The Pluscarden community by custom gathers at noon on the 1st of January for a fraternal exchange of New Year greetings.

This year we invited our Dominican Sisters from Greyfriars Convent Elgin to join us for that.

Happily this coincided with a temporary reinforcement of their numbers.

The Nashville Dominicans of St. Cecilia maintain some other communities in Europe, and several Sisters from these were in Elgin over the New Year for their own gathering.

Our pictures show the 2026 New Year gathering in the Calefactory, or Chapter House of the Monastery. This magnificent room with its central pillar, normally closed to the public, dates from the original building of 1230. Not visible in the pictures, though very apparent to all present, was the roaring fire, which certainly added cheer to the occasion!