River cruise

My dear Friends

Did you know that the river Oose (hope that is the correct spelling) was about 169 miles long? That makes it the third longest river in England. The river runs through St Ives and Ely in East Anglia, amongst other places. I had an unexpected boat trip along the Oose yesterday for about an hour and a half, with an expert boatman called Chris and two couples in their sixties and seventies. One couple lives in St Ives and the other in Somerset, although the lady is originally from Yorkshire.

It was a fascinating tour-I already knew that we were in Cromwell country but our guide gave us an insight into the history before the Reformation, when there were monasteries on the site and a famous Catholic called The Abbott of Ramsey, whose personal history I intend to look up. More of him in a moment. Staying with Cromwell, we passed the famous 17th century bridge where Cromwell drew up the drawbridge to prevent the Royalists getting in. Cromwell was the Puritan in the English civil war who was fighting against those who were on the side of the King.

Going along with this history was the beauty of the landscape, serene and full of wispy trees, with pointed churches in the distance. As we drew closer, we saw one that was not so pointed, Hemingford Abbotts, which lost its top ages ago and which had never been replaced, so now it was flat. On the other side was Hemingford Grey church, which was the church of one of our travellers.

We learned that in the time of the Abbott a skeleton was found, which was declared by the Abbott to be that of an ancient saint from Persia I believe, called St Ives and the town was renamed after him. In the Middle Ages, many miracles occurred in St Ives and many folk made pilgrimages to the town. Later the skeleton was declared to be that of a Roman soldier and the town thought to be of Roman origin, but our guide preferred the first interpretation!.

St Ives also has about 150 swans, who converge on the little quayside and some keep guard on their nesting mates, whom, if we were lucky, we saw by the river on their nests. I reflected that swans are very faithful and mate for life, anyhow it was wonderful to see these patches of white dotted on the landscape.

A good lunch in a pub and I came home deeply contented and determined to pay a return visit.

Shalom from
Sister Gila

The Royal Wedding

My dear Friends

Yesterday i watched the Royal Wedding on TV with Benigna, her daughter Fadijah and Benigna's carer Effie. I was deeply moved by it from start to finish, but especially by the service in Westminster Abbey. It was the Church of England at its very best. Rowan Williams was in attendance and solemnly explained the meaning of marriage to the young couple.

Kate looked resplendent in her gorgeous wedding gown and seemd relaxed throughout the whole ceremony.There was a moment of tension when it seemed that the ring might not fit!
The couple had chosen a marvellous reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans; the last verse says 'Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.' And they had composed a prayer about helping people in distress.

They are obviously people with a firm belief and a firm sense of committment. We all relished the moment on the balcony when they kissed, not once but twice!

The Queen looked rightly happy and has bestowed on William and Catherine the titles of 'Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.' I look forward to the day when they visit us here.

Shalom from
Sister Gila

The Passover story

My dear Friends

On Tuesday night I had a beautiful experience. I celebrated Seder night (the Passover story) with 2 Jewish women friends of mine, mother and daughter. There is something very special about an all-women Seder and indeed a special grace was working.

Jane, the daughter, had ordered some unusual matsot (unleavened bread) -they were huge and round and had come all the way from Israel. She had also made a beautiful cake for dessert.

We started by Irene (the mother) lighting the candles in a special holder carved by an elderly Jewish friend and she said the Festival blessing. Then we proceeded with the liturgy, centred round the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and the parting of the Red Sea. With the cups of wine we celebrated going from slavery to freedom, darkness to light, bondage to redemption.

Interwoven with the proceedings were the ritual foods, the bitter herbs to commemorate the bitterness the Israelites experienced in Egypt, the charoseth to represent the bricks and mortar that the Israelites were forced to build cities with and the roasted egg and shankbone to represent the lamb which was roasted before their departure from Egypt.

Interspersed in all this was the Jewish music which I sang, drawing from my childhood memory in London and Glasgow when there would be fourteen people round the table, from different Jewish traditions.

The Exodus story and its story of redemption is an essential part of the history of salvation, mirroring Christ's death on the cross and his Resurrection which we celebrate this weekend.As we go through the shadow of the cross, may we come into the joy of new life.

Shalom from
Sister Gila

The silver birch tree

My dear Friends In January 2000 I had just founded The Little Sisters of Joy with my friend Maryvonne. What better thing to do than to plant a tree in honour of the new foundation? I asked permission from the lady I was living with, Benigna Lehmann and she said she would be delighted to have it in her garden. Her son-in law Latif, a composer and a fine man, had just died and his daughter, Benigna's grandaughter, told me that his favourite tree was the silver birch-there was a trio of them in the Botanical garden in Cambridge. So I invited a group of close friends and one afternoon we planted a silver birch in Benigna's garden and made a little ceremony. We recited psalm 96 in which the trees of the wood 'shout for joy' at the presence of the Lord. The tree has grown enormous but luckily the garden was big enough for it to grow freely. When I moved over to the north of the city I decided to plant a sliver birch to show the continuity of The Little Sisters of Joy. In seven years it has grown tall and strong.But alas one of its roots has grown into my neighbours garden and the other roots are growing fast, so I am thinking of having it pruned and the root in the other garden taken away. Please pray that my beautiful tree will continue to grow as it is a wonderful symbol of spirituality, beauty and simplicity. As I write, I am on my way to the Botanical gardens and i will for sure look at the trio of birches which have grown strong and tall. Did you know that the Indians regards the birch as something mystical and use the bark to line their boats? And there are wonderful forests of them in Canada, Finland and Russia. Long may they last! Shalom from Sister Gila

Church crawl

My dear Friends Yesterday I had a lovely day. I took my friend who lives in Impington, and who has just been newly received into the Church on a 'Church crawl.' At 10am, when the refracted light on the building was truly beautiful, we went to Kings College Chapel. We walked slowly round, savouring every moment and raising our eyes to the magnificent ceiling, which has been fashioned in a sort of curve. We processed down the nave, past the choir stalls, to the high altar,above which is the painting by Reubens of 'The Adoration of the Magi.' On the left side of the chapel is a quiet room, with a painting of 'Madonna in a Rosary.' Mary is holding the baby Jesus and offering him some cherries from a bowl. We tried afterwards to find out the significance of the cherries, but in vain. Coming out of this room we read the long history of the chapel and the various kings who were involved. Descriptions of worship in those days was also portrayed, with lovely pictures of mediaeval psalters and other illuminated manuscripts. Coming out into the sunshine in the beautiful courtyard of Kings we made our way to Benet Street, where I wanted to show my friend St Benet's Church, which is the oldest building in Cambridge.I have been going there before my Christian days, to rest a-while in the peace of this church. We admired the icons near the altar of St Anne, one of Christ holding the book and the other of St Francis and St Dominic. Next we went into St Botolph's church. Very few people know he is the real patron Saint of travellers. It was dark and cold inside but still with a very interesting altar and pictures. Finally, and this was my friend's favourite, we went to Little St Mary's. We first went into the garden, small and windy with a few tombstones. The sun was shining beautifully yesterday. Inside all was quiet and my friend admired the ancient statue of Mary above the high altar. I took her into my favourite part, the Lady Chapel, and we prayed and lit candles. Just to finish off, we had lunch in the nearby Fitzwilliam Museum. Shalom from Sister Gila

Does the veil empower women?

My dear Friends

On Thursday night I went to a debate in the Cambridge Graduate Union. the debate was entitled:This house believes the veil empowers women.' It was a heated debate.

The first to propose the motion was Lauren Davidson, a third -year Theology student and outgoing President of the Union. Her arguments were quite intellectual and she made a case for the veil empowering women and allowing them to express their identity.First to oppose was Houriya Ahmed, Member of Sisters against Violent Extremists, a fellow at the Centre for Social Cohesion, and a writer. She asked the first speaker to try on the black veil which covers the whole face apart from the eyes, to see if she was expressing her identity. She then went on to say at length how our identity is formed rather by how we live and think, not by the veil. She is herself a Muslim.

The best speaker of the evening was the second to propose the motion, Krista Bremer. She is a Californian -born essayist and writer, who has written in support of a women's choice to wear the veil. She spoke very movingly about her daughter who said to her mother she wanted to wear the veil. Her father, Krista's husband, is a Libyan Muslim.She talked about the support she gave her daughter and about how her teenage daughter was criticised in the society where they lived.

Dr Taj Hargey was the second to oppose the motion. He is chairman of the Muslim Education Centre of Oxford and a writer. He is also an Immam. He strongly said that wearing the veil is an outdated custom of pre-Islamic times, more connected to the Jewish and Christian religions. He is also said it was a sign of oppression and tyranny among Muslim men who beat their wives.

Thirdly, for the motion,there was Nagihan Haliloglu, a Muslim academic, who specialises in gender issues in Islam. She spoke at length about how the veil is part of the identity of a Muslim woman and an important religious symbol connected to consecration. She denied that it was connected to oppression.

Finally against the motion, there was David Aaronovitch, a senior leader writer for The Times and columnist and broadcaster. This was a very undistinguished speech, in which he spent the whole time character assassinating the other speakers, especially Krista Bremer (with the Libyan husband). It provoked a lot of emotion from the young Muslim women behind me and I had to comfort them by saying he was out of line and playing to the gallery. Unfortunately he was a good enough 'actor' to draw a lot of laughter and applause.

I haven't yet got the results of the debate, although I suspect the motion was defeated. I voted in favour, partly because I believe that headcovering can show a respect for God and partly to be in solidarity with my Muslim women friends.It was interesting to see quite a group of young Jewish students there,all with their skullcaps.

I would welcome any views, in the form of comments.

Shalom from

Sister Gila

Lenten days

My dear Friends
I had a bright idea about Shrove Tuesday. By the way 'shrove' comes from the word 'to be shriven'-that is to make a confession before Lent. Anyway about the pancakes-I went to the cinema with a friend where they make lovely crepes at the bar. So I ate my sweet things up before Lent.
Many years ago, when I had just become a Catholic, I told Fr Brendan, my Irish spiritual director, that I was giving up smoking for Lent. 'I absolutely forbid you,' he said. 'It will put you under too much stress.' So ever since then I have never given up anything for Lent, just tried to do more, love more, try to do good deeds, read the Bible more and pray more. It takes a little time to discern.

Yesterday I had a good Ash Wednesday. Went to Mass in the Catholic school and Fr Pat anointed all our foreheads with ash procured from burning the previous Easter's crosses. 'Repent and believe the Gospel' he said as he put it on. I fasted but only for about ten hours and prayed then went into the town to Pizza Express and had a good meal.

More later
Shalom from
Sister Gila