A holiday from life...

I came across this website today for Downside Abbey near Bath in the South West of England. It brought flooding back memories of my stay there quite some years ago...

In 1989, when I was an actor, I was cast as a priest in a play about religion, politics and witchcraft in medieval England. At the time I knew very little about Catholicism - modern or medieval so, as part of my research, I spent a few days at the abbey.

Downside is a community of Benedictine monks many of whom spend their time teaching at the famous school which shares the same site. Also on site is a wonderful library, which I had access to during my stay with them. There's something wonderful about the smell of old books and some of the books in the abbey's library are very old indeed.

Each day I shadowed the monks as they went about their duties; from Vigils at 6am to Compline at 8pm. I sat in church as they sang their prayers and in the refectory I ate with them in silence while a novice monk read aloud from Tolstoy's Letters from the Crimea.

Over a couple of bottles of wine, I talked into the night with some of them about medieval church history. They instructed me on how to take mass, coached me on how to sprinkle holy water, helped me with medieval church latin and taught me how to wear a habit.

I was shown what was claimed to be a relic of the true cross. It makes little difference whether it's genuine or not; its power arises from the thousands who have placed such faith in it. It's such an odd feeling seeing this lump of wood sitting in its glass casket, knowing that it has been the subject of such veneration down the years. Such a very odd feeling indeed for a confirmed atheist.

My stay at Downside served its purpose well in terms of preparing me to play the role of a medieval catholic priest but that is not the memory I'm left with now, some 22 years later. It is the hospitality and kindness of this very dedicated and erudite community of monks that stays with me; their sense of humour and their sense of fun. Yes, we're poles apart in many respects but there's more that binds us than separates and there are lessons we can take from each other.

Some years after the production had finished I returned for another stay of a few days and a year or two after that returned again for a short visit. It's so very peaceful at Downside; an ideal place to rest your mind - to assess and refocus. Whether you're religious or not doesn't really matter; it's a haven for contemplation.

The abbey is set in the small village of Stratton-on-the-Fosse. It's surrounded by the most beautiful countryside with a nearby pub to retire to in the evening. Perfection. It's the closest I've ever come to having a holiday from life - something perhaps we need from time to time...?

Today's run at 16:23
Distance	4.05 km	Time	22:28
Pace	5:33 min/km	Cadence	81 spm
Comments: Spitting...