Day 5: A Carmel Light Day
Yes, I realize that the word for the religious order is spelled Carmelite, but it was also a light day for us, so go with the fun and laugh at the title of the page. Now that is out of the way we can continue.
It ended up being a very relaxing day. Yes, I did end up driving the hour drive from Cobham to Maidstone, where our current hotel is located, but the majority of the drive was on a highway through gorgeous English countryside. In spite of the fact that my brain kept playing games with seeing the traffic in the opposite direction being on my right instead of my left, but it was enjoyable. Enjoyable that is until we got to Maidstone.
It ended up being a very relaxing day. Yes, I did end up driving the hour drive from Cobham to Maidstone, where our current hotel is located, but the majority of the drive was on a highway through gorgeous English countryside. In spite of the fact that my brain kept playing games with seeing the traffic in the opposite direction being on my right instead of my left, but it was enjoyable. Enjoyable that is until we got to Maidstone.
We had chosen Maidstone because of its proximity both to Canterbury and an ancient Carmelite Priory located in Aleysford. As I stated in yesterday’s post the town also had a Catholic Church will multiple different ways of celebrating mass, including in Latin. We opted to attend a Latin mass because of the time it was offered and because both Nico and Maria typically go to Latin mass on Sundays.
I allowed Google to get us to the church after only one oops on one of the constant roundabouts that are ever present in England. Google typically takes to the front door of wherever you are going, which in most cases is convenient. This time it was not. There was construction on the front side of the church, so the road was closed to cars. After making two loops trying to find a way, we decided to try and check in at the hotel. Unfortunately, it was way to early to check in, so we made our way back. Again, Google sent us to the same location. The car in front of me drove through the construction, so I decided to do the same. That was not very smart. My blood pressure rose quickly as I first entered a very tight parking lot reserved for the priests. After somehow managing to squeeze around and exit the lot, I continued down the road to where the other car had gone. It must have been the owner of the restaurant located there, as it was no longer visible and I ended up having to back carefully down the road to where I could exit the construction zone. I’m sure everyone that saw us was making fun of the silly tourists attempting to do something that was OBVIOUSLY NOT possible. My heart was racing, but we were out. Now, all we needed was a place to park. Luckily there was a lot about a block away. I could see another lot on the other side of the church, but neither Nico or I could see how to get there.
Finally, we sat down in the hot, humid church with about 20 minutes before the mass was to begin. The church had nothing spectacular with mostly a simple modern look. I didn’t take any photos, as my heart was still racing from the stress of parking. So, we waited and watched as an elderly couple set up everything for the Latin mass. I kept thinking that I should offer to help, as the man slowly made his way up and down the three steps to the sanctuary and the woman stretched to reach across the altar to cover it. Eventually, he came to us and asked if one of us could volunteer to help with the collection at the offertory.
So, we waited. And waited. And waited. 12:30, the scheduled start time came and went. Finally, at about 12:45, the elderly man announced that they were still waiting for the priest to arrive. He wasn’t sure what was causing the delay, as the priest had not called. About 20 minutes later, the woman announced that another priest was coming to give us communion. We ended up having a brief communion service in the Latin form. I’m not sure if there is such a thing, but the priest said some of the initial portion of the Latin rite and then gave us communion. After the service, the elderly woman came up and asked if we had come from far. I laughed, since California is far, I guess. After talking for a while, she shared that they are trying to get enough people interested in the Latin mass. The priest comes out to celebrate only once a month in Latin. No wonder he wasn’t there, he probably didn’t realize that it was the first weekend of August. I wished her luck in getting enough people interested and in having mass in Latin more than once a month. We knew that what we had received was valid (we made it to mass, even though there wasn’t one), but still wanted to attend a full mass. Luckily, there was an evening mass available at the same location!
In the meantime, we headed to the Carmelite Priory, which was a delight. The Carmelite monks had arrived there from Mount Carmel in the Holy Land in the 11th century only to be kicked out with the dissolution of all English monasteries in the 16th century. They returned a little more than 50 years ago to the lovely, relaxing location. It was exactly what we needed! It was perfect for reflection and prayer. All of my stress left over from the parking incident in the morning were gone. There were gorgeous building, some for staying (if only we had known), multiple chapels perfect for prayer, a peace garden, a rosary walk, and the reason we had come in the first place: a relic of St. Simon Stock.
If you are unfamiliar with Simon Stock or the Carmelites, you don’t know that he received a vision from the Virgin regarding wearing the scapular. Since then, Carmelites always have a scapular, and it is due to their promotion of it that so many of us non-Carmelite also wear a brown scapular. Do you? You should.
