The beauty of the abbey church, wonderful music, and the ancient texts of the Bible bring the hope of Christmas to all.

The simple Cockyard Mission Hall hosts this delightful community celebration of Christmas.

Holy Communion with hymns

A splendid celebration of the work of human hands, the skill of craftspeople, and the gifts of God in creation.

Holy Communion with hymns

Join the abbey and Cockyard congregation for a special celebration of harvest. All welcome - parking limited so please share transport where possible.

Local singers, under the direction of organist Rob Milan, provide the music for a summer afternoon service to celebrate Mary, patron saint of all Cistercian abbeys worldwide.

“As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being. Meditative singing thus becomes a way of listening to God. It allows everyone to take part in a time of prayer together and to remain together in attentive waiting on God, without having to fix the length of time too exactly....
These songs also sustain personal prayer. Through them, little by little, our being finds an inner unity in God. They can continue in the silence of our hearts when we are at work, speaking with others or resting. In this way prayer and daily life are united. They allow us to keep on praying even when we are unaware of it, in the silence of our hearts.”

Taizé is an ecumenical monastic community located in the Burgundy region of east-central France founded in 1940 by Roger Schutz a 25 year old Swiss layman from the Reformed tradition, who was inspired by the Gospel ideals of reconciliation and fraternity. Schultz's goal was to create what he called "a parable of community," where kindness of heart and simplicity would be at the center of daily living and an example of unity bridging religious, social and political divisions.

Brother Roger's vision for the community combined the traditional monastic order of prayer, work and poverty with an explicit commitment to peace and justice. Members of the community take vows of poverty and celibacy. The community is totally self-supporting and accepts no donations. The money which members occasionally inherit from family members is turned over the the poor. Since 1951, small "fraternities" of brothers have lived among the poor in India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Algeria, Brazil, Kenya, Senegal, and New York City.

Today this small group of brothers living in a remote French village has over 100 Catholic and Protestant monks drawn from 30 countries around the world. It is led today by Brother Alois, a German-born Catholic, who was appointed by Brother Roger before his death in 2005.
Over the years the community has become a popular destination for spiritual seekers. It is estimated that over 100,000 young pilgrims from around the world visit Taizé each year.

CONCERT

Founded by Matthew Greenall in 1986, The Elysian Singers of London, under musical director Sam Laughton, is one of the UK’s leading chamber choirs.

Making a welcome return after 3 years, their programme includes music by Purcell, JS Bach and Vivaldi.

More info and tickets: https://concertsforcraswall.org/product/the-elysian-singers-with-sam-laughton/

Programme:

Purcell                  Come, Ye Sons of Art

JS Bach                 Cantata No.39

Purcell                  Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes

Vivaldi                  Gloria RV589

Known for their adventurous programming and imaginative repertoire, The Elysian Singers with Sam Laughton are a leading UK choir who regularly give concerts in and around London. Priding themselves on reaching consistently high performance standards, their entry requirements are rigorous. In spite of this, they maintain a friendly and relaxed atmosphere embracing singers from all backgrounds.

They have recorded a number of enthusiastically received CDs, the latest of which is “MacMillan: One Equal Music” released in 2019 celebrating the enormous and varied contribution of Sir James MacMillan, their patron, to the choral repertoire over the last 20 years.

As a former organ scholar at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he read music, their Director Sam Laughton now juggles dual careers as a barrister and musician. He is also the Director of the Craswall Players, the Chiltern Camerata, and the Speen Festival. Much in demand as a guest conductor, working with such orchestras as the Oxford Sinfonia, Kensington Chamber Orchestra, Kew Sinfonia, Orchestra of the City, Crendon Chamber Orchestra and Trinity Camerata. In addition, as a keyboard player he has worked with the groups as varied as Oxford Philomusica, the Joyful Company of Singers, English National Opera and Garsington Opera.

After a three year break, and with an intelligent programme again directed by Sam Laughton, we have no doubt you will feel amply rewarded by their performance. Not to mention the excellent turnout they always elicit at Dore Abbey.

Join the local churches as they celebrate local flora and fauna, and discover the moths that live in and around the Abbey.

Moths, gently trapped overnight, will be identified and released.

A celebration service Outdore will follow.

Cantorion Sanctaidd (Sacred Voices) invite you to join us for a lunchtime concert on Saturday 25th June at Dore Abbey at 12 noon.

Cantorion Sanctaidd’s motto is ‘Sing, Praise, Inspire’, and we perform in community halls churches and cathedrals.

We are a mixed choir which draws members from all over South East Wales and we perform a variety of short anthems and inspirational music by the likes of John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, Robert Arwyn and many others.

We very much look forward to singing at Dore Abbey and hope to see you there.

£5 – concert.

£5 – light lunch in the garden with the choir, following the concert

Discover more about the choir that brings together Christian choristers from across Monmouthshire on the website.

