Welcome to Mucknell Abbey
An Anglican Benedictine Community
Two of today’s readings – from I Kings and Matthew – deal with responses to threat, and not the responses of the apathetic or cowardly, but the responses of tough, caring, obedient servants of the Lord.
10/08/2026
July 2026 at Mucknell Abbey.
01/08/2026
We seem to have lost, at least to some extent, the ability to see the meaning of things. Quoting a Danish philosopher and anthropologist Justi Andreassen I was reading the other day:
“Faith was not a theory to be imposed on a neutral world …belief followed perception. Not the other way around.”
28/07/2026
Come and catch up on June 2026 here at Mucknell Abbey.
02/07/2026
I rejoice that in this diocese, and in our own day, the relations between the two Religious Communities in Worcestershire and the diocesan personnel are warm and mutually welcoming ...
01/07/2026
What do you do all day? – I fall down and I get up. I fall down and I get up…..
18/06/2026
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey, where we’ve just about survived the recent heatwave. Being swathed in black fabric is not...
31/05/2026
In the 'leap of faith' .... there is a whole inner process to be undertaken: a process of inner healing and freeing, a process of learning and maturing, and a process of listening to and understanding the world and the signs of the times, and perhaps above all, a whole process of allowing our expectations to be transformed.
19/05/2026
‘Abundant life’ isn’t about exotic holidays or doing wild and fantastic things, but perhaps more about our capacity to throw ourselves wholeheartedly into whatever the present moment is presenting us with – however exciting or mundane it is.
It’s good to check every so often on the quality and level of our joy – personal and collective – as we live through our day.
11/05/2026
For his disciples back then, Jesus was about to be taken from them with extreme violence. They will be scattered into betrayal, disarray, denial, terror. They are going to be extremely “troubled”.
Jesus, knowing this, pointed them towards something beyond, to another horizon, a different perspective.
04/05/2026
Alleluia! Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey, as we continue our journey through the joys of Eastertide.
01/05/2026
When we stray from God, or wander off in the direction of exciting distractions, God doesn’t leave us to it, or simply tell us to try harder, to do better next time....
God attracts us – reawakens our desire – a reawakening expressed by Anselm in the most famous bit of his prayer, “Let me seek you by desiring you, and desire you by seeking you; let me find you by loving you, and love you in finding you.”
29/04/2026
"We are receiving the outcome of our faith" - this is something which goes on being given to us, a truth and a trust in which we continue to stand, or sit, or lie, each day, so that the joy of the resurrection becomes something we carry with us always.
20/04/2026
March 2026 at Mucknell Abbey
30/03/2026
The following Services at the Abbey are open to non-residents: Palm Sunday 11.00 am Eucharist with blessing of palms...
25/03/2026
Jesus’ invitation is to be curious about the other person.
22/03/2026
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey for a look at what we’ve been up to this month. A lot of it...
28/02/2026
See what's been happening during January here at Mucknell Abbey.
28/01/2026
Candlemas, or the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, falls on Monday 2nd February. Our Eucharist for...
21/01/2026
Merry Christmas! Welcome back to our monthly digest. At the end of November, we sat on the cusp of Advent,...
31/12/2025
November's goings-on at Mucknell Abbey
01/12/2025
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey for a quick catch up on what has been a fairly quiet month. We started...
01/11/2025
September 2025 at Mucknell Abbey: an Ordination and a Roundhouse!
01/10/2025
We are recruiting for a cook/chef – read on to find out more about this role, and how to apply....
14/09/2025
A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to our fundraising for the Roundhouse Project. We’re delighted to announce...
13/09/2025
August 2025 at Mucknell Abbey: kitchen garden work, an interesting conference and a new adventure.
01/09/2025
Catching up with July at Mucknell Abbey.
01/08/2025
June 2025 Digest, from Mucknell Abbey.
30/06/2025
Welcome to another month here in our little corner of Worcestershire.
