My dear Friends
I had a really wonderful time in Paris, the first day was very hot, then we had rain and cloud, but I was having such a good time it didn't matter. I spent the time with Alexia mainly at the weekend, and yes, we did get to the Pere la chaise cemetery and made a long pilgrimage to find the grave of Edith Piaf at the top. It was a simple stone, with moving words, but the main cemetery was very old with huge gravestones and tombs, some from way back when.
The Opera House is superb, with mirrors and chandeliers everywhere. Unfortunately there were rehearsals in the auditorium area, so we couldn't see the stage, unlike the last time when I sang from a box in three languages! We sat on the sides, on plush seats, while Alexia reflected how much she would like to go to her first opera.
Just being in Paris was delightful. We walked for hours, had Japanese soup in a restaurant (followed by an Indian meal at night) and looked at the closed-roofs shopping arcades off the street. Then on the Sunday we went to Mass together and then to the Jardin des Plantes with its beautiful flowers and a zoo! The Chinese flamingoes who made a racket while they stood on one leg were my favourites. And their colour of rose pink was absolutely gorgeous!
I was able to practise my French to a gentleman in the Gare du Nord, just before leaving, sadly, for England. But here's to the next time!
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Trip to Paris
My dear Friends
Tomorrow I am travelling by Eurostar to Paris, to have a holiday and to see Alexia. I hope to visit the old Opera House and the Pere la chaise cemetery (hope I have spelled it correctly) where people like Edith Piaf are buried. I will stay in the little Hotel Cosy, in the Picpus neighbourhood near Nation, at the other end of the line from Charles de Gaulle Etoile.
So I will be off the air for a week, and will let you know how I got on on my return.
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila
Tomorrow I am travelling by Eurostar to Paris, to have a holiday and to see Alexia. I hope to visit the old Opera House and the Pere la chaise cemetery (hope I have spelled it correctly) where people like Edith Piaf are buried. I will stay in the little Hotel Cosy, in the Picpus neighbourhood near Nation, at the other end of the line from Charles de Gaulle Etoile.
So I will be off the air for a week, and will let you know how I got on on my return.
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila
Monday 20 April 2009
Visit to the Synagogue
My dear Friends
Thompson's Lane is a small street off Bridge Street in Cambridge. Tucked away behind St Clements Church is the Orthodox Synagogue.Last Shabbat the Mayor of Cambridge, Councillor Mike Dixon, did the Jewish community and myself the honour of attending.
It all started some Mayors ago when I discovered that the Guildhall used to be a Synagogue. Also that the Jewish community in the Middle Ages, before they were expelled from England in the 13th century, lived between the Guildhall and the Round Church.
The Synagogue service was moving and uplifting. We had the extra bonus of a cantor, who sang beautifully and whose French wife guided my friend through the service. (Men and women sit separately.) The central part of the liturgy is the taking out of the Torah scrolls and returning them to the ark, while the portion is read.
It was an interesting one this week; from the book of Leviticus, dealing with the disobedient sons of Aaron the High Priest and the different animals which can be eaten under the laws of Kashrut.
After the service, which I believe the Mayor found moving, there was a Kiddush, some wine and cake. It was also a chance for the Mayor to talk to some members of the Jewish community.
All in all, a wonderful experience!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Thompson's Lane is a small street off Bridge Street in Cambridge. Tucked away behind St Clements Church is the Orthodox Synagogue.Last Shabbat the Mayor of Cambridge, Councillor Mike Dixon, did the Jewish community and myself the honour of attending.
It all started some Mayors ago when I discovered that the Guildhall used to be a Synagogue. Also that the Jewish community in the Middle Ages, before they were expelled from England in the 13th century, lived between the Guildhall and the Round Church.
The Synagogue service was moving and uplifting. We had the extra bonus of a cantor, who sang beautifully and whose French wife guided my friend through the service. (Men and women sit separately.) The central part of the liturgy is the taking out of the Torah scrolls and returning them to the ark, while the portion is read.
It was an interesting one this week; from the book of Leviticus, dealing with the disobedient sons of Aaron the High Priest and the different animals which can be eaten under the laws of Kashrut.
After the service, which I believe the Mayor found moving, there was a Kiddush, some wine and cake. It was also a chance for the Mayor to talk to some members of the Jewish community.
