There is an extra quietness in the monastery this week. The oratory is being cleaned as never before, the altar candlesticks and processional cross gleam; a sombre excitement seems to hang in the air. But it would be a mistake to think that we have withdrawn into a world unrelated to the one in which we live. Economic meltdown affects everybody, and requests for prayer never cease. Christ's pain and the world's pain are somehow held in tension. The starkness of the liturgy reflects the unfolding drama. What we have to do is to allow the liturgy to do its work in us.