Dear Friends,
The month of July was relatively quiet. I left the United States on the 3rd July, which meant that I missed
their celebration of Independance Day.
We used the summer, given the better weather and the presence of our usual seminary and student guests, to
do preparatory work on the Abbey estate in preparation for the restoration of the Abbey Farm. Until the BSE
or ‘mad cow’ problems in British farming, we rented out our fields to a local farmer who kept cattle until
the late eighties. In more recent years the Abbey fields were leased for the grazing of horses. The English
Heritage and National Lottery restoration of the Abbey in 2000 saw the securing of our eastern boundaries.
A two and a half metre fence was erected in the hedge of the Church Path. This has restored to us a measure
of security, since it was from weak spots at that side of the estate that most intrusions onto our property
came. Once the fields are prepared, it is our intention to keep animals once again.
The Abbey Press was paid a massive compliment in the form of a review of one of our publications by His
Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. The cardinal is head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
and is a man of considerable intellect and charm. It is a great honour for us that we should find one of
our publications reviewed by one so near the heart of the Church. We have printed the review in this
edition of Laudetur.
Father Magnus was away for a well-earned rest from his Novice Master and Bursar’s duties with his family
for a couple of weeks.
Amongst the seminarians we welcomed last month were Fabien Revol and Martin Charcosset, both from the south
of France. Fabien was here to improve his English in preparation for a study exchange in Canada this coming
year. Martin was here simply to become even more cultivated than already he is. They did much work in
restoring the paths into our woods, making a splendid sight in shorts, mud, and chainsaw.
Sincerely in the Lord,
rchived 
ews