All in all, a wonderful experience!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Thursday 16 April 2009
Website
My dear Friends
A friend has helped me create a basic website for The Little Sisters of Joy. It still needs the Logo to be put on, but if you would like to visit it, the web address is:
www.ourchurch.com/member/s/sistersofjoy
Do have a look!
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila
A friend has helped me create a basic website for The Little Sisters of Joy. It still needs the Logo to be put on, but if you would like to visit it, the web address is:
www.ourchurch.com/member/s/sistersofjoy
Do have a look!
Love and Shalom
Sister Gila
Tuesday 14 April 2009
Eastertide
My dear Friends
Once again a happy and blessed Easter! We are now into Eastertide, those 40 days when Christ appeared in Galilee to the disciples before He ascended into heaven to be with the Father. To be followed by Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit.
A friend of mine has just returned from Israel/Palestine. It was her first time there. The group stayed in Bethlehem, which as you know is a very troubled area, with the wall and checkpoints everywhere. But she experienced the peace which passeth all understanding in Galilee and she said it was quite incredible.
I went back after 21 years in 1989 and felt the same. I stayed in Tiberias and visited the Synagogue there and was very close to the lake. At 5 o'clock in the morning I went swimming which was an amazing feeling; the water just shimmers. You can just imagine the feet of Jesus circumventing this lake, shaped like a harp and therefore called in Hebrew kinneret.Across the lake on the other side is a Kibbutz, which is very interesting to visit.
I have many stories to tell of this time and will save some for the next Blog, including the time I met a party of handicapped children swimming in an offshoot of the lake. It was near the Mountain of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and taught the disciples the Our Father prayer.
Isn't it wonderful that there is this haven of peace amidst all the conflict?
Shalom for now
Sister Gila
Once again a happy and blessed Easter! We are now into Eastertide, those 40 days when Christ appeared in Galilee to the disciples before He ascended into heaven to be with the Father. To be followed by Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit.
A friend of mine has just returned from Israel/Palestine. It was her first time there. The group stayed in Bethlehem, which as you know is a very troubled area, with the wall and checkpoints everywhere. But she experienced the peace which passeth all understanding in Galilee and she said it was quite incredible.
I went back after 21 years in 1989 and felt the same. I stayed in Tiberias and visited the Synagogue there and was very close to the lake. At 5 o'clock in the morning I went swimming which was an amazing feeling; the water just shimmers. You can just imagine the feet of Jesus circumventing this lake, shaped like a harp and therefore called in Hebrew kinneret.Across the lake on the other side is a Kibbutz, which is very interesting to visit.
I have many stories to tell of this time and will save some for the next Blog, including the time I met a party of handicapped children swimming in an offshoot of the lake. It was near the Mountain of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and taught the disciples the Our Father prayer.
Isn't it wonderful that there is this haven of peace amidst all the conflict?
Shalom for now
Sister Gila
Monday 6 April 2009
Newsletter no 11
'The harvest of righteousness shall be sown in peace
by those who make peace'
(Letter of St James)
FRIENDS OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF JOY
an ecumenical foundation of Prayer, Peace and Reconcilation
My dear Friends
As we move towards Easter, I wish you a Happy Feast! For those of you waiting for Passover, I wish you Chag Sameach!
Some of you may have wondered what has happened to The Little Sisters of Joy - well, the Foundation is alive and well and on the way to becoming a registered charity.
I contiune to do my music and recently did a musical evening in Starbucks coffee shop near the Grafton Centre in Cambridge. I was invited by the Israeli manager to perform some Hebrew music for Peace and Reconciliation. It was a great evening, with the gathering adding its own Hebrew and Yiddish songs. At the end we even danced a Horah! In between the Jewish music I interspersed some songs of the 60's and some traditional folk songs. I have been asked to do it again for a larger gathering in the same place, which reminds me of my wild youth and hence where I feel comfortable!
I shall be conducting the Seder meal once again in Holy week-the Passover supper relating the story of the Exodus. Always a very moving occasion. again the liturgy is interspersed with Hebrew music, while the gathering participated in the elaborate ritual. This consists of the narrative of the Exodus and the different foods which represent the slavery in Egypt and the 4 cups of wine of liberation, with an extra cup at the end for Elijah the Prophet, heralding the Messiah.
For a break, I had a marvellous trip to Suffolk at the home of one of our Associates and visited some beautiful mediaeval Churches as well as attending Evensong in the Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds.
