Stillness Chapel

Stillness ChapelNestor“I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart” (Hosea 2:16)

From the Celebration Chapel the pilgrim is welcome to pass through a single oak door, and into the Holy of Holies, the Silent of Silents – the Stillness Chapel. It is here that we perhaps best hear the words of the Lord to Moses and to us: “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5)

In the center of the room is reserved the Presence of God in the Blessed Sacrament Tabernacle. It is here that we remember the Ark of the Covenant. The wood of the Tabernacle has been carved at an angle to catch the natural light from the sky light.

The verses on the walls are taken from the sequence for Corpus Christi. The words, carved in white plaster, are not easily visible, and reminds us that God reveals his wisdom “through a glass darkly.”

This is a place of being alone before the Alone; a listening place, where words and images cease. Here one does not have to perform or achieve – only to be with God. It is here that Queen’s House is, above all, dedicated and committed to Peace and Unity in a world filled with much conflict and division. It is here that Peace is not the superficial absence of conflict, but is communion, oneness in diversity and uncertainty – a Oneness within self, with others and with the Lord God.

This is the last of four major areas of the Chapel.