CARE IN THE MONASTERY:

We all know that in recent times much has changed in the way we understand our Christian vocation and interact with one another. When Andrew and I joined the Redemptorists in 1964, although our Congregation is an Active Religious Order in contradistinction to a Monastic Order, at home we lived a monastic life and were self-contained. There was a strict enclosure, which meant that women could not enter the house, and we had teams of brothers in all our communities who looked after the practicalities, including the cooking. Those days have long since passed.The only brothers here in recent times were Bro William, who died in 2023, and Bro Michael and he is now stationed in Birmingham.

Twenty-eight years ago the first of our present team of housekeepers, Lynne Butler, began working at Bishop Eton. A year later, Lynn Hitchmough joined her and a year after that, Cheryle Smith joined the team. To say that they have formed the most wonderfully loyal team is an understatement. We are deeply indebted to them for over eighty years of loving care and service. Redemptorists are sometimes called ‘Liguori’s Allsorts’ after our Founder, Saint Alphonus Liguori, and indeed we are. No matter that we come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and with all sorts of eccentricities and idiosyncrasies, they have faithfully seen us through those years, keeping the house immaculate and responding to all our needs. Lynne has known and lovingly supported twenty confrères who, hopefully, have gone to their eternal home and are now praying for her and for us. I am sharing all this with you because Lynne is due to retire on 28 February, and we are hoping to find someone who would like to join the team and continue the good work. If you may be that person or know someone who may be interested, please contact either Fr Andrew or me, and we can talk things over. The contract is for 20 hours per week and Lynne has been coming in at around 7.00am and working her four hours from Monday to Friday. However, we can be flexible regarding the hours and days, and nowadays, we do have the additional support of carers from ‘Different Care’ coming in four times a day for those confrères who need specialised support.