Join the local churches at the very special Cockyard venue for this Prayer Book service of Holy Communion. All welcome.

June 5th 1030  Songs of Praise with HM the Queen’s favourite hymns

 Followed by a Bring and Share lunch in the gardenhosted by the Abbey and the Abbeydore Village Hall. 

Bring food  and drinks to share – plates, cutlery, glasses provided.

Please let us know if you plan to join us for lunch: 

Sylvia Rothwell [email protected]     07748 311618

Sarah Roberts [email protected]   01981 240565

Four simple elements combine to make Taizé prayer:

Psalms / Chants

Jesus prayed these age-old prayers of his people. Christians have always found a wellspring of life in them. The psalms place us in the great communion of all believers. Our joys and sorrows, our trust in God, our thirst and even our anguish find expression in the psalms.

Readings

Reading Scripture is a way of going to “the inexhaustible wellspring by which God gives himself to thirsting human beings” (Origen, 3rd century). The Bible is a “letter from God to creatures” that enables them “to discover God’s heart in God’s words” (Gregory the Great, 6th century).

Silence

When we try to express communion with God in words, our minds quickly come up short. But, in the depths of our being, through the Holy Spirit, Christ is praying far more than we imagine.

Although God never stops trying to communicate with us, this is never in order to impose. The voice of God is often heard only in a whisper, in a breath of silence. Remaining in silence in God’s presence, open to the Holy Spirit, is already prayer.

The road to contemplation is not one of achieving inner silence at all costs by following some technique that creates a kind of emptiness within. If, instead, with a childlike trust we let Christ pray silently within us, then one day we shall discover that the depths of our being are inhabited by a Presence.

Prayers of intercession

A prayer composed of short petitions or acclamations, sustained by humming, with each petition followed by a response sung by all, can form a kind of “pillar of fire” at the heart of the prayer. Praying for others widens our prayer to the dimensions of the entire human family; we entrust to God the joys and the hopes, the sorrows and the sufferings of all people, particularly those who are forgotten. A prayer of praise enables us to celebrate all that God is for us.

When there are five Sundays in a month, we hold a single morning service for all the churches in our clusters.

CONCERT

It is a rare treat indeed to have such leading international musicians perform amidst the remote hills of south west Herefordshire!

Comprising leader of the London Symphony Orchestra Roman Simovic; principal viola with the Ulster Orchestra Milena Simovic; principal cello with The London Symphony Orchestra David Cohen, and multi award winning pianist Wu Qian, this is an impressive international piano quartet not to be missed.

Featuring music by Mahler, Fauré and Brahms.

Tickets and more info: https://concertsforcraswall.org/product/piano-quartet/

COURSE

Enabling Worship is for those who are, or who may become involved in leading worship with their cluster of parishes, as well as those interested in a deeper understanding of worship.

The Courses has 8 sessions on Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm. In March the sessions are on Zoom. In May each takes place in a church in the deanery.

For more information contact Anne Lloyd [email protected] 01981 620145

Come for a 9.30am start to the Rogation Ramble around the abbey and village. This is followed at 10.30am by an Outdore service in the cloister garden. If it’s wet or snowing everything will happen in the abbey.

Climate change, pollution, environmental damage, plastic waste and over-exploitation of resources have re-focussed our minds and readjusted our priorities. Worship outdoors during the first two years of the pandemic opened our eyes, ears and hearts to delight of recognising our place within creation. You might remember the sweet, refreshing rain, the gentle whispers of breeze, birdsong and bees. Not forgetting the day when a large beech at Dore Abbey blew down a few days after we’d gathered beneath it at Pentecost recalling the ‘rushing mighty’ wind the disciples experienced.

COURSE

Enabling Worship is for those who are, or who may become involved in leading worship with their cluster of parishes, as well as those interested in a deeper understanding of worship.

The Courses has 8 sessions on Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm. In March the sessions are on Zoom. In May each takes place in a church in the deanery.

For more information contact Anne Lloyd [email protected] 01981 620145

COURSE

Enabling Worship is for those who are, or who may become involved in leading worship with their cluster of parishes, as well as those interested in a deeper understanding of worship.

The Courses has 8 sessions on Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm. In March the sessions are on Zoom. In May each takes place in a church in the deanery.

For more information contact Anne Lloyd [email protected] 01981 620145

The offering of prayer late in the evening, by laity, religious orders or clergy, often called Compline, has sometimes been described as the ‘goodnight prayer of the Church.’ It rounds off the days and prepares us for a quiet night. As the psalmist wrote:

I lie down in peace and take my rest
for it is in God alone that I dwell unafraid.

Night Prayer derives its content from the wisdom of centuries in Scripture and above all in the psalms, but also from contemporary Christian experience of God. It celebrates the awareness that each of us who tries to pray is a part of the human whole. So we are taken over from the threshold from daytime, not in a mood of self-centered spirituality, but as representatives of humanity, acknowledging our creaturehood before God.