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The Story Of A Parish; An everyday story about parish folk
Topic Started: Thursday, 1. February 2007, 22:56 (4,319 Views)
Josephine
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The next customer was a young woman whom she had seen in the distance at church but not spoken to. The book was a Polish-English English-Polish dictionary.
"Is for my brother. He comes to England soon but his English not very good. He is very clever, lots of certificates - just not much English."

"Seven pounds ninety-nine, please. Have we met somewhere before?"

"I too know your face. I work at big hotel in town centre - Gardner's Court. I am waitress there in the restaurant. In Poland, I nurse. My brother, doctor. He need good English to be doctor here. Mr. Gardner say he work at hotel until then. Mr. Gardner very kind to my family."

"Mmmm. No, Gardner's is a bit too expensive for me. Well, except for a special occasion. Do you go to St. Isidore's to Mass? "

The pale, tired little face lit up.
"Ah, you are Catholic too, perhaps?"
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Rose of York
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George's mother was getting quite annoyed.

George's visits to her were getting briefer and briefer.

The manager of Aquarocks Book was getting quite annoyed. The drab little man George the Chief Internal Auditor for Cybershire County Council, was never away from the shop, forever bothering his assistant Pauline. It was patently obvious he was asking for advice on books about everything from rose growing to travel in the Andes, just so he could have an excuse to make eyes at Pauline. Everybody knew the man was a crashing bore, and would not have the least interest in the Andes.

Canon Cardew was getting quite annoyed. On the evenings when Pauline called in to run the parish office, the phone kept ringing and ringing. George needed to speak to Pauline to make sure something went into the newsletter. Twenty minutes later George wanted to speak to Pauline to see if the Repository had a nice card for his cousin's grandchild's baptism. The canon was tempted to grab the phone and tell George "We stock Catholic engagement cards."

Pauline was beginning to see the funny side of it. George was smitten! Well, Pauline was most definitely not smitten. If and when she wanted a husband, she would prefer a more adventurous man than George.
Keep the Faith!

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Rose of York
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Since the young Polish woman had been to the book shop, Pauline had met her again, by chance, in the cafe where she went during her lunch breaks. She had invited the woman to join her, and established she was called Augustyna, went to Mass every week but never went in for coffee because when she had done, nobody had spoken to her. Pauline had promised to watch our for Augustyna at Mass, and that is what she did. She waited by the front door until Augustyna arrived, and suggested they sit together. After Mass the two went in for coffee, and the newcomer was delighted to be introduced to fellow parishioners. That was important to her. She was from a remote village in Poland and did not feel inclined to join her work colleagues at night clubs and pubs. She needed to find Catholic friends, and now she had found at least one, in Pauline. By the time the parishioners left the hall, Augustyna had met a few English people of her own age group. The lady who looked after the sacristy had found out that Augustyna loved flowers and painting, and invited her to join the flower arranging team. Pauline thought to herself "all it took was a little thought, and one more new parishioner has a chance of settling down happily in this town and in our parish. I must see if any more Poles are looking a bit lost."
Keep the Faith!

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Emee
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Lucy Ward did not join the others for coffee after Mass. Instead she sat alone at the back of the Church. Andrew, her fiance, had not attended with her.

She sat unmovingly looking at the altar.

"Just who was this Jesus?" she considered. "Did He really die for all of us? Did He really die so that sins might be forgiven? Why was it all so important?"

She couldn't understand. She wondered if she should pray, but she wasn't really sure whether she believed in God or not. If she did pray, would she do it wrongly? Would God not hear her? Would the prayer be able to get through all her anxieties pressing down on her head?

Lucy was rather concerned because Andrew had refused to attend with her. It did not bode well for the future. Were they in fact doing the right thing in getting married? Sometimes they seemed like light-years apart. So many questions...

A friendly face came over and sat beside her...

"Hi," Therese O'Fee, her best friend ever since school days, mouthed silently