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Nine young men were here
for an Advent retreat on prayer. (20/12/06) Read
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The Abbots and Abbesses
of the English Congregation met at Downside last week
for their annual meeting. It coincided with the closure
of the Centenary, the highpoint of which was the singing
of Vespers to plainchant and Monterverdi to the sound
of trumpets! (29/11/06) Read
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The Abbatial Blessing of
Abbot Aidan took place on Friday, 10th November. The
blessing was conferred by the Bishop of Clifton, the
Right Reverend Declan Lang (16/11/06) Read
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The monastery has been presented
with a letter seeking payment for the upkeep in prison
of one of our martyr brothers, St John Roberts. The
note is signed by Lord Cecil, Earl of Salisbury (16/11/06) Read
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Dom Martin Gowman was ordained
to the Diaconate by the Bishop of Clifton, Rt Rev.
Declan Lang, on 7th October (18/10/06) Read
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Dom Philip Jebb celebrated
the Golden Jubilee of his Ordination to the Priesthood
on 22nd September. He attended a Mass and celebration
lunch given by the Bishop for all the jubilarians in
the diocese this week – together with Dom Leo, our
Head Master, who is marking his Silver Jubilee this
year (18/10/06) Read
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Dom Michael and pupils in
the school have completed a new faldstool for St Benedict’s
Church, which continues to be refurbished by its Parish
Priest, Abbot Aidan (18/10/06) Read
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At last the scaffolding
has reached the top and the protective cladding has
been put in place. The bats have gone and all is ready
for the work on the roof and windows to start! (18/10/06) Read
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Benedictine Abbot Presidents
were meeting at Downside last week for the annual Synod
of Presidents (26/09/06) Read
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Abbot Aidan presided over
the fourth of the symposia organised for the Fourth
Centenary, which was based on the history of the Abbey
Church (26/09/06) Read
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Scaffolding is still arriving
in front of the monastery, but the experts have reached
the top preparing for the temporary roof to be put
in place (18/09/06) Read
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Nine young men joined the
monastic community for our second vocations retreat
earlier this month (18/09/06) Read
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A young Swiss lawyer, who
spent most of the last academic year at Downside, shares
his experiences (18/09/06) Read
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Dom Boniface Hill has been
appointed Parish Priest, taking over the care of Chilcompton
at the start of Advent (18/09/06) Read
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The Abbot is delighted to
announce that Dom David Foster has been appointed Prior
of Downside Abbey (11/09/06) Read
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On Wednesday 9th August
the monastic community elected Abbot Aidan as their
new abbot. We wish him God’s blessing as he takes office
(10/08/06) Read
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A small group of boys from
Bermondsey in South East London returned for their
annual camp in the playing fields last week (08/08/06) Read
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At the start of the holidays,
Dom Martin Gowman led a musical day for a group of
people with sight difficulties as part of a week’s
course sponsored by Bristol University. It was called
the ‘Colour of Music’ and included a new organ composition
for our Fourth Centenary by Dr Geoffery Palmer (31/07/06) Read
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We said goodbye to Br Ivan
today, who is returning to his monastery in Croatia
(03/07/06) Read
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Dom Aidan, the Prior, gave
a lecture on the Da Vinci Code in Winchester Cathedral,
which is now available on their website. In the lecture,
Fr Aidan examines the Church’s claim to be a faithful
bearer of Tradition (03/07/06) Read
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Dom Aidan’s latest publication
commemorates our Martyrs, and is issued in conjunction
with the Recusant Symposium earlier this month (26/06/06) Read
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The Novitiate made a midsummer’s
pilgrimage to the Saxon monastery at Deerhurst in Gloucestershire,
to celebrate the Feast Day of Br Ivan (60/06/06) Read
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About a hundred of our parishioners
came together with the children who had made their
First Communion earlier this summer for the annual
Corpus Christi procession last Sunday in the grounds
of the Monastery (20/06/06) Read
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About 40 members of the
community and visiting scholars met on the 14th June
for a symposium on Recusant History (20/06/06) Read
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In conjunction with the
Recusant Colloquium, Fr Boniface Hill and the Prior,
Fr Aidan Bellenger, put some of the precious items
of the Recusant period in the care of Downside Abbey
on display in a small exhibition in the St Bede Centre
(20/06/06) Read
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If you would like to read
edited notes of the talk Archbishop Rowan Williams
gave at Downside, please click here. |
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The Abbot, who is also Abbot
President of the English Benedictine Congregation,
goes to Rome this week for an audience with the Pope.
The Pope has invited all Major Religious Superiors
to meet him in the Vatican on Monday (21/05/06) |
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The Novitiate has become
still more international with the visit of two young
junior monks from Peru (21/05/06) Read
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Families from our local
parishes gathered in the Abbey Church for their children’s
First Communion on Saturday (21/05/06) Read
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Dom Charles took charge
of our parish in Bungay, Suffolk, on Tuesday. His predecessor,
Dom Edward Crouzet, who is going to move to St Anselm’s
Abbey, the English Benedictine monastery in Washington
DC, to provide additional support to the community
there, went with Abbot Richard to attend the installation
of its new superior (12/06/06) Read
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Pentecost completes the
Church’s celebration of Easter. At Downside this year
it fell at the end of the School Half Term, and coincided
with the School Prize Day. Mass of Pentecost saw the
new set of red concelebration vestments in use for
the first time (12/06/06) Read
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The Top Floor (where the
Novitiate lives) has received another visitor, this
time Florian from Germany (12/06/06) Read
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While Downside celebrates
its 400th anniversary, there are other important birthdays
too. One of our greatest monks, Bernard Ullathorne,
celebrated his 200th in his Cathedral at Birmingham
as well as at his place of burial in Stone, Staffordshire
(15/05/06) Read
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The fourth of our Centenary
Lectures was given on Thursday by Professor Marianne
Elliot (15/05/06) Read
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Presents were arriving by
various routes last week for Father Ambrose, who was
70 on Friday. Many Happy Returns! (15/05/06) Read
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Dom James and Dom Anselm
spent four days last week in Belgium at the Benedictine
monastery school of Sint-Andries (08/05/06) Read
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Dom David visited the Catholic
Chaplaincy in Oxford to preach for Vocations Sunday
(08/05/06) Read
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Brother Ivan, a novice of
the monastery of Cokovac, arrived to spend two months
with us and experience life in a rather bigger community
(08/05/06) Read
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Fr Michael has completed
a fine new lectern for the Catholic church in Gorleston,
near Great Yarmouth (08/05/06) Read
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Dom Martin Gowman has taken
over the care of the Abbey Bookshop from Dom Charles
who is preparing to go as Parish Priest to our parish
in Bungay, Suffolk (01/05/06) Read
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Father Timothy Radcliffe,
former Master of the Dominicans, returned to his old
school on Thursday to talk on the nature of freedom
(01/05/06) Read
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The annual meetings of
the English Benedictine Commissions for Liturgy, Monastic
Theology and History met at Downside in Easter Week
(24/04/06) Read
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Taking a quiet moment at
the start of Holy Week, Downside hosted an overnight
retreat for Church leaders of all Christian denominations
in Somerset (17/04/06) |
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At the end of March, the
Bishop of Gloucester, Michael Perham, a notable expert
in Liturgy, who has done much to lay the foundations
for the latest reforms of services in the Church of
England, gave the third Downside Centenary Lecture
marking our 400th anniversary (17/04/06) Read
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The new Latin Antiphonal
adds something to the Office at Downside (03/04/06) Read
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Downside Abbey’s first Vocations
Retreat this year produces poignant reflections (29/03/06) Read
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