The cranium of St. Simon Stock is kept in an incredibly ornate reliquary inside one of the chapels. I thought it was a tabernacle at first. Then I saw the label on the inside just past the glass. Once Nico found the light switch, the cranium itself became very visible. With that relic, with all of the gorgeous artwork in each of the chapels, with the beautiful prayers, with even the relaxing duck pond, it was a perfect afternoon for us. I think we could have stayed there for days. Even with the Vintage Motorcycle Rally going on at the same location. I took a lot of pictures, as Maria kept asking me to take “all of them” within each of the chapels and halls. Hopefully, they capture some of the beauty of the real things.
I allowed Google to get us to the church after only one oops on one of the constant roundabouts that are ever present in England. Google typically takes to the front door of wherever you are going, which in most cases is convenient. This time it was not. There was construction on the front side of the church, so the road was closed to cars. After making two loops trying to find a way, we decided to try and check in at the hotel. Unfortunately, it was way to early to check in, so we made our way back. Again, Google sent us to the same location. The car in front of me drove through the construction, so I decided to do the same. That was not very smart. My blood pressure rose quickly as I first entered a very tight parking lot reserved for the priests. After somehow managing to squeeze around and exit the lot, I continued down the road to where the other car had gone. It must have been the owner of the restaurant located there, as it was no longer visible and I ended up having to back carefully down the road to where I could exit the construction zone. I’m sure everyone that saw us was making fun of the silly tourists attempting to do something that was OBVIOUSLY NOT possible. My heart was racing, but we were out. Now, all we needed was a place to park. Luckily there was a lot about a block away. I could see another lot on the other side of the church, but neither Nico or I could see how to get there.
Finally, we sat down in the hot, humid church with about 20 minutes before the mass was to begin. The church had nothing spectacular with mostly a simple modern look. I didn’t take any photos, as my heart was still racing from the stress of parking. So, we waited and watched as an elderly couple set up everything for the Latin mass. I kept thinking that I should offer to help, as the man slowly made his way up and down the three steps to the sanctuary and the woman stretched to reach across the altar to cover it. Eventually, he came to us and asked if one of us could volunteer to help with the collection at the offertory.
So, we waited. And waited. And waited. 12:30, the scheduled start time came and went. Finally, at about 12:45, the elderly man announced that they were still waiting for the priest to arrive. He wasn’t sure what was causing the delay, as the priest had not called. About 20 minutes later, the woman announced that another priest was coming to give us communion. We ended up having a brief communion service in the Latin form. I’m not sure if there is such a thing, but the priest said some of the initial portion of the Latin rite and then gave us communion. After the service, the elderly woman came up and asked if we had come from far. I laughed, since California is far, I guess. After talking for a while, she shared that they are trying to get enough people interested in the Latin mass. The priest comes out to celebrate only once a month in Latin. No wonder he wasn’t there, he probably didn’t realize that it was the first weekend of August. I wished her luck in getting enough people interested and in having mass in Latin more than once a month. We knew that what we had received was valid (we made it to mass, even though there wasn’t one), but still wanted to attend a full mass. Luckily, there was an evening mass available at the same location!
In the meantime, we headed to the Carmelite Priory, which was a delight. The Carmelite monks had arrived there from Mount Carmel in the Holy Land in the 11th century only to be kicked out with the dissolution of all English monasteries in the 16th century. They returned a little more than 50 years ago to the lovely, relaxing location. It was exactly what we needed! It was perfect for reflection and prayer. All of my stress left over from the parking incident in the morning were gone. There were gorgeous building, some for staying (if only we had known), multiple chapels perfect for prayer, a peace garden, a rosary walk, and the reason we had come in the first place: a relic of St. Simon Stock.
If you are unfamiliar with Simon Stock or the Carmelites, you don’t know that he received a vision from the Virgin regarding wearing the scapular. Since then, Carmelites always have a scapular, and it is due to their promotion of it that so many of us non-Carmelite also wear a brown scapular. Do you? You should.
The cranium of St. Simon Stock is kept in an incredibly ornate reliquary inside one of the chapels. I thought it was a tabernacle at first. Then I saw the label on the inside just past the glass. Once Nico found the light switch, the cranium itself became very visible. With that relic, with all of the gorgeous artwork in each of the chapels, with the beautiful prayers, with even the relaxing duck pond, it was a perfect afternoon for us. I think we could have stayed there for days. Even with the Vintage Motorcycle Rally going on at the same location. I took a lot of pictures, as Maria kept asking me to take “all of them” within each of the chapels and halls. Hopefully, they capture some of the beauty of the real things.
We ended our evening with a great dinner at a pub across from the church after the evening mass. I suggested we go to a movie, but since there wasn’t anything that we really wanted to see and we would have been rushed to make the ones we sort of wanted to see, we decided to search for a movie on tv in our room instead. It was a great day, in spite of the parking dilemma. Tomorrow we have our last day in England by visiting Canterbury and Ramsgate before flying to Dublin. Our list of sites isn’t long, so it should also be filled with prayer and relaxation. I have a lot that I need to pray about, so please pray for me.