The names of our great monastic houses pepper the annals of history: Westminster, Sherborne, Glastonbury, Fountains,
Rievaulx... The litany of names seems endless. Each house has produced its stories and legends, its saints and sinners, and
each has, somehow, left an indelible mark on the history of the nation. Bishops, scholars, statesman and even monarchs have
progressed to the pinnacles of fame and power from their first lessons with monastery walls.
Few men or women could imagine the ravages of the reformation and the mass destruction
of the monastic fabric of the nation. Whilst some religious houses survived as cathedrals and parish churches, the future
for many was that of desecration, vandalism and as a free supply of quarried stone. The memory of monasticism faded from the
popular imagination, save for the jovial likes of Friar Tuck and the prejudiced images stirred up by government propaganda.
But... though most of the religious houses of the nation remain ruins, now happily cared
for and preserved, monasticism has returned to Britain.
In the Christian tradition we now have monks and nuns within Anglicanism, Roman, Catholicism
and Orthodoxy living the monastic life in the British Isles. However, for many people the mystery remains.
v What is monasticism?
v What inspired – and still inspires - men and women to embrace the monastic life?
v Quite simply, what do monks and nuns do?
v Was there more to monasticism in the past than we might think when reading the pages of
Chaucer?
v What has monasticism done for us?
The
St. Dunstan Project aims to bring a monastic presence, albeit temporary, back to the historical sites of England's great religious
houses.
It envisages an English monastic, both monk and qualified teacher, chanting the daily round
of monastic services, reflecting the liturgical traditions of medieval England and its Sarum rite, but within living monasticism,
not simply as a living history project. Medieval religious culture, piety and mentality would be explained and shared together
with the melodies of Gregorian chant, the monastic prayers and readings for the seasons and the sharing of traditional monastic
crafts.
Working under the supervision of the education officer and staff of host 'religious houses'
the monk-teacher would share the meaning of monastic life, prayer and culture with visitors, both old and young.
An integral part of the project would be the devising and publication of educational materials related not only to
monasticism past and present, but also in relation to particular religious houses and their history and the religion and piety
of the Middle Ages. Materials would be linked to the National Curriculum and practical use in the school classroom.