02/06/2025
As disciples, then, we are those who “abide” in Jesus, in his love, and in his word, and we are those in whom God also abides.
30/05/2025
It is so important and life-giving to train ourselves to be on the alert to the gift God is giving us in each fresh encounter.
22/05/2025
As we journey towards the Ascension and then to Pentecost, we are reminded of how Jesus lives in us and we in him.
22/05/2025
In Christ, we are raised to new life, not just in some unspecified future heaven, but here and now.
22/05/2025
Catch up with April at Mucknell Abbey!
03/05/2025
Where is resurrection? Where – when – does it stir into life?
30/04/2025
"Like the air that carries it, fragrance also evokes the Spirit, encompassing and edgeless; spreading unpredictably and crossing boundaries…"
30/04/2025
Have you ever wondered about the quality of the mercy the Prodigal Son was looking for? Was it love? Was it compassion? Was it forgiveness? – or was it simply the provision of food, shelter and a job?
30/04/2025
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey, where we’ve been enjoying the (slightly) warmer weather and longer days. We’re deep into Lent...
31/03/2025
We see God pledging to do whatever it takes to fulfil the promises made. God commits God’s very life to the people God created.
18/03/2025
Is our humility more than surface? Does it yet go through us like the print on an old-fashioned stick of rock?
18/03/2025
Welcome to another month of news from Mucknell Abbey. As I write, the sun is beaming down on a beautiful...
03/03/2025
And may that love within our hearts
Set fire to others with its flame.
24/02/2025
...a willingness to be drawn upward, expanded, unmade, and remade, by the voice of the Lord.
24/02/2025
...knowing that each person is a much-loved child of God.
24/02/2025
Happy New Year! Welcome back to another month here at Mucknell Abbey. January has definitely felt calmer than December, which...
31/01/2025
Merry Christmas! As I write, we are still very much in the midst of our Christmas celebrations, holding on to...
31/12/2024
If you’re hoping to join us in celebrating Christmas this year – or just looking for a bit of peace...
20/12/2024
Welcome back to another month here at Mucknell Abbey, where the weather has, in common with much of the country,...
01/12/2024
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey, where we feel very much in autumn, as the leaves begin to change colour and...
01/11/2024
Welcome back to another month here at Mucknell Abbey. Looking back over the photos from this month, the transition from...
02/10/2024
Welcome back to the blog. Looking back over August, it seems as though we’ve spent as much time out of...
03/09/2024
Welcome back to a warm and sunny Mucknell Abbey (at least for now!). We’re enjoying the warm weather, and keeping...
31/07/2024
On Thursday 4th July, Br. Adrian and I joined a group of about 60 people from a whole variety of...
30/07/2024
Welcome back for another month’s goings on here at Mucknell Abbey. It seems to have been a quiet month, as...
01/07/2024
Sunday 30th June, 2024 The Community here at Mucknell is, as with any group, made up of diverse individuals with...
01/07/2024
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey, and to the beauty of May. Spring has very definitely sprung, and we are loving all the evidence of new life around us.
04/06/2024
The “love for one another” that Jesus urged on his Church, is supposed to escape that Church too and to flow out into the world to disturb, disrupt, intrude into all human lives. This is what eternal life means.
28/05/2024
We are utterly dependent on God and on the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us, and that is every bit as true for the body corporate as it is for us as individuals.
28/05/2024
God cannot love the world without the love they and we take into the world, and it is through loving one another, loving the world, that they and we will know and live in God’s love.
28/05/2024
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey, where Spring has very much sprung. We’ve been enjoying watching a whole variety of wildlife...
01/05/2024
In today’s Gospel reading, though the resurrection is still to come, Jesus too is finding the right words to prepare the disciples for the unprecedented, preposterous possibility that he will both die and live: that instead of life and death being an either/or state of affairs, it can be both.
28/04/2024
Because what [Mary Magdalene] and all the apostles are called to next is to step out into the unknown, into a new form of discipleship in relationship with a new form of Jesus.
