Monday, May 19, 2014

Exam-stressed students at The English Martyrs School have found a different way of coping with the pressures of A' Levels. Ampleforth Abbey in North Yorkshire, home to an order of monks founded around 1500 years ago, offers a haven of peace and tranquillity plus the chance to get life in perspective. A group of eight sixth-form students and four adults (teachers get stressed too!) visited the abbey last Monday night looking for a bit of monastic wisdom to help them through. They were met by Fr. Terrence, Prior of the abbey, who spoke to them about how prayer, a monastic speciality, can and should make us think about others, no matter how tough our lives might feel right now. Realising that there are always people worse off than we are somehow seemed to help! As Hannah Picknett, one of the students said, ‘It was comforting to know that just as I was praying for people, others were praying for me.’

A real highlight of the trip was being invited to pray with the monks, something they do five times a day following a tradition dating back to Jesus’ time. The group admitted that while they struggled with the Latin words, they were uplifted by the beauty of the singing. ‘I felt less stressed and more able to cope as a result of spending time with the monks,’ commented Lizzie Irvine, who two hours earlier had been frantically revising for her next exam.


The high-spirits in the bus on the way home suggested that the trip had really helped. Asked if she felt it had been worthwhile, Anne-Marie Lavelle, the school chaplain replied, ‘It was lovely for the young people to have the opportunity to take some time out to be with God and each other. The laughter combined with the sunshine and beautiful surroundings were just what the doctor ordered!’ But the last word should be left to Matthew Hutchinson, another student, who had never visited a monastery before: ‘It was a fantastic experience and I’ll definitely be coming back next year!’




0 comments: