03 May April 2025 Digest
Welcome back to another month at Mucknell. April has been, unsurprisingly, all about Holy Week and Easter, with all the solemnity and joy of walking together through these most holy of weeks. As I write, we’re enjoying some warm and sunny weather, and it is simply delightful to see the new life all around us. The swallows returned this month, and bird life in general is growing more visibly and audibly abundant day by day. Read on to find out what we’ve been getting up to.
Easter Joy
A late Easter this year meant a very early start for our Easter Vigil; we began this year at 4:40am, lighting our Easter fire in the darkness and stillness of Sunday morning. Having lit the Paschal Candle, we then brought the light of Christ into the Oratory, beginning our service of readings and psalms to retell the story of God’s people. Shortly before 6am came the long awaited first Alleluia of Easter, the first of many that day. These ‘alleluias’ never fail to fill me with joy, and the same is true of the beautiful decoration of the Oratory, a delight after the sobriety and plainess of Lent and more particularly Holy Week. It was lovely to, as usual, share our observances with a mixture of guests, both old friends and new faces.
Following Easter Day itself, the Community keep the following week as a bit of a holiday – we have no resident guests, and a few opportunities to spend time with friends and family, as well as with each other. Also popular during this week is the abundance of chocolate, including, as you’ll see below, a fairly impressive quantity of cornflake and rice crispie cakes.
Westminster Abbey
One part of our Easter holiday this year was visiting Westminster Abbey; we had been invited by Rev’d Canon Bob Latham some time ago, and finally managed to arrange it for the Wednesday after Easter. Eight of us set out early-ish on Wednesday morning to do battle with the traffic, arriving at the Abbey shortly before midday. Westminster Abbey was originally a Benedictine monastery, and so there was a great sense of joy in returning to a site that is, in some way, part of our history.
Stepping into the Abbey for the first time was, for me at least, awe inspiring, and genuinely jaw dropping. We joined some members of the worshipping community of the Abbey for a Eucharist in St. Faith’s Chapel, which has an orginal wall painting of St. Faith, dated to c. 1290-1300. It was very special to celebrate the Eucharist together in such an ancient space, as must have been done by countless generations. After this, we had chance to meet some of the Westminster Abbey oblates over coffee, before being whisked away for lunch.
After lunch, we had the great privilege of visiting the Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor with Rev’d Bob, and sharing in a short service of prayers at the shrine, which concluded with Rev’d Bob and Abbot Thomas together censing the shrine with some Mucknell incense. The shrine has been at or near its current location since 1066, and it was truely beautiful to pray around it, and to contemplate the ministry of presence which it represents. Following this, we had a whistle-stop look round a few locations in the Abbey, including the Chapel of Our Lady of Pew, Poet’s Corner, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, which contain various historical artefacts, including the refectory bell from the Benedictine Abbey and a fourteenth century monk’s shoe! We also had chance to see the Abbey’s service register; it was rather wonderful to see the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla listed in the midst of the daily round of the Abbey’s worship. Abbot Thomas also seized the opportunity to show us some of his old haunts; he attended Westminster School, and so the Abbey was for several years his school chapel. He paid his respects at the tomb of Elizabeth I, who refounded the school in 1560, and showed us his old boarding house.
After a break for tea, we attended Evensong, and then said our farewells and headed home. We are very grateful to Rev’d Bob, to the Dean and Chapter, and to all the staff in the Abbey for their warm and generous welcome.
In the garden
The garden and grounds are definitely springing to life! In the kitchen garden, we’ve had our first rhubarb harvest, and have planted out the tomatoes in the greenhouse. The strawberries are flowering, with the raspberries not far off, and the bees are enjoying the phacelia (the purple plant) which we grow as green manure/ground cover for fallow beds. We’ve also seen signs of solitary bees in some of the beds and paths, and so have been taking care not to step where they are burrowing.
Recent Sermons
We’ve recently added a few sermons from Lent and Easter to the website:
Lent 4, by Br. Stuart: “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?”
Lent 5, by Br. Stuart: “Like the air that carries it, fragrance also evokes the Spirit, encompassing and edgeless; spreading unpredictably and crossing boundaries…”
Easter 2, by Sr. Alison: “Where is resurrection? Where – when – does it stir into life?”
Rocky’s ramblings
Rocky hasn’t been around quite as much lately; I’m wondering if he’s lying low following last month’s somewhat epic vet visit. He spends a fair amount of time sleeping in Br. Stuart’s cell, and also stealing food from our neighbour’s cats…we do feed him, honest! I did manage to get a quick picture of him recently as he tucked into his supper:
And finally…
One of the things I have come to love about life here at Mucknell is the way that our year is portioned out by the different liturgical seasons, each in their turn offering us a new way to experience and encounter God. I found that during Lent this year, I missed the ‘alleluias’ that are sprinkled throughout our Office, and which we omit during Lent. Getting them back – and in such abundance – has been a great joy to me these last couple of weeks, from the proclamation at the start of each Eucharist, “Alleluia. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia.” to the invitation to Communion, “Alleluia. Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia“, and the many other places besides – in our responsories and antiphons, to name but two. I pray that we might all continue to find such joy in the presence of the Risen Lord, as we continue to celebrate throughout this Easter season.