Howton Grove Priory | Mobile WebsiteSharing a Vocation with the World . . .

Presentation of Our Lady

One of the minor feasts of Our Lady, today is special to many Benedictines because it is the day on which, by something of a legal fiction, the last monk of Marian Westminster transferred to two younger men all the rights of the pre-Reformation English Benedictine Congregation, thus enabling the English Congregation of today to claim unbroken continuity with its medieval predecessor. Although we are no longer members of the E.B.C. we too keep it as a Dies Memorabilis and share their joy. It is a reminder that numbers aren't everything, God's purposes cannot be thwarted by mere mortals any more than Mary's insignificance in human terms could thwart God's mighty plan of salvation. (And as the prioress was clothed on this day, we get a better dinner to help us remember!)