iBenedictines

On Not Keeping Ascension Day

Digitalnun — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:13:15 +0000

The title of this blog post is misleading. It is not so much that we are not keeping Ascension Day as that we are transferring the feast to Sunday, 20 May — and therein lies my sadness. Not keeping Ascension (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

Nothing to Say

Digitalnun — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:35:16 +0000

I haven’t blogged for the last few days because I’ve had nothing to say. That is the luxury of blogging, as distinct from preaching or teaching. When the well of inspiration runs dry, one is under no obligation to try (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

Good Monk, Bad Monk

Digitalnun — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:35:26 +0000

Who, apart from Benedictines, is interested in what St Benedict has to say in the first chapter of his Rule about the different kinds of monks? True, it may provide a little ammunition for those who want to criticize an (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

A Delinquent Dog

Digitalnun — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:26:17 +0000

There are some people who regard their dogs as spiritual directors. Even though I am English, I think that is going rather far — not because I do not honour Bro Duncan but because, as readers of this blog are (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

The Monastery and the Internet

Digitalnun — Tue, 08 May 2012 08:40:38 +0000

For those of you who would like to see the presentation I made to the Gott im Web Conference at Stift Heiligenkreuz, here it is. It takes just over 18 minutes and is a shortened version of what I had (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

Digital Technologies and Christian Culture

Digitalnun — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:03:16 +0000

I have been thinking about the way in which digital technologies are changing not just the expression but also the content of what we religious types put online. Here at the monastery we are contemplating some major changes to our (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

SS Philip and James

Digitalnun — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:11:02 +0000

The feast of SS Philip and James is graced with a beautiful piece of of plainchant, Tanto tempore. I do not mean to slight the apostles when I say that great art isn’t always inspired by great people or great (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

Irritable Nun Syndrome and St Athanasius

Digitalnun — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:49:21 +0000

Yesterday I made a joke on Twitter. (I often make jokes and have the pleasure of seeing them descend to earth with all the delicacy of a lead balloon, but bear with me.) Irritable Nun Syndrome is a condition I (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

May is Mary’s Month

Digitalnun — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:59:36 +0000

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a mark of both Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, so much so that those innocent of Church history sometimes express surprise that St Benedict never mentions Mary in the Rule, unless we are to (…)

Read the rest of this entry »

We are Moving!

Digitalnun — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:59:13 +0000

As readers are only too well aware, we have been trying to obtain permanent premises for the monastery for a long time. At last, we have positive news to report. God willing, we will soon be blessed with ‘a local (…)

Read the rest of this entry »