Homilies 2010

Report on the Oblate Weekend, summer 2010

OBLATE WEEKEND PLUSCARDEN ABBEY, 3OTH JULY -2ND AUGUST

This was a weekend that was mainly for Pluscarden Oblates. The aim was twofold: 1) for our oblates to renew their spiritual bond with the monastery and also with one another; 2) to receive some special input.

Communal meals in the marquee with grace before and after, and participation in the liturgy, were fundamental to this Oblate Synaxis.

By the opening Friday evening, over 50 Oblates had foregathered. First on the programme was a DVD, in which Fr Anselm Atkinson, Superior of St Mary's Monastery, Petersham, Massachussetts, USA, Monk of Pluscarden Abbey, and Visitor of the English Province of our Congregation, gave a talk specially made for the event. His measured pace, calm assurance and thoroughness made it a monastic "conference" par excellence. Concentrating on our areas of greatest ignorance, e.g. Central and North America, he acquainted us with our wider monastic family, ranging from monasteries in the heart of village life to monasteries in the desert or the city, from monasteries with ageing communities to those overflowing with youth and giving retreats for groups of thousands!

The following day, after Terce, Mass and coffee, Fr Abbot gave an opening Address in the marquee. He took us as Oblates on a pilgrimage to the wellsprings of our Christian, Catholic, Oblate life: namely, our sharing in the prophetic, priestly and kingly life of Christ. This is a gift conferred on us by the post-baptismal anointing, touched on in many texts of the Old and New Testaments and articulated repeatedly in the teaching of Vatican II, the Popes and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Once fully realised and personally appropriated, it can give a profound coherence, energy and richness to our Christian life as members of the Church After lively contributions from those attending, we prayed Sext with the monks and then lunched together as oblates.

After None came a talk from the Cellarer of our monastery, Br Michael, on monastic work. Salutary were his opening remarks reminding us that while most connect the life of a monk with the liturgy , prayer and sacred reading, the largest amount of time in the Rule is given over to work. So a consideration of it is primary to an understanding of monastic (and oblate) life. Referring to St Benedict's Rule Br Michael emphasised how moderate and wise it is, making sensible allowances for differences of aptitude and temperament. The kinds of work undertaken at Pluscarden, its changing patterns, and its relationship with the rest of our life were all touched upon. This topic of work led on to another lively discussion.

After Compline, there was a return to the screen -to watch recordings of the Solemn opening Mass at Pluscarden in 1948 and another programme, of Swedish production, of a not much later vintage. For me the key moments of this were of the late Br. Andrew being interviewed beside a pile of rubble which was to be rebuilt into enclosure wall and the interviewer heavy with gloom saying it would take ages, and Br Andrew replying nonchalantly, leaning on his spade, "a few months". Then again the gloomy interviewer stressing the solemnity and slog of monastic life, and Br Andrew with his rich burr saying emphatically and glowingly, "It's all joy".
On Sunday, 1 st August, two of our postulant oblates became novices while everyone else prepared for Mass. Fr Abbot presided at the Conventual Mass. The Gospel was of the rich fool with his bigger and better barns, suddenly called to judgment. The homily ended referring to the memorable words of St. Basil: "The poor rich fool! God was so good to him. His harvests, his wealth - it was all a gift of God. He didn't see that. If only, instead of hugging it all to himself, he had passed the gift on. God was loving him so that he would love others. ' Are you short of barns?' asks St. Basil. ' You will find them in the empty stomachs of the poor. , Every gift we have, material or otherwise, every gift is for giving on. And then it won't be 'vanity of vanities' .And the breath of eternal life will be in us."

There followed an enlightening and enthusiastic talk on the Liturgy of the Day from Fr Benedict, ending with a moving testimony to the all-sufficiency of Christ, present for us in the Eucharist.

