29 April: New pilgrimage celebrates royal Kentish women

Here at Agnellus’ Mirror we are pleased to see Kentish women saints remembered in a pilgrimage between places associated with them: Saints Bertha, Ethelburga and Eanswythe. We look forward to setting foot on this journey and finishing with fish and chips at the harbour in Folkestone.

It’s disappointing that Saint Mildred – another princess of the same family – was not included with her relatives. Saint Mildred’s church is just across the city from Saint Martin’s, and a peaceful spot it is.

What follows is from the Canterbury diocese website.

A new pilgrimage route, launching on Saturday 27 April 2024, has been developed linking churches in Canterbury, Lyminge, and Folkestone. The project aims to highlight the achievements of royal Kentish women who were crucial to the development of Christianity in England and who were long side-lined in history.
 
The start of the pilgrimage is at St Martin’s Church in Canterbury, and celebrates Bertha who prayed with St Augustine in her private chapel on the site, laying the foundation for the conversion of Kent to Christianity. Bertha was pivotal to her pagan husband King Ethelbert accepting Christianity and together they established the first Christian royal family in England. 

St Martin’s Church, Canterbury

Midway along the route is St Mary & St Ethelburga Church, Lyminge, where recent excavations uncovered the remains of a church, dated to the time of Queen Ethelburga, daughter of Bertha. These stone foundations are evidence for what is acknowledged as one of the first Christian communities in this country. Ethelburga is celebrated for beginning, with her husband King Edwin, the conversion of the North of England to Christianity. She later returned to Kent to live at Lyminge after Edwin was killed in battle.

St Mary and St Ethelburga church, Lyminge

The end of the route is at St Mary & St Eanswythe, Folkestone, the scene of exciting discoveries during the recent Finding Eanswythe project. The church is dedicated to Bertha’s granddaughter, and Ethelburga’s niece, Princess Eanswythe, who is recorded as founding a very early Christian community at Folkestone. Human bones were discovered hidden in the church wall in the 19th century which have been scientifically analysed. They are of a well-nourished young woman and date to the time of St Eanswythe, making them most probably her bones preserved as relics in the church she founded since the time of her death. This is the only church in the British Isles known to have retained the relics of its founding Saint, and her shrine provides a fitting end to this new pilgrimage celebrating the foundational achievements of three generations of royal Kentish women who had once been forgotten.

St Mary and St Eanswythe church, Folkestone

Talking about the Royal Kentish Camino, St Martin’s Senior Visitor Host Jessica Morris said: “This new pilgrimage route is important in uniting three long forgotten Christian Women. Here at St Martin’s, we hope that people will enjoy this Camino whether it be to connect to the centuries of prayer within our walls or to explore the rich history that Kent, and these churches, have to offer”.
 
Also involved is Rob Baldwin, Chair of Lyminge Historical Society, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, who further added: “Our new Camino offers a chance to explore some fabulous countryside while reflecting on the significant achievements of three powerful women who were pioneers of their faith fourteen centuries ago when it was still very new in England. We are delighted to create the opportunity for pilgrims of all faiths and none to follow literally in their footsteps.”
 
Jenny Coleman, treasurer and PCC member at St Mary & St Eanswythe Church stated that the church felt honoured to have in their care the bones of St Eanswythe. Coleman went on to say that “we are looking forward to welcoming pilgrims from everywhere to our beautiful church to learn more about our matronal saint, as well as our sister churches on the Camino”.
 
The pilgrimage launches on Saturday 27 April 2024 and more information can be found on the Lyminge Parish Council Website.

6 April: Welcome to our church.

It was Easter, but Saint Michael’s church, Harbledown, was closed, the would-be worshippers locked out. Easter was not forgotten though.

This shrine had the crosses of Christ and the thieves, backlit by sunset – this day you will be with me in Paradise! There is a sketch of the water of Baptism, evergreen leaves, a symbol of eternity, and the faithful cross above all, crowned with white flowers:

Faithful cross, above all other,
One and only noble tree:
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peer may be.
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee!

