Videos Archives
Life of English Cloistered Nuns Captured on Video
(October 7th, 2011)
A former fashion and beauty photographer has released a 90-minute documentary on the life of Benedictine contemplatives.
“Tyburn Convent Gloria Deo” brings viewers within the cloisters of the order’s nine monasteries, starting with the motherhouse in England, and ranging through Oceania and South America.
The order was established in 1903 near Marble Arch, London. It is thus at the site where dozens of English martyrs were killed during the Protestant Reformation.
Michael Luke Davies created the work. He and Mother Xavier McMonagle, the mother-general of the Tyburn Nuns, presented the documentary last Thursday.
“I was moved to tears many times by the beauty of what I was filming,” Davies said. “For me, it exceeded my expectations of what I could film. It was an incredible experience I shall never forget for the rest of my life. The things I have seen and the moments I have shared with these beautiful religious people I will keep with me forever.”
The Tyburn Nuns, Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre are an order of cloistered contemplative Benedictine nuns. The aim of the congregation is to glorify the Most Blessed Trinity, finding practical expression in daily Mass, the choral celebration of the Divine Office, perpetual adoration, and in daily prayer for the Holy Father, the Church, the country and for the entire human family.
Read entire story on Zenit.org
To request copies of the “Tyburn Convent Gloria Deo,” contact Mother Hildegarde by sending an email to admin@tyburnconvent.org.uk, or order online through the website of the Tyburn Nuns.
Carthusian Monks to Receive Papal Visit
(September 30th, 2011)
As part of Benedict XVI’s pastoral visit to the Calabria Region of Italy this month, he will visit the famous Carthusian monastery of San Bruno. The Pope will celebrate vespers and deliver a homily in the church of the Carthusian monastery of Serra San Bruno, after which he will meet the monastic community and visit a cell and the infirmary of the monastery.
Among the monastic religious families, Carthusians live in greater solitude. The monks and the nuns of the Order, while living separately in their own monasteries, share the same rule and follow a unique model in the person of their founder, Saint Bruno (c. 1030–1101).
The Carthusian monk does not live alone, as the monastery is a community. Nevertheless, he will pass the greater part of his life in his cell where he prays, works, takes his meals, and sleeps. During the course of the week, he only leaves three times a days for the Liturgy of the Hours and communal Mass: in the middle of the night, the Night Office, the morning Eucharist and Vespers towards the night.
The Carthusian can be a cloistered monk or a brother, two different ways of living the same vocation of solitude. This solitude is not lived for its own sake, but as a privileged means of attaining intimacy with God.
View a first-time documentary video on the St. Bruno Carthusian monastery in Italy.
Pope Benedict Visits A Convent of Cloistered Dominican Nuns
(July 28th, 2010)
Recently Benedict XVI visited cloistered nuns at the Dominican convent of Santa Maria del Rosario in Italy where he said recited the Liturgy of the Hours. During his address to the community, the Holy Father reminded them that “by this collective prayer that finds its culmination in the daily participation in the Mass, your dedication to the Lord in silence and obscurity is fertile and rich in fruits.” Afterward the Pope told them that their life of prayer and work is very important for the Church. View video.
Cloistered, Contemplative, Called By God: An Inside Look at Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration
(July 20th, 2010)
A simple glimpse into the daily life of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. This video provides a portal into the hidden life of the “enclosed garden” of the cloistered life filled with prayer and penance, solitude and silence. The nuns spend the day in interior recollection striving to listen to the voice of the Lord speaking within their soul.
A joyful, informative and inspirational inside look at lives totally dedicated to Christ Jesus, their Beloved Spouse. View video.
A Life of Holiness: Carmelite Monks of Wyoming
(July 15th, 2010)
This video is an explanation of the contemplative life of monks made by the Carmelite Monks located in Wyoming. The monks live a life of prayer, solitude, penance, and strict separation from the world. Their lives are completely dedicated to interceding for the Church and the world. St. Thérèse proclaimed the Carmelite vocation as being “love in the heart of the Church.” As the heart circulates blood throughout the whole body, so the Carmelite is called to circulate grace throughout the Church. View video.
For Me to Live is Christ: Dominican Nuns of Our Lady of the Rosary Summit, New Jersey
(July 7th, 2010)
A short musical video consisting of heavenly song and still images provides a peek into the Dominican cloistered life. By their hidden lives of prayer and contemplation, these nuns of the Order of Preachers loudly proclaim that they indeed are “Free for God Alone”! View video.