Today’s guest is Brother Thierry, a French Benedictine monk who has lived in Northern Ireland for the past 22 years. Ages ago, when I visited Holy Cross Monastery where he’s based, I remembering Brother Thierry coming to welcome our group, and I was impressed by his gracious hospitality and the inviting and accessible way he spoke to our group about Benedictine spiritual practice, especially the role of silence. Then, earlier this year, Brother Thierry and I were a part of a panel on Contemplative Prayer for the Four Corners Festival in Belfast, and once again I was struck by the wisdom he has to offer about prayer and silence. So, I was delighted when he said he would talk with me on this podcast about the Benedictine rhythm of prayer, which includes a swift cycle of daily Psalm singing. In this conversation, we talk about finding happiness in a life of prayer, about being called to pray when others can’t, about how prayer is the only place we can be who we truly are, and about how silence is a listening relationship.
I was grateful to get an inside perspective on monastic life, and as always, I was moved by the way prayer – and in particular, the psalms – can bring us together across religious divides.
Find out more about Holy Cross Monastery in Rostrevor, Northern Ireland where Brother Thierry is based.
The music in this episode is by Celtic Psalms (Kiran Young Wimberly & The McGraths). You can purchase mp3s directly through www.celticpsalms.com
Come, Spirit, Come (Psalm 144)
Their Delight (Psalm 1 - forthcoming album, preorder here)
Love is Lord of All (Psalm 86)
You can find our published scores, CDs and mp3s through GIA Music
Ep. 14 Listening in the Silence for What is True, with Brother Thierry