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Alma Mater
October 3, 2024 @ 8:00 am – October 6, 2024 @ 5:00 pm
It is the year of our Lord, 1535.
The convent of Whitwood Abbey, dedicated to the Nurturing Mother (Alma Mater), has stood on this spot for nearly three hundred years. For you, the religious sisters who dwell within, it provides a protection; a vocation; a routine – and above all a strict Rule of life.
The great mother Church provided well-born ladies, like you, a shelter outside of the cultural norms of marriage and motherhood. In return, you provide spiritual connection by reciting the psalms, and by following the ancient laws of stability and obedience.
From time to time, your obedience would be assessed by visiting Church officials; but your Abbey has never been found wanting.
But times are changing. The King, Henry viii, battled to end his first marriage for years. The dispute between the King and the Church allowed powerful men into the government – men whose goal is Protestant reform. The new Queen has brought this closer.
You are now – whether you will or no – part of a new church, the Church of England.
There is no certainty. There is no stability. There is to be an inspection.