I am also writing to ask you if you have any feedback as to how the foundation is running and also any ideas to make it run more efficiently and interstingly. Your contributions would be very welcom and if you are able to offer any time or support I would be grateful for that also. Please let me have your email addresses as that seems an obvious way forward for the future, to run the Newsletter and to keep in touch. Any donations would be gratefully accepted, mad payable to 'The Little Sisters of Joy' to help meet the cost of expenses and to build up some proper funding required by the Charities Commission. My little autobiography, The Moving Swan, is still also available. These are exciting times!
Summer event Sunday 26th July 2009 in the Old Library, Darwin College,Cambridge 2-4pm
Jewish - Christian reconcilaition in the postwar period
Jonathan Gorsky will give a talk on the above theme. Jonathan is an expert on Jewish-Christain relations, having worked for the Council of Christians and Jews. He now works for Heythrop College in the University of London, lecturing for a B.A. degree he heloped to devise, based on the 3 Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
I am making another trip to Toronto in June, after which I should have some more exciting news. Due to a recent illness I have decided not to emigrate as planned, but to consolidate the contacts on both sides of the Pond.
It has been a strange spring, with the snow, but, as we await the Resurrection, the daffodils and crocuses are now coming up in the earth. I wish you a peaceful transition from spring into summer.
United in prayer for the peace of our troubled world
and always Shalom
Sister Gila
The Little Sisters of Joy
The Haven
61 Edgecombe
Cambridge
CB4 2LW
Thursday 2 April 2009
Summer sun in Cambridge
My dear Friends
Summer seems to have hit Cambridge at last, with temperatures soaring, especially yesterday. What to do on a fine day-well I spent the morning showing my Lithuanian friend Lauras round one of the colleges called St John's. These fine Mediaeval buildings have several courts, opening out finally onto a huge expanse of green, which borders the river. You can access this green by walking over the Bridge of Sighs, named after its couterpart in Venice and every bit as beautiful; its quite an experience to gaze down and see the people being slowly punted (by a long pole in this narrow boat)on the river Cam. And the gardens are really spectacular.
Coming out onto the street we sat in a special park, which houses the craft fair at weekends and where I brought in the Shabbat once with a group of young people from Israel. Then we lazily sat on the wall in Trinity Street.
We parted, but I wasn't quite finished with colleges for the day for, after doing a little work in the University library, I decided to take the rest of the day off and wander round Darwin College, also on the river. Legend has it that the great man composed his book on evolution by walking up and down one of the balconies there, but I think the legend is apocryphal! I sat by the river and watched the punts for quite a long time-a German group was having particular fun and at one stage I thought they might fall in!
Easter is almost upon us and the dark days over. The resurrection is already apparent in the glorious nature we are experiencing and the summer sun warms the heart. Some of you in other countries might not be agreeing with me so all I can wish you are long, happy and lazy days of warm weather.
And Shalom!
Sister Gila
Summer seems to have hit Cambridge at last, with temperatures soaring, especially yesterday. What to do on a fine day-well I spent the morning showing my Lithuanian friend Lauras round one of the colleges called St John's. These fine Mediaeval buildings have several courts, opening out finally onto a huge expanse of green, which borders the river. You can access this green by walking over the Bridge of Sighs, named after its couterpart in Venice and every bit as beautiful; its quite an experience to gaze down and see the people being slowly punted (by a long pole in this narrow boat)on the river Cam. And the gardens are really spectacular.
Coming out onto the street we sat in a special park, which houses the craft fair at weekends and where I brought in the Shabbat once with a group of young people from Israel. Then we lazily sat on the wall in Trinity Street.
We parted, but I wasn't quite finished with colleges for the day for, after doing a little work in the University library, I decided to take the rest of the day off and wander round Darwin College, also on the river. Legend has it that the great man composed his book on evolution by walking up and down one of the balconies there, but I think the legend is apocryphal! I sat by the river and watched the punts for quite a long time-a German group was having particular fun and at one stage I thought they might fall in!
Easter is almost upon us and the dark days over. The resurrection is already apparent in the glorious nature we are experiencing and the summer sun warms the heart. Some of you in other countries might not be agreeing with me so all I can wish you are long, happy and lazy days of warm weather.
And Shalom!
Sister Gila
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