 When
St. Osmund was Bishop of Sarum he lived as part of a community of
canons, priests who shared a common life, evidence of which still
exists in the titles of Salisbury’s Anglican Cathedral clergy
such as precentor ( that is first cantor). About that time many of
the villages around Salisbury had monks or nuns living in community.
Amesbury had an Abbey, Wilton had a convent, home to St. Edith, and
other sites bear the name Abbas, recalling monastic routes.
Very likely there were mixed communities also, as was practised
in the Anglo-Saxon monastic way of life, and evidenced in the Celtic
monasteries by such surnames as MacNab (the son of the Abbot), MacTaggart
(son of the priest) and so on.
In recent years there have been the Sisters of the French order
of La Retraite, now in Belle Vue road, and for many years in the
twentieth century the daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul were a
familiar site in the parish of St. Osmund and St. Gregory’s.
Wilton also had a French order of sisters until the mid 1980’s,
the sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux.
Today the Alabaré Christian Community is continuing this
tradition of ever old, ever new expressions of Christian Community.
Alabaré House in Tollgate Road has been established as a
house of Prayer where people have begun to live according to a rule
based on that of the religious houses mentioned above. If you would
like to visit the Community, or join them for the Prayer of the
Church, please speak to Deacon John and Lee Proctor, Sr. Maisie
Nevin, or any members of the Community.
As with the houses of old, hospitality is part of the way of life,
being an expression of the love of Christ for all people. Hostels
for the homeless and others in need have already been established,
and are now run by our sister charity, Alabaré Christian
Care Centres. If you would like to support the Community in its
new ventures of community living please ask one of the Community
how you can get involved or contact
us by e-mail.
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