PILGRIMS NEWSLETTER

Summer 2008

Dear Friends of Aylesford,
I enjoy a good, historical documentary on the television. I was delighted to see the archaeology programme Time Team in early January. There was a dig at the ruins of Codnor Castle, Derbyshire. The Castle was the ancestral home of the deGrey family who were benefactors to the medieval Carmelites here at Aylesford, London and Nottingham. They were a distinguished family and eight
generations of the deGreys were buried in the family vault in the choir of the original church here until the last of the line died in 1496. In the early 1950’s the site of the medieval church was excavated and a number of bones were discovered. They were reburied in a new grave in what is now the present piazza, so that they could be as near to the site of the original burial place as possible. The Castle was built in the early 1200’s by Sir Henry deGrey but it was his son, Sir Richard deGrey, on returning from the Crusades, who gave his
manor house here at Aylesford in 1242 to the Carmelites.

NEWS OF THE FRIARS
Easter this year as well as being the earliest for some years was also one of the coldest but it was good to see so many people who came for the Easter ceremonies. We were surprised to see snow here on Easter Sunday but fortunately it did not settle. In early April Fr
Emmanuel returned to India. He is very much missed by the community and the people. Please pray for the Carmelites in India.

You have heard that the Relics of St. Thérèse are coming to England and Wales in September 2009 for about three weeks. They will be
coming here and once dates have been agreed I will let you all know. St. Thérèse may have spent most of her adult life in an enclosed
Carmelite Convent in northern France but her teaching of the Little Way and the importance of prayer for the small and lowly have inspired so many people. She prayed for the missions, for her family, friends, those in prisons and those who were about
to be guillotined. She reminds us of the importance and power of prayer and that no-one is beyond the love and mercy of God.

We have a number of day groups that use the different conference rooms. The original conference room was constructed from the carpenter’s shop in 1972. The conference chairs also go back that far so they have given good service. We have just replaced them with smart new blue ones. A lot of thought went into choosing them. They improve the appearance of the main conference centre.
The Ladies Toilets are finished and are much improved. I am told that they are bright and clean.We could not have done this project if it were not for your generosity. We are reflecting on what our next restoration project should be. I understand that the dilapidation of the Water Gate building is more serious than was first thought. I mentioned our concerns about the Water Gate in an earlier
newsletter. I will let you know when we have more news.

Our most recent fund raising event was an evening with the well known plant collector Tom Hart-Dyke, who spoke with great enthusiasm about his many journeys around the world looking at plants. On one occasion he was held hostage in Colombia. The night before he was due to be executed he planned the World Garden that he has now planted at his family home at Lullingstone Castle.

YEAR OF ST. PAUL
This year the church is marking two thousand years since the birth of St. Paul. The celebrations will begin with the feast of SS Peter and Paul on 29th June. We will be celebrating a Solemn Evening Prayer that day. St Paul was frequently quoted by St Albert in the Rule of Life he gave to the first Carmelites on Mount Carmel more than eight hundred years ago. It was in the papers recently that the Catholic Church in Turkey was reopening the church dedicated to St Paul in Tarsus, where he was born. There is a ceramic in St. Joseph’s Chapel with a quote from St. Paul from one of his letters. One of the side altars in the medieval church was dedicated to SS
Peter and Paul as is the Parish Church in Aylesford.

LOURDES
This year also sees one hundred and fifty years since the apparitions of Our Lady in Lourdes. The last apparition took place on 16th July. By that time the grotto was sealed off, so Bernadette went to the other side of the River Gave. Bernadette wrote after the apparition that Our Lady “looked ever more beautiful”. The present Carmelite Convent in Lourdes marks the spot of the last apparition. I hope to go in August on the Carmelite Pilgrimage which will be part of the Catholic Association Pilgrimage. Lourdes is a place where people who suffer with long, profound illness find contentment and peace. I find Lourdes, despite the thousands of people who are there every day, a peaceful and prayerful place.

OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL
The 16th July is always a special day for all members of the Carmelite Family. It is made even more special this year as it marks the one hundred and fifty years since the last apparition of Our Lady in Lourdes. It was just four years after the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception that when Our Lady was asked by St. Bernadette her name Mary said “I am the Immaculate Conception”. Different titles have been used for Mary. As Carmelites we have referred to her as: Mother, Queen, Patron, Pure Heart and Sister. Many people feel uncomfortable referring to Mary as Sister as they feel it brings Mary down to our level rather than it brings us up to Hers’. In Terenure College, the Carmelite school in Dublin, there are a number of remarkable stained glass windows on Carmelite themes. One depicts Mary as Queen but also as Sister. It shows Mary taking her children by the hand and leading them along the path
to meet her Son. All devotions to Mary should lead us closer to Jesus. Many of our friends of Carmel wear the scapular. This is a sign of following Mary as she followed Our Lord. Fr. Malachy suggested that people, as they put on their scapular in the morning, should simply pray, “Use me today”. This year on Sunday 13th July we are pleased to welcome our new Prior General, Fr. Fernando, for the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. I hope many of you will be able to meet him.

