"On Sunday, the first snowfall of December covers the Convent of St. Birgitta in a blanket of pure white. "The world is cloaked in beauty today," Father David Blanchfield says as he begins delivering morning mass to a dozen or so churchgoers bundled up in puffy parkas and thick scarves. Sitting inside feels spiritually counterproductive. Snow, to me, has always felt holy. The purity of it, delivered straight from the heavens. The way it elongates shadows and sparkles in the sun."
"My stay here marks the first time in my adult life that I've attended mass beyond weddings and funerals for various Irish-American relatives, and I am self-conscious of the fact that I no longer know the phrases and hand gestures that constitute Catholic prayer. For this reason I excommunicate myself to the back pew, where a fellow delinquent has carved their name into the dark wood, alongside a scribbled message I can't quite make out."
Morning mass at the Convent of St. Birgitta unfolds amid the first December snowfall, with Father David Blanchfield leading a small, warmly bundled congregation. Visitors are welcome to sit or leave; guests are not required to attend daily services or share a particular faith. Vikingsborg Guest House in Darien, Connecticut occupies a 10-acre estate with woodland paths, rocky gardens, and a lake-like inlet of Long Island Sound. Since 1957, believers and non-believers have used the convent as a retreat. The Darien location is part of a global network of Bridgettine convents that offer guest accommodations and spiritual hospitality.
Read at Conde Nast Traveler
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