Last weekend I spent Friday-Sunday at Pluscarden Abbey in Northern Scotland near Elgin. There were 9 of us gals that went. It was such a wonderful experience. It's the only remaining medieval monastery in the U.K. and is home to about 24 monks at the moment. They have a women's and men's retreat house where visitors are welcome to come for a time of prayer, reflection or just a few days to get away from the hussle bussle of everyday life. The women's retreat house was just a wee bit down the road from the Abbey and it had 12 individual rooms, quite simple, and then a shared kitchen and living room. The monks have 8 services they do everyday, the first one beginning at 4:45 (yes, a.m.!). Visitors are welcome to attend any of the services they'd like to. Some of the girls that came went to all of them, others like me and my friend Victoria just went to a few. For me, since I'm not Catholic, I wasn't going to this specific monastery for a religious experience per say, but more a time to get away and have my own quiet times and have a break from the crazy city life in Glasgow. The services were a wonderful cultural and historical experience. The monks did Gregorian chant in Latin at all services. Yes, they all wore the long white robes and they do live quite a simple and peaceful life. We were talking to one of the brothers at one point and he said they grow all their own fruits and vegetables and only get a few select things from the grocery store ever. The monastery is nestled out in a fairly secluded area and I'm not quite sure how many acres are included in its land, but it's quite a few.
I mostly journaled, went for hikes in the beautiful hillside area, read and relaxed. We did all drive out to the beach on Saturday afternoon. It was so refreshing to get some ocean air and get the sand beneath my feet. Here are a few pictures from my time at Pluscarden and the beach:
The Abbey from the view of the small graveyard
The countryside literally right outside the women's retreat house
Some monk-made stained glass in the chapel
Pluscarden Abbey
Some of the lovely ladies who came also.
There were beautiful rocks and shells all down the beach
Yes, that's a random dog in the picture...
Had to go for a Titanic pose... :)
Spring is coming!!!! PTL!
A lovely castle we saw on our drive there.
0 comments:
Post a Comment