St Stephen's Day has been a special day for me in recent years. After our Altar servers' Mass - which is always a joy - I join the community at St Hugh's Charterhouse, Parkminster for their "extended recreation" to celebrate Christmas. This year, we were treated to an explanation of a typical icon of the nativity. After this and a few carols, the refreshments were ready.
One of the brothers had prepared some mulled wine; there were mince pies and Indian snacks: non-meat since meat is never included in the diet there. (The flasks contain tea and coffee.) I do not get a chance to talk to most of the community through the year, only the novices and simply-professed who come to my classes, so it is a welcome opportunity to greet and talk to the more senior monks whom I only see in choir at Vespers. They all take a keen interest in what is happening in the Church and in the world, making me feel even more grateful for their prayers.When the bell struck four, there was a quarter of an hour for me to reflect on the icon while the monks went to say the little office of Our Lady in cell before assembling in the Church for Vespers of St Stephen. On the way to my car, I caught this scene of the terminum lucis.
10 comments:
These Carthusian posts are a much anticipated treat. Many thanks Father and a very Happy Chrismas to you.
Thank you, Father, for sharing this very special moment. Minced pies and mulled wine at Parkminster ! Well, these good and holy men are entitled to a little recreation.
I think it was on Father's blog that I read one year ago that if on these (rare) occasions, you don't have time to finish a conversation with a monk, you have to save up what you were going to say until the next year !
This must be an experience to treasure.
A very interesting post. Do the monks have access to the internet and, if so, do they read your blog? In case this seems a ridiculous question, I should point out that I do not picture each monk having a laptop in his cell! Happy Christmas.
The Carthusians are amazing. I will always remember my visit to the charterhouse in Vermont.
Peter - the monks do not generally look at the internet. I think that the prior, the novice-master and the procurator use the internet for administrative purposes but the other monks do not generally allow this distraction. However they do have the Catholic papers and read my column in the Catholic Herald - and also know of the existence and significance of blogs.
You are blessed, indeed. Just think. You have been chosen to minister to these saintly men--awesome.
Thank you for sharing your photos with us. It was good to be reminded of life in Parkminster, having spent a month on retreat there in a hermitage in the Great Cloister. You are quite right about internet access: it is not generally available although some have it for particular ministries; but as a response to Peter Simpson's point, laptops are not uncommon there. Carthusian chant is quite complicated and due to the solitary life it is quite practical to learn it using CDs in laptops in the monk's own cell.
Parkminster is indeed a very special place and it was a remarkable experience to spend time there. As you can usually only do this while discerning a vocation to the Carthusian way of life, it is a rare opportunity and a great privilege to be remembered always. There are places where I have felt the presence of the Lord but Parkminster is the only place I have been so close to heaven I have felt the brush of an angel's wing.
Merry belated Christmas, Father!
Faith - yes, it is indeed a great privilege. Although it really is quite difficult for me to prepare all the material necessary, I regard this work as something very special.
Father, I was overjoyed to read your post. I had almost literally just finished reading "An Infinity of Little Hours," the book about Parkminster and the Carthusian way.
All in all, it is a fine book but it is witten through a certain lens, one that leaves the reader hanging quite a bit.
Your post was, therefore, a very welcome antidote. Deo volunte, this fine order will continue to attract vocations.
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