St. Mary at the Cross

The brothers and sisters seek to serve their Master by the life of devotion, by sacred study and by works. In the life of the community as a whole all these three ways must find full and balanced expression.

(From the Principles of the Society of Saint Francis).

The three ways of service by which we live are prayer, study and work. Each day we gather five times in the monastery chapel for a service of prayer and praise.

These times of prayer begin in the morning at 7 a.m. with Morning Prayer, followed by half an hour of silent meditation, and then the Eucharist. At this service we remember the last supper that Jesus shared with his disciples, and ourselves receive his sacred body and blood in the bread and wine. Then again at Midday, Evening and Night Prayer we gather to sing psalms and hymns and listen to readings from the Bible. After Evening Prayer there is a further hour of silent prayer, during which we often bring to God the needs of the world.

In our study the most important thing is to learn about the path of union with God, so we study the Scriptures, and read the works of famous Christian writers. In particular we seek to learn more about St. Francis and his followers down the ages, looking for guidance as we live our lives today.

St. Francis lived in Italy in the thirteenth century, but we still find his life and teachings an inspiration which we try to follow in our very different world today. We see study as a way of service because it helps us strengthen and enrich the faith of others when we preach sermons or individually guide other people in the practice of prayer.