Our New Brother in Christ Rt. Rev. Dom. Thomas G. Bodkin OSB (csr)

We Joyfully welcome our New Brother in Christ Rt. Rev. Dom. Thomas G. Bodkin OSB (csr) within the Benedictine Congregation of Saint Romuald. Bishop Thomas will be admitted to Full Solemn Profession on the 14th May 2008.

Helpful Monastic Email Groups to Join...

Click on the following links if you are interested in joining these monastic discussion groups...

• Benedictine - The daily reading of the Rule is e-mailed and any commentaries on the reading are welcome. Talk about how the Benedictine way is applicable today in a persons Christian walk. All Christians welcome.
• Benedictine Daily Prayer - Discussion of Oblate issues and support for souls who feel called to the Holy Rule of St. Benedict.
• Benedictine Monastic Diurnal - The purpose of this site is to propagate, explain, and help souls to pray the Benedictine Monastic Diurnal re-published by St. Michael's Abbey, Farnborough (UK), in 2004.
• Hermits Parlor - A list created by hermits for the benefit of non-hermits, to share with one another our experienced in the life of prayer.
• IFSB · International Fellowship of St. Bruno - Information pertaining to monasticism, the histories of religious orders, writings by religious, etc. A place of fellowship where people of all walks of life can discuss information regarding the Carthusian Order, as well as monasticism and spirituality in general.
• Mere Benedictines - How we conform ourselves to the Rule
• Monastic Life - A non-denominational community designed to foster shared information and communication among those interested in Christian monasticism. Topics are wide-ranging and include (but are not limited to) monastic life in general and in specifics (worship, work, study, etc.); living a monastic life inside or monastically-inspired life outside a monastery; the Church in general.
• Oblates of St. Benedict - One need not be an Oblate or have any formal affiliation to a particular monastery to be a full member of this group.
• The Benedictine Way - A discussion group for Christian living with the “Rule of Saint Benedict.”

St. Romuald's Brief Rule For Camaldolese Monks

Sit in your cell as in paradise.
Put the whole world behind you and forget it.
Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish,
The path you must follow is in the Psalms — never leave it.

If you have just come to the monastery,
and in spite of your good will you cannot accomplish what you want,
take every opportunity you can to sing the Psalms in your heart
and to understand them with your mind.

And if your mind wanders as you read, do not give up;
hurry back and apply your mind to the words once more.

Realize above all that you are in God's presence,
and stand there with the attitude of one who stands before the emperor.

Empty yourself completely and sit waiting,
content with the grace of God,
like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing
but what his mother brings him.

Abbot Aelred Peter I - R.I.P 2007

Abbot Aelred Peter I fell asleep in Christ on the 30th August 2007. He was 68 Years old. Aelred Peter I was the founding Abbot of the Benedictine Congregation of St. Romuald.

A Solemn Requiem is to be held in Honour of the Passing of our Founder. The date and venue are yet to be agreed.

Eternal rest grant unto Aelred, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon Him.
May He eternally rest in peace,
Amen.

Rule of Saint Benedict. The Prologue.

" Listen, my son, to your master's precepts, and incline the ear of your heart. Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father's advice, that by labour and obedience you may return to Him from whom you have departed by the sloth of disobedience."

The Carthusians

"The silent courts, where night and day
into their stone-carved basins cold
The splashing icy fountains play-
The humid corridors behold!
Where, ghostlike in the deepening night,
Cowl'd forms rush by in gleaming white."

Matthew Arnold, The Grande Chartreuse

A Reference to the Carthusians which were founded in 1084 A.D by St. Bruno (c. 1034-1101). The Order derives its name from the La Grande Chartreuse in the french Alps. It was there St Bruno built a Chapel surrounded by Individual cells in an arrangement that imitates the clusters of desert Hermits in the third- and fourth-century Egypt and Palestine.

Carthusians are Hermits and lives their Monastic life in total Solitude only meeting for prayer, and sharing meals on Feast days only.

St. Basil The Great

"The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold that you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor."