April '08 News

Recent News

Sr Eileen and Sr Elizabeth Mary attended a conference for the Older People Services Forum focusing on ‘The Church meeting the challenges of an Aging Society’ in Birmingham. It was the third in a series hosted by Caritas Social Action Network. Terry Philpot explained to the conference his report entitled ‘The Length of Days’.

Several of the sisters were treated to tickets for a wonderful concert at Holker Hall on 14th March. The flautist Karin Leitner and the harpist Duccio Lombardi played a wide variety of music, ranging from Bach to some Celtic-style pieces written by Karin herself. Duccio treated us to some quite exceptional virtuoso harp-playing and also a lesson on how this fascinating instrument actually works. The graceful surroundings and warm hospitality of Lord and Lady Cavendish combined with the magical music made this an unforgettable evening.

On Holy Tuesday we hosted the final Passover meal for St Charles’ parish. The refectory was once again full for the occasion, with four of the sisters joining with the parishioners.

As usual we had a full Guest House for the Easter Triduum and for Easter week. Fr Hugh was away this year, taking the services at Newcastle Cathedral following the sad death of their bishop, Kevin Dunn. In his absence Fr Dixie presided and preached at the services for the Triduum, except for the Easter Vigil, where the chief celebrant was Fr Anthony Keefe. [Click here for Fr Dixie’s homily for Easter Sunday]. We also took Easter as an opportunity to invite several close friends of Boarbank to meals with the community in the Refectory.

Preparing for...	...Easter...	...meals.

Easter decorations	Easter guests with the community

In Easter week we celebrated two important birthdays. The early date of Easter meant that Fr Dixie’s birthday fell in Easter rather than Lent, and allowed him to be in England for the occasion for the first time in 40 years. 40 years was the theme of the week: three days later, we were delighted to welcome Toni Lynch and her mother, Margaret, both very good friends of Boarbank, to celebrate Toni’s 40th birthday with us.

The celebrations continued with Bishop Michael Campbell’s consecration on the Feast of the Annunciation (on 31st March) as coadjutor bishop for the Lancaster diocese. Bishop Michael is the first Augustinian bishop since the Reformation and an old friend of Boarbank. Six of the sisters attended the mass of consecration at Lancaster Cathedral, attended by two cardinals, the papal nuncio, a bevy of bishops, two hundred clergy and a huge congregation. Two other sisters went to Vespers of the Annunciation in the evening, where Bishop Michael gave a reflection. Both were occasions of real joy and thankfulness.

The Mass in the Cathedral

In Low Week a group of students, mostly studying divinity, from New College in Edinburgh came for a holiday-cum-retreat. For many of them it was their second visit, so we were very pleased to welcome old friends. Most of the students were in the New College choir, and they treated the community, patients and guests to a concert of sacred music in the chapel, joined by another student who was also staying in the Guest House.

Edinburgh students...	...practicing...
...for the concert...	...and with a Marymount resident.

There are serious signs of the arrival of spring - at least the odd bit of sleet has been interspersed with some bright sun this week. The fire in the hall will be finishing this week, putting an end to the very popular ‘Campfire Compline’, at least until next year. To compensate, the birds are singing, the woodpeckers are drumming, and the first summer visitor (a chiffchaff) has been heard. The peregrine falcons are also back on Humphrey Head.

 

Future Events

We look forward to welcoming our Mother General, Sr Thérèse Marie, and her Assistant, Sr Marie Benoît, at the end of the month.

On Tuesday 22nd April at 7.30 pm in Marymount there will be a presentation on Bach Flower Remedies by Sue Naylor.

On May 13th in the afternoon John Pilkington will return to give another travel talk with slides.

We shall be celebrating One World Week with Augustine on the afternoon of May 14th, from 2.30 to 6.30 pm. There will be two sessions of talks and discussion on this year’s theme of Friendship, with tea in between. We shall finish with Vespers for St Augustine. Anyone who is interested please contact Sr Margaret@Boarbank. before 1st May

On Monday 26th May at 9.30 am the doors will open for our annual Coffee Morning. All welcome!  

On Wednesday 28th May at 7.30 pm, Caroline D’Cruz, Sr Margaret’s sister will return with a friend, Russel Shipley, to give a concert in the Chapel of music for clarinet and piano. They will include pieces by Saint Saens, Brahms, Horowitz, Finzi and Gershwin. Caroline, who is originally from Kirkby Lonsdale, trained at Chetham’s School of Music and at the Royal College of Music. She is very involved in music-making in North Dorset, where she lives, and in London. Russel has performed for US presidents in Washington DC and featured as the soloist in concerts throughout the US, Europe and Korea. There will be a collection for the Augustinian Missions.