Collage of nine photos from a small indoor Mass: a Lutheran minister in a black preaching gown and white tabs seated and preaching; a Catholic priest in an alb with a green stole; a simple altar on a folding table with a white cloth, candles, crucifix, and an icon; close-ups of printed liturgical text and the “Mszałik Nowe Sarum”; an icon showing Christ holding a beloved disciple; candles and crucifix on a white cloth.

Today’s Mass with Poland’s LGBT Christian group Wiara i Tęcza 🌈✝️
Grateful for an ecumenical guest preacher from the Lutheran tradition — one Gospel, many voices.

#WiaraITęcza #Ecumenism #QueerChristians #LGBTQ #Faith

Yes, we’ve been posting a lot about our Abbot lately… but today is his birthday. 😊
Happy birthday, Father Julian CFMD — ad multos annos! 🎉🙏
#CFMD #Benedictine #EcumenicalCatholic

Saint Benedict Orders Saint Maurus to the Rescue of Saint Placidus. ca.1445. Tempera on panel. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA.

St Maurus & St Placid: a simple command, a dangerous lake, a brother’s hand reaching out. In the Rule, love is never sentimental—it moves. Christ, teach us obedience that becomes mercy. #RuleOfStBenedict #MercifulLove

No crown—only a staff. No triumph—only service.
Last Sunday our father Julian received the Abbatial Blessing, entrusted with the care of souls. Lord, make him gentle and steadfast.
#RuleOfStBenedict #MercifulLove #CFMD

Historically, the skullcap began as a practical head-covering (warmth, covering the tonsure) and later became a common clerical dress. Our use keeps it simple and monastic—always secondary to the moments of the Word and the Eucharist.

Rear view of a cleric in a white surplice over black, wearing a plain black skullcap, standing at the altar in a small chapel beneath an ornate dark wooden canopy; two congregants stand on either side.

Small customs can teach big reverence.

In CFMD a simple black zucchetto can be worn as part of the habit (in place of a hood). It isn’t a bishop’s sign. We remove it for the Gospel and during the Eucharistic Prayer.

With grateful hearts we give thanks for today’s Solemn Pontifical Mass and the Abbatial Blessing of Abbot Julian CFMD, conferred by Bishop Paul. May the Lord who calls also sustain: in mercy, in humility, in fidelity to the Rule, for the life of the world. #CFMD #ECCUK

For those joining from afar: the liturgy will be livestreamed here: www.facebook.com/share/1B6gCm...

Rain-speckled window view of the chapel with a cross on the wall, garden plants outside

Two printed booklets titled “Rite of Abbatial Blessing” with the CFMD crest on the cover, placed on a table under warm light.

Rain on the window. Quiet pages on the table.
Tonight the Church stands at the Jordan: Baptism of the Lord — 6.00pm.
Solemn Pontifical Mass & the Solemn Abbatial Blessing of Abbot-elect Julian (CFMD).
Celebrant: Bishop Paul. All welcome.
#CFMD #ECCUK

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Reminder: Sun 11 Jan • 6pm
Baptism of the Lord — Solemn Pontifical Mass & Solemn Abbatial Blessing of Abbot-elect Julian CFMD
Celebrant: Bishop Paul • Buffet supper after • All welcome
#CFMD

Know, dear brothers and sisters,
that by God’s mercy we announce the joy of Christ’s Resurrection 2026:

✠ Ash Wednesday — 18 February
✠ Easter Sunday — 5 April
✠ Ascension of the Lord — 17 May
✠ Pentecost — 24 May

Christ is Lord of time and history — yesterday, today, and for ever. Amen.

Today we keep the Feast of the Epiphany.
Some mark their doors with chalk.
Some can only pray in silence.

When no sign can be written on wood,
Christ still writes His sign in the heart.

Christus mansionem benedicat.

#Epiphany #CMB #Mercy #MonasticLife

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ADVANCE NOTICE • Sun 11 Jan (Baptism of the Lord) • 6pm
Solemn Pontifical Mass + Solemn Abbatial Blessing of Abbot-elect Julian (CFMD)
Celebrant: Bishop Paul
Buffet supper after • All welcome
#CFMD #ECCUK

Year’s end: one body present in the small oratory.
New Year’s Day: one heart present through a screen.
The hermitage stays simple — but grace crosses thresholds we cannot.
#OraEtLabora #Eucharist #MonasticLife

Rustic wooden plaque hanging on a dark wooden wall, showing a hooded, white-bearded monk (St Benedict) with a halo, holding a crozier and a red book against a faded script background.

