People of prayer are often taken to be purely spiritual.
As though they dwelt in higher regions, where the material and the bodily count for nothing.
Happily, that is not so.
Faith embraces the whole of life, in all its concreteness.
Ora et Labora
Moreover, it is characteristic of God’s love that it makes itself concrete. It seeks to be felt, seen, touched and heard, so as to move and to delight.
Work has an important part in this. Hence ora et labora. Prayer and work are of a piece.
Work is more than functional. It is not only a means of providing for our livelihood; it also brings us into contact with creation and makes us aware that it is a precious gift of God.
Hence, alongside our work in the brewery, our choice of manual work. It takes the form of a wide range of simple activities: cooking, cleaning, sewing, caring for our older brothers, bookbinding, gardening…
Occupations with a healing and uniting power. And which make body and mind work together in a healthy way.
Manual work in the Abbey
Bookbinding, sewing and mending, assisting and nursing our older brothers, cooking, gardening, cleaning, caring for animals…
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