The community of Notre Dame Priory got a taste of what it was like for the Holy Family to spend the first Christmas in a stable — due to our distance from Colebrook and the difficulty involved in going back and forth, we decided to spend Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday in a shearing shed in Colebrook, thanks to the courtesy of some dear friends there. To tell the truth, it was much more comfortable than the stable of Bethlehem, but still, especially for the Queenslanders among us, getting up at 3:30 for Tenebrae in the cold Tasmanian night was an unusual experience. That didn’t prevent the young community from celebrating all the ceremonies with the property solemnity. In particular the two-hour Tenebrae office on the last three days of the Great Week, and the afternoon celebrations of the Lord’s Supper, the Mass of the Presanctified and the Paschal Vigil in the evening of Holy Saturday. A few friends were able to come and take part, but the beautiful St Patrick’s Church was for the most part empty. The cross was not absent, as our dear sacristan Tomas came down with a virus on Holy Tuesday, leaving him less efficient than usual in this all-important task for Holy Week. On Holy Saturday afternoon, Father Prior started feeling the cold aches of what feels like a flue bug. At this hour on Easter Sunday afternoon, he is feeling a little better, but only the next few days will tell…
We wish each and everyone of you all the blessings of Paschaltide. As a humble present, here a few shots of our ceremonies in Colebrook (as well as the temporary “pop-up priory”!
