Downside Abbey

Home
United Kingdom
Radstock
Downside Abbey

Downside Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery, home of a community of Benedictine monks.

01/06/2026

The Memoria of St Justin Martyr, who was born in about 90 AD, about the same time as the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse were written (hence the picture). He was born near Nablus, biblical Shechem, and had a gentile upbringing as a Greek speaker. He dabbled in various philosophies before meeting an elderly Syrian Christian who convinced him that the prophets were more reliable than the philosophers, since they spoke with experience of the Holy Spirit. He went to Rome, started his own school, and was arrested and martyred there.
His writings contain many of the teachings we still hold today, and his description of the Eucharistic celebration is exactly the same structure as the Mass. He even demonstrates that the Church of his time also believed that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ - this is a belief found in the Gospels and in the writings of the very earliest Church Fathers.

29/05/2026

Dom Anselm’s homily from this morning. - Second attempt on here! I failed to save it when I did it on Instagram Live, and so it disappeared!

27/05/2026

Th Solemnity of St Augustine of Canterbury, who came to Britain in 597 AD with about 40 companions from his monastery of St Andrew in Rome to bring Roman Christianity, thereby fulfilling the dream of Pope St Gregory the Great. He is the primary patron of the English Benedictine Congregation, which is still working in this country, seeking through prayer, retreats, parish work and scholarship to make Christ known.

25/05/2026

The Feast of St Bede the Venerable, a doctor of the Church and Benedictine monk of Wearmouth and Jarrow in the 8th century. He was born near the monastery and never strayed far, and yet he wrote influential works on Scripture, nature, history, astronomy and maths. He was not ordained and was renowned for his fidelity to the Divine Office in the monastery. He said that if he were not there, the angels and saints would ask “Where is Bede?!” He is buried in Durham Cathedral.
This window is with other Benedictine saints.

23/05/2026

Tomorrow we celebrate the great Feast of Pentecost, sometimes called the birthday of the Church. This really encouraged the disciples to go out and spread the Gospel throughout the whole world - they became apostles, those who are sent.

22/05/2026

We are gearing up for Pentecost this coming Sunday in these days following the Ascension, the original ‘novena’, nine days of waiting and praying for this. It is one of the three most significant feasts of the Church’s year (with Easter and Christmas).

19/05/2026

The Memoria of SS. Dunstan, Oswald and Ethelwold. St Dunstan was born near Glastonbury and entered the monastery there, eventually becoming Archbishop of Canterbury. He is renowned as a reforming Abbot, a composer (Kyrie VII is attributed to him - not a surprise that it doesn’t appear in the Instagram suggested pieces of music!) and a pastoral bishop.
Happy Feast to Dom Dunstan

14/05/2026

The Solemnity of the Ascension, a holyday of obligation. “Men of Galilee, why are you looking up into the heavens? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

09/05/2026

The Memoria of Blessed Thomas Pickering, a member of our community who was martyred in 1679 following the Titus Oates plot. Benedictine monks, including members of our community, worked in the court of Queen Henrietta Maria (who was Catholic). After the priests were all expelled, Blessed Thomas was able to stay on (he was steward in the royal household) because he was a lay brother. He was falsely accused of plotting to kill the king and queen, and even though neither of them believed it, he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

07/05/2026

A few pictures and a little video clip from the May Procession in honour of Our Lady last night. About good few hundred people came to from all over the area for the annual May Procession. We processed around the gardens reciting the joyful mysteries of the rosary and singing some classic Marian hymns, accompanied by the organ via loud speaker, and then into the church for a stirring homily by Dom John, the litany of Our Lady and prayers, ending with the much anticipated shower of petals from the ceiling.

Address

Radstock
BA34RH

Telephone

+441761235110

Website

http://www.downsideabbey.co.uk/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Downside Abbey posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your place of worship to be the top-listed Place Of Worship in Radstock?