Retreat 2024

Our annual retreat for this year was led by Bishop Erik Varden, OCSO, a monk of our Order and Bishop of Trondheim, Norway.

Bishop Erik led us through a meditation on the wounds of Christ by means of a medieval poem long attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux, but now recognized as bring a work of Arnulf of Leuven (1200-1250), abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Villers in Belgium.  The Rhythmica oratio, or 'rhythmic prayer', also known as the Membra Jesu nostri, is a seven-part hymn to the members of Christ's crucified body, from the feet, to the knees, the hands, the side, the breast, the heart and the face.  We were invited to gaze on our crucified Lord with the aid of scripture, liturgy, literature, film, music and art, in order to taste the unfathomable mystery of the Incarnation, the man of glory and of grief, whose pain is productive, whose medicinal wounds give life.

For some, the most memorable moment of the retreat came when we listened together to a cycle of seven cantatas based on the Membra Jesu nostri, composed by Dieterich Buxtehude in 1680 as a devotione decantata or 'sung devotion'.  Here, a selection of three verses from each of the seven hymns is framed by a scriptural verse which speaks to the part of Christ's body in question.  It is a powerful musical experience which integrates scriptural seeds of the mystery of Incarnation with poetic exploration of its devotional meaning.

Anyone interested in learning more may look for Bishop Erik's forthcoming book, Healing Wounds.

Other resources:
https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/salve-mundi-salutare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membra_Jesu_Nostri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWbBK2poJlE