Top Gun, prayers and homemade pud: how abbey monks celebrate

There are few who put their Christmas decorations up later than the monks of Pluscarden Abbey, but once they’re up there are few who throw themselves into the festive season more.

While the rest of the world is getting itself ready for the big day, there isn’t a single sign of celebrations in the monastery.

No wreath on the door, no tree by the window and certainly no tinsel.

That’s because for the 17 monks of Pluscarden Abbey the festive season only begins on Christmas Eve – and not a single day sooner.

What follows though is an intense and tiring schedule of prayers, chanting and celebrations over the next two weeks.

However, like all of us, they manage to find the time for a movie and their choice last year was, perhaps surprisingly, Top Gun: Maverick.

Life at Pluscarden Abbey is strictly regimented and structured around prayers, chanting and church services. It means there are absolutely no decorations up ahead of Christmas Eve before greenery and six nativity crib scenes are hastily put together.

Brother Michael, who lives at the abbey, said: “For Christmas we don’t really do anything until the midnight mass on December 24.

“I suppose by comparison to everywhere else it might look a bit spartan.

“It’s mostly in the church itself, we have a crib with a nativity scene.

“There a few other things we have, we bring in branches from outside and have some shrubbery with berries. There’s no extra services, but they are mostly longer.

“We still have the eight services we have every day but they would total about six hours instead of four.”

The one change to their daily schedule is the special midnight mass on Christmas Eve, which regularly draws members of the public.

Brother Michael added: “It starts at 10.15pm with lots of psalms and that goes on until about 2am, and then it’s up again at 6.15am for the morning service. It’s actually very tiring.”

After a busy day they sit down as a “family” for a turkey dinner with homemade Christmas pudding to follow.

The days following Christmas are still incredibly busy for the monks at Pluscarden Abbey.

St Stephen’s Day comes on Boxing Day, St John’s Day is on the 27th and Holy Innocents Day, when King Herod ordered the murder of all baby boys in Bethlehem, is on the 28th.

All are marked with a specific chants and prayers across eight daily services.

There are no guests staying at the abbey during the week of Christmas, which allows the monks time to spend together as a collective.

However, it’s not until New Year that the pace begins to slow with a day of private reflection on Hogmanay.

And then New Year’s Day is one of the only times in the year when they all get together to watch a movie.

This year, the monks of Pluscarden Abbey have released a new album for Christmas. Entitled Advent, it features the sacred unaccompanied Gregorian chanting that is sung during their services.

It is their sixth CD release and this year they partnered with Londonbased jazz pianist Tom Donald for an album fusing the two genres.

Father Giles said: “We recorded it here in the church. I got some lovely photographs of the stained glass reflected on the black grand piano that was moved in.”

Pluscarden Abbey’s CDs can be bought from their online shop.

BUSY TIME: Father Giles, left, and Father Michael of Pluscarden Abbey will be decorating on Christmas Eve with nativity cribs and greenery.