Welcome
We invite you to draw near to our community and learn something of its soul. Founded in 1848 by the 29 year old vicar of Wantage, William John Butler, it is one of the earliest traditional Church of England Religious Communities. It is dedicated to Mary the Mother of Jesus, the pondering one. Like Mary we want to draw closer to God:
• through our daily five-fold Office and in the Eucharist
• through waiting on God in our personal prayer
• in listening to God in our relationships with our Sisters
• by looking outwards to God’s presence in our guests and neighbours and in the joys and sufferings of contemporary society.
We invite you to visit or come and stay on our Guest Wing for quiet and reflection, to share, as you wish, in our worship in Chapel. We offer spiritual guidance and we host groups for quiet days and retreats.
There may be an opportunity to be with the Community for an extended time as an Alongsider.
NEWS
An extract from our latest news items is shown here, click on the headline to read the full story or visit our news archive on the News page …
EVENTS
Betwixt St. Francis and St. Luke: Taking Healing Lessons from Creation
Summer in lockdown
Sister Stella writes ... After about nearly three months of lockdown when frustration over necessary constrictions for protecting our vulnerable Sisters on the Infirmary Wing needed to be expressed and responded to, we invited the Ven Caroline Baston, our Warden, to...
Nature flourishing
Amidst all the building work at St Marys Convent nature is being nurtured and is flourishing. The swallows and swifts returned this year as usual, a brood of great spotted woodpeckers was raised in the tree beside the greenhouse, the gold finches have been taking grit...
