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News

Now that warmer weather is here we are kept very busy with all the guests and visitors to our monastery. Visits have included a great variety of groups with some particular attraction for our monastery. For example , in May a group from The Embroiderers’ Guild came to see all the Vestments and other church needlework we have on display in our Museum.

Also in May a group of Union of Catholic Mothers from Glasgow came for a day of retreat. As there were more than 30 of them they would not have been able to fit into our laity chapel with the normal Sunday congregation so our chaplain celebrated a Mass for them at 2.30pm after giving them a Conference for their retreat.

The Legion of Mary continue to come for their regular Night Adoration and a group of 14 Eucharistic Ministers from the Isle of Cumbrae made a days retreat.

We were delighted to welcome a group of handicapped people who the St Vincent De Paul Society had organised to bring for a day by the sea. Our own helpers joined in to welcome the group who had a marvellous day.

Our Helpers are a wonderful group who look after The Buttery, which in summer is always very busy. They serve afternoon teas and staff the small shop, they help us with the daily Adoration in our church and in a thousand and one other ways. They are only a small group but they do very big work for the Lord, and would be grateful for anyone who can make some time in a busy schedule to join them in this generous service.

Events

In May we also farewelled our long serving Bishop Maurice Taylor after the 10am Mass which he celebrates with his monthly Bishop’s Support Group. Bishop Taylor hopes that he will now be able to visit our monasteries in South America.

Our Annual Strawberry Tea took place on 31 July. This year our fund raising has a particular purpose in that our old boiler which heats water for the central heating and other domestic needs has come to the end of its days. It is very old and our faithful engineers are nursing it through the summer after several minor collapses. But it will not be able to function with the added stress of winter heating. The new boiler, which we are told we must have, will cost several thousand pounds. So we are doing all we can in the way of raising the needed sum before winter comes.