A "Typical" day at the monastery

The Jericho Community are Oblates of St Benedict and enjoy a special relationship with Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire.

Our official status within the Diocese of Paisley is as a "Society of Apostolic works".

The brothers follow the Rule of St Benedict, which gives structure to our daily lives. The Divine Office (Prayer of the Church) also plays a big part in our day.

In the morning, we meet for Lauds (Morning Prayer).This is followed by a cup of tea over a brief meeting to iron out any changes that might need to be made for the day, eg; If the brother who normally does the cooking has a dental appointment, someone else will have to cover the cooking. The brothers then go to their duties.

Some brothers have a definite role to play, eg; one such role is the sacristan who lays out the vestments for daily mass, sets the correct readings up, makes sure the supplies are kept stocked up, such as candles for the different services and seasons of the liturgical year. The Bursar deals with the accounts and finances of the community. There is even a brother whose job it is to feed the monastery cat!

The more everyday jobs are shared around the monastery such as cooking, cleaning, admin, gardening, making sure our telephone enquiries get answered. Someone will have to welcome any visitors that might arrive. We have to get provisions in once a week and now and again we may need to leave one of our vehicles at the garage for MOT/servicing. Some of our brothers may be on duty at one of our nearby houses and will return in the late afternoon. On occasion, we may have a vocations visitor who wants to see our way of life and is giving serious thought as to whether God may be calling him likewise to religious life — he would stay in our guesthouse, usually for five days ; a brother would be assigned guestmaster for this period.

Our prayer times intermingle with our work during the day.

We have our mid-day meal at 1pm, followed by prayer during the day. If a brother is away on duty at one of our houses, he will say his prayer wherever he is stationed. After a brief rest, we return to our work for the afternoon.

At 6pm, the community meets again in chapel for Vespers (evening prayer). This is followed by a half hour adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. After a brief interval, we meet for Holy Mass, the central part of our everyday lives. Depending on our programme, our mass times may vary on some days.

After mass, the brothers meet for supper, which is taken in silence whilst the reader for the week, reads the current book; the reader has his supper straight afterwards. A spiritual book is a regular choice or sometimes we may have a biography of some notable person read or a travelogue. The day's extract from the Rule of St Benedict is also read out at supper.

After washing up the dishes, there is Compline (night prayer) and then some time for recreation before meeting at 9pm for Lectio Divina (spiritual reading), which is for thirty minutes. We finish the day at 9.30pm with the Office of Readings (vigils), which anticipates the next day's liturgy. We then retire for the night.

There is great variety in the Church's year with the great seasons of Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas. There are lots of saint’s days to celebrate and the different colours of the vestments reflect these days and seasons.

All the above mentions the public prayer of the brothers in community but the brothers also say their own private prayers and devotions too. A good time for such prayer, for example, would be before everyone meets for Lauds (morning prayer) when it is even quieter than usual, as the world is slowly waking up.

In community, there will be men of all ages, young and old. They will be from different backgrounds and places. They will bring their own experience and personalities; some will be extrovert and some will be introvert. Some may have been shop assistants, truck drivers, builders or maybe office workers.

In community, following the gospel message, we try to practice charity towards each other — putting the other's needs before our own needs. This of course extends to the staff and residents of our houses and anyone who turns up at the front door. It is quite simply trying to live as Jesus taught us to live, which is the call for all Christians, whether they live in religious life or not.

God's blessings on all who visit our website.