If you've been wondering why Auntie J. has not been blogging....

....it's because I've been in a monastery.

Spent some lovely days at Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight.  Lauds - Morning Prayer - at 7am...but the monks get up earlier, to sing Vigils at 5am. Breakfast (in silence). Time for a walk before Mass....gardens, pigs, glorious countryside, woods, ruins of the ancient abbey (destroyed under Henry, 1536), and the sea.  Mass and then some coffee (gift shop, proper bikkies, local wines and honey and  home-made toffee and things, fresh eggs from monastery hens)...and then on with the business of the day.

Which was a colloquium led by Fr Ian Ker, on GK Chesteron. A pleasant, friendly,  scholarly feel with lively discussion - excellent mix of  serious content and shared sense of sheer enjoyment in Chesterton's prose.

One evening we all decamped to St Cecilia's Abbey so the sisters there could also enjoy the conference. Topic for this session was John Henry Newman's influence on Chesterton and it was the best one of all. The sisters combine scholarship with charm, good humour and a sort of easy informal dignity that I wish we could all try to acquire....

As in all monsteries, Compline concludes each night with the Abbot blessing us all with holy water...on the first night this brought such a cosy and restful feel that I just wanted to go straight to sleep even though it was still light. Another evening I went with a friend down to the seashore and as we paddled happily in the shallows of the Solent, the sun went gently down acoss the bay in a glow of enchanting pink and gold...

In spare moments, I read (found this book on the guest rooms shelves and much enoyed it), visited the bookshop - where they are stocking this book on Newman, and others by the same author - walked in the woods,  talked to a team of  (excellent) seminarians from Oscott and other guests at the Colloquium....

Then home across the sea, the sun sparkling on the water, and a busy train ride up to London catching up on emails....