“A monastery is above all this: a place of spiritual power.” Pope Benedict, as ever, got to the heart of the thing when he addressed these words to Benedictine monks at Heiligenkreuz, outside Vienna. Monasteries serve all sorts of functions – repositories of tradition, places of architectural and cultural interest, sometimes social hubs.
But unless they are living communities where the rule of their founder shapes their life; if they’re not ordered by the cycle of the divine office; if they’re not places impregnated with prayer, then nothing else much matters. If you go to a former monastery turned into a luxury hotel – and there are many of these, alas, around Europe – you’ll see what I mean.
Douai Abbey is a living Benedictine community with over 20 monks, whose life is ordered round the divine office. It ran a well-known school until 1999 and a number of the monks taught there. Now the community hosts retreats as well as serving several parishes, some far flung. It’s a pleasant place, grounded in prayer, with very much the English Benedictine temper: moderate and harmonious.
It’s not a very old or very grand monastery; the monks came here in 1903 as a result of the anti-clerical legislation in France following the Dreyfus affair. If you sit in the comfortable sitting room (one of the places in the monastery where you can get wifi) there’s a handsomely illustrated manuscript on the wall testifying to the arrival of the community at Woolhampton.
It’s a little village in Berkshire, not far from Reading – so, handy for the London pilgrim. When I arrived, the nice lady in the gift shop – not a Catholic, I discovered – was horrified at the thought that I might try to walk the steep hill up to the abbey, and insisted on giving me a lift. “We’re very much a community here,” she said, decisively. The Benedictine habit of hospitality is, it seems, shared by the locals.
Parts of the monastery are modern; the monastery itself dates from 1966. The abbey church was built in a couple of instalments. The project was initially given to Arnold Crush, a student of Giles Gilbert Scott, whose grandiose east section was built in 1933. Only a third of his high vaulted church was finished – if the whole had been built, the structure would have been huge – and its Decorated Gothic was followed in a different but sympathetic idiom by Michael Blee in completing the church 35 years ago.
The focus of the worshipper in this big, light space is directed at the big cross directly above the altar. Behind that is the choir where retreatants may join the community in singing the office. I preferred to remain in the body of the church, where you can follow the office from a distance, not least because I invariably become hopelessly fuddled about the order of the prayers. There’s a little altar to the side where you can pray in a smaller space.
The monastery hosts organised retreats, one day or several, for six months of the year. The programme is varied; the current one includes a one-day reflection on the Resurrection in art and poetry; a weekend Pentecost retreat; and a workshop on contemplative photography, exploring the visio divina in photos. Several are given by the monks themselves.
But there’s also the option of individual retreats, simply sharing the life of prayer of the community, sitting in the little retreat garden and possibly going for the odd walk. Normally private retreatants, up to four or so at a time, can eat with the monks for lunch and supper; breakfast is in the communal refectory.
You help yourself in the kitchen then eat in silence at table, with the monks at one side, the retreatants at the other. At the centre of the room at lunchtime one of the brethren reads from the book of the week from his lectern. When I was there it was a history of the British Empire, with the lector missing nothing of the humour of the text. The food is really good and plentiful; the kitchen is excellent and there are vegetarian options, if you like. The rooms are clean and comfortable, but I think next time I’ll bring my own pillow. Like so many places now, the rooms come with an en-suite shower rather than a bath. I hate showers.
I wasn’t really at Douai on retreat but consulting the archives, kept by the excellent archivist, Fr Geoffrey Scott, a former abbot. Still, when I wasn’t in the library, I had the benefit of the retreat experience.
Private retreatants meet at least one monk during their stay – usually Fr Oliver, the guestmaster. “Individuals often ask to speak to a monk,” he said, “either for confession or just for a conversation. If they are on one of our organised retreats, then often these are given by one of the monks and so they would spend quite a bit of time with them.”
“Chapter 53 of the Rule of St Benedict,” he continued, “does say that if a monk meets a guest he should quietly explain that he is not allowed to talk to them and move on after asking the guest for a blessing… but we do not follow that chapter strictly and so many conversations take place in the corridors or meeting rooms.”
As far as I’m concerned, monk time would be the whole point of a retreat; that and the communal worship. The monks I met were very kind. If you did want to have quiet time to reflect on things, come to terms with a bereavement or give yourself time for prayer or confession, these conversations would be very helpful.
Most guests, says Fr Oliver, whether on an organised or private retreat, follow the monks’ timetable and join them for their times of prayer in the church. The other guests were friendly but didn’t talk, apart from a former monk. I was there when it was quite cold; during the spring and summer it would be lovely. Douai is built on a height, among fields, though right next door is the former school, now flats.
It’s a good place to get away from things and to try to assimilate the Benedictine vibe – stability is perhaps the decisive element – by osmosis. The Rule of St Benedict assumes that guests will be part of the monastic life, even if they are a distraction from the round of prayer. And Douai has that Benedictine charism; you come away from it feeling better.
Recommended donations for workshops and day retreats at Douai are usually £25; retreats typically £180; private retreats around £70 a night: www.douaiabbey.org.uk.
This article originally appeared in the April 2024 issue of the Catholic Herald. To subscribe to our award-winning, thought-provoking magazine and have independent and high-calibre counter-cultural Catholic journalism delivered to your door anywhere in the world click here.
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