ZIMBABWE
Recently we welcomed Fr Andrew Thokozane, one of the young, native, Zimbabwean Carmelite Friars. He has responsibilities for the Carmelite School, Kriste Mambo High School, near Rusape. The Carmelites are ministering in Zimbabwe in difficult circumstances. Fr.Andrew told us that the school is still using sewing machines that are now fifty years old and their computers are twenty years old. But despite all this they are able to maintain a high academic standard. The Carmelites have been in Zimbabwe since 1946 when it was
Southern Rhodesia. Our missions are around Harare and Mutare. The first Bishop of Mutare was a Carmelite, Bishop Donal Lamont, who died only a few years ago. Many of you will have met Lazarus Banda who has lived here for some years. He is a political refugee from Zimbabwe. Please remember in your prayers the people of Zimbabwe and the many Carmelites who minister there
at this uncertain time.

MAY THEY REST IN PEACE
In early February, Bill Hatcher, our handyman of nearly thirty years, died peacefully. He was a familiar figure in the Pilgrims’ Hall and enjoyed meeting our guests. He liked to feed the ducks and make the afternoon tea. His funeral took place on a sunny February afternoon, attended by practically all the staff and his many friends from far and wide. He was buried in the Carmelite cemetery here alongside many other loyal workers, friends and benefactors of The Friars. As The Friars was his home in life, so now it is home in his death. He will be missed by us all.

Two members of the Hewitt family have died in recent months. It was the Hewitt family who restored The Friars after the fire in 1930 and sold the place to the Carmelites in 1949. Mrs Vera Hewitt died recently; it was her husband, Woolsey Hewitt, who sold The Friars to us. Just before the sale on 17th October, 1949 she wrote in The Times: “I read with great interest your article of Monday last on The Friars at Aylesford... I was however, much distressed to see that you had not spared a couple of lines to pay a small tribute to my mother-in-law, the late Mrs. Copley Hewitt. Had it not been for her there would not now be more than a ruin for anyone to have. It was
she who after the fire of 1930 restored, rebuilt, and preserved the main building and by so doing impoverished herself to such an extent that she was unable to complete the main staircase and gallery. She loved this place very much and worked hard here during her lifetime.We are all very sad at having to leave. My husband never had any intention of selling this place until the Carmelites came along and offered to buy it. It was then he decided it was right that they should have it back again.Also he knows that they would care for it, and keep it as we could never hope to do.

Just before Vera died her husband’s cousin, Phyllida Hewitt, died. She stayed here in the 1930’s. Her son, Jonathan Ovenden, in his tribute to her at her funeral mentioned: “In 1930 at the age of 12, one of her father’s brothers, Copley, invited her to spend her school holidays at the family home - The Friars at Aylesford in Kent. This was a Carmelite monastery built in 1242 and closed, but undamaged, during the dissolution of the monasteries. At The Friars, the maid always brought an early morning cup of tea. Phyllida always went back to sleep after it arrived so that it would go cold. She was so embarrassed by this that she used to open the window and pour the cold
tea down on to a Magnolia Grandiflora tree growing outside. That tree thrives to this very day! Her mother, Rowena, gave her some money to give to the maids at the end of her stay. But she had other ideas! Whilst attending a local point to point with her cousin, Woolsey, she insisted on gambling the money. He tried to dissuade her but she went on to lose not once, but three times. In an attempt
to recoup her losses, she put all her remaining money on the last race. The horse lost. Asking Granny back at the Friars, what to do, she was told - Sorry! The only thing to do is write to your mother, confess and ask for some more. She also learnt to ride there on Cobnut with the help of Whelman, and Fred the stable boy. Later on she was allowed to ride Woolsey’s horse, a purple red horse called Pansy.
She and I stayed at The Friars only two years ago.We had a wonderful time revisiting her old haunts and were able to experience the new lease of life The Friars has today as a Carmelite monastery and retreat.”

FINALLY
In the last newsletter, you may remember I included some mistakes that appeared in parish newsletters. Some of you were rightly amused that though there were no mistakes in our newsletter there was one on the raffle tickets. Donna, our newsletter administrator, made a confession recently that the book called Message of Carmel at Aylesford has been abbreviated on the computer to “Mess of Carmel”. She has now changed it to “Message of Carm”.

It may be a sign of global warming or just a coincidence that we have been delighted to see a seal swimming in the River Medway outside the Friars. Sylvie, our cat, has surprised some of our pilgrims by coming in to the Choir Chapel for Night Prayer. She wanders around the chapel and then she sits in the choir during the psalms. One of the community suggested she likes Night Prayer as
it is short. Or maybe it’s the under floor heating.

There was once a holy nun who was very ill. Her doctor suggested that a little whisky at night would help her ailments but she felt this would not be appropriate for a religious sister to take alcohol, so she refused. Her sisters gave her some hot milk every night with a little whisky without telling the old nun. When she was dying the sisters gathered around her bed expecting some profound last words. Her last words were: “Whatever you do, don’t sell the cow!”.

The community remembers all our friends and all those who are dear to you daily in our prayers.

May God bless you and everyone you love.
Fr Francis Kemsley,O.Carm
Prior

This is a sample of the Newsletter which is produced four times a year. If you would like to receive the full Newsletter on a regular basis, please send your name and address to The Newsletter Office, The Friars, Aylesford, Kent ME20 7BX or email newsletter@thefriars.org.uk The Newsletter can now be received by email in pdf form if requested. Contributions towards the cost of producing the Newsletter are always welcome.

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