A visit not for the faint-hearted!

One of our visits here in Greece has been to the Community of St John the Forerunner (whom many of us call John the Baptist). The Monastery (which many might mistakenly call a Convent as it is a place where only Nuns live) is situated high on a mountain just over two miles from the village of Anatoli. When I say high on a mountain, I mean high… 3,543 feet high! (Apparently, this is twice the height of Ben Nevis. No wonder one of the group had a slight touch of attitude sickness.) We reached the Monastery by taking a forty-five minute drive up the side of the mountain on a road with many twists and turns, coated with tarmac the edge of which finished barely far enough away from the edge of the road to stop the coach heading down into the valley below. At one point there was a distinct grinding of pebbles and stones under wheels as we rounded a corner and caught the roadside. As there was no barrier at this particular point, it would have made for an interesting story for those who might have survived the fall had it happened! After the forty-five minute return drive, our Driver, Janis, told us that he hadn’t driven up or down this mountain before. I am so pleased I didn’t know that beforehand!

 

We were welcomed at the Monastery by a Sister whose name means ‘One created by God’. As she herself said, it is the most difficult name of all the sisters – hence I can’t even begin to write it for you here! She was delightful and invited us first to visit the Church. It is a small Church, separated into three sections inside – as is usual for Churches/Chapels in many Orthodox Monasteries. The area at the back (often called the Narthex) is where visitors will sit/stand during Services. The next section in is where the members of the Community sit and stand, and then the final section – at the front of the Church – is usually ‘hidden’ behind the Iconostasis – a screen on which many icons are either hung or painted. It has three openings, across which curtains hang, and behind this will be the altar at which Holy Communion is celebrated, also on which the Gospels reside, as well as the Tabernacle for the Reserved Sacrament. (Reserved Sacrament is bread and wine that has been consecrated by the priest during a Service of Holy Communion, but that has been kept rather than being consumed in order that it may be taken to those who are sick and who are unable to come to Church. As, through the Prayer of Consecration, it is believed by many that the Real Presence of Christ is now in the bread and wine it is also kept in some Churches to be used in acts of devotion where the bread will be placed into a monstrance and the people will pray before it, believing that they are in the presence of Christ. If the container in which the bread and wine are kept is on the altar, it is called a Tabernacle, and if it is a smaller ‘cupboard’ in the wall, it is called an Aumbry. Lesson over!)

We were able to explore all of the Church – and to look behind the central curtain (Royal Entrance) of the Iconostasis to see the Gospel Book on the Altar, as well as the Tabernacle. Interestingly, the Tabernacle is empty as the Church is not yet complete and therefore not yet dedicated. Although the structure, seating, candelabra and flooring are complete, the decoration of the walls is not. As is usual in Orthodox Churches, there will be many images of many saints that will adorn the walls. At present, only the apse is decorated. The Community have been on this site since the year 2,000 – and they do all of the work themselves, using traditional methods for the wall paintings and icons, so it is a lengthy and painstaking process. In fact, everything is done by the Sisters, from milking the cows to wielding a power drill to bring down walls in the process of refurbishment and building.

 

 

Following the visit to the Church, we passed through (snow flakes!) the dining room in to the and were shown into the Guestroom of the Monastery. After the unheated Church the Guestroom was toasty and warm which was a blessing as  snow had begin to fall as we made our way from the Church to the main house! The central heating was bolstered by an open fire and we were treated to home-made biscuits along with mountain tea. Whoever made the biscuits deserves a medal as the Community marks Lent with particular attention to self-denial – so these biscuits will have no chance of being eaten by any of the Sisters! We heard of the work that is undertaken by the Sisters – all sorts of things – beginning with praying the Office – going on to building further rooms in the Monastery, painting these rooms, welcoming guests, study, personal prayer, taking cows to the abattoir, preparing cheese, helping out people in the village (for all sorts of needs – assistance with medicines as one of the sisters is a trained nurse, help a family after there was a fire at their home etc. etc.), spinning wool, weaving mats and carpets, cooking, looking after bees to collect honey as well as use the wax for candles. All the things of daily life – with a few more thrown in besides…

Following the time of conversation in the Guestroom, we descended on the shop – to much hilarity as we tried to decipher what the labels on things said. On sale were a whole host of items: teas made from herbs grown by the Sisters, as well as other food/drink items: pasta, cheese, meats, yoghurt, herbal Tonic drinks (that used to be made with blood – but as the community is vegetarian theirs most definitely isn’t!), balsamic vinegar, jams and the like. There are also Prayer Ropes – with either the traditional thirty-three knots (for the number of years that Jesus lived) or one or two hundred. For each knot, one recites the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Of course, a rope is not obligatory, but it helps to keep the mind focussed as the knots of the rope pass through the fingers. All of the ropes for sale, as well as other devotional items are made by the members of the Community which, at present, number twenty Sisters, four of whom are Novices. With a general rule that those who join must be over twenty-four and under fifty years of age, and a number of young vocations, the average age of the Sisters is in the lower forties.

There was real interest in the life of the Sisters, and the way in which they understand God to have called them to live. The Sister we met spoke with clarity, wisdom and understanding of the life of a Religious – a life unknown to so many people as they have never visited a Monastery (Convent) or met a Monk or Nun. The humour, devotion, sense and insight with which this Sister spoke endeared her to many within in the Group who had never been to a place like this. Having mentioned to a few members of the group that many moons ago I tested my vocation as a Religious with the Benedictine Community that was at that time based at Burford Priory, but is now to be found at Mucknell Abbey, I have spent the ensuing time answering questions about what ‘they’ do all day and why they do it. I spent three years in Community learning about faith, prayer, life, love, obedience (!), forgiveness, charity (usually others for me)… and so much more. Having met the Sisters at the Community of Saint John the Forerunner yesterday, and been able to answer some of the questions of the members of the this Group, I hope many of them will be encouraged to explore and discover whether there are any communities near them who they could visit.

