That they may be one

RETREATS AND PILGRIMAGES

The monks at the newly established Holy Cross monastery in County Down aim to break down the barriers between the Catholics and Protestants of Northern Ireland through special retreats of reconciliation

THERE have been peace talks, summits, marches, encounter groups and petitions. For 40 years people have tried solution after solution to bring peace to Northern Ireland. Now a more original idea is being tried out in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains. Four French monks and one Northern Irish monk have established a new Benedictine monastery devoted to drawing Protestants and Catholics closer together through retreats, and praying for their reconciliation.

Intrigued to discover more about their retreat house, I travelled through Warrenpoint, Co. Down, where 18 British soldiers were killed in an IRA ambush in 1979, and along a mountain road to where the Holy Cross monastery lies in a wooded valley. A monk with a Parisian accent answered the door and I was invited to join them for Eucharist and a lunch that was more French than Irish. La Croix newspaper sat on the coffee table and I met another brother returning from the shops with an armful of baguettes.

The superior, Br Mark-Ephrem Nolan, who grew up in Belfast understands the Troubles. He lived in the monastery of Bec in Normandy until 1998 when he was sent with four brothers to establish a monastery in Northern Ireland. He believes strongly that the monks? mission is helped because they are outsiders and are distanced from the history and politics of the province. Gathered in a semicircle around the altar in the white robes worn by Benedictines from the Olivetan congregation, the monks seem like spiritual doctors trying through prayer to heal sickly and divided communities.

Their story is a remarkable one. It began with an exhortation, from Pope John Paul II to the contemplative orders, asking them to engage in ?spiritual ecumenism? in areas where Christians are divided. Br Nolan was given ?30,000 and told to start a foundation. It was 1998, the year when Omagh was bombed and 29 people killed.

There had been an earlier connection between Bec and Northern Ireland. A ?cella? (a small group) of Bec brothers had lived a hidden life of prayer in Co. Down between 1983 and 1987, interceding for peace and unity. Eleven years later, the five camped in a convent in Rostrevor until a local farmer and his wife offered them nine acres of their land (about half of their smallholding) in 2000. By the end of 2003 they had raised ?1.6million.

?Our mission?, said Br Nolan, ?is to live the monastic life and to contribute to reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants in a land stained by the blood of Christians.

?Hospitality is fundamental for us. We want to provide a safe place for people from different backgrounds and denominations to meet with the Lord.?

The retreat house has space for eight guests and the monastery has room for five more monks. They offer individual silent retreats for between one and seven days with spiritual direction from the monks. All denominations are welcomed and no one is questioned about their affiliation.

In the past year guests have included the ordinands for the Church of Ireland?s dioceses of Down and Dromore, and Connor and a group of army chaplains, with, in total, 75 Roman Catholics in the retreat house and 40 Protestants.

The Benedictine day begins with lauds in the church at 6.45 a.m. and breakfast in a separate guests? breakfast room where silence is expected. The monks then study scripture and do their work. The rest of the day follows a familiar Benedictine pattern. The guests are left to their own devices until Eucharist at 11.30 a.m. followed by lunch. The meal is eaten in silence and a tape is played of religious readings or music. Nones is at 2.15, vespers at 5.30 and supper, again in silence, at 6.45 p.m. The last office ? vigil ? is at 8.30 p.m. There are a library, a living room for guests and a small oratory.

In terms of creature comforts, Holy Cross scores high. The rooms have views, the bathrooms are modern and the food is delicious. But its greatest quality is its ambitious mission, which makes for a fascinating and demanding retreat.

?If we are being honest we have to admit that there is still, even in the mainstream Churches, a certain suspicion of ecumenism and a failure to see the need to cross barriers,? said Br Nolan.

He described the opening service for the monastery in January 2004 where the preacher was the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, and the first reading was by a Presbyterian nun from Switzerland. Both the Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland (Anglican) bishops sprinkled holy water on the congregation, which included relatives of those killed in Enniskillen and Drumcree.

In his homily, the Catholic bishop John McAreavey applauded Holy Cross for providing a ?safe place for listening and hearing stories?. ?We need to find a way of holding our differences in a different way?, said the bishop, ?so that those differences are no longer swords, but pruning knives.?

Br Nolan recalled the painful moment when at Communion the Catholics stood up and the rest stayed sitting. ?There were tears shed on both sides.?

In the church porch there is a holy water font donated by the Church of Ireland, which was in Down Cathedral before the Reformation. Above it is a plaque that reads, ?One Lord, one faith, one baptism?. Behind the altar stand oak pillars designed to resemble a circle of trees in the monastery?s grounds. The effect of light coming through leaves is created by patterned wooden panels above the altar. The icon of Christ bears the inscription ?may all be one?.

Twice a month the monks gather with the local Protestant clergy (Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Church of Ireland) and the Catholic priest for lectio divina when they study and pray together.

One example of how the monks? position as outsiders helps was the induction of the new rector of the Anglican church close to the Holy Cross Catholic school in north Belfast where the two communities have so often come to blows. Invited by the rector, the Revd Trevor Williams, the monks came in their white robes to a service where no local Catholic, let alone priest, would normally dare be seen.

?The other monks have no baggage and I believe that makes them more accessible,? said Br Nolan. ?Also, it is vital for Northern Ireland to have help from outside ? it?s like a dysfunctional family.?

This month the monks have invited a group of young Protestants to come to a Bible class held by Desi Maxwell, a Presbyterian. ?We are inviting them to cross a Roman Catholic threshold and it may only be seven miles to Kilkeel but for them they will be travelling hundreds of years.?

Victoria Combe writes for The Tablet from Northern Ireland.