Closing 2025 with a simple prayer: Lord Jesus, teach me fidelity without an audience, love without applause, and courage for the next small step.

Happy New Year to all who walk the quiet road.

For the unseen ones: peace.

#YearEnd #NewYear #Gratitude #Prayer #Faith

A 13th-century manuscript illumination, the earliest known depiction of Thomas Becket's assassination in Canterbury Cathedral

St Thomas Becket didn’t die for “religion”. He died because Christ is Lord—and no power gets the final word over the Gospel.
On this Fifth Day of Christmas: let our tenderness be real, and our obedience unbought.
✠ #StThomasBecket #Christmastide #CFMD

"The Holy Family," etching, by the Czech-English artist and printmaker Wenceslaus Hollar. Etching, dated 1642. 216 mm x 166 mm. Courtesy of the British Museum, London.

Today: the 4th Day of Christmas — Feast of the Holy Family.
After St Stephen’s witness and St John’s tenderness, we return to the quiet school of love: a home where God is welcomed.

May our houses — and our hearts — become Nazareth: prayerful, faithful, merciful.
#HolyFamily #Christmas #CFMD

Come to the manger.
Come with your hopes and your fears, your joys and your disappointments, your faith and your questions.
Come as the shepherds came — just as you are.
@bishoppaulmk.bsky.social

Candlelit altar with crucifix and an icon-style crucifixion backdrop; a cleric in white and gold vestments reads from a book during a Christmas liturgy.

Christmas has reached our little corner of Scotland too. At St Aidan’s Mission in Kincardine we gathered around Word and Table, candlelight and prayer—rejoicing that God chooses to dwell with us. Peace to all, and a blessed Nativity. ✨🕯️ #Christmas #ECCUK

Collage from a small chapel: a bishop in gold vestments celebrates Mass amid candles and incense; congregation seated; a Nativity scene beneath a Christmas tree.

Yesterday: the solemn Pontifical First Mass of Christmas — candlelight, incense, and the manger close by. In that quiet adoration, gratitude became prayer. Christ is born; come, let us adore Him. ✨🎄 #Christmas #CFMD

Four white candles in glass holders around a small nativity figure on moss, with miniature blue trees, lit in a dark oratory.

After Midnight Mass, the oratory returns to silence—but the world is not the same. The Word has taken flesh; Mercy has a face. For the unchurched, the weary, the far-off: you are not forgotten tonight.
#Christmas #MidnightMass #CFMD

Christmas Eve in the St Benedict Urban Hermitage oratory: a small circle of light around the Child. In the silence, God chooses nearness—fragile, hidden, real. We keep vigil for the lonely, the weary, the unchurched. Come, Lord Jesus.
#ChristmasEve #Incarnation #CFMD

✠ We’ve set the date: on the Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord (11 Jan 2026) we’ll celebrate the Abbatial Blessing of our Abbot-designate, Fr Julian. Please keep us in your prayers. #CFMD #Benedictine

CFMD Advent IV: Mercy first. Joseph protects Mary before he understands. The angel doesn’t hand him control—only Presence: Emmanuel. If your plans are breaking, let mercy be your obedience today. God is with us, not from a distance, but within the mess.

left wing of Benedetto Portinari's Triptych

Today’s Rule of St Benedict hit hard:

“the more he is raised above the rest, the more carefully should he observe the precepts of the Rule.”

Not a prior—but in an urban hermitage, fidelity matters more, not less.

Ancient words. Current medicine.

Advent’s joy is not loud.
It’s the kind that survives ordinary days: work, fatigue, unanswered messages, and waiting that feels slow.
This week we light the rose candle: a small defiance against despair.
Christ is coming—also into the quiet places we thought were empty.
#Advent #Gaudete

Advent mini-retreat (3/3): A desert in the heart of the city.

A tiny room, noise outside, unseen prayer. Humanly speaking it “gives nothing”, yet it becomes a place where God simply is.

God of stillness, teach us to remain with You.

#Advent #MiniRetreat #CFMD

Advent mini-retreat (2/3): Vocation without fireworks.

Most of the Gospel life is not “big moments”, but small acts of faithfulness: prayer in a quiet room, simple service, hidden love.

Lord, be present in our grey, everyday hours.

#Advent #MiniRetreat #CFMD