Carmel

My dear Friends
I really had fun yesterday. I went to see my friends in a Carmelite monastery about 25 miles from here and I decided to hire a car. Fortunately I have done this before and know where to get the cheapest option, so I bowled along in a Nissan Micra, with the radio blaring at Radio 3, the classical music programme.There wasn't too much sun but it was very sticky and I was glad I had dressed lightly.

Arriving at the monastery on the hill just before 10, I was greeted very warmly by one of the Sisters who is actually the Prioress. I had an hour before the Mass, so I went for a lovely walk in the surrounding countryside, where I saw fields of sheep and horses. I reflected on how little exercise I get these days so it was good to stretch my legs and just take in the scenery.

I got back just before 11am and went into the chapel, where a nice man recognised me from the last time and the previous times I had been to that lovely holy place. The elderly priest was just robing up for the Mass and he too greeted me very warmly: I felt like an old friend. It was the Feast of St Mary Magdalen and in the sermon he reflected whether she was the same woman who had poured oil over the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair. And was she the prostitute? She was certainly a woman Jesus loved, as he entrusted to her the message at His resurrection that He had risen.

After the Mass I was given a lovely 3 course lunch in a private room overlooking the front of the monastery.I think there was going to be wine, but when I said I had driven there it was mysteriously removed!But the food was delicious, chicken soup, nut roast and raspberries from the garden.

For the next two and a half hours I talked to my special friend, one of the other Sisters. We had a lot of catching up to do, but catch up we did and she gave me some good advice about how to approach the retreat I will be making in Ireland on 9th September.

I drove home, feeling very refreshed in mind and body. And woke up a litle depressed this morning, as I had had such a good day!

Shalom from
Sister Gila