Users of the Prayer Request page of this website will have noted the debt we owe to the Benedictines in Rostrevor, Co. Down. These five monks, from the Benedictine Congregation of Saint Mary Monte-Oliveto, have taken it upon themselves to pray for the intentions of those who submit prayer requests to this site.
A new monastery
Since 1998 the monks have been guests in the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles. Now, though, they are in the process of building their own monastery – Holy Cross Monastery – a few miles away, in Kilbroney Valley. The first sod was turned on the site last November, on the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland.
Immediately afterwards work began on building the Retreat Centre. As Dom Mark-Ephrem, Superior of the monastery, puts it, starting with the Retreat Centre is “particularly significant; it manifests the community’s desire to build our monastery with and for the people. We hope that many will come to the Holy Cross Monastery to experience peace, healing and reconciliation.”
Peace and reconciliation. In 1983, another group of Benedictine monks came to Ireland with these same aspirations in mind. They too belonged to the Congregation of Saint Mary Monte-Oliveto, from the Abbey of Bec in northern France. They lived a hidden life of prayer, interceding for peace and for the unity of Christians. Their presence was, as Dom Paul Grammont, the Abbot of Bec at the time, remarked, “a gesture of communion with the suffering Church in Ireland”.
Sadly, however, circumstances obliged them to withdraw from Ireland in 1987. But they held on to the hope then that one day they would be able to return and set up a permanent foundation. And that is what they are doing now with the construction of Holy Cross Monastery in Kilbroney.
Chill out with the monks’ new CD
Their commitment to peace is as strong as ever. It is even the theme of the CD they released recently – ‘Peace Upon You’. It is a collection of Gregorian chants (with some polyphonic chants included in the mix), and they were prompted to record it by visitors to their community who join them for worship. These visitors wanted something to help them prolong their prayer in communion with the Benedictines, and a recording of chants was the obvious answer.
Already the CD has been very well received. And the monks are glad to report on their website that it’s not just hard-line praying folk who like what they hear: “Many coming at it from a totally secular listening ear have suggested that the relaxing Gregorian melodies constitute an excellent ‘chill-out remedy’.”
Another great benefit of the CD is that sales contribute to the building of Holy Cross Monastery. So what better way to contribute to their good work than to buy a copy. You can get details on their website: www.benedictinemonks.co.uk.
A long pre-history
This is by no means the first time the townland of Kilbroney has had a monastic presence. In fact, the name itself alludes to an ancient Celtic monastery associated with St. Bronagh. And the Benedictines hope that their new monastery will be as effective as its precursor in drawing searchers “to drink at the living source which still flows in Kilbroney Valley today”.
Remarkably, though, Holy Cross Monastery will be the first Benedictine monastery to be opened in this corner of Ireland since 1183, when some monks from Chester were invited to Downpatrick by John de Courcy. And that monastery, just like the one currently being built, had a connection with the Abbey of Bec in France. Just as the Downpatrick monastery was founded by monks from Chester, the Chester monastery had been, in its turn, founded by monks from Bec.
A beacon of hope
The south-eastern corner of Co. Down, in which the monastery is being built, is an area of extraordinary natural beauty – just perfect for contemplation of the magnificence and munificence of God. As the first sods were turned last November, the monks reflected on the ancient monastery of Bronagh and saw themselves as sharing a common vocation with its incumbents: “to be a beacon of hope, a lighthouse pointing to safe haven in God … a sign of the welcoming, healing presence of Christ in this area on the shores of Carlingford Lough.”
We in CatholicIreland.net wish all God’s blessings on the new monastery and on those who are helped by it. For many of our site visitors, the great attraction of our Prayer Request service is that they can depend on the prayers of the Rostrevor monks. We’d like, then, to ask those visitors who read this to reciprocate by praying for Holy Cross Monastery.
