On 27th August our lovely new stained glass window, designed and created by Bianca Divito, (www.biancadivito.com) was installed in our new guesthouse oratory here at Glencairn Abbey. Having completed our new guesthouse in January 2020, we could only dream of being able to complete the oratory with a stained glass window, so when we received […]
Sr Beatrice’s First Profession 11th July 2021 – Feast of St Benedict Mother Marie Fahy O.C.S.O. My dear Emma: From today on you will be called by a new name: Sr Beatrice. This is very fitting because today you take a new and decisive step in responding to the Lord’s invitation to devote your […]
On the feast of St. Benedict, 11th July, 2021, following her two year novitiate, we celebrated the joyful occasion of Sister Emma Brady’s First Profession of Monastic Vows. Sister Emma chose to take the religious name of Beatrice, after Blessed Beatrice, the Cistercian nun of Nazareth (1200-1268). The ceremony took place following Lauds in the […]
Our annual community retreat this year took place from 16th to 23rd May here at Glencairn. Our retreat preacher this year was Fr. John Walsh OP, an Irish Dominican friar who is currently serving as Prior at St. Saviour’s Priory in Dublin. Fr. John introduced his talks as coming ‘from the heart’. Our faith is […]
From the Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 1: ‘Run to the Mountain’ 1939-1941 AND TODAY IS ASCENSION DAY, and in a week the Paraclete comes down like fires to be among us, bringing the gift of tongues. Now all Christ’s lessons have been taught in His sermons and His miracles, His crucifixion and […]
How can evil and God co-exist in our world? What meaning does suffering have in our lives? As we commemorate Jesus’ death on a cross on Good Friday each year, we are called to enter more deeply into the mysteries of our faith. Theologian Gerard W. Hughes reflects on these questions. How can we […]
Watch our video of ‘A Noble Flower of Judah’ sung by the community at St Mary’s Abbey, Glencairn. Dear family and friends, we cannot come together this year for our Christmas liturgies and visits, however we send you our love, prayer and best wishes for a very happy and blessed Christmas from Glencairn.
O people of Sion, behold, the Lord will come to save the nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of your heart. (Second Sunday of Advent, entrance antiphon) These words of the prophet Isaiah reassure, encourage, and prod us. They reassure us that the Lord will come. […]
Sr Eleanor Campion shares a reflection on this first sunday of Adent based on the entrance antiphon for the Mass ‘Ad te levavi’. To you, I lift up my soul, O my God. In you, I have trusted; let me not be put to shame. Nor let my enemies exult over me; and let none […]
What a year for big birthdays in the community! On 30th June, Mother Marie, who has served the community as Abbess for the past 19 years, turned 70 years old. Congratulations Mother Marie! Mother Marie celebrated her birthday together with Fr Bob and Fr Michael, with us during the covid-19 lockdown, whose birthdays fell […]
Fr Luke McNamara OSB is a monk of Glenstal Abbey and a lecturer in sacred scripture at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. As a follower of the Rule of St Benedict he is well equipped to lead us in a reflection on this ancient monastic rule as a source and guide for our monastic life today. […]
‘Philippa had discovered the tower in her second week at Brede… the high platform, where I can get away, she would have said. After only two weeks she had wanted to get away. Yes, it’s somewhere I can breathe, Philippa had thought of the tower… breathe before going on.’ – ‘In This House of Brede’ […]
