Sophie and the Spirit

Two days ago we celebrated the feast of our foundress, St Madeleine Sophie Barat, a woman who declared that if she could live her life over again she would only seek to live it according to the Spirit. Among the many quotes and prayers posted by RSCJ that day on Facebook and websites, were several exhortations to give ourselves completely to the power and the transformative action of the Holy Spirit. On our province's website I posted this reflection by her, which was undoubtedly her dream for us...

If the happiness of the individual open to the Spirit is so great,
what would be the happiness of a group of people,
of a whole society,
which would allow itself to be completely guided by the Holy Spirit unreservedly.
Surely we will be capable of producing great union and also great good.
Today there might not be a single one of you who refuses anything to the Holy Spirit.
Open your hearts to the Spirit who longs to be desired because the Spirit answers the prayers of those whose hearts are sincere and who give themselves in truth.
Open yourselves that you may be filled with the gifts of the Spirit.

Something of Sophie's dream must have permeated down the ages, I'm sure. Over a hundred years after her death, when the Society was engaged in re-writing its Constitutions, the transformative power of the Spirit was to be a recurrent theme, second only to the Heart of Jesus and the love of God. So it seems entirely appropriate to quote from them for today's post, in honour of the Feast of Pentecost. Although these words, from the section on prayer, were written by and for RSCJ, they can be lived by anyone who desires to be filled with the gifts of the Spirit...

The Spirit dwelling within us
gradually transforms us, enabling us
through His power to remove whatever
hinders His action.
The Spirit unites and conforms us to Jesus
and makes us sensitive to His presence
within ourselves, in others and in all that happens.
Thus we learn to contemplate reality
and to experience it with His Heart,
to commit ourselves to the service of the Kingdom
and to grow in love:
"Have this mind among yourselves
which was in Christ Jesus." (Phil 2.5)

Restoring a sacred space

I have never found the Sacred Heart Chapel in Roehampton to be aesthetically pleasing; it always felt too garish and "in your face" for my liking. I can appreciate the relevance and symbolism of the various statues, but that doesn't mean I have found them easy on my eye or my spirit! And yet, I have often been drawn to pray in there. This wasn't only because it is the final resting place of Janet Stuart, Mabel Digby, Joseph Varin and Marie Lataste, although their presence - especially that of Janet Stuart - has often made it a compelling place of pilgrimage for so many. Rather, what has drawn me has been the tangible sense that the very walls are saturated with the prayers and spirits of several generations of RSCJ, students, families and friends, from the last 150 years. For me, as for so many others, it has long been a sacred space.

However, since September 2010, when a large chunk of ceiling fell down, the chapel has been off-limits, swathed in scaffolding and safety measures. That chunk of ceiling had led to the discovery of more structural damage, largely caused by a 1940 German bomb which exploded only yards away. And over time, that essential repair job had morphed into a loving, reverent act of restoration and renewal.

And in the process it has been transformed! Yesterday, at its re-opening and rededication, light flooded in through a glass wall (replacing a thick dusty curtain) and a beautifully restored rose window - something I had barely noticed before. Everything had been cleaned; previously grey angels sparkled brightly from on high, thanks also to a new lighting system. The ugly old cumbersome radiators have been replaced by something more discreet, adding to the sense of space and clean lines. Miraculously, the garish statues appeared softer, and the ornate tabernacle simply looks lovely.

The little chapel space next door, for too long a kind of extra sacristy-cum-repository, has now been turned into an extra prayer space. We marvelled at the hitherto hidden altar, with its beautiful carvings, at a newly-installed stained glass window, and, again, at the whole sense of light and simplicity.

The re-dedication was a simple, informal affair, bringing together a delicious cocktail of people. I perched on a radiator with the architect, while a couple of restorers stood beside us. Elsewhere, RSCJ, university and college staff, chaplains, students, a bishop and others crowded in, alongside electricians, glaziers and craftspersons.

The architect spoke lovingly and reverently about the work he had done, especially in uncovering some previously hidden aspects of the chapel. These included some exquisite wall paintings which had been painted over after the War, and some of which have now been painstakingly uncovered. One of the team who had worked on this, a young man, spoke with great pride and enthusiasm about their work, and exhorted us to uncover more if we ever win the lottery and can afford to! The rose window team spoke just as lovingly about what they had done. Later, during refreshments, I chatted with the young man who had installed the new stained glass, and heard more quiet pride and satisfaction.

It's not often I find myself in a roomful of craftspersons displaying such obvious enthusiasm for the work of their hands. The experience was both uplifting and humbling. The chapel is still permeated by the spirits of all those who have gone before us, but they have now been joined by the spirits of dedication, hard work, creativity and job satisfaction, which oversaw this remarkable work of restoration. It has become and will continue to be even more of a sacred space...

We ended our re-dedication with a prayer, in which I'm sure all those spirits heartily joined in, which you can read and pray with us here...



Generous wine

This time last year I was trying to write my first blogpost for the Feast of St Madeleine Sophie Barat, our foundress - a task made somewhat harder by a strong sense of her telling me that I should not be writing about her, but about Jesus. We eventually reached a happy compromise, with Celebrating Sophie. So this year I approached her oncoming feast somewhat tentatively, wondering just what limits she would impose. Yet again she was unhelpful, and I found myself going up and down a few blind alleys, trying to put together a coherent post on a particular non-Sophie centred but definitely Sophie related theme... until just a couple of days ago.

I had been joking with one of my community, and the word generosity came up. I quipped about generosity being the spirit of the Society... and in a moment knew, just knew - YES, that's what she wants me to write about this year!

The story goes that when Sophie was asked what the spirit of this Society would be, she answered, without missing a beat - generosity. That was it - just one word. She could have said - or added - prayerfulness, or loving kindness or fidelity or any of the other words she used throughout her life when exhorting her sisters to greater holiness and whole-heartedness: instead she chose just one word, which, if lived to the full, is the source from which so much else flows.

And it is a word which she herself certainly lived to the full. There was the overflowing generosity and zeal with which the young Sophie longed to give herself in prayer and service - either as a Carmelite or as a missionary. This was followed by the actual lived generosity of several decades spent entirely in France or Italy (with a single visit to England), whilst she sent others to found convents in mission territories in other continents; the generosity of a woman who, right to the end, was tremendously busy administering an international congregation, but never too busy for time with God and writing endless personalised letters.

This is how my dictionary defines the word 'generous':
1. willing and liberal in giving away ones money, time etc; munificent
2. free from pettiness in character and mind
3. full or plentiful (a generous portion)
4. (of wine) rich in alcohol

There's certainly food for thought in those four definitions, and a tall order in embodying them all - and yet, a truly generous person wouldn't want to hold back! And really, they are inextricably interlinked: what would be the point in being munificent and available and giving God my all if I still hold on to slights and petty matters? But I have to say, it's the fourth definition - precisely because it's the most unexpected - that has most held my attention: and yet for Sophie, daughter of a wine-making family, this extra nuance would have been familiar.

A generous wine is full of spirit and strength; it is stimulating, exalting and expressive. It is warm and rich, open and "honest", in that it doesn't play around or hide its true self; unlike alcopops it doesn't masquerade as something else. It can be sweet and mellow, or fiery and robust; it's strong, but enjoyed in moderation it can be lovely! This, after all, is what it was made for - to bring joy and warmth, and to sustain, especially during long, hard winters.

Today, I'm sure, Sophie is praying for all of us, for an outpouring of the spirit of generosity on all the Society throughout the world: for munificence and freedom from pettiness, and a generosity which is full and plentiful. And I'm sure she is also praying that we too can all be vin généreux... from a premier cru, consisting of vin de très bonne qualité, overflowing in abundance, full of spirit and strength, warmth and an excellent flavour.

Happy Feast everyone

10k and the underdogs

My stats tell me this blog has just achieved 10,000 pageviews. Thank you! Although I know some of these visitors were accidental - people googling a song title or an image or combination of words which landed them on a particular page - I can at least thank those who meant to come here.

How to commemorate this milestone? Well, I've noticed that some blogs have a panel showing the most popular posts; a nice idea, except that I think my most popular posts have already had more than enough visitors! Instead, I want to favour the underdogs - those posts which have received the fewest visitors. Why this happened I have no idea: maybe I posted the links on Facebook just as all my friends went out; maybe there was something better on TV that evening; maybe the title didn't appeal... Whatever, the success or otherwise of a post is often quite random. (I'm sure my second highest post - "The success of failure" - owes a high percentage of its popularity to its intriguing title!) Thus I have rather a soft spot for the underdogs, as they really have done nothing to deserve this neglect. So, in atonement, and just in case you missed them first time around, here are the ones languishing in the bottom six, way below all the others...

Being Elizabeth

Nothing, nothing, nothing...

Dragonflies and dodos

Regeneration

Conversion

Playing with Wordle

Oh, and my last but one post - A heartful of small things - could also do with your help...

When the forty days were o'er

Though the clouds from sight received him
when the forty days were o’er,
shall our hearts forget his promise,
"I am with you evermore"?
(William C Dix, 1837-1898)

What a rollercoaster of trauma and emotion Jesus's family and friends went through in such a short time! First, there was his agonisingly slow, tortured death, and with it grief, shock, disillusion, despair and naked fear. Then, two days later, he whom they had buried suddenly started reappearing in their midst! Some were surprised by joy, others - understandably - incredulous. For almost seven weeks he was with them, teaching, inspiring, strengthening... and then, just as suddenly as he had reappeared, he disappeared again; this time never to be seen again - at least not in the flesh, this side of heaven.

Had he spent the past seven weeks preparing them for this moment, and his eventual absence, fortifying them for mission? How long before their spirits started drooping, and their hearts began doubting, forgetting even, his promise to be with them for evermore? Fortunately, this strength wasn't long in coming; only ten days later, in next week's feast...

A heartful of small things

Sometimes, said Pooh, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart. (AA Milne)

And sometimes I have a week or so, when life - and my heart - just seem to be filled with all sorts of small things. A few stand out. Yesterday, for example, I met a friend of one of my community with whom I had hitherto communicated on Facebook. It was interesting, having "conversed" in short typed sentences on Facebook, to discover what she really sounds like, to interact with the real live person behind the profile photo and to share her delight at again seeing a city she used to visit as a child.

The day before I had met someone whom I last saw over sixteen years ago. She had been the novice director for her congregation when I visited them whilst looking at different communities, nineteen years ago. I cannot remember what I told her about my vocation story, but I can very clearly remember what she said to me. She didn't actually say "I believe you have a strong vocation", but what she did say told me that she believed I had a strong vocation. She also told me she didn't believe I was called to her congregation (the reason she gave was a very good one, and my lack of disappointment was a strong indication of the rightness of this), and generously gave me contact details for somewhere else. By the time I visited them I was starting to feel drawn to the Society... and the rest is another story, already told elsewhere.

After that we met a met a couple of times when I was a novice and she did input on the inter-congregational course. And then nothing, until a few minutes on Saturday, when she heartily told me I looked like I'm flourishing. Which I am, but it's always good to have such things affirmed, especially in a brief encounter like this one! So this brief meeting is currently occupying quite a bit of my heart.

I have also just finished reading The Abbess of Crewe, Muriel Spark's delicious satire on the Watergate scandal. The first time I read it was only a decade or so after the scandal itself, when it was still a living memory, and phone hacking had not yet been dreamt of (through lack of technology, not because Nixon might not have stooped that low!). Now, Watergate is a historical event, its memory kept alive by the overused -gate suffix.So this time, I read the book with one eye on the Leveson enquiry - and it was just as enjoyable. There is a real irony for me in the fact that the politicians and establishment complicit in Watergate were exposed by some excellent investigative journalism, whereas now it is journalists as well as politicians who are in the dock.

But the book sparkles, and contains some excellent prose - almost throwaway, background lines. How I would love to be able to set a scene of outwardly genteel intrigue like this: It is summer outside, and some of the old-fashioned petticoat roses that climb the walls of the Abbey look into the window... The self-controlled English sun makes leafy shadows fall... A bee importunes at the window pane... The self-controlled English sun... so few words which convey so much...!

And for once this month, that self-controlled English sun threw restraint aside and gave us all a glorious weekend!

2012 Calendar: May

It's the merry month of May! The month traditionally devoted to Mary and ushered in by Morris dancing, in which a hawthorn known as the may blossoms. And I sooo wanted to illustrate this month's calendar with the may! There's plenty of it, growing along the A40, but impossible to snap photos of it whilst hurtling along at over 60mph! I then had a fruitless wander around University Parks, finding all manner of trees and bushes with white blossoms, but none of them were may. But fortunately, they have a may tree at Llannerchwen, and Steph, who is an excellent photographer, sent me a few photos, from which I have selected not the usual one, but two, to make up for this month's calendar being late.

This is also the month in which we usually celebrate Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit. So it was very appropriate that this month's Pauline epistle should be Galatians, because it contains a lovely description of that outpouring, at 5: 22-23, 25

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against such things... If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

We so often refer to the gifts and fruits (in the plural) of the Spirit, that I was struck by the fact that Paul actually wrote about the fruit (singular). So it isn't a case of "the fruits" - a list of qualities, any one or two of which we might acquire... it's "the fruit", an abundant harvest, containing all of the above! A whole package, not a pick and mix. And it does make sense: a loving person is also kind, faithful and generous, a patient person is also gentle and self-controlled and so on. So this month as we lead up to Pentecost, let's pray for an outpouring of the "fruit" of the Spirit, in its entirety, on ourselves and our Church, and on all those we love.