We can worship in peace in Kent this year; Saint Michael’s will be open, all made welcome. Thank God for bringing us through the pandemic, and may he gather in all who have died in the covid outbreak. Let us remember, too, the many who are still becoming infected with the disease and perhaps finding recovery difficult. Lord hear our prayer!

To hear King’s College choir sing a setting of this hymn, click here.

Saint John’s Wort on Saint John’s Day

Yesterday Mrs Turnstone and I sought the cooling breeze on the top of Wye Downs and were not disappointed. Since it was St John the Baptist’s Birthday, there was a little extra satisfaction in seeing his plant, Saint John’s Wort. You can buy expensive pills made from it that are said to enhance the mood. Perhaps a walk in a National Nature Reserve would be as effective, at least in Midsummer!

18 June: The Field of Waterloo, III

War Memorial Chapel, Deal Castle, Kent.

Bernard Barton was an office worker and a Quaker, known as the Quaker Poet in his lifetime (1784-1849). This poem was written soon after the battle, on this day, another Sunday, in 1815. It is certainly not a triumphalist work, military triumphs are ‘seen and past’, the world is in darkness, the ‘sons of morning’ scattered and slain. Does this slaughter speak to your heart? See also Sir Walter Scott, here and here.

Pour your tears wild and free — balm best and holiest!,
Fallen is the lofty tree, low as the lowliest;
Rent is the eagle’s plume, towering victorious,
Read, on the hero’s tomb, the end of the glorious.

Lean on that shivered spear — it threatens no longer,
Snapt like its high compeer, the willow is the stronger;
See, on the dinted brand, the bright day beam flashes,
If thine be the soul, to stand and number its gashes.

Press not that hallowed mould, in darkness enshrouded,
Ashes, but scarcely cold, beneath it are crowded;
Thy feet, o’er some noble heart, may stumble unheeding —
O’er thy familiar friend, perchance may be treading.

O ye were scattered fast, sons of morning!
Triumphs, but seen and past, your proud brows adorning,
After such mortal toil to slumber so soundly,
Can aught, to the heart of man, speak so profoundly?

Concert of Hope -27 November.

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The Sisters of Minster Abbey are holding a Concert of Hope, an evening of celebration with local choirs and musicians.  You are very warmly welcome to join us at St Mary the Virgin Church, Minster on 27th November at 7pm. Entrance is free and there will be a retiring collection for the work of “Canterbury for Ukraine”, an Incorporated Association of volunteers helping Ukrainian refugees to settle in Canterbury and East Kent. Canterbury for Ukraine have been vital in providing support to enable the Sisters to welcome a Ukrainian family to Minster. We now want to support them so that they can continue to offer assistance to those welcoming our brothers and sisters from Ukraine. We realise that not all of our friends are local enough to attend the concert on the night but some would like to make a donation. We have set up a Go Fund Me page to make this easy- just click below

DonatePlease pray for the success of this Concert of Hope! We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the night! Love and prayers Mother Nikola and the Sisters of Minster Abbey

October 28: of Starlings and Sparrowhawks.

A late summer flock of Starlings.

Grandson Abel was very pleased when starlings nested under his roof. Of course they did not stay long in town but took off to the countryside for the summer once the chicks were fledged. Mary Webb enjoyed them too, in Shropshire, with their howls and hoots and shrieks and whistlings.

Their enemy in this part of Canterbury is not the owl but the sparrowhawk: one caught a starling right beside me in the back garden a few years ago, and last month I surprised one with a kill just 100 metres away. I also helped the young hawk by frightening off the thieving magpie!

It’s good to witness a previously persecuted bird establishing itself in our city, though the neighbour who generously feeds the little birds might not be too happy about the little piles of feathers that appear near here house from time to time. Enjoy Mary Webb’s poem, and Laudato Si’!

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Starlings by Mary Webb

When the blue summer night
Is short and safe and light,
How should the starlings any more remember
The fearful, trembling times of dark December?
They mimic in their glee,
With impudent jocosity,
The terrible ululation of the owls
That prey
On just such folk as they.
‘Tu-whoo!’ And rusty-feathered fledglings, pressed
Close in the nest
Amid the chimney-stacks, are good all day
If their indulgent father will but play
At owls,
With predatory howls
And hoots and shrieks and whistlings wild and dread.
Says one small bird,
With lids drawn up, cosily tucked in bed,
‘Such things were never heard
By me or you.
They are not true.’

