The fourth of the Advent antiphons evokes the coming of Jesus with a title referring to the great King David and the prophecy of Isaiah, who wrote:
‘I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder; when it opens, no one will close; when it closes, no one will open it‘ (Is.22, 22)

How to understand this prophecy?

“O Root of Jesse
who stand for a sign for the people;
before whom kings are silent;
whom the nations bessech:
Come to deliver us, no longer delay.”

The image of Christ as the ‘Root of Jesse’ – a sign for the peoples; before whom kings fall silent and whom the peoples acclaim – evokes a variety of ideas and there is much that can be gleaned, so to speak, when this title is attributed to Him.

What does it mean for us to think of JESUS, to acknowledge Him, as the ‘root of Jesse’ and a ‘sign for the peoples’?

“O Adonai and leader of Israel,
you appeared to Moses in a burning bush
and you gave him the Law on Sinai.
O come and save us with your mighty power.”

In this antiphon we call on God by the name Adonai. The dictionary says that this word comes from the Cannanite and Hebrew word adon, which means - LORD. When God appeared to Moses, he called himself: I AM WHO I AM. (Ex 3:14). Out of reverence the Jews did not utter his name but substituted Adonai.

Young women are invited to join Dominican Nuns on Zoom as we reflect on the meaning of Advent and Christmas.

An exceptionally good answer, taken from
‘The Pastoral Letters of St Charles Borromeo,
is worthy of prayerful meditation,
and will hopefully increase
your amazement in the wonder
and mercy of God, and lead you
closer to Him as you live through
these days of Advent
(– you’ll find it in the Office of Readings today)

We are raffling this lovely hand-knit '12 Days of Christmas' Set (knitted characters from the famous song, "Twelve Days of Christmas").

Our good friend and Benefactor, Vivienne Lamont, knit the characters (all 78 of them) and kindly donated them to us to raffle to raise funds. We are very grateful for this, as we have had a lot of large maintenance expenses in 2021 - removing badly damaged/cracked exterior plaster on the chapel walls & replastering, replacing damaged windows, replacing the Monastery boilers.

From my point of view, God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us. (Pope Francis)

For me the candles are more than decoration, they are a reminder of the wonderful acts of God’s love, of His constant presence in our life.

During my work with candles I realise that a lighted candle accompanies a person throughout his life.

Our Advent and Christmas Candles are now available to order through our Online Shop.

“Whether we realise it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours,
God thirsts that we may thirst for him." (CCC 2560)

Can you believe that God longs for you?

Young women (20 – 35 yrs) are invited to join Dominican Nuns on Zoom in a journey of discovery as we begin to reflect on various Monastic themes.