FOR HOMELESS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 October 1932, Page 2

FOR HOMELESS

I BAND OF MONKS. LONDON, September 4. «.. 'ln the wild and beautiful uplands of Dorsetshire, . nine miles from any, railway station, live a little community of modern Franciscans, who devote themselves to the redemption of the highway. They call themselved the Brotherhood of .St Francis in the Church of England. ~ ‘‘Abandon swank all ye who enter here,” is the legend above the door of., the recreation room, and these words epitomise the spirit of the place where anyone is wek-omcd,„and no questions asked, so long as he/-: is prepnre : dii§£ ; work. Everyone mUsif work in the', hostel of St Francis. Market gardening is the chief industry, but painting; weaving, rnat and basket making and rough carpentry are also carried cay and a neighbouring farmer often trains as milkers men who were once down' and out. The benches in the chapel have been carved by wayfarers; others carve faces of St.- Francis out of wood, to be _ sold to visitors, and when they have rested and recuperated in the hostel homeless men haw' work found for them by the brothers in the outside world. There is> accommodation for about forty nien and visitors in the place, which is called Cerne Abbas, this number being regarded as the proper limit for a fnmily circle—which is what this modern home of St Francis is iff reality. Each map receives his keep, necessary clothing* ancl half-n-cro c r . a week pocket money, and, in addition, a shilling a week is placed to his credit. Many of the brothers are priests, but some of them are laymen, who have given up the world to live a life of Franciscan simplicity in the heart of the country. One brother, who had been at Cerne Abbas nearly seven years was once a printer in Fleet Street.