Devon...

...and a wonderful weekend at Buckfast Abbey, attending a study course run by the new School of the Annunciation.  This course is for catechists, and the theme is the New Evangelisation - the aim of the school is to train up catechists who bring the message of Christ, as the Angel brought Christ to Mary...

We were a mixed group of students, from varius parishes  and groups, and we all found that it was rather powerful to be studying in the Benedictine atmosphere of the great Abbey: we joined the monks for the main offices of the day (although not the one at 5.45 in the morning!) and especially loved being in the great Abbey Church each night for Compline, and being blessed with holy water by the Abbot before we all retired for the night...

We were staying in the extremely comfortable Guest House, and there was delicious food in The Grange, which welcomes vast numbers of tourists every year. The Abbey is extremely popular and seems to be on the Devon tourist trail - even on a cold wet February weekend there were a good many people there, and in summer they get vast crowds enjoying the various gardens (one dedicated to medicinal herbs, another to lavender, etc).  The setting of the Abbey is just superb, and each night I was lulled to sleep by the rushing waters of the river that was first channelled by the monks who arrived almost a thousand years ago...

The School of the Annunciation is well organised, and the course was excellent - hard work, but immensely interesting. The days are long gone when it could be assumed that children can simply "pick up" the Faith and be happily at Mass in their teens through a combination of family tradition and school RE. The School of the Annunciation will be playing a majr role in many people's lives over the next few years. BTW, is is running various Summer Schools that sound rather good - and the experience of staying at the Abbey in this most glorious part of Devon is simply wonderful.

After our final session on Sunday morning I thought I'd go for a wander around the grounds before Mass - I was enjoying this as the Abbey bell started to peal, and the crowds at Mass were such that I only found a seat with some difficulty. A fine choir and absolutely superb music. Then a final lunch and farewells...