28/04/2024
From Tuesday 16th to Saturday 20th of April, the Office timetable will be as follows: Office of Readings – 6:00...
16/04/2024
It is easy to consign Jesus to the margins, amongst all the rubbish in our lives...But Jesus won’t stay there, on a garbage heap outside the city walls. He keeps turning up in our midst and speaking Peace
12/04/2024
When you see the needy, be compassionate.
Find in them your own true fast:
Then the wound of your heart shall be healed:
You will call and the Lord God will answer.
12/04/2024
Catch up with March here at Mucknell Abbey, including Holy Week, Easter and an update from Rocky, the monastery cat.
31/03/2024
Welcome back to another month here at Mucknell Abbey. It's hard to believe we're just over a month away from Easter already! Here's some of what we've been up to:
28/02/2024
These are just a couple of ways of looking at Lent: removing distractions such that we can see God more clearly, preparing to encounter the risen Christ
15/02/2024
These texts make me feel giddy, quite frankly. They take me to the limits of my imagination, and then push me over the edge into some unknown place where anything is possible.
10/02/2024
Happy New Year! Welcome back to our blog, and to a new year here at Mucknell Abbey. The year seems...
01/02/2024
From the beginning, God risked. A risk always involves a stepping towards the other, or a stepping away from where one is, with no security of outcome.
08/01/2024
So here’s to stability of the heart, trusting the good shepherd who lives in each of us to lead us with fearless receptivity into the new year.
08/01/2024
What is faith if we are not able to be obedient to its challenges and costs, and what is faith if we cannot go deeper by our investigation and our curiosity?
08/01/2024
The power of self-sacrificial mutual love is life-giving, life-enhancing; it gives hope – something much needed in our world.
08/01/2024
Merry Christmas! Welcome back to this year’s final monthly digest. As I write, we are still in the midst of...
31/12/2023
There will some changes to the usual Abbey timetable over Christmas and New Year. The times for Eucharist are below;...
23/12/2023
We are called here to lift our eyes towards God in every circumstance, no matter how bright and shining, no matter how dark and painful, no matter how ordinary.
18/12/2023
Mucknell Abbey are pleased to advertise a series of theological study days organised by OrdinaryTheology.com at Ripon College, Cuddesdon in...
11/12/2023
Welcome back to another month here at Mucknell Abbey. As I write, we’re being treated to one of those beautifully...
25/11/2023
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey, in what has been a changeable month weather-wise. We’re definitely into Autumn now, as leaves...
27/10/2023
So how, then, are we to reconcile the competing demands of the Christian life and a world that seems to get more, not less, polarised, materialistic and messy? What might Jesus’ answer, and our other readings from today, have to say to us?
26/10/2023
The Community here at Mucknell is, as with any group, made up of diverse individuals with varying opinions on just...
18/10/2023
Autumnal greetings from Mucknell Abbey; despite some high temperatures earlier in the month, we’ve all noticed a ‘turn’ these last...
03/10/2023
Welcome back to a (currently!) sunny Mucknell Abbey. We’ve had a very busy month, as you’ll see – visits out,...
28/08/2023
Welcome back to a very busy Mucknell Abbey; the garden is producing in abundance, most notably tomatoes and beans. The...
01/08/2023
As uncomfortable as it may feel and sound and be, we’re all in this together. If I hope that when the time comes, I may be judged gently and fairly, and with love, then I must also hold this hope for all who will come before God.
23/07/2023
Greetings from Mucknell Abbey! We’ve “enjoyed” a full range of weather this month, from crashing thunderstorms and torrential rain, to...
28/06/2023
A month full of celebrations, along with a week of painting and decoration: catch up with the latest news from Mucknell Abbey.
29/05/2023
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Much of our energy this month has been taken up with Holy Week and Easter. Walking...
02/05/2023
Jesus calls himself both shepherd and gate to the sheepfold. As shepherd, he calls us in a voice we recognise: intuitively we know that we belong with him and that his word is the best guide to what we should live and say and do.
02/05/2023
Let us not forget that to get to Easter day, and the joy of the resurrection, we have had to live, and die, through Good Friday.
02/05/2023
We've been enjoying the signs of Spring around us: plentiful daffodils, blossom just about ready to show itself on the plum and pear trees in the Orchard, and sowing the first seeds in the Kitchen Garden.
01/04/2023
...the man was sent to bathe – the symbol of Baptism – the new life in Christ – the light of the world. We are called to see by that light, to BE that light in the world; we ARE the body of Christ.
20/03/2023
"He came to me with his eyes and asked for water,
Stretched out his hands and spoke.
As I carried my peace back to the streets of Sychar,
A new world woke."
13/03/2023
God keeps on loving them and inviting them back; calling them to allow their lives to BE the sign of God’s kingdom on earth – and 2,000 years later God is still calling us to that radical conversion of life which we don’t understand and which only makes sense as we try to live it.
08/03/2023
Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey. As we continue towards the Spring Equinox next month, we’ve all been enjoying the gradual...
28/02/2023
The question the desert asks though is intimately related to Jesus’ baptism, and so to ours: What does it mean to be God’s son, God’s child, his beloved one?
27/02/2023
And the walls became the world all around.
13/02/2023
Perhaps the end of epiphany is the light of Christ
which has come to dwell in us,
emanating from us.
in the very ordinary of our lives.
13/02/2023
Happy New Year! It’s been a busy start to the year here at Mucknell Abbey, with some varied weather alongside....
01/02/2023
The abundance of God’s grace confronts evil not with the destructive weight of force, but with the renewing power of truth.
01/02/2023
We don’t have to travel the world or visit far off places to find Jesus, because he is with us in all the humdrum everyday ordinariness of our lives...Wherever we are, we must be in that place if we are receive God as he comes among us.
16/01/2023
Sunday 8th January, 2023 Preaching this morning, as we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, gives me the opportunity to introduce...
11/01/2023
Merry Christmas! We’ve been enjoying our celebrations here at Mucknell; the week after Christmas is kept as community ‘holiday’, giving...
31/12/2022
One of the delights of living here at Mucknell Abbey is being so surrounded by the natural world, and its...
30/11/2022
It’s felt like a fairly quiet month here at Mucknell, even as the natural world around us is making a...
31/10/2022
On Wednesday 28th September, the Community, along with friends, family and visiting Religious from a number of communities, joined together...
20/10/2022
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When a member of this community makes his...
20/10/2022
9th October, 2022 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. He was...
20/10/2022
2nd October, 2022 It’s been interesting considering Jesus’ words in our reading from Luke alongside Benedict’s words on humility that...
10/10/2022
This month has been full of changes: summer has very definitely given way to autumn. As I write, I can...
01/10/2022
11th September, 2022 Readings: Isaiah 43:1-3a, 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:4, John 5:19-25 Like many people over these last few days I...
11/09/2022
4th September, 2022 I remember as a teenager reading some of the Old Testament – I was probably trying to...
11/09/2022
As I sit here typing away, I can hear the swallows chirping outside my window. Their beautiful swooping flight has...
30/08/2022
28th August, 2022 ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels without...
30/08/2022
21st August, 2022 Legend has it that ‘ At the time when God was giving Torah to Israel, He said...
29/08/2022
14th August, 2022 Today’s Gospel reading is precisely the sort of passage that makes us shift a little uncomfortably in...
29/08/2022
July 31st, 2022 “Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher… all is vanity” [Eccles. 1: 2]Those who like to ascribe all...
29/08/2022
It’s been a lovely sunny month here in our corner of Worcestershire, which we’ve been enjoying. We were however very...
31/07/2022
24th July, 2022 Among the tales of the Hasidim there is one concerning Rabbi Barukh’s grandson, who was once playing...
30/07/2022
17th July, 2022 In her sermon last week, Leah alluded to the difficulties of approaching well known bible passages, and...
