Free Republic

Father Cyril is a monk of the monastery of Le Barroux in Provence.These cloistered Benedictines in this remote mountain hamlet of 615 souls have grown so rapidly in recent decades that they have outgrown their (new) quarters – and still the young vocations keep coming. In this revealing interview, Pere Cyril takes us into the story of his vocation and the lives of the more than 60 monks in this extraordinary monastery, the Abbey of St Mary Magdalene. What attracted you to the cloistered life? I was drawn to the cloistered life by the desire for a true interior life...

July 22, 2006 Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene Psalm: Saturday 30 Reading 1Mi 2:1-5 Woe to those who plan iniquity,and work out evil on their couches;In the morning light they accomplish itwhen it lies within their power.They covet fields, and seize them;houses, and they take them;They cheat an owner of his house,a man of his inheritance.Therefore thus says the LORD:Behold, I am planning against this race an evilfrom which you shall not withdraw your necks;Nor shall you walk with head high,for it will be a time of evil. On that day a satire shall be sung over you,and there shall...

July 22, 2005Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene Psalm: Friday 32 Reading IEx 20:1-17 In those days:God delivered all these commandments: "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.You shall not have other gods besides me.You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the...

July 22, 2004 Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene Psalm: Thursday 32 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IJer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 This word of the LORD came to me: Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear! I remember the devotion of your youth, how you loved me as a bride, Following me in the desert, in a land unsown. Sacred to the LORD was Israel, the first fruits of his harvest; Should any presume to partake of them, evil would befall them, says the LORD. When I brought you into the garden land to eat its goodly...

July 22, 2003Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene Psalm: Tuesday 32 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IEx 14:21—15:1 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,and the LORD swept the seawith a strong east wind throughout the nightand so turned it into dry land. When the water was thus divided,the children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land,with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. The Egyptians followed in pursuit;all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and charioteers went after themright into the midst of the sea.In the night watch just before...

July 22, 2002Memorial of Mary Magdalene Psalm: Monday Week 33 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IMic 6:1-4, 6-8 Hear what the Lord says:Arise, present your plea before the mountains,and let the hills hear your voice!Hear, O mountains, the plea of the Lord,pay attention, O foundations of the earth!For the Lord has a plea against his people,and he enters into trial with Israel. O my people, what have I done to you,or how have I wearied you? Answer me!For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,from the place of slavery I released you;and I sent before you Moses,Aaron,...