In the afternoon, Fr Stuart Chalmers, parish priest of St. Ninian' s, Inverness, and oblate of Pluscarden, spoke memorably on the key theme of conscience. He ended thus: "This paper has attempted to present a moral theory of conscience which sees virtue and grace in the context of a life of holiness as both a remedy for fragmentation in moral theory and an environment in which the Christian conscience can flourish. However, such flourishing does not preclude all error. We will never reach perfection in this life, and so our moral judgements will still be subject to some extent to the drama of temptation and human frailty. Nonetheless, this does not diminish the honesty of our desire to live holy lives. In answering the call to holiness every day we are expressing our desire to follow the Lord, and to allow him to mould us, so that we may truly live in love, a 'love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith , (I TimI:5)."

After tea, there was an opportunity for Confession, followed by Vespers, Benediction, and later Supper and Compline. Then we were gripped for an hour and ten minutes by a DVD, prepared specially for us over months of effort by Dr. Gabriele Heitfeld-Panther, Cistercian Oblate and long-time friend of Pluscarden. To quote the sleeve, "My film takes the viewer on an interesting trip showing various ways of monastic life. It gives an insight into monastic life above all from this side of the monastery walls; the latter point will be surprising for many people. The focus is on how Oblates and lay Cistercians live (with parallels for us); these are people who live in the spirit of Saint Benedict in their normal everyday surroundings. They speak and give us an insight into their everyday life. ..In particular the film is centred on the personal witness of a Cistercian Secular Oblate of the Cistercian Monastery of Langwaden." This is a very prayerful creation, much recommended.

On the final Monday morning, the closing Mass of the Oblate Weekend was celebrated by Fr Martin. All the oblates present renewed their oblations. Fr Martin and Br Michael then dep~rted immediately to a meeting at Kornelimunster Abbey in Germany, leaving Fr Abbot saying our farewells over a final cup of coffee together in the marquee.

This Oblate Weekend, a "Spiritual Retreat", "the Oblate Show" (as Fr. Anselm, our Visitor, called it), the "Oblate Jolly" (as an Oblate who wants to remain anonymous dubbed it), was deemed by all a joyful, uplifting and fraternal union together in the Lord. Thanks be to God

Who is the writer of this poem?

Image copyright © 2015 Pawel Rokicki

Image copyright © 2015 Pawel Rokicki

Profound the peace of Pluscarden,
As if the pine-green closing hills
Shut in the grace
Of God and all His holy Saints.
The Lauds and Matins of the past,
In that calm place,
Still seem to linger on the air
Half-heard, half-dreamt, so wholly felt
There is no time,
The soul is raised above the now,
Beyond the then. Eternity
Of faith sublime
Outlasting all the moods of fate
And savage treacheries of man,
To rise again
Triumphant from defeated stone,
And draw within its sanctuary
All human pain.

This poem was published in 1950 in PAX, the quarterly review of Prinknash Abbey. The name "R. A. Dick" is underneath, but there is no more about the identity of this person. An internet search for "R. A. Dick" reveals a writer of the same era, who wrote the novel "The Ghost and Mrs Muir", which was published in 1945 and later made into a film with the same name. "R. A. Dick" is known to have been the pen name of Josephine Aimee Campbell Leslie, who was of Scottish and Irish extraction. The tenor of Josephine Leslie's work is remarkably similar to that of the above poem; so we wonder if perhaps she and the author of the poem are one and the same.

Meeting of Chant Forum May 2010

The Chant Forum was founded five years ago by Dom Erik Varden of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey and Dame Margaret Truran of Stanbrook Abbey. It aims to promote interest in Gregorian Chant in a monastic context, with the primary focus being on practical application of the repertoire and excellence of performance.

This year the meeting took place at Pluscarden, with representatives from Ramsgate Abbey, Ealing Abbey, Ampleforth Abbey, Douai Abbey, Oulton Abbey, Chorley Down Monastery, Worth Abbey, Holy Cross Monastery Rostrevor, Stanbrook Abbey, Saint Mary's Monastery Petersham and Kristo Buase Monastery, Ghana, as well as representatives of diocesan choirs and scholas.