30/07/2022
10th July, 2022 It can be difficult approaching a passage like this, the story of the Good Samaritan— so well...
30/07/2022
As Spring has given way to Summer over the past month, there has been plenty going on here at Mucknell....
30/06/2022
It’s been a very busy month here at Mucknell Abbey, with various comings and goings. We’ve all been enjoying the...
31/05/2022
In the name of the Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit. Amen I ask not only...
30/05/2022
I wonder what St Paul actually said to Lydia, the cloth-dealer of Philippi. Our first reading just states that he...
30/05/2022
The Prologue to St Benedict’s ‘Rule’ famously begins with the word listen. The word is made much of in talks...
30/05/2022
Many years ago John Bell of the Iona Community wrote a series of short ‘playlets’, Eh… Jesus. Yes Peter…? Dialogues...
30/05/2022
Last Saturday we bid our farewells to Enock, a member ecumenical Community of St Anselm (CoSA). For several years now...
24/05/2022
As Benedictines, we take three vows at our profession: obedience, stability and conversion of life. Each of them echoes something...
02/05/2022
Welcome back to another month’s news here at Mucknell. After the enforced ‘pause’ in March due to our covid outbreak,...
30/04/2022
We welcome you to join us for the Church’s observance of Holy Week & Easter. If you would like to...
02/04/2022
It’s very much been a month of two halves here at Mucknell Abbey. All was running as usual until Tuesday...
29/03/2022
Since joining the Community here and getting involved in the Kitchen Garden, as well as seeing the growth and development...
21/03/2022
In our gospel reading this morning we hear the familiar story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. Amongst the...
09/03/2022
I confess that I find myself somewhat lacking in words this week; I like many have been following the news...
06/03/2022
As anyone who has visited Mucknell will know, windy conditions are nothing unusual; the recent spate of storms may have...
23/02/2022
As a teenager, one of the more mortifying routines I had to endure – at that time in life when...
07/02/2022
Exegesis changes. Just as our human relationships can only grow through interaction and attention to the different views and responses...
07/02/2022
The observant among you will have noticed that both this post and the previous one were written by Sr. Jessica,...
27/01/2022
I find that it’s all too easy to come to a service intending, wanting, even trying, to listen to the...
26/01/2022
There is the saying, ‘you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family’; which expresses perhaps the mixture...
23/01/2022
Each day in the monastery we read a portion from the Rule of St. Benedict, such that we work our...
19/01/2022
A few days ago, some of us were discussing the appropriate date to celebrate the incarnation of Christ: was it...
15/01/2022
In 1566, following one of the harshest winters in living memory, the Flemish artist Pieter Brueghel produced a work entitled...
27/12/2021
On Saturday 4th December, under a clear blue sky, the Community – together with her friends, family and visiting Religious...
14/12/2021
Today on this third Sunday of Advent we hear the message of John the Baptist and his call to repentance. ...
12/12/2021
The Community are pleased to announce that Novice Sr Jessica has been elected to First Vows. Sr Jessica has been...
08/11/2021
Long before I entered Community one of my American cousins sent me a calendar of cartoons by Gary Larson. One...
11/10/2021
The exodus journey and the travails of the Israelites are of course a key event through much of the Old...
26/09/2021
Michael is an ordinand at Cranmer Hall in Durham, and has been on placement with us for two weeks. Here...
16/09/2021
While reflecting on today’s Readings, I was struck by some issues which connect today’s Gospel to comments about the tongue...
14/09/2021
Sunday 5th Sr Jessica preached this morning. She warned some of us before hand it would be aimed more at...
05/09/2021
‘So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead’. This verse, at the end of our reading from...
05/09/2021
Half way through July I received an email thanking me for my ‘faithfulness’ in maintaining this blog. The more perceptive...
03/08/2021
Why does every military training programme end – or end some section – with a long exercise when the troops/cadets/whoever...
01/08/2021
Public worship We are happy to once again welcome visitors to our daily Eucharist, None or Vespers. No prior notice...
