Driana Enid Wybourne (April 1954 – 24 February 2022),

professed A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise that is solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding c ...

as Sister Catherine Wybourne OSB, was a British Benedictine

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

and prioress (from 2004) of Howton Grove Priory, Hereford (formerly Holy Trinity Monastery, East Hendred). She was also a well-known commentator in the British media, with an internet presence as the Digitalnun.

Career

Wybourne was born in Chatham and educated at Boscombe Convent and

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

, from which she graduated in 1976 with an MA in History; she subsequently carried out research in Spanish mediaeval history. She then spent three years in banking before entering

Stanbrook Abbey Stanbrook Abbey is a Catholic contemplative Benedictine Monastery with the status of an abbey, located at Wass, North Yorkshire, England. The community was founded in 1625 at Cambrai in Flanders (then part of the Spanish Netherlands, now in ...

in 1981. She subsequently wrote on the digital age and the finance sector; she was also a blogger and IT worker and wrote on faith issues more generally, especially monasticism and the

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...

. She contributed a weekly column to '' The Universe'', a newspaper for Roman Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland. Wybourne was sometimes styled Dame Catherine Wybourne where the ''Dame'' is a title of respect used for certain Benedictine nuns, it being the equivalent to the male title, Dom.

Death

Wybourne died from cancer on 24 February 2022, at the age of 67.

Selected publications

* Cary-Elwes, Columba and Catherine Wybourne (1992) ''Work & prayer the Rule of St Benedict for lay people''. Tunbridge Wells: Burns & Oates * Wybourne, D. Catherine (2006 to 2013 editions). ''The Catholic Directory of England and Wales''. Manchester: Gabriel Communications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wybourne, Catherine 1954 births 2022 deaths Place of birth missing 20th-century British Roman Catholic nuns 21st-century British Roman Catholic nuns Benedictine prioresses People from Herefordshire