Conference: Christian responses to the migration crisis

The English Channel from Dover’s White Cliffs

• Sep 11th, 2022: shared from Independent Catholic News.

Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover, Dr Ulrich Schmiedel of the University of Edinburgh and Rev Dr Keith Clements will be speaking at an online conference this coming Saturday, addressing the question of what should be the Christian response to those who seek asylum and refuge in our country, and asking what insights can be derived from the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Contributions will also be invited from groups currently working on the ground to meet the needs of asylum seekers and refugees in Calais, Kent, and the North of England.

This free conference: Faith and Frontiers: Christian responses to the migration crisis takes place on Saturday 17 September 10am – 4pm.

To book a place see: www.projectbonhoeffer.org.uk/events/

Tags: Refugees, Migration, Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Dr Ulrich Schmiedel, Rev Dr Keith Clements, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

14 August: Pushing the boundaries.

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A spire of hollyhocks at St Mary’s.

While Mrs T took our grandson to the swimming pool in Faversham, I wandered the streets. I took myself to St Mary of Charity church for the first time in years. Although the tower with its ornate spire stands out for miles around, especially on the marshes, it could easily be missed close to, with the approach to the West Front through a narrow canyon of a back street behind a supermarket.

Once there I saw clumps of hollyhocks, some well over 2 metres tall, along the iron fence between the churchyard graves and the path. Lovely in the group, lovely each spire and individual bloom, and nature’s way of pushing the boundaries between tame and wild.

The church yard would be tidier without them but something better than tidiness would be lost. The ancestry of these blooms must be quite diverse – white, cream, yellow, apricot and magenta – but they also probably derive from a small number of parent plants, their seed blown around town till it found soil to root into. What were the great-grandparents like?

Let’s be thankful for beauty in diversity, in humans as well as flowers, and let us strive to make everyone welcome in our church communities.

Let us also take courage and find our own ways to push the boundaries in favour of beauty and of our climate.

13 August: Saint Radigund

 Saint Radigund’s story – she died in 587 – has parallels with Saint Mildred, who died in 768. At a time when women were seen as the possessions of men, second class beings, they stood out for women to be making their own decisions, and living the lives God was calling them to.

In this woodcut, Radigund has put her crown to one side and is studying scripture. Radigund or Radegund was a princess forced into marriage by the Frankish King Chlotar, who had taken her after a battle as his sixth wife. When he had her brother murdered she fled to the bishop of Noyon who helped her establish a monastery, where the sisters had to read and write as well as work at weaving and embroidery.

L’Arche Kent have their workshop on Saint Radigund Street, Canterbury, where weaving and candle-making are carried out, both monastic activities. Saint Radegund is one of the patrons of Jesus College, university of Cambridge. Let’s pray for both of them.

18 June: The Battlefield

The Battle-Field

 They dropped like flakes, they dropped like stars,
    Like petals from a rose,
When suddenly across the June
    A wind with fingers goes.
 

They perished in the seamless grass, —
    No eye could find the place;
But God on his repealless list
    Can summon every face.”

(from “Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series)

I’m not sure how literally to take these two stanzas from Emily Dickinson, I have no clue what particular battle, if any, she had in mind, but this is Waterloo Day, when great horse-backed armies clashed and Napoleon was finally beaten.

The British troops that day were led by the Duke of Wellington who later became the honorary Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and had his official residence at Walmer Castle in Kent. Like its nearby companion, Deal Castle, it was built by Henry VIII to fortify a vulnerable stretch of the English Channel coastline.

It is the chapel of Deal Castle that we see here. This was built in the 1920s for the Captain of Deal, another honorary position then held by another military commander, General Sir John French, the First Earl of Ypres who commanded the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War.

The chapel is a memorial to all who have died in armed conflict. The petals on the altar are from British Legion poppies, which represent those who died in the First World War and conflict since then.

On this summer’s day, let us pause and pray for peace; for all those who are fighting around the world, for those injured in battle and for bereaved families.