To listen to the sermon preached at Silverstream on the feast of Saint Jean–Marie Vianney, go here: <https://soundcloud.com/cenacleosb/st-john-vianney-2017>
To listen to the sermon preached at Silverstream on the feast of Saint Jean–Marie Vianney, go here: <https://soundcloud.com/cenacleosb/st-john-vianney-2017>
CHAPTER LV. Of the Clothes and Shoes of the Brethren
7 Apr. Aug. 7 Dec.Let clothing be given to the brethren suitable to the nature and the climate of the place where they live; for in cold countries more is required, in warm countries less. This must therefore be considered by the Abbot. We think, however, that in temperate climates a cowl and a tunic should suffice for each monk: the cowl to be of thick stuff in winter, but in summer something worn or thin: likewise a scapular for work, and shoes and stockings to cover their feet. And let not the monks complain of the colour or coarseness of these things, but let them be such as can be got in the country where they live, or can be bought most cheaply.
Let the Abbot be careful about the size of the garments, that they be not too short for those who wear them, but of the proper length. When they receive new clothes let them always give up the old ones at once, to
Saint Jeanne Jugan (1792–1879)
A Conference Given to the Little Sisters of the Poor on 25 July 2017
The mystery of the divine hospitality shines on the pages of Sacred Scripture from beginning to end. Salvation history is, in effect, the revelation of the divine hospitality. The God, who “in the beginning created heaven and earth” (Gen 1:1) already reveals himself as the divine host. In French, as you know, the word “hôte” means both the giver of hospitality and the guest who receives it. I shall return anon to the fascinating etymology of the words, host and hospitality. In creating the world and all that it contains, God provided man, made “in his image and likeness’ (Gen 1:27), with a home.
The work of creation was a revelation of the divine hospitality:
By the seventh day, God had come to an end of making, and rested, on the seventh day, with his whole task accomplished. That is why God gave the seventh day his blessing, and hallowed it, because it was the day
CHAPTER LIV. Whether a Monk ought to receive letters or tokens
6 Apr. 6 Aug. 6 Dec.By no means let a monk be allowed to receive, either from his parents or any one else, or from his brethren, letters, tokens, or any gifts whatsoever, or to give them to others, without permission of the Abbot. And if anything be sent to him, even by his parents, let him not presume to receive it until it hath been made known to the Abbot. But even if the Abbot order it to be received, it shall be in his power to bid it be given to whom he pleaseth; and let not the brother to whom it may have been sent be grieved, lest occasion be given to the devil. Should any one, however, presume to act otherwise, let him be subjected to the discipline of the Rule.
A monk is not only a poor man in the sense of renouncing ownership. He also does without a multiplicity of things in order to attach himself to Unum
Gazing on the Holy Face
One-hundred-seventeen years ago, on August 5th, 1897, the eve of the feast of the Transfiguration, a young Carmelite stricken with tuberculosis had a very special desire. She wanted an image of the Holy Face of Christ placed close to her bed. The image was 
brought from the choir and attached to her bed curtains. On the following September 30th, she died. Her name? Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. Saint Thérèse, a Doctor of the Church, fixed her gaze on the Face of Christ disfigured by suffering, and found the transfiguration of her own suffering in its radiance.
The Mystery of the Cross
The Holy Face of Christ was a mystery familiar to Thérèse. As a result of the good works of the Venerable Léon Dupont, the “Holy Man of Tours,” devotion to the Holy Face had spread throughout France. The Carmel of Lisieux honoured the Holy Face every August 6th, forty days before the feast of
Situated amidst pasture land and forest in the eastern reaches of County Meath, Silverstream Priory was founded in 2012 at the invitation of the Most Reverend Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, and canonically erected as an autonomous monastery of diocesan right on 25 February 2017. The property belonged, from the early 15th century, to the Preston family, premier Viscounts of Ireland and Lords of Gormanston. In 1843 Thomas Preston (1817-1903), son of Jenico Preston, the 12th Viscount (1775-1860), built what today is Silverstream Priory.
Silverstream Priory is a providential realisation of the cherished project of Abbot Celestino Maria Colombo, O.S.B. (1874–1935), who, following the impetus given by Catherine–Mectilde de Bar in the 17th century, sought to establish a house of Benedictine monks committed to ceaseless prayer before the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar in a spirit of reparation. The community of Silverstream Priory holding to the use of Latin and Gregorian Chant, celebrate the Divine Office in its traditional Benedictine form and Holy Mass in the “Usus Antiquior” of the Roman Rite. Praying and working in the enclosure of the monastery, the monks of Silverstream keep at heart the sanctification of priests labouring in the vineyard of the Lord. They undertake various works compatible with their monastic vocation, notably the development of the land and gardens, hospitality to the clergy in need of a spiritual respite, scholarly work, and publishing.
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