The Community has been delighted to welcome Fr. Columba for a stay with us this November.

Dom Columba is a monk of Petersham - and so ultimately of Pluscarden - currently in temporary vows, though hoping to make his Solemn Profession next year.

He is from Nova Scotia in Canada, though of thoroughly Scottish extraction: he still has many relations in Scotland, whom he would visit quite regularly throughout his childhood.

Dom Columba is highly qualified in Environmental sciences, land management, animal and plant husbandry etc. He spent a number of years putting this expertise to use on behalf of the Benedictine nuns of Regina Laudis Abbey in Connecticut. Subsequently he was ordained to the Priesthood, and went on to serve these same nuns as their resident Chaplain. But the call of monastic life proved too much for him, so he found himself eventually applying to join our community at Petersham in Massachusetts. Of course Fr. Columba's presence there has been most helpful for that community, and we hope will be ever more so in future!