16/07/2021
Today we give thanks for the genius of Benedict: that his tiny ‘Rule for beginners’ – 73 short chapters –...
11/07/2021
It can be tricky to know what to make of the healing miracles we read about in the Gospels. Many...
28/06/2021
In May 2021 Obum, a member of the Community of St Anselm, spent two weeks at Mucknell Abbey to deepen...
13/06/2021
Above: Br Stuart’s Pentecost cactus, given to him in 1975 8th May – For the last few weeks Br Michael...
09/05/2021
To mark the 150th anniversary of the church where he serves as an Associate Minister, Paul Edmondson has made recordings...
17/04/2021
Happy Easter Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Easter Monday – Several months ago Abbot Thomas created a small working group to...
05/04/2021
Recently I read a book by Alexandra Horowitz entitled On Looking: A walker’s guide to the art of observation. She...
23/03/2021
Music Reflection There is a large icon of Christ in glory at the east end of our chapel. How do...
16/02/2021
7th February – This last week has been a very full one. On Monday we had two Community meetings to...
07/02/2021
A reading Luke 2.22-40 Praise An unfolding of the Nunc DimittisThanks be to God, I have lived to see this...
03/02/2021
‘Arise and drink your bliss, for everything that lives is holy.’ – William Blake, ‘Visions of the Daughters of Albion’....
26/01/2021
The great conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter, an event that hadn’t happened for 800 years in our night’s sky and...
10/01/2021
Above: The Epiphany crib at Burford Priory in 1970 2 January – A very happy New Year to everyone reading...
02/01/2021
After the shepherds’ visit, the Gospel continues: But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. Luke...
26/12/2020
As part of a series of readings from the Bible, Paul Edmondson invites you to listen to the wisdom found...
05/12/2020
1 December – I promised myself I wouldn’t be quite so tardy this month, so here we are: day one....
01/12/2020
On 8th November we celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of Br Stuart’s profession in monastic life. From the 10th to the...
07/11/2020
Saturday 3rd October – From page one of Tolstoy’s Diaries, ed. by R.F Christian: ‘It is easier to produce ten...
03/10/2020
Friday 4th – This piece of news strictly belongs in last month’s mlog (monastic blog), but I didn’t want it...
04/09/2020
Tuesday, 4th – A few days ago Chapter voted in favour of allowing me to renew my Simple Vows for...
04/08/2020
Sunday 5th – I thought I would share this extract from a homily on today’s gospel from John Chrysostom, which...
05/07/2020
Above: The wagtail, which has recently been making an aviary of our greenhouse Trinity Sunday – There is so little...
06/06/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
01/06/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
31/05/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
30/05/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
28/05/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
27/05/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
26/05/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
14/05/2020
Sunday 3rd – Our last mealtime book was Sr Joan Chittister’s Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, in which she reflects...
03/05/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
28/04/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
21/04/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
16/04/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
14/04/2020
Through Eastertide we will be posting Stations of the Resurrection like this one to encourage meditation on the risen life...
11/04/2020
It’s now a banality to say that this isn’t anything like the Lent, Holy Week or Easter that we were...
11/04/2020
As well as his seven-part reading of the Gospel of St John, which we invite you to listen to as...
08/04/2020
Press Release 31/03/20RUMOURS OF HOPE 2020: A VIGIL FOR OUR TIMES More than 50 priests, bishops, lay leaders and ordinands...
05/04/2020
An extract from a homily by St Gregory Palamas on Palm Sunday, read at Office of Readings. After the raising...
05/04/2020
The Community invites you to journey through Holy Week this year with the Gospel of John. An audio recording of...
04/04/2020
The Community at Mucknell Abbey are inviting you to join with us at home in holding a Quiet Day on...
02/04/2020
Thursday 2nd – We would like to express our deepest thanks to our greengrocer Ken from Pershore, who is going...
01/04/2020
Sunday 1st – If you’re looking for a shot of pure gospel then go no further. Click here and download...
