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

Neve Shalom/Wahaat al-salaam

My dear Friends

One of the Dominicans in Isaiah House was Fr Bruno Hussar, a priest of Egyptian Jewish parents. Fr Bruno wrote an autobiography called 'When the cloud rises.' Well apparently one day the cloud rose and God said: 'Bruno, I want you to found a community of Israelis and Palestinians living together.'

Bruno thought this was a tall order but set about his task. For a shekel he purchased some land from the Latrun monastery, about 30 miles from Jerusalem and in the Ayalon valley, famous for the sun and moon standing still in the battle with Joshua and the scene of bloody fighting in the 1948 War of Independence. For a year he laboured to build, with a few hippies helping him. One day he said to God:'If you don't send me an Israeli and a Palestinian family within a week, I'm quitting!'

But they came. When I visited in 1989 there were 75 people living in the community and there was a School for Peace, where all the children learned Hebrew and Arabic together. Teenagers from the local Israeli and Palestinian schools come to workshops to meet the 'Other' and the encounters are often facilitated through music.

I had the privilege of meeting Fr Bruno there and he took me down to 'Dumiyah' which means deep silence and is a big white Dome where the people can pray. As I faced him in this place, I felt I had 'come home.'

Shalom from

Sister Gila

The summer of '89

My dear Friends

In 1989 I went back to Israel after a break of 21 years. It was a momentous time for me-I had just been received into the Catholic Church and I was in the second year of my Hebrew degree. Now I was on a three-month study course at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I was keen to make new Christian, as well as Jewish friends, and someone told me about the House of Isaiah.

This was where some Dominican priests lived but it was also the Mass centre for a group of Hebrew Catholics-Jews who had become Catholics and who sometimes, rather poignantly, had to hide their conversion from their families. The Mass, which was in Hebrew and which was attended by French and other Catholics, was full of JOY and was held in the crypt under the house. I was to make a lot of friends there, including Rivka, a Hebrew Catholic who lent me her apartment over the summer.

To be contd
Shalom from
Sister Gila

Final part of Paris

My dear Friends

I only had twenty four hours left in Paris. Basically I swanned around but ate in my hotel that evening. I went down to my hotel Cosy cafe, where I had a nice coffee and greeted a nice man I had seen in the bar near the Church that morning. The Mass that morning had been very lively and the Church was full. Now I was nearing the end of the trip. The next morning I had breakfast in the Cosy cafe and said goodbye to a nice couple from Australia, who had survived the floods in Brisbane. Then I packed my stuff and set off for the Gare du Nord. Alexia had told me about the Canal St Martin, so I got off the Metro and went in sight of it.

It was raining so not the best day to wander round the canals, so I had a quick look and found a nice bar. I decided to walk to the Gare du Nord, which took me about half an hour. I sat in the station for a short while and several poor and homeless people came up to me and asked me for money. I gave each one a small amount and listened to their stories, some were living in tents in the city, one had nowhere but the street to sleep in. It reminded me of Cambridge, where we have the most homeless people in Europe.

I had enough money for an omelette so I went across the street and sat beside a nice businessman from Belgium. I still had two hours before the Eurostar and I met a nice lady in the station with whom I shared my trip.

Bye for now
Shalom from
Sister Gila

More Paris

My dear Friends

I ended my day with an Italian meal in a local restaurant and had my first glass of wine for 2 Euros. Then I went up the street to my favourite cafe and had a coffee at the bar. This is cheaper and meant I got talking to a young guy, rather down on his luck, who ad mired my Russian style hat.(It was very cold in Paris.)

The next day was special-my friend was coming. She arrived at ten thirty, looking the same as ever, if a bit tired-she works forty miles outside the city. We hopped on the Metro and went to the Louvre. In the courtyard there is a pyramid and underneath there are shops and restaurants, so we dined in Starbucks and had a good chat, catching up on the last 18 months. Afterwards we walked on the streets and crossed several bridges, it was cold but fine. We ended up at Notre Dame and sat in silence for a while.We looked for another famous church in the vicinity but couldn't find it. So we came back to Picpus where the hotel was and said our goodbyes till the morrow.

The next day Alexia brought Christophe, her boyfriend, along and I was pleased to see him as the last time had been a while. We went to the Place des Voges, with the beautiful buildings, and the lovely galleries (and expensive!). We wandered along and ended up in the Rue des Rosiers, the Jewish quarter and nearly ate felafel but decided on a Parisian restaurant a little further along. They left me in Picpus and a little later on I went to the Place d'Italie to have a wander and a beer-absolutely delicious!

final part next time
Shalom from
Sister Gila