 

The nerve-racking, nail-biting, fear-of-heights-manic-panic-moment-inducing journey up the mountain side was so worth it for so many of us, I can’t begin to tell you!

 

Sermon for Homelessness Sunday 2014

Having written my name on the Rota for today, I have spent the last months wondering just what I might say. What do I, who live in a four-bedroomed house, with possibly one of the largest gardens in the locality and who doesn’t pay any rent, what do I have to say on the matter of homelessness? Except… the house I live in is not my own and, until my father’s death a few years ago, I had no money to speak of that would contribute to the rental or purchase of anywhere to live upon my retirement and, contrary to popular belief, the church does not provide houses for retired clergy ‘free gratis’ and for nothing. Following the call from God to explore first the vocation to monastic life and then to be a member of the clergy has not done my financial situation much good and I ponder, with some regularity, both the meaning of, and my belief in, the biblical injunction, “Consider the lilies of the field…” That’s all very well you will find me thinking, but where will I live when I am 68 or so and I come to retirement?!

I tell you a little of my story to put the reality of being homeless squarely where it belongs – in our midst.

When I joined the religious community to which I belonged for three years, I knew there was the possibility that it might not be the place where I would live for ever – either because the community might move, or that I might leave. When the time came that it appeared the community was no longer the place for me to live and thrive, then came the thoughts and worries: Will people want to talk to me as I have left the place that I thought I would live in for ever? Will people think I don’t love God any more? Also though were the practical questions of: Where will I go? What will I do? How will I afford to live?

I was lucky, in that my Uncle and Aunt had said, before I joined community, that, if I left, I should know that I could go and stay with them. I remember the phone call to them to tell them that I was going to leave. I was in a state of shock and confusion and was feeling physically sick as I explained I was leaving and asked if I could, indeed, come and stay with them. Of course, it was fine – even though my aunt’s mother had just died. My Uncle had two weeping women in the house – he describes it as one of the best summer’s he has ever had! But, as I picked up the phone to ask them if I could come to them, I wasn’t sure if they had really meant what they said, and, if they didn’t, what would I do and where would I go? I didn’t have enough money to rent anywhere and I didn’t know what job I would do or where I wanted to be. If they hadn’t said yes to my coming and staying with them, I am not sure where I would have gone. I was lucky – really lucky. Someone else who decided to leave the community spent a fortnight seeking somewhere to go and even then, the situation she went to was not ideal and didn’t last all that long.

Finding one’s self in a place of being potentially homelessness is not always something that happens to ‘those people’ over there. You may know of parents who have taken in their children and grand-children when the mortgage can no longer be paid due to a business failing, or ill health meaning the mortgage can no longer be paid, or the cost of living means that debts have piled up so high that there is no chance to pay them off without selling the family home. Then follow the questions: How long will the extra bodies stay in the house? Is there going to be any money to pay for the extra food, increased energy costs, phone and internet usage – and so forth? The reality of being homeless belongs squarely in our midst.

Someone I know carries money in their pocket all the time so that, when walking through the town, they can give money to people who are begging. I won’t give money like that but I will ask them if they would like a sandwich and drink bought for them. I do this a lot now, as well as asking them where they plan to sleep that night, or how they have come to be living as they are. If the person doesn’t want something brought for them, I do question their being there – so I am not as saintly or as soft as you might think I am. If I question their motives inside my head, I do then ponder on what it is that makes sitting on the smelly, cold streets of London more appealing than looking for work. And it’s not just the cold, smelly streets of London – I noticed someone in Rickmansworth the other day – not selling the Big Issue, but sitting with a hat on the ground in front of them, hoping for money from passers-by.

The reality of being homeless belongs squarely in our midst – because, for whatever reason people find themselves in this situation – whether through unexpected change of circumstance: redundancy, loss of a business, marital breakdown, ill-health meaning they can’t work any more and can’t pay the mortgage or rent, change of parental partners with the new parent not wanting the children of the previous marriage around any more – we will all know people for whom these things are reality, or know people who know people for whom these things are reality.

This is, I believe, the third year that we have marked Homelessness Sunday – which falls at the beginning of Poverty and Homelessness Action Week. For those of you who are more recent members of our church, we used to collect the items brought today as part of our Harvest Giving, but separated them a few years ago so that we could concentrate on giving thanks for the fruits and gifts of creation at Harvest time with the gifts we bring then, and then offer prayers and give rather more practical gifts at this point – joining in with the campaign organised by the charities, Church Action on Poverty, Scottish Churches Housing Action and Housing Justice.

If you have brought things along with you today – thank you for them. If you haven’t because you didn’t know or have forgotten, then feel free to bring some things along later today. If you don’t have anything practical that you can bring along, then maybe giving some financial support directly to one of the charities might work for you. If you don’t have anything practical to give and can’t afford to give a monetary gift, then give the gift of prayer. We all need the gift of prayer – and those who find themselves poverty stricken and without a home need prayer more than most. It’s been a mild-ish winter down south, but pity and pray for those who’ve been in the wind and rain and floods, as well as those in Scotland who’ve been in the snow – and if you’d like a first-hand account of volunteering for a shelter for the homeless over Christmas, pick up a magazine or look it up on our church website and you’ll find one there from a member of our church who did so this past Christmas.

The reality of being homeless belongs squarely in our midst but if you’ve never been homeless, or felt at risk of being so – and if you’ve always had enough money in the bank, through hard work or inheritance, then in your prayers give thanks. Give thanks, and spare a generous-hearted prayer for those who, for whatever reason, find their situation to be one of challenge and fear. Amen.