News & Events
Pluscarden Abbey
The Death and Burial of Br. John Aidan Cook

Br. John Aidan Cook was buried here at Pluscarden on Saturday 6th December. He was not a monk of our house, though he had spent time trying his vocation with our community in 2018. 

Br. John/Aidan had first tried his vocation with the Benedictine monks of Norcia in Italy. While still a Junior, both physically and mentally he found himself unable to continue on there. He came here in 2018 to see if he could live this vocation at Pluscarden.

despair

Fr. Prior Simon's Homily for the Immaculate Conception: Monday 8 December 2025

St Anselm, one of the great medieval champions of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, wrote some beautiful prayers addressed to Our Lady. The first of the three included in his famous Prayers and Meditations is spoken from the position of a grave sinner.