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Our Loose Canon by Canon Eric Woods With the beautiful weather we recently enjoyed over Eastertide, I found myself remembering some happy days spent a few years ago on Caldey Island, off the south coast of Wales. The purpose of my visit was to conduct a retreat at the monastery there for a group of undergraduate and postgraduate students from my old Oxford college, Magdalen. They were a lively bunch who, nevertheless, soon adapted to spending several days in complete silence. Caldey Island belongs to the Roman Catholic monastic order, the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, often known as Trappists. Theirs is an austere life: much of it spent in silence. It was a privilege to share it for a few days. I discovered what the American Trappist, Thomas Merton, meant when he compared his monastery in Kentucky with the State Penitentiary not far away.
New Blackmore Vale, 29th April 2022
Conditions in the two institutions are equally hard, wrote Merton: the inmates of both wear uniforms of rough cloth, live in cells, spend long periods in solitude and need permission to leave the compound. Yet the spirit of one is the spirit of hellish captivity, while the spirit of the other is that of heavenly peace and liberty. This is because the monks, unlike the prisoners, have discovered their true freedom: the glorious liberty of the children of God. On our journey, we shared the boat to Caldey with a group of townsfolk from Tenby going to the funeral of one of the oldest members of the Community. Later I visited his grave in the monks’ part of the island cemetery, surrounded by the resting place of many brothers who had lived, prayed, and died at the monastery over the last century or so. It was a place of peace, serenity, and reflection. It reminded me that, at the Anglican
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monastery of the Community of the Resurrection in Yorkshire, the monks sit in chapel in order of seniority. The stalls occupied by the oldest members are known as ‘Cemetery Row’. When one of them dies, the next in line moves up. “I see you’re now in Cemetery Row,” his brother monks will tease. Given all our modern anxieties, that gentle teasing speaks volumes about the difference faith in the resurrection, and in eternal life, makes to life in the here and now. All Christians are aware, or should be, of standing at ‘the intersection of the timeless with time’ (to quote T.S. Eliot). We know that heaven is what we were made for. It is where the road goes. A journey without a destination is pointless, and heaven is what gives point and purpose to our journey, to our pilgrimage. We know this because of the Cross and the Empty Tomb – because of Good Friday and Easter.
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