Message from Canon Kristian

Dear brothers and sisters

With the easing of the legal restrictions, we find ourselves on the brink of a significant change in the way we are being asked to live with the on-going presence of Covid amongst us.  As you will read in the Newsletter, the Catholic Bishops of England have issued a Statement to all Catholics and renewed Guidance for churches.  Although the legal enforcement of Covid restrictions have largely been removed, in our churches we will continue for the time being to observe willingly – and with primary concern for those in our community who are vulnerable or who remain fearful – the established cautions with which are now familiar and part of our life.  The steps that we will be taking over the following few weeks are set out in Newsletter.  I would ask you to read through them carefully.  Greater discretion will be given to individuals about where they choose to sit and how they move around the church building, particularly at St James, but please continue to have a heightened awareness of, and be respectful, of other’s space.  We are living in fluid times with regards to the active presence of the virus in the community, so we will be keeping all the changes under review so as to ensure that we are keeping those who come to church as safe as possible.

This week we celebrate the Feast Days of two towering female figures of the Church:  St Mary Magdalene and St Bridget of Sweden.  You will recall that Pope Francis raised the status of the celebration of St Mary Magdalene from a Memorial to a Feast because, as the first witness to the resurrection of Christ, she is on a par with the celebrations of the Apostles.  Indeed, he restored her unique title of “Apostle to the Apostles”.  For much of the history of the Church, the figure of St Mary Magdalene was confused with that of Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha, and, since the time of Pope Gregory the Great, besmirched with the unjustified claim that she was a prostitute.  Despite all the efforts to side-line her over the centuries, it is evident from the Scriptures that St Mary Magdalene was one of the closest disciples to the Lord, was one of the women who remained faithful to him throughout his passion and death, and was the first to encounter the Risen Lord, before any of the other Apostles.  Thus, it is essential that we honour her in an appropriate manner in the Church today, especially as we continue to engage with the need to value the feminine in the life of the Church, recognise the importance of the ministry of women and increase the presence of women in the decision-making processes and bodies of the Church.

At this turbulent and unsettled time in Europe, it is also important that we turn to the intercession of those Saints who have been appointed as our Patrons:  St Benedict of Nursia, St Bridget of Sweden, Sts Cyril and Methodius, St Catherine of Siena and St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein).  This week we celebrate the Feast Day of St Bridget of Sweden.  St Bridget lived the vocations both of marriage and of a religious woman.  She was married at an early age, as was usual for that time, and became the mother of eight children.  Sadly her husband died at a young age and, at the age of 41, she decided to found a new religious Order of nuns and monks – the Order of the Most Holy Saviour – more commonly known as the Bridgettines.  Her second daughter also joined the Order and she was to  become St Catherine of Sweden.  She died in Rome, where she had gone to get the approval of the Pope for her new Order, which spread rapidly throughout Europe and beyond.  She experienced religious visions from an early age and some of these were recorded and can be read still today.

Quite unusually, the Order lived in “double monasteries” of men and women.  At the time of the Reformation, Syon Abbey in Isleworth in London, was the wealthiest monastery in England.  One of its members, St Richard Reynolds, a Bridgettine monk who was born in Exeter, spoke out boldly against the supremacy claims of King Henry VIII over the Church and, as a results, was hung, drawn and quartered in May 1535.  The monastery was finally dissolved in 1539.  The nuns who remained faithful to the community fled abroad and eventually settled in Lisbon in 1594.  They returned to Spettisbury in Dorset in 1861, moving to Chudleigh in Devon in 1887 and then finally to Marley House, South Brent, Devon in 1925.  I personally remember being taken to visit them as a teenager as part of the then summer Vocations Retreats held in the Diocese for young men thinking of becoming priests.  I remained impressed by their unique habit which includes a veil topped with a sort of white cross cap with five red dots symbolising the five wounds of Christ, as the picture below shows!

Sadly, whilst being the only English community of nuns to have retained an unbroken history from before the Reformation, the community dwindled and was formally closed in 2011.  As you can see, however, this unique Bridgettine community had a long association with our diocese and is another connection for us to St Bridget of Sweden.  On a happier note, the Bridgettine Order continues to flourish in Sweden and in many other places around the world, with two houses in England and one in Wales.

There are a number of attachments to the Newsletter: the above-mentioned Statement from the Bishops of England, the latest Newsletter from Caritas Plymouth, details about two diocesan vacancies and the usual helpful leaflet from Monika Manser on contemplative imaginative prayer on this Sunday’s gospel.

The access details for this week’s parish Get-Together on Zoom on Thursday are available from the parish office as usual.

I hope you all managed to enjoy something of the sunny weather we are experiencing at the moment and that we all remain safe and healthy as the world arounds us begins to open up after the restrictions of the lockdown.

I pray for you all and especially those of our community who are sick and vulnerable.

God bless you

Canon Kristian