My dear Friends and bloggers
From now until Monday 7th July, I will be 'off the air' and taking a little holiday in a beautiful place. It will be restful to be away from a mobile, and a computer(although i don't have one at home and do everything from libraries) and to try to do nothing - I used to be good at it, not so much now, but worth another try!
So, until 7th JULY, Be well and
Shalom from
Sister Gila
xxxx
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Sainte Anne-de-Beaupre
My dear Friends
In 1988 I was sitting by the river in Cambridge, Ontario. A man, bare-chested and wearing what looked like a St Christopher medal, stepped out of a small boat (another man stayed in the boat) and looked right at me, saying: 'Are you religious?' Taken aback, I stuttered: 'I suppose so.' 'Then you must go to the Shrine of Sainte Anne-de Beaupre.' he continued.
Several days later, having travelled by train, stayed the night in Quebec and taken a bus up the ravishing St Lawrence river, I came to the Shrine.
Not one for large Basilicas, and telling the good Lord as much, I found some small chapels at the back. A light was burning in one of them, and there was a little prayer card, asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I knelt down, said the prayer, and suddenly felt she was with me. I knew she wanted to go somewhere, Where? I asked.
Stumbling out of the Basilica, I ran up the road and came to a convent. 'Would you like to join the service, my dear?' a nice lady at the desk said. ''It's not a Mass.' So I climbed up and came to what seemed like a trapdoorand poked my head into the chapel - it was full of 40 nuns, all dressed in white, praying for vocations!
All this and more is described in The Moving Swan. It was only the beginning of my journey into my new life. And the beginning of my special relationship with the people of Quebec. Last Friday, almost 20 years to the day later, I returned from London on the bus. Behind me two young women were talking animatedly in a language which sounded joyful, lyrical and musical all at the same time. It sounded familiar, French, no a little different, with English interspersed, yes French, of course-Quebecois!
I turned round and we had a three way conversation. They were delighted when I said how much their language pleased me, and I was sad to hear of its frailty, because it is apparently mainly spoken now only in the Province of Quebec.
I realise now, from my experience in the Shrine of Sainte Anne-de Beaupre, and in the Cathedral in Montreal, when I was on my way into the Church, that God was planting something very special in my heart, which will bear much fruit when I finally emigrate to Canada and live in the country of the Beaupre-the Beautiful Pasture.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
In 1988 I was sitting by the river in Cambridge, Ontario. A man, bare-chested and wearing what looked like a St Christopher medal, stepped out of a small boat (another man stayed in the boat) and looked right at me, saying: 'Are you religious?' Taken aback, I stuttered: 'I suppose so.' 'Then you must go to the Shrine of Sainte Anne-de Beaupre.' he continued.
Several days later, having travelled by train, stayed the night in Quebec and taken a bus up the ravishing St Lawrence river, I came to the Shrine.
Not one for large Basilicas, and telling the good Lord as much, I found some small chapels at the back. A light was burning in one of them, and there was a little prayer card, asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I knelt down, said the prayer, and suddenly felt she was with me. I knew she wanted to go somewhere, Where? I asked.
Stumbling out of the Basilica, I ran up the road and came to a convent. 'Would you like to join the service, my dear?' a nice lady at the desk said. ''It's not a Mass.' So I climbed up and came to what seemed like a trapdoorand poked my head into the chapel - it was full of 40 nuns, all dressed in white, praying for vocations!
All this and more is described in The Moving Swan. It was only the beginning of my journey into my new life. And the beginning of my special relationship with the people of Quebec. Last Friday, almost 20 years to the day later, I returned from London on the bus. Behind me two young women were talking animatedly in a language which sounded joyful, lyrical and musical all at the same time. It sounded familiar, French, no a little different, with English interspersed, yes French, of course-Quebecois!
I turned round and we had a three way conversation. They were delighted when I said how much their language pleased me, and I was sad to hear of its frailty, because it is apparently mainly spoken now only in the Province of Quebec.
I realise now, from my experience in the Shrine of Sainte Anne-de Beaupre, and in the Cathedral in Montreal, when I was on my way into the Church, that God was planting something very special in my heart, which will bear much fruit when I finally emigrate to Canada and live in the country of the Beaupre-the Beautiful Pasture.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
The Moving Swan-Book Cover
My dear Friends
With regard to the article below about The Moving Swan, you can view the cover of the book to the right of the Blog, next to my Profile. Many unseen hands contributed to the production of this book, published by The Little Sisters of Joy, and one of them was the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, who hold the original painting by the French artist Degas, which I chose for the cover, from their collection. As the painting was not hanging in the public galleries at the time, I asked for a private view: I was amazed to learn that it is a pastel, not oil, and two-thirds of the way down on the cover is a line: apparently Degas joined two pieces of paper, which the Museum expert called 'glorified toilet paper' because he was so poor!
Because Degas did not allow anyone in to the studio while he was painting, we can never know if the 'backdrop' to the painting was a real outdoor scene, or a stage backcloth for a theatrical production. I leave you to guess the deeper meaning of the title, and just hope you enjoy the book.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
With regard to the article below about The Moving Swan, you can view the cover of the book to the right of the Blog, next to my Profile. Many unseen hands contributed to the production of this book, published by The Little Sisters of Joy, and one of them was the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, who hold the original painting by the French artist Degas, which I chose for the cover, from their collection. As the painting was not hanging in the public galleries at the time, I asked for a private view: I was amazed to learn that it is a pastel, not oil, and two-thirds of the way down on the cover is a line: apparently Degas joined two pieces of paper, which the Museum expert called 'glorified toilet paper' because he was so poor!
Because Degas did not allow anyone in to the studio while he was painting, we can never know if the 'backdrop' to the painting was a real outdoor scene, or a stage backcloth for a theatrical production. I leave you to guess the deeper meaning of the title, and just hope you enjoy the book.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
The Moving Swan
The Moving Swan is an account of my life so far from the beginning until 1999, when The Little Sisters of Joy was officially founded. It documents, with photos, my Jewish childhood in London, the move to Glasgow when I was 11 and my adolescence and wild youth. Breakdown followed and I came back to God through music, a gift inherited from my very musical Jewish family. Coming to Cambridge in 1982, I studied music and returned to the practice of my Jewish religion, the Joy of which I never lost.
In East Anglia, Wales and Canada, I received some profound mystical experiences which led me into the Catholic Church in 1989. I also received a religious vocation. But The Moving Swan is not simply about my journey in faith; it tells of my many journeys and especially the people I have loved. That is why I started writing and it mysteriously turned into a book.
The Moving Swan was launched on 8th May 2006 in the lovely Impington Church Hall near Cambridge, under the auspices of the Impington Mothers' Union. I talked and sang, in Hebrew and English, about my life, while the gathering joined in. Afterwards we had tea and I signed copies of the book. To date, over 750 copies have been sold and distributed, in Cambridge and other parts of the world.
If you are interested, and would like a copy, I am offering it for £12 worldwide including postage. Please send a cheque, made payable to 'The Little Sisters of Joy' to:
Sister Gila Margolin
The Little Sisters of Joy
The Haven
61 Edgecombe
Cambridge
CB4 2LW
England, UK
and I will send the book out to you as quickly as I can.
All proceeds go to The Little Sisters of Joy, soon to become a registered charity in the UK, and will be used for travel, publishing, printing, admin. for Concerts and all things required to help us continue to work for Peace and Reconciliation in this troubled world.
Bless you and thank you in advance
Shalom from
Sister Gila
In East Anglia, Wales and Canada, I received some profound mystical experiences which led me into the Catholic Church in 1989. I also received a religious vocation. But The Moving Swan is not simply about my journey in faith; it tells of my many journeys and especially the people I have loved. That is why I started writing and it mysteriously turned into a book.
The Moving Swan was launched on 8th May 2006 in the lovely Impington Church Hall near Cambridge, under the auspices of the Impington Mothers' Union. I talked and sang, in Hebrew and English, about my life, while the gathering joined in. Afterwards we had tea and I signed copies of the book. To date, over 750 copies have been sold and distributed, in Cambridge and other parts of the world.
If you are interested, and would like a copy, I am offering it for £12 worldwide including postage. Please send a cheque, made payable to 'The Little Sisters of Joy' to:
Sister Gila Margolin
The Little Sisters of Joy
The Haven
61 Edgecombe
Cambridge
CB4 2LW
England, UK
and I will send the book out to you as quickly as I can.
All proceeds go to The Little Sisters of Joy, soon to become a registered charity in the UK, and will be used for travel, publishing, printing, admin. for Concerts and all things required to help us continue to work for Peace and Reconciliation in this troubled world.
Bless you and thank you in advance
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Shalom by David Lord
I had the use of a car over the weekend, as I said in the last Blog entry. As it was the Feast of the Visitation, the meeting of Mary and Elisabeth while pregnant with Jesus and John the Baptist, I decided to get away from Cambridge, and go to mass on the Saturday somewhere further afield. This Feast is particularly important for the joy and reconciliation we hope to achieve in The Little Sisters of Joy. And, for a meeting of the Old and the New.
