A fresh perspective on the political life

Away from fractious electioneering, some quiet wisdom is on offer from a contemplative order of religious sisters in Sussex / By Sue Gaisford

Welcome to Patmos! To avoid confusion: this is not St John’s sun-drenched island, but a large, light, oak-framed building sitting in a remote valley full of wild flowers in rural Sussex. The Visitation Sisters (pictured), whose monastery is only a short walk away, chose the name because here the word of God is discussed and spread. Even on a day of unseasonably chilly winds, when the lambs bleat plaintively and the bluebells shiver, it is a place of welcome and warmth.

The Sisters live a cloistered life. They have all taken solemn vows and are under the rule of papal enclosure. As they explain, this is what makes their home a monastery: the Divine Office, with all the canonical hours and the Great Silence, is their work, their opus, their life. But hospitality is also important to them, and they are good at it. Three of them are here today.