From ancient times the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays of lent were designated as special for catechumens. There were public ceremonies on these days for all the candidates for Baptism: exorcisms, anointings, and special instructions, marking stages on their path towards becoming fully members of Christ, and members of His Church, at Easter. The Gospels for these Sundays were always the same: the Samaritan woman at the well, the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus, according to St. John.
2023 Lenten Oblate Retreat "Preparing for Easter" Abbot Anselm Talks and Photos
Homily for the Diaconal Ordination of Br Simon Piątowski
In the hushed, verdant garden of the cloister grow many things: not just wispy beards, but human plants and flowers, shrubs and bushes, trees, every kind of flora. Together they create a space where the Lord walks in the cool of the day, and others too find refreshment. Perhaps one could say, a place where the tree of life is once again within reach. And so I’m honoured to be here to confer the ministry of deacon on one of Pluscarden’s plants. Br Simon is, of course, already grounded here, by choice, by call, by profession.
10 March: Diaconal Ordination of Dom Simon Piatkowski
Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, 5 March 2023: Matthew 17:1-9
Something is wrong! We are not where we’re meant to be! We were designed and made by God to be perfectly happy. But we aren’t! We were made to be entirely free from sin and from death. But we’re not! We were made to enjoy perfect and unimpeded communion with God. But we don’t! The season of lent confronts us in a special way with the reality of our condition: our sinfulness, our mortality, our distance from God, our state of exile from our heavenly home. In lent also we fix our gaze on Jesus in his suffering and death.
Living the Faith in the World of Today
The 2023 Pluscarden Pentecost Lectures to be given by Fr Richard Price
…This series of talks addresses a broad range of problems – from that of living in an increasingly godless society to that posed by doubts as to how read Scripture.
It speaks of the need to cultivate one’s own spiritual perception of the world, and uses an autobiography by a nineteenth-century Italian to illustrate how to maintain Christian patience and charity in a context where we have to depend on our inner resources rather on a supportive environment, for that is the situation of a Christian today.
FR. ABBOT ANSELM’S HOMILY FOR THE FUNERAL OF FR. MATTHEW TYLOR; 17 FEBRUARY 2023
Fr Matthew was a monk for over sixty years; a Priest for fifty years. Before he was a monk he was a soldier, being of the generation that did military service, and he fought in the jungle in Malaysia. He was a tall, strong man, whose long and interesting life was mostly behind him when he arrived at Pluscarden nearly twenty years ago.