Sister Pamela's 50th

Mary Magdalene is one of the better known women of the New Testament. She was healed by Jesus of seven devils and then followed him, with a group of other women. One of the few people at the foot of the cross, she was also there at the tomb on Sunday morning, when the women discovered that Jesus had risen; and John tells how she met Jesus personally after his resurrection, when he calls her by name and sends her to tell the disciples that he is risen. Her feast is celebrated every year in July; and, for CAH, this year was extra special as it was also Sr Pamela’s 50th profession anniversary. We were away for our annual gathering at Whitby at this time, and the Sisters of the Order of the Holy Paraclete [OHP], where we stay, kindly hosted the celebrations for us.

We started by joining OHP for Lauds (Morning Prayer), and then, after some space, met together as CAH for coffee, with the opening of cards and presents, which ranged from the practical (notebooks), the golden (a 50 mug, filled with golden sweets and topped with gold tinsel) to the fun (a bubble machine). The latter was put together and used on all of us! Soon it was time to go back to the Priory Chapel for the Eucharist, for which the OHP Sisters had produced a lovely service sheet, complete with gold writing on the cover. We started with a rousing sing of All my hope on God is founded, then the Eucharist proceeded as normal, with Sr Sheila reading the New Testament reading from 2 Corinthians, and Sr Elizabeth leading the intercessions. Sr Pamela very kindly was merciful to me, and didn’t ask me to preach a sermon, which we went without. Sr Pamela chose the hymns, which also included Jesu the very thought of thee, which I believe she said she had at her Profession, From Heaven you came and, to finish, I the Lord of sea and sky. The Eucharist was the focus of the day, and a time to celebrate Sr Pamela’s giving of her life to God, within the Community of All Hallows. It was followed by lunch, which we had together with the OHP Sisters; Sr Pamela also took her cards over to put out at the back of the Priory refectory, so the Sisters could see them. They surrounded her cake, which was out at the back together with some roses. The bubbles made their reappearance at the end of the meal – which was talking rather than silent, as it was a celebratory day.

In the afternoon, after some space, the CAH contingent got together, and we went to Larkpool Viaduct, which is part of a longer walking trail. The views from the top of the viaduct were tremendous and, once over that, it was pleasant to walk through wooded areas. Sebbi, Sr Pamela’s dog, enjoyed meeting some other friendly dogs. There were benches at intervals, so some of us sat and waited, while others of us went further on. Once we turned back, Sebbi ran ahead of us, until we met with those we had left behind and returned to the car, when we went to a nearby garden centre, just in time for an ice cream before it closed. We then joined the OHP Sisters for Vespers (Evening Prayer), followed by a buffet supper, in the priory refectory. This was a lovely spread, which was followed by the cake. This was a fruit cake, with marzipan and icing, which I would describe to you in greater detail had I looked at the decorations before it was cut up! We do have pictures somewhere and I also know that it tasted delicious. Supper having been also talking, and therefore took rather longer than a silent meal might, we went straight to the Chapel for Compline. It was a fitting end to a lovely day (although not quite the end for those who still had to clear up after supper). We are very grateful to all that the OHP Sisters did in making it such a celebration, and it was good to share the day with them.

Mary Magdalene was a woman of great love. Whatever the effect of those seven devils, it must have made her very ill, or disturbed. How she met Jesus, and how she was healed, we do not know. The gospel merely states the fact that she had been healed from seven devils, and was one of a group of women who followed Jesus, and supported him. She would disappear into a minor biblical character, where it not for her presence at the Resurrection, and that telling of her story in John’s gospel. She thinks Jesus is the gardener, until he calls her by name: Mary. Then she realises who it is: ‘Do not hold on to me’, she is told, ‘but go and tell my brothers …’. Go and tell she does, becoming known as the apostle to the apostles. But, beyond that, it is her love for Jesus that propels her to the foot of the cross, and back to the tomb on the Sunday morning. It is her love for Jesus that keeps her by the tomb; and it is that love which makes her the first person to see the risen Jesus (or one of the first, depending on which gospel you read). Mary’s love for Jesus, but also Jesus’ love for Mary; that relationship of love which Mary, beyond all the others, responded to, even after she thought the end had come. A vocation to the religious life is also a response of love to love, and the feast of Mary Magdalene seems a peculiarly fitting one for Sr Pamela, who has also been called by name, and responded wherever it leads her.