There is a hole in the Lady Chapel; the roof is being repaired and the Abbey is freezing. The Vigil with welcoming of catechumens lasted three hours. I was hunched in my four layers including scarf and anorak. I’m not sure I went to bed full of joy, just tired and cold.

We were discussing Aquinas’s proofs of the existence of God. My belief is that these rational proofs are themselves subject to leaps of reason. Religion can only be preached; the proof of its value is the effect it has on one.