Brother Gregory's visit to India
Posted on 24th April 2016 by Br. Gildas
Brother Gregory last week visited the Priory of St Norbert in Mananthavady in India. "A very exotic holiday for a Religious," I hear you say, but he actually went to participate in the latest meeting of the juniors of the Order, so it wasn't really a holiday, although it was quite exotic.Mananthavady is in Kerala, the south-west part of India, which has historic Catholic roots, thanks to the evangelisation of St Thomas the Apostle. Many Keralites are also Syriac Rite, rather than Latin Rite, and we were able to experience the Syriac liturgy in all its richness during our visit.Junior meetings happen every 6 years (in between General Chapters), and began in the 70s as a way to allow the young people of the Order to fraternise with one another. Because our Order is very decentralised, unless a brother has a top job, or is sent as a delegate to the General Chapter, it is rare that Norbertines really get to meet each other in big numbers.There were about 20 juniors from Europe and America, and 30 from India, and Father Abbot General presided over the gathering, alongside the Prelate of Mananthavady.Here are some introductory pictures. I'll write a couple of posts on this subject, so do not fear: expect more photographs and videos!
Priory Church at Mananthavady
Interior of the Priory Church
Pontifical Mass in the Syro-Malabar Rite, with the Bishop of Mananthavady
Launch of the Meeting. Father Abbot General gets extra balloons.
Father Abbot General tells us about Abbot Bohm from Tepla
Father Prior from Mondaye, Chelmsford's closest neighbour, as the crow flies
The Priory has an extensive plantation, which grows tea and bananas
Bananas
A dragon in the tea plant
The cow shed, with cow.
The cemetery - founded in the 1970s from Tepla in Germany, the Priory has only 2 dead
The tea plantation
We were also fortunate enough to be able to visit the tea factory, where the leaves are processed and powdered. Although I'm not a fan of the decadent teabag fashion, I appreciated seeing how it all happened. The smell in the factory was the smell one gets when opening a new packet of tea: rich, malty and dusty.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg3b0yOwM9I&w=560&h=315]
Priory Church at Mananthavady Interior of the Priory Church Pontifical Mass in the Syro-Malabar Rite, with the Bishop of Mananthavady Launch of the Meeting. Father Abbot General gets extra balloons. Father Abbot General tells us about Abbot Bohm from Tepla Father Prior from Mondaye, Chelmsford's closest neighbour, as the crow flies The Priory has an extensive plantation, which grows tea and bananas Bananas A dragon in the tea plant The cow shed, with cow. The cemetery - founded in the 1970s from Tepla in Germany, the Priory has only 2 dead The tea plantationWe were also fortunate enough to be able to visit the tea factory, where the leaves are processed and powdered. Although I'm not a fan of the decadent teabag fashion, I appreciated seeing how it all happened. The smell in the factory was the smell one gets when opening a new packet of tea: rich, malty and dusty.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg3b0yOwM9I&w=560&h=315]