No 28 Winter 2020

Quarr Abbey Steps - Cream

Angels, Stars and Bubbles

He came down to earth from Heaven
Who is God and Lord of all;
And his shelter was . . . a ‘Bubble’!

“Once in Royal David’s City” an unusual visitor arrived. He was man, and also God. There was no place for him in the inn, but a manger welcomed his frail body. He was soon visited, though, together with his ‘support bubble’, by shepherds who had heard angels in heaven singing the first Christmas Carol ever. A little later, three Magi came from the East: “We have seen a star over your ‘bubble’, and we came to see and to adore. Here are our presents. We want to show our love.”

In this year of lock-downs, public health concerns, sufferings and fears of all sorts, … and of ‘bubbles’, I like to imagine a star shining in the night high over each ‘bubble’. Do we realise who is born in our ‘bubble’? Can we believe at all that the Creator of heaven and earth has come to find shelter in our fragile home? Are we deaf and blind, fearfully enclosed in our ‘bubble’; or open and hopeful enough to hear the voices of the angels and see the shining star over our humanity?

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Easter Message 2026

Easter at Quarr is a good season to learn again that
Flowers open after winter months of apparent death,
Birds sing joyfully as they build new nests for their little ones to come,
Lambs gamble and bleat in the meadows.
Even roads reopen (!) giving access to visitors old and new – all welcome!

Will our hearts open, too,
To make peace after conflicts and wars
To forgive after disputes
To foster every human life from its conception to its natural end,
To bring a smile of hope on all faces around?

“Christ is risen from the dead.”
Happy Easter to you all!

Abbot Xavier and the Community