...and a happy day with the Sisters there. This was a longed-planned trip with a friend who had missed the pilgrimage organised by the Association of Catholic Women last year: we promised ourselves a day trip and finally made it this week.
We arrived for Mass at 9am - it was said by a young priest making his first visit to the Abbey since his ordination, and so as Mass ended we all lined up to recieve his blessing and kiss his hands - a moving and unforgettable scene. We joined the Sisters for the various Offices through the day - they file into the chapel two by two, with quiet dignity, including the newest novice in a white veil,and a postulant not yet robed, and there is such a peaceful and "grounded" feel to it all. In the afternoon, we walked by the sea - this is where St Augustine landed, and a Cross not far from the shore marks it all. Thus the Faith was planted here...will it now drift away after over 1,500 years? Prayers...New Evangelisation...courage...
There were young children visiting the Abbey - a school group, I think - and they trooped into the chapel for the midday Office. In the garden there were snowdrops all along lawns, and the first tentative buds of daffodils in clumps by the path.
Vespers, with candles glowing in the sanctuary, and the rhythm of the voices chanting the psalms turn and turn about...then the drive back to London and the train home via London Bridge...
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