Watched The Convent last night on BBC2. After only a few minutes I was hooked. The contrast between the participants and the nuns was poignant to say the least. It will be interesting to see how it develops. I am already measuring it up against the Benedictine monks of Worth Abbey: a series which ran last year and had a follow-up last week. The nuns, being Poor Clares (at Arundel) have a less celubrious lifestyle, but their life of discipline seems to have freed them to be authentic and compassionate. I am hoping that the four women who are spending forty days with them, find a depth of inner peace and assurance.
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The life and thoughts of Freda Marshall, a retired Church of Scotland minister living amongst the mountains and glens of Argyll.Pages
Hi. I’m checking out Joan’s blog “Big mac in byte size” and that in turn led me to your site…and when I saw this entry about The Convent on BBC well then I knew I would have to drop in and say “something”.
I’m a U.S.A. citizen but I live 7-9 months each year in The Netherlands (hubby is Dutch) so we watch BBC…and I have really enjoyed The Convent.
I am hanging on each word that the nuns are sharing with these young women and am totally inspired by the wisdom and the gentleness of the nuns.
At first blush, I thought the BBC treatment of the ladies was too superficial. But after this last Wednesday’s show (with Vic’s dilemma and Debi’s breakthrough, i.e. “talitha koum” or “arise, young girl”) … well … I was just in tears for joy over faith itself.
beautiful done, imo
kind regards,
Maggie
Thanks for the comment Maggie, I am looking forward to the next programme.
Hello – I am pleased that you are enjoying the programme. The choice to make the journey was so important and the experience enlightening. This part of the journey – the sharing of it through the medium of television, is another step in that journey – and very challenging at times! We have not seen the programmes, so watch with you (well, actually – I watch it afterwards, as I do not own a television!)
As the programme can only, by its very nature, present the small part of our journeys chosen by the programme makers, I wanted to share a little more of my own personal unfolding and questioning, in my own words. To share this with you, I am posting extracts of my journals, kept duing my time at the Convent, onto our website (www.wildwomenpress.com) concurrently with the programme release, as well as publishing Fragments, a collection of the 40 poems I wrote during my stay (1 for each day!). Please come along and visit, if you so wish. Meanwhile, peace be with you. Love Victoria x
Thanks Victoria, I have put a link to your website for tomorrow. Your diary and poems are very moving; however, I am not going too far ahead of the programmes as I like to see it all unfold. Every blessing.
Hallo Freda,
I’ve just come across your site when looking up references to “The Convent”. I saw only the last two episodes as, like Victoria, I don’t have a television, and I really am sorry to have missed the first two. The experiences of the four women were deeply authentic. I know: because I spent a year and a half in an enclosed contemplative community in France. I’ve written a book about the experience, which was at the same time enriching and agonising. It was an experience that I wouldn’t have missed for the world. As a result, I found the episodes of The Convent deeply moving, and was very pleased to see the positive view of nuns that emerged from it. My book is called The Secret Ladder, and you can read more about it on my website http://www.noreenmackey.com
Thanks Noreen, and I shall certainly look up the book.
Thank you Freda, for this gorgeous website, which I’m delighted to have discovered.