In This House of Brede
By Rumer Godden

672 Pages • $13.95

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
AND REFLECTION

In This House of Brede
By Rumer Godden

[Open a pdf version]

Use the following questions as guides to deeper individual understanding of the novel or for group discussion.

1. Philippa Talbot makes a radical change in her life. What was she sacrificing? Why?

2. How did the tragedy that befell Philippa’s son change her? Why do you think she refrained from sharing this experience with her Brede sisters for so long? What finally forced her to do so? What feelings did this part of the plot evoke in you as a reader?

3. In what ways did Philippa experience the skills and attitudes from her successful professional life as a hindrance in her growth as a nun? What were the values that she had to learn to embrace?

4. Cecily reflects on her decision to enter Brede by saying, “I only had to have the courage.” (p. 94) Courage is a theme of Philippa’s decision as well. Why did it take “courage” to enter Brede? Where do you think the courage to make difficult decisions comes from?

5. Why did Brede exist? What was its work and role in the church and in the world?

6. Do you think this was important work? How is it still important work today?

7. Dame Agnes says of the Divine Office, “This is our craft. . . . The craft of a contemplative religious, and as a good workman, an artist, loves his craft, we must delight in ours.” (p. 185) What is the role of the Divine Office in the life of Brede? What is your view of the value of this sort of prayer?

8. Our image of enclosed contemplative religious life is sometimes that of a group completely shut off from the world. Is this the case with Brede? How do the nuns of Brede remain spiritually and actually connected to the world? How do they understand the purpose of their enclosure, or their cloistered life?

9. Dame Veronica says, “I came for all the wrong reasons, but it overtook me and I found I had a vocation.” (p. 271) How did this happen with Veronica? How have you experienced an “accidental” vocation or gift in your own life?

10. In what ways is life at Brede like the life of a family in the world?

11. What appeals to you about life at Brede? What about the lives of the nuns witnesses most strongly to you about the priorities and graces of the Christian life in general?

12. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (9:24, NAB) In what ways does Cecily learn the truth of this? In what ways does Philippa?

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