A Religious Connection
The last Augustinian students to pass through the doors of Allen Hall have now been ordained for over a year. With such a gap in vocations there was renewed debate about the best place to send their student for philosophy before theology at the Augustinian House in Rome.
Allen Hall has been a great choice for the well-roundedness of the course and the level of teaching; but at the same time as being sheltered from the freneticism of Chelsea, it has an active life of talks, days of recollection, celebratory meals and visitors from all around the world.
It is a great benefit to be studying with a large group of new recruits, but in fact I am now in my third year of religious life. After my postulancy in Edinburgh, I was sent to the novitiate in Wisconsin, mid-west United States of America. Following this fairly enclosed year in a monastery with a community who differed quite considerably in culture and mentality, I then had to readapt to Hammersmith!
I now live in a community of seven, spending my weekends at the Augustinian House in Hoxton Square in the East End. One of the most attractive qualities of Augustine and his spirituality is the balance: there is no need to flagellate yourself or indulge in overly pious activities; community life lived properly is the natural asceticism—the denial of oneself for love along with an emphasis on studies and the common search for the Truth, as well as on communion in faith and friendship. God then, is the beating heart of the community—because it is here that we work out our salvation in fear and trembling, making community an end in itself. As much of a wonderful experience as this may be, I still appreciate the environment of Allen Hall to study and "get away".