The Nativity Scene and the Monastery Cloisters lighted with candles!

On Sunday 11th December 2016 - the 3rd Sunday of Advent - Brother Andrew made his First Profession for three years as a monk of Buckfast.

Fratelli Ruffatti has been chosen to carry out the building of the new organ for the Abbey Church. When completed, the instrument will have 100 ranks of pipes and will be divided into two main sections: the Quire organ, with four manual divisions and pedal division; and the Gallery organ, with two manual divisions and its own pedal division. Both organs will be controlled by either of two four-manual consoles, one of which, located in the Quire area, will feature electrically-powered height-adjustable manuals and stop jambs.

The first Presentation Ceremony at Buckfast of Diploma and other certificates for students of the School of the Annunciation. The speech given during the ceremony in the Medieval Hall was delivered by Francis Campbell, Vice-chancellor of St. Mary's University, Twickenham. The certificates were presented by the Rt. Rev. Mark O'Toole, Bishop of Plymouth - one of the Patrons of the School. The Presentation Ceremony was followed by Pontifical Mass in the Abbey Church. Luncheon was then served in the St. Cuthbert's Centre.

Every year following the High Mass on the Solemnity of Christ the King the Blessed Sacrament is taken in procession to the chapel at the East End of the Abbey Church for a time of exposition until Vespers.

The new standard for the Buckfastleigh Branch of the Royal British Legion was dedicated at St. Luke's C of E church in Buckfastleigh on the 4th November. Buckfast Abbey and various Buckfastleigh businesses contributed funds for the new standard.

The Monastic Cemetery was prepared for the Blessing after the All Souls Conventual Mass.

The Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court are working on a set of vestments to mark the millennium of the foundation of Buckfast Abbey. The vestments are the gift of a benefactor. 

Buckfast's Giant Redwood, Wellingtonia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, felled on 27^th - 28^th September 2016.

This Giant Redwood was planted in Victorian times. In recent years its foliage has looked a little on the sparse side. It was inspected on a number of occasions and was deemed unsafe. Once felled it was seen to have been hollow at the base. 

29th September 2016 - Coffee Fair at the Abbey restaurant in association with Voyager Buckfastlesigh Coffee Company

Pontifical Mass in honour of our Blessed Lady.  In the afternnon a procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.

A Man for All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt and depicts the final years of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Lord Chancellor of England who refused to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul King Henry VIII of England's marriage to Catherine of Aragon and resigned rather than take an Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church of England. The play portray More as a tragic hero, motivated by his devout Roman Catholic faith and envied by rivals, such as Thomas Cromwell. He is also deeply loved by his family and respected by the common people. The film's story is set between 1529 and 1535, at the high point of the reign of Henry VIII of England. 

Annual Outdoor Theatre Production from 5th -10th September 2016.

Robert Bolt's award winning play about Sir Thomas More and his battle with his conscience and his king.

Photos by Paul Eaton

Summer School on Sacred Art. This 4 day residential also acts as an introductory residential to the 1-year Sacred Art course. Course members are shown around the medieval church of St. John the Baptist at Ashton in the Devon countryside.

Twelve Catholic Primary Schools came to Buckfast to celebrate the life of St. Peter with the Bishop of Plymouth, the Rt. Rev. Mark O'Toole. The day was arranged by Philip Arkwright, Organist and Master of the Music at Buckfast, who composed the music, and Nicola Stack, Headteacher of Buckfast's St. Mary's RC Primary School. The day was filmed by BBC South West.

Bishop Mark O'Toole celebrated Mass with various branches of the Catholic Women's League in the Diocese of Plymouth. This is an annual pilgrimage during which the CWL make the offering of the lamp that burns in the Chapel of Our Lady of Buckfast.

Holy Mass was celebrated on 4th April for the transfered Solemnity of the Annunciation. The staff of the School of the Annunciation made their annual profession of faith during the Mass. At the end of the Mass the new edition of the Cathecism of the Catholic Church was present by Mr Fergal Martin, General Secretary of the Catholic Truth Society, to the Rt. Rev. Mark O'Toole, Bishop of Plymouth, to the Rt. Rev. David Charlesworth, Abbot of Buckfast, and to Rev. Fr. Guy de Gaynesford, Rector of the School of the Annunciation. 

Decoration of the Monastic Refectory and general tidy-up.  The Calefactory is used as the temporary refectory.  

The River Dart at Buckfast was at it highest so far this Winter.  The river partially flooded the meadow between the monastery and the river bank. It is more than 30 years since the meadow was completely flooded.

After the Blessing of Candles in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel the Procession proceeded into the Abbey Church for Holy Mass. 

Pasture land and woods to the North of the Abbey - silent and secluded.

Buckfast's Dom Daniel attended the meeting which took place at Our Lady of Hyning Abbey in Lancashire.

    Archbishop Francisco Javier Martínez Fernández of Granada, Spain, visited Buckfast in December 2015. During his visit he was especially shown the work of the School of the Annunciation.