01/03/2020
This call to be a monk is really universal. We speak of the archetype of the monk. Every human being...
15/02/2020
The Community at Mucknell is asking for your support in helping one of the UK’s many asylum seekers. Hassan’s story...
14/02/2020
Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas) – Candlemas, in which we remember the presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple...
02/02/2020
Wednesday 1st, Feast of the Naming of Jesus – A Happy (non-liturgical) New Year to you all. Today is the...
01/01/2020
Wednesday 4th – Br Stuart sent me this reflection yesterday, which seems very appropriate for the start of our Advent...
04/12/2019
Sunday 10th – I’m afraid I’ve been away again. So much for stability. In my unavoidable absence I’m sorry...
10/11/2019
Welcome to October’s digest. As Br. Aidan is away for a couple of weeks, Sr. Jessica is looking after the...
06/10/2019
Lord, you have searched me outand known mefrom the beginning of all time.The wonders of your providenceare too great...
24/09/2019
Tuesday 3rd, Feast of St Gregory the Great – At a short ceremony during the Eucharist Br Patrick renewed...
01/09/2019
Wednesday 8th, Feast of St Dominic – A week’s retreat and a stint as lunch cook hasn’t left much...
03/08/2019
Tuesday 2nd – Lunch and supper cooks are being invited to ‘nab and squirrel’ the first fruits of the kitchen...
30/06/2019
Saturday 1st – Yesterday, as part of our involvement in the Thy Kingdom Come call to prayer, we began using...
06/06/2019
“The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love” –...
31/05/2019
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song” – St. John Paul...
29/04/2019
I begin with Ann Lewin’s little verse entitled Easter morning. The Risen Christ is addressing Mary Magdalen, but it sums...
23/04/2019
“Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came...
28/03/2019
Br Anthony, in a sermon given at Mucknell Abbey, reflects on the meaning of Lent. Benedict in his Rule, Chapter...
11/03/2019
Not that we love God, but that God loves us… Another short reflection on prayer written by Friend and Oblate...
02/03/2019
A friend of mine was recently telling me about the abundance of grace in his life. Since his retirement in...
28/02/2019
“Teach me, my God and King, In all things Thee to see, And what I do in anything To do...
27/02/2019
We are still within Christmastide, forty days from Christmas Day to Candlemas (2 February). Part of the personality of Christmas...
30/01/2019
A happy New Year to everyone reading this. Christmas already feels like a very distant memory, but celebrations went on...
28/01/2019
A Happy Christmas to everyone – yes, it’s still Christmas! We hope you are having a joyful and peaceful holiday...
31/12/2018
Extra Ordinary Eating in silence while listening to a book being read aloud is a practice found in Chapter...
26/12/2018
A good friend of mine died a year and a half ago. I recently gathered with his family to plant...
22/12/2018
Immediately I arrive at Mucknell Abbey, I pick up its rhythms, its pace, its quiet activity. I am here for...
30/11/2018
‘Travelling Light’ in the run up to Christmas Christmas can be a really stressful time. Many of us would like...
28/11/2018
“So dull and dark are the November days. The lazy mist high up the evening curled, And now the morn...
26/11/2018
Advent is looming: time, in the words of one of my favourite Advent carols (‘People, Look East’) to ‘trim the...
09/11/2018
Now, let your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God The fourth in a series of short...
31/10/2018
I like to think of my friends at Mucknell speaking or singing the daily office during my working day. I...
31/10/2018
The month began with our week-long Community Retreat. During this time the guesthouse is closed and we observe silence at...
30/10/2018
When one of our guests recently asked a Sister “Where is Br Stuart?”, she answered “Who?” In recent weeks, it...
29/09/2018
Good morning on this sunny Feast of St Michael and All Angels. Our patience-making internet connection notwithstanding, here is our...
29/09/2018
Lord, the one you love is sick The third in a series of short articles about prayer written by...
25/09/2018
At best a monkey shaved? Eating in silence while listening to a book being read aloud is a practice...