The keynote speaker was Jaan-Eik Tulve, an Estonian chant scholar and schola director. Jaan-Eik has had many invitations to direct monastic chant scholas from all over the world and has made several influential recordings with his own schola in Estonia. Under his direction, the Chant Forum was able to analyse in depth several important liurgical pieces, and also to perform them in the liturgy here at the Abbey.

Jaan-Eik Tulve is pictured below with Br. Michael and Fr. Benedict.


Solemn Profession of Br Aelred

On 5th March each year we celebrate the feast of Saint Ælred of Rievaulx, the great 12th century Cistercian Abbot and spiritual writer. We always keep the day as a Solemnity, as it marks a very important anniversary of our community: the day when the Anglican monks of Caldey were received into the Catholic Church in 1913. Those monks moved from Caldey in 1928, leaving the monastery in the capable hands of the Cistercians, and made their home at Prinknash Park near Gloucester. It was from Prinknash that Pluscarden was refounded in 1948.

This year, the day was especially joyful in that it was also the occasion of the Solemn Profession of our brother Ælred McColm. The ceremony is a long and beautiful one, set within the monastic Conventual Mass. The brother making his profession is prayed over by all the other solemnly professed monks. He reads out loud the manuscript of his profession chart, in which his three monastic vows of Obedience, Stability and Conversion of Life (which includes the religious vows of Poverty and Chastity) are declared before the congregation. He then signs it and places it on the altar, and then sings three times the psalm verse: "Uphold me by your promise and I shall live: let my hope not be in vain." (Ps. 118:116), which the other monks repeat after him, in ascending pitch. After this, the brother is prayed over again, and then receives his monastic Cowl and the Psalter, which is to be the sustenance of his life of prayer.

Brother Ælred was supported by his family, who were able to come and stay with us for a few days, and a happy and memorable time was enjoyed by all. After the Mass, we celebrated with a festive lunch in the cloister, cooked and served (as usual) by the monks.

Scottish Sacred Music Symposium

REPORT ON THE SYMPOSIUM ON SCOTTISH SACRED MUSIC

1 - 3 SEPTEMBER 2009

“I’ve never known three such days, in which I’ve been so educated, so entertained and so spiritually uplifted.”
This remark of an eminent musicologist was made at the end of our Symposium on Scottish Sacred Music, held from the 1st to the 3rd of September. It captures something of the common mood that prevailed throughout this extraordinary event. So many positive comments were made on every side during the course of the Symposium: then after participants had returned home, the Abbey received a stream of letters and emails expressing appreciation. Many of these noted the openness and warmth of the atmosphere, which remained friendly and relaxed throughout. Frequently expressed was a sense of excitement at being in the presence of so much knowledge and talent, here made available and accessible to all. And the quality of input was indeed astonishingly high: not only in the talks but also in the concerts. One person commented after the performance of Gaelic sacred song: “That’s the most beautiful and moving thing I’ve heard in years and years.” The wonderful appropriateness of the setting was remarked upon by many. For it all took place within our restored mediaeval walls, in a living Benedictine monastery, and within the framework of our daily sung Latin liturgy. This provided a firm background of faith and worship to the business of the Symposium. Yet, as so many remarked, there was no hint of pressure being applied on anyone, and every Scottish Christian tradition was truly represented. A Catholic Priest who was present throughout commented on the tremendous upheaval and disruption the monastic community necessarily experienced in order to accommodate the Symposium. “I’m sure” he said, “in view of the importance of the event, St. Benedict would have approved.”
The initiative for it all had come from Fr. Abbot. His idea was that Pluscarden could make a positive contribution to our national life and culture, by setting forth, in a way that seems not to have been done anywhere before, the whole narrative of Scottish Sacred Music. For some fifteen centuries, after all, Scotland has been a Christian nation, and music has always been an essential element in the expression of Christian faith. When people are tempted nowadays to sideline or forget the Christian element of our national life and history, one way of bringing it again into focus is through the medium of beauty: the beauty especially of Sacred Music.
So a team of leading experts in the field was assembled. Many were established academics, teaching in Universities up and down the country. Others were doctoral students, at the cutting edge of contemporary research. Others again were well known practitioners, such as the composer James MacMillan, or the Clarsach player Bill Taylor. The event was then publicised as widely as possible. Attendance at the talks was to be free of charge. The only qualification for participation would be an interest in the subject: emphatically not any musical expertise or great historical knowledge. The talks would be rounded off each day with an Open Forum, at which questions could be put to any of the speakers, or any other relevant points of interest raised. Then each evening, after supper, a concert would be performed of the music that had been discussed during that day.
The three days of the Symposium fell quite naturally into three historical periods: the Mediaeval and Renaissance period up to Scottish Reformation in 1560; the period from 1560 to the early 20th century, and the modern period. It quickly became apparent that a full summary of the abundantly rich material available for discussion would be impossible in so brief a time. So it seemed good to cram as much as possible into the limited time available. A tight schedule was accordingly put in place. In the event it operated remarkably smoothly, with everything running more or less exactly to time. Not that there were no slight hiccups. Once or twice the computer running the visual display died without apparent reason and had to be re-started. One speaker had to drop out at the last minute because of a sudden bereavement, and one Choir had to cancel because of the flu. Nevertheless, the vacant slots were successfully filled, and the programme proceeded without apparent hitch.
The average attendance throughout was about 100 people. This assembly would move back and forth as the days unfolded: from the Transepts-become-lecture-hall to the refreshments tent on the site of the Nave, and then to the Chancel for services and concerts.
The content of the Three Days was as follows:

Day 1: Tuesday, 1 September 2009
“Mediaeval & Renaissance Scottish Sacred Music - up to 1560”

Welcome and Introduction by Fr. Abbot

First Talk: Dr. James Reid-Baxter, Research Fellow in Scottish History, University of Glasgow:
“The Sacred Music of Robert Carver (c. 1484 - 1568).”

Second Talk: Dr. Warwick Edwards, Reader in Music, Glasgow University:
“Mediaeval Chant Manuscripts from St. Andrews Cathedral and Inchcolm Priory.”

Third Talk: Professor John Harper, Director, International Centre for Sacred Music Studies, Bangor University:
“The Bridge between Chant and Polyphony.”

Fourth Talk: Dr. Greta-Mary Hair, Honorary Research Fellow, Celtic and Scottish Studies, Edinburgh University:
“Offices for St. Andrew and St. Kentigern (the Sprouston Breviary), and Chant Fragments from Trondheim and Darnaway.”
This talk was not delivered at the Symposium: its subject matter was covered, in part, by other speakers.

Fifth Talk: Alistair Warwick, Conductor, free-lance Musician:
“Scottish Renaissance Polyphony of the 16th century - other than Carver.”

First Evening Concert.
First: a special Pluscarden Schola sang Mediaeval Scottish Chant from surviving manuscript fragments: Inchcolm, Sprouston, St. Andrews, Trondheim and Darnaway.

Then after an interval: Musick Fyne directed by D. James Ross sang Carver’s 10-part Mass for St. Michael, Dum sacrum mysterium, (1506) with propers de angelis (1440) by Guillaume Dufay (c. 1400 - 1474). This was performed as a liturgical reconstruction. It made use of the Pluscarden organ, and of the Bray Harp, played by Bill Taylor.


Day 2: Wednesday 2 September 2009
“Scottish Sacred Music from 1560 to the early 20th century”

First talk: Tim Duguid, Doctoral Student, Edinburgh University:
“Early Scots Metrical Psalm Singing.”

Second Talk: Margaret Stewart, Gaelic Singer from the Isle of Lewis:
“The Gaelic tradition of Psalm Singing.”

Third Talk: Rev. Douglas Galbraith, Secretary to the Church of Scotland Music Panel:
“The Transition from Psalms to Hymns in Scottish Reformed Worship.”

Fourth Talk: Rev. Dr. Emsley Nimmo, Dean of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney, Scottish Episcopal Church; Historian and Tutor in Christian Studies, Aberdeen University: “The Tradition of Sacred Music in the Scottish Episcopal Church.”

Fifth Talk: Dr. Peter Davidson, Professor of Renaissance Studies, Aberdeen University:
“Scottish Catholic Music 1560-1800.”

Sixth Talk: Shelagh Noden, Visiting Tutor and Doctoral Student, Aberdeen University:
“Early 19th c. Catholic Church music.”

Seventh Talk: Dr. Frances Wilkins of the Elphinstone Institute, Aberdeen:
“The Impact of Ira D. Sankey on Hymnody and Instrumental Accompaniment in North-East Scottish Worship, from 1874.”

Second Evening Concert:
First: Bill Taylor on the Clarsach accompanied James Ross with voice and early wind instruments in arrangements of Mediaeval Scottish Chant.
Then: Musick Fyne directed by D. James Ross sang early Reformed polyphonic Psalmody.
Then: Margaret Stewart sang Gaelic Spiritual Songs.

Then after an interval: The Aberdeen Consort of Voices, directed by Roger Williams MBE, sang music that could have been heard at Mass in Dufftown Catholic Church in the early 19th century. This included a Flute sonata.


Day 3: Thursday 3 September 2009
“Scottish Sacred Music in the Modern Era”

First Talk: Rev. Dr. John Bell of the Iona Community:
“The Iona Community, and its contribution to Scottish Ecumenical Hymnody.”

Second Talk: Mr. David Meiklejohn, Director of Music at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Aberdeen and Educational Consultant; recently appointed by the Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, to direct a post-Graduate course in Sacred MusicStudies:
“Liturgical Music in the Scottish Catholic Church of the 20th century, Before and After the Second Vatican Council (1962-65): a Personal Perspective.”

Third Talk: Professor Graham Hair, Composer, Professor Emeritus, University of Glasgow: “The Sacred Music of Thomas Wilson (1927-2001).”

Fourth Talk: Professor John Harper, Director, International Centre for Sacred Music Studies, Bangor University:
“Sacred Music in Scotland Now and in the Future: a View from the Outside.”

Fifth Talk: Dr. James MacMillan CBE, composer:
“The Spirit of the Liturgy: the Reform of the Reform.”

Third Evening Concert
The Choir of professional women singers Scottish Voices, directed by Professor Graham Hair, unfortunately had at the last minute to cancel its appearance because of illness.
The evening began then with the Pluscarden Schola singing the Gregorian Introit: “Gaudeamus omnes in Domino”. This served as an introduction to the Organ piece, “Gaudeamus in pace loci”, composed by James MacMillan for the Pluscarden Organ, and based on the Gregorian melody. The piece was played by Dr. Roger Williams MBE.
Then: Professor Graham Hair described the concert his Choir would have performed, illustrated with recordings. The title of the Concert was to be Sacred Songbook 2010: A Project for the 21st century. The project was to bring together composers of all the main world religions, including Graham Hair writing as a “Post-Modern Christian Composer”. The Choir would also have performed Robert Carver’s 3-part Mass. They hope to come here some time next year to sing the programme they would have sung for the Symposium.
Then after an interval:
The composer James MacMillan spoke about his own Sacred Music, illustrated by recorded excerpts.
To end the evening and the Symposium, all stood to sing together the Salve Regina.

 

Composer James MacMillan answering questions from the audience.

Composer James MacMillan answering questions from the audience.