Having phoned the priest the night before, I jumped in the car at 7.45 am on Saturday morning and drove down to Swaffham in Norfolk, on the road to Walsingham.
Feeling the need for a little rest and a coffee in Brandon, I came to a hotel I had not noticed before. Tea and toast was only a couple of pounds and inside I met the handyman, David Lord, known as 'Lordie.'
Not young, but still handsome, I discovered he was Jewish like me. And sensitive, with a keen talent for writing words to express our human condition. His lyrics, for that is what they are, have not been set to music, so I hope to do that, or get my friend Sue, who writes wonderful peace songs, to set it so that it can be accompanied on the guitar. But in the meantime I wanted to share with you his words, which I find very moving.
Having phoned the priest the night before, I jumped in the car at 7.45 am on Saturday morning and drove down to Swaffham in Norfolk, on the road to Walsingham.
Feeling the need for a little rest and a coffee in Brandon, I came to a hotel I had not noticed before. Tea and toast was only a couple of pounds and inside I met the handyman, David Lord, known as 'Lordie.'
Not young, but still handsome, I discovered he was Jewish like me. And sensitive, with a keen talent for writing words to express our human condition. His lyrics, for that is what they are, have not been set to music, so I hope to do that, or get my friend Sue, who writes wonderful peace songs, to set it so that it can be accompanied on the guitar. But in the meantime I wanted to share with you his words, which I find very moving.
Never mind, my sons,
They'll write your names in stone,
They'll remember you once a year
While your mother stands there
with a crown of thorns.
I see your night fighters
flying over the Beirut sky;
I know this night
some innocent child will die.
Some people make love in the night,
And some people make war,
But let my children go free,
Let them climb their ladder to the stars
And be in paradise with me.
Shalom by David Lord
And Shalom from
Sister Gila
Friday, 30 May 2008
LIfe and death and life
My dear Friends
This coming Sunday I will drive down to Bushey cemetery, near London, with a close friend. In the Jewish cemetery there my father, mother and brother are buried. My mother died at 97 in June 2006, my father in June 1972 and my brother, who was 20 years older than me in June 2003.
Actually June 18th was the date my father and brother died in different years.
On June 18th 1988, I had gone down to the sea in Cromer in Norfolk, after sitting an exam in Biblical Hebrew . This was to be my entry into Lucy Cavendish College in Cambridge to do a Hebrew degree. On the Saturday, June 18th, I was praying for my mother by the sea, when into my mind came a monastery in North Wales. It was there, a few years previously, that I had a profound experience in the silence, which was to lead me into the Catholic Church.
And then, later on this day, near Cromer, I had another profound experience, on the very anniversary of my father's death - his soul was leading me onto a new path.
I wrote about these experiences in a book, called The Moving Swan, published on 8 May 2006 in the context of a Presentation of My Life so Far. It took place in the Impington Church Hall, just outside Cambridge, with 50 guests, who sang in Hebrew with me, while I also talked about my life and afterwards signed copies of the book.I only realised later that 8 May is the day that World War Two ended in Europe.
I published The Moving Swan under the foundation of The Little Sisters of Joy. Amazingly, over 750 copies have been sold and distributed and it is already into its 3rd printing. I hope to display the cover of the book, and some excerpts from it in my next Blog entry.
If any of you are interested in buying it, I would like you know that it is not simply a book about my journey in faith; it documents my Jewish childhood, my wild youth and nervous breakdowns, my journeys, and, perhaps most of all, the people I have loved. It is quite a personal book and I would be happy to make it available for you.
So, just to tempt you, here is the opening line...
"I always was an unconventional little child..."
Shabbat Shalom
Sister Gila
This coming Sunday I will drive down to Bushey cemetery, near London, with a close friend. In the Jewish cemetery there my father, mother and brother are buried. My mother died at 97 in June 2006, my father in June 1972 and my brother, who was 20 years older than me in June 2003.
Actually June 18th was the date my father and brother died in different years.
On June 18th 1988, I had gone down to the sea in Cromer in Norfolk, after sitting an exam in Biblical Hebrew . This was to be my entry into Lucy Cavendish College in Cambridge to do a Hebrew degree. On the Saturday, June 18th, I was praying for my mother by the sea, when into my mind came a monastery in North Wales. It was there, a few years previously, that I had a profound experience in the silence, which was to lead me into the Catholic Church.
And then, later on this day, near Cromer, I had another profound experience, on the very anniversary of my father's death - his soul was leading me onto a new path.
