clips and the pouch in which they come are equally exciting. 😂This nun loves a good storage solution.
#nunlife
I’ll be taking a break from posting for the next couple of weeks. I hope to start posting again in Sundays, Feasts and Solemnities. Daily postings will return in Advent.
Thanks for your companionship on the journey this Lent/Eastertide.
Wherever you find yourself physically and spiritually as the Triduum begins, Christ invites you to walk with him and to know yourself the object of His LOVE.
I am pretty much addicted to knitting these little girls. A friend saw my post on Facebook and would like a whole set for the acute mental health ward on which she works. I love having a purpose for my little hobby. Just another plus for social media.
#nunswhoknit
I have followed the Synod as best I could and tried to see things from all perspectives.
It has certainly been an eye opener and a great disappointment to see the comments accompanying any pictures of women at the Synod.
Helige Birgitta!
The Feast of my namesake. My Danish mother and Irish/English father named me Birgitte, the Danish form of the name. I also feel a connection to the Irish St Brigid.
The Nuns of Turvey Abbey are preparing to receive their PhDs in Delayed Gratification. Yes, peeps, these bunnies have still not been consumed.😂 There have been additions, but no subtractions!
#hardcoremonasticobedience
I’m at home for a few days and needed a bit of handwork. My mother has enlisted me in her blanket making enterprise and even let me use her new wool contraption. My first square passed Quality Control. Phew 😂
That nun thing where you notice that another nun has almost double the number of followers than you do and think to yourself that you need to up your game.
(My English teachers are ready to pounce at the appalling grammar in this tweet. 😂)
It’s so hot that making the Sign of the Cross at the beginning of the Magnificat actually created a little breeze! Perhaps we need to do this more in our liturgy. Or we could create a rubric that requires you to have your feet in a basin of water.
Laundry numbers: an integral part of Monastic Life.
At the beginning of my monastic journey, I didn’t realise the full import of an item being mislaid for months...
You learn fast.
‘And they held all things in common’
But marked their clothes so as not to annoy the laundry.
Yesterday I thought I'd put out my modest Christmas stock in our shop area. By 10.30 this morning all of my 'original creations' had gone... Time to make a few more.
In all the discussions around the parties held at Downing St it’s the details of what they left for the cleaners that really bothers me. I think it’s safe to assume that those who gathered had the best education that money could buy. Don’t we educate for virtue anymore?
On this day in 1994 I was clothed in the Benedictine habit. Herewith, the only remaining items from that clothing. A pair of Icelandic woollen socks, which I only need to wear when the temp drops below zero! All other items are long since deceased or grown out of.
We have just received the body of our Sr Goedele De Belder into our chapel. She died on July 20th.
This photo really encapsulates her. She had a great love for young children. There are lots more photos here:
I don’t know how to break it to you, but in the monastery we keep Sts Cyril and Methodius and not St Valentine on Feb 14th. Cos you know the Gagolithic script is right up there in the evangelisation stakes. Keepin it vernacular. ❤️