25/09/2018
Be still and know that I am God… The second in a series of short articles about prayer written...
04/09/2018
When asked to share one’s journey with God, it can sometimes be hard to know where to begin, especially as...
30/08/2018
In a simple rite of reception on 7th our Alongsider Jessica was clothed in the habit and became our latest...
28/08/2018
Jesus, have mercy on me… This is the first in a series of short articles we’ll be posting on...
15/08/2018
Nothing hidden from its heat… It feels like it’s been a slow, quiet month here at Mucknell – not least...
28/07/2018
This take on the Beatitudes originated with US Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz Weber, founder of the House for All Sinners...
21/07/2018
Histories of the Church and humankind: rise and progress? Eating in silence while listening to a book being read...
16/07/2018
We kicked off June with our patronal Feast of the Visitation. The Community was founded as the Society of the...
30/06/2018
A year ago exactly (well, more or less) I had the privilege of attending a week-long Icon course led by...
29/06/2018
In March 2018 a small group of leaders of new monastic and emerging communities met with the Mucknell Abbey Community...
20/06/2018
A poem by Edward Carpenter (1844-1929), the socialist utopian, poet and “LGBT” activist, from his Whitman-esque Towards Democracy (1883). Let your mind...
14/06/2018
Another shot of St Augustine taken from a sermon on the eucharist, read at Office of Readings for the feast...
31/05/2018
Br Michaël made his monthly trip to Canterbury for the third week of his icon writing course. On Monday...
30/05/2018
One of my friends was 50 a few weeks ago. The day of her birthday was celebrated in a modest...
26/05/2018
An excerpt from a talk given by Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP to the Congress of Abbots at San Anselmo in...
26/05/2018
What does it mean to be a Benedictine outside the monastery? We asked the Rev’d Sacha Slavic, a close friend...
21/05/2018
On Sunday evenings the Community has its only talking meal of the week (that’s not an oblique reference to cannabalism;...
12/05/2018
This silent prayer was a surprise. We had just finished Vespers, the sixth time of prayer that day, and frankly...
06/05/2018
From today’s Office of Readings: an extract from St Augustine’s homilies on St John’s Gospel (15:9-17) Augustine reminds us...
06/05/2018
During the month of April, the community at Mucknell Abbey hosted three members of the Community of St Anselm for...
30/04/2018
Worms have had a very bad press in the Christian faith as a symbol of death, decay and judgement. But looked...
26/04/2018
After all the excitement of Easter the Community enjoyed a relaxing Octave together. Some of the highlights included a few late mornings...
26/04/2018
Click on an image to enlarge
21/04/2018
A leading figure in the British Baptist Church and a close friend of Mucknell Abbey, Sr Margaret Jarman CPP BD...
16/04/2018
With the kind permission of Mother Mary Luke CHC and Lord Williams of Oystermouth we are pleased to make available...
10/04/2018
Br Michäel has finished writing a new icon of St Benedict (pictured). The icon has been commissioned by St Mary’s...
29/03/2018
At the February meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod a motion was passed which paves the way for...
28/03/2018
Goshawks and Good Living Eating in silence while listening to a book being read aloud is a practice found in...
20/03/2018
Sr Joyce Mary (1892-1962) Sr Joyce Mary (Joyce Meredith) was born in Wavertree, Liverpool in August 1892, the only daughter...
26/02/2018
When I mentioned to Br Stuart that I was putting together a post on the statue we have in our...
22/02/2018
Br Stuart on his vocation & monastic life This text originally appeared in Frank Monaco’s Brothers and Sisters: Glimpses of...
12/02/2018
Adrian’s Next Step This piece was originally appeared in the Harpenden parish magazine, Link. Adrian has recently taken his next...
12/02/2018
In August 2017 Br Aidan joined a contingent of Anglican Religious at the Interconfessional Congress of Religious (CIR) hosted by...
11/01/2018
On Tuesday 13th March we were privileged to have Professor Susan Gillingham join us for the day to give the...
11/01/2018