I wrote about these experiences in a book, called The Moving Swan, published on 8 May 2006 in the context of a Presentation of My Life so Far. It took place in the Impington Church Hall, just outside Cambridge, with 50 guests, who sang in Hebrew with me, while I also talked about my life and afterwards signed copies of the book.I only realised later that 8 May is the day that World War Two ended in Europe.
I published The Moving Swan under the foundation of The Little Sisters of Joy. Amazingly, over 750 copies have been sold and distributed and it is already into its 3rd printing. I hope to display the cover of the book, and some excerpts from it in my next Blog entry.
If any of you are interested in buying it, I would like you know that it is not simply a book about my journey in faith; it documents my Jewish childhood, my wild youth and nervous breakdowns, my journeys, and, perhaps most of all, the people I have loved. It is quite a personal book and I would be happy to make it available for you.
So, just to tempt you, here is the opening line...
"I always was an unconventional little child..."
Shabbat Shalom
Sister Gila
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
The Holy Spirit
My dear Friends
We have just celebrated Pentecost, which is when The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the early Church and does, every year, during the liturgical commemoration of this Feast. Last Sunday was the Feast of The Holy Trinity, so I thought I would display my little essay on The Holy Spirit, which I wrote for an exam question last year. So here it is:
The Holy Spirit is the bond of love, which keeps the Father and Son together in love in the intimacy of the Trinity. Therefore no sacrament would be complete without the presence of the Holy Spirit, in whom we live, move and have our being. During the Sunday Eucharist, we define our belief in the Spirit by saying:
We have just celebrated Pentecost, which is when The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the early Church and does, every year, during the liturgical commemoration of this Feast. Last Sunday was the Feast of The Holy Trinity, so I thought I would display my little essay on The Holy Spirit, which I wrote for an exam question last year. So here it is:
The Holy Spirit is the bond of love, which keeps the Father and Son together in love in the intimacy of the Trinity. Therefore no sacrament would be complete without the presence of the Holy Spirit, in whom we live, move and have our being. During the Sunday Eucharist, we define our belief in the Spirit by saying:
'We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.'
The Spirit was sent into the world by Christ as the Comforter and as the one who 'abides forever.' Thus is the Spirit essential to any sacrament and is, with the Word, the Prime Mover of that sacrament. We see the matrix for all this right at the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, when the Spirit of God hovers over the waters, bringing order out of chaos and the world into existence through the Word. Thus is the Spirit already working in conjunction with the Father and the Son.
In the Eucharist, the words of the consecration 'breathe' and make present Christ on the altar, out of time and space. We can see how the Shechinah, the Divine Presence was already present in the desert with the Children of Israel, in the pillar of cloud and especially in the Tabernacle. And with Moses face-to-face at the burning bush and on the mountain of Sinai. It was the Spirit who knit the bones of the nation of Israel together in Ezekiel 37, in a prefiguration of the Resurrection. Without the breath of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist, the bread and wine would remain bread and wine and not become the Body and Blood of Christ. And yet it remains a Mystery.
A unifying Force-this is what the Priest proclaims just before the Our Father in the Liturgy, as he lifts the newly consecrated bread and wine:
'Through Him, with Him, in Him, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is Yours, almighty Father, forever and ever, Amen.'
But the Spirit does not just 'appear' at a certain part in the proceedings. He/She (the word is both male and female in the Hebrew) is present from the moment the priest says 'The Lord be with you' and the congregation responds 'And also with you' at the beginning of the Mass. We could say that the Spirit is the conductor of the liturgy, which moves like a symphony, in its different parts, variations and cadences, to its natural conclusion, making Our Lord present, and bringing clarity, healing and reconciliation to the world and those present, who must take it out to the world.
The Spirit is the unseen hane who guides the liturgy, movingthe hearts of the faithful and drawing us in Christ to the Father, as we make intercessions for ourselves and others. It is in the Spirit that we feel the JOY of the Eucharist. It is the Spirit, touching our hearts, that makes us feel contrition and gives us the desire to open to our hearts to God, so that we may receive Him in abundance. The Spirit, working in love with the Father and the Son, empowers us to love so deeply in the Eucharist that sometimes it is almost impossible to bear. We may turn with renewed compassion to others, as we allow the action of the Spirit, within the sacrifice of the Mass, to transform our lives.
It must not be forgotten that the central part of the Mass is the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, re-enacted out of time and space. This is the definitive outpouring of love which intersects the past, present and the future. In the beginning of creation the Spirit intersected the chaos to bring order and temporal time. Here His action is both temporal and eternal, in the economy of grace. Here the very essence of God is made manifest, and transmitted to us through the redemptive action of Christ on the Cross. As we receive the very essence and substance of God, we are divinized as a result.
Every blessing and shalom from
Sister Gila
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