The Anchorage- A Sanctuary of Wisdom and Spirituality.

25/05/2026

𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘, 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐇 💙✨🙏🏽👼🤲🏽

The Upper Room still softly glows,
Easter alleluias slowly fade,
Yet Mary gathers scattered hearts,
Teaching faith through common labors.
Mother beside the pilgrim Church,
She keeps the fire of Pentecost.

Ordinary days now gently bloom,
Fields awaken beneath God’s mercy,
No longer locked by fear and grief,
The faithful walk through daily roads.
Mary walks beside our weakness,
Guiding steps toward Christ her Son.

At Cana she once spoke with trust,
“Do whatever He tells you.”
Still her voice consoles the weary,
Calling souls to faithful service.
Mother of the living Church,
Pray we remain steadfast in love.

When Easter’s mighty songs grow still,
Grace continues in hidden ways,
Through humble bread and quiet prayers,
The Spirit moves among the people.
Mary, Mother of the Church,
Lead us through Ordinary Time.

O Blessed Mother, Mother of the Church, help us enliven our faith to participate in the life and mission of the Church. 🙏🏼

17/05/2026

The Ascension of the Lord

On this feast of the Ascension, Jan Richardson invites us to reflect on the leavings we face in our own lives and offers us a blessing as we wait and pray for the coming of the Spirit...

"Joyful, sorrowful, bittersweet; planned or unexpected; welcomed or resisted or grieved: no matter how a leave-taking happens, it always brings an invitation, and it makes a space for the Spirit to come. As you navigate the leave-takings in your own life, how do you keep your eyes open for the invitations they hold? What blessings do they offer, and what blessings do they invite?"

Blessing
In the leaving
in the letting go
let there be this
to hold onto
at the last:

the enduring of love
the persisting of hope
the remembering of joy

the offering of gratitude
the receiving of grace
the blessing of peace."
~ Jan Richardson

Image ~ The Ascension of the Lord by Robert Shaw

03/05/2026

Fifth Sunday of Eastertide...

A beautiful reflection and blessing from Jan Richardson based on today's Gospel from John 14:1-14.

"For you as we approach the fifth Sunday of Easter: a blessing with plenty of space in it, and room enough to hold us all.

BLESSING WITH MANY ROOMS

As you step inside
this blessing
we wish to tell you
it is large enough
for you to lie down in.

Or
(though it may not look it,
small as it is upon this page)
you can curl up
in this blessing
with a cup of tea
and a good book
beside the window—
here, just behind you—
that faces east.

Likewise it is true,
though you might not have
paused long enough
to notice,
that this blessing
is big enough
for a table—
quite a sizable one
can be accommodated—
where your guests
will want to linger
far into the night.

And if they desire to stay,
you will find that
through this door—
you did not see it before?—
there are rooms in plenty
where they can
lay their heads
and stretch out with abandon
in their dreaming sleep.

One room,
many rooms—
in this blessing
it is all the same.
The point is that
there is space
enough.

Enough to make
a life, a home;
enough to make
a world.

Enough to make
your way toward
the One who has made
this way for you."
~ Jan Richardson

Image: "Many Rooms"
© janrichardsonimages.com

01/05/2026

A beautiful poem by David Whyte in honour of International Workers' Day and the feast of St Joseph the Worker...

WORKING TOGETHER

We shape our self
to fit this world

and by the world
are shaped again.

The visible
and the invisible

working together
in common cause,

to produce
the miraculous.

I am thinking of the way
the intangible air

passed at speed
round a shaped wing

easily
holds our weight.

So may we, in this life
trust

to those elements
we have yet to see

or imagine,
and look for the true

shape of our own self,
by forming it well

to the great
intangibles about us.
~David Whyte from The House of Belonging

This fabulous image by Br Mickey McGrath shows St Joseph combining work and love!

26/04/2026

4th Sunday of Easter

"I am the gate"...living in the country as we do, often with cows pasturing in the meadows, gates are ever present in our lives, especially for those of us who walk every day. All of our gates have some purpose or other and as I contemplated Jesus' words in today's Gospel, I found myself walking through the property in my mind trying to picture them all in their make, steadfastness, movement and work. Each gate, as it opens, leads us into a new enclosure, a safe place with a purpose, a place to be, a haven, a home. And for the lucky cows, plenty of green, juicy pasture!

"I am the gate", says Jesus...what a fabulous image with an invitation for the walk and work of a lifetime! Where am I in relation to this gate which Jesus invites me to open with his rich promises of juicy life?! Is something holding me back and do I need to oil the rusty hinges?

This statement from Jesus has movement, purpose and promise all over it! We might just need to go swing on a gate for a time today to reflect on it all! How's your gate going?

Image~ the second gate in the upper paddock at the abbey.

21/04/2026