This year's response to our Monastic Experience Weekend invitation was most encouraging. Those invited had to be single Catholic men, below the age of 40, practising their faith, and at least open to the idea of a possible monastic vocation. Over 30 young men applied: probably more than we have ever had before, for a single event of this sort.
Storm Floris: Monday 4 August 2025
Our summer this year has been marked by scarcely broken hot sunshine. Actually for many of us the weather has been too hot, and too dry. But on Monday 4th August this tranquil calm was rudely interrupted. “Storm Floris”, as it has been named, was an unseasonable cyclone sweeping in from the Atlantic
Report on the 2025 Pentecost Lectures by Professor Tracey Rowland
Br. Daniel's Silver Jubilee
Annual Aberdeen Diocesan Pilgrimage to Pluscarden: Sunday 29 July 2025
To describe this year’s annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Pluscarden, much of what was said in these pages about the 2024 event could almost be repeated. The format remained the same; the Feast was the same (SS. Peter and Paul, 29 June), the place, the Mass time (3.00 p.m.) and many of the people were the same: Bishop, clergy, monks, people! We had two large marquees as before, and Choirs as before, and Exposition before the Mass as before, and a Marian procession after it, as before, and (as before) many volunteers involved in the organisation, which all went extremely well. Nevertheless, this 2025 event certainly merits its own description, for it was marvellous
Preached Weekend Retreat
Dom Columba Jennesson OSB
Bread Alone
Recently during lunch times the Pluscarden community has listened to a book about Ultra-Processed Food.
The conclusions of this book are rather alarming.
It seems that a lot of what we eat contains ultra-processed ingredients which are, or may be, by and large, harmful. That is: these ingredients are (or may be) harmful to health, to the environment, to the global economy, to the poor.