Sarah Sands’ recent book, The Interior Silence: 10 Lessons from Monastic Life, was reviewed in these pages last month. Elsewhere in the issue the author reflected on its creation, concluding that “I have learned how little I know, and how more wisdom is to be found among the monastic writers.” I recognised the sentiment immediately, having written on similar themes myself, and it spurred me on to further reflection on the subject.
One of the things about living in Oxford is that it sometimes seems impossible to move for religious communities. On St Giles’ alone there are the Benedictines at St Benet’s Hall, the Dominicans at Blackfriars, and the Oratorians at St Aloysius Gonzaga; the Jesuits occupy Campion Hall on Brewer Street, and the Capuchins are at Greyfriars on the Iffley Road. Meanwhile, the Conventual Franciscans (the actual Greyfriars) have established themselves in the former home of the Anglican All Saints Sisters of the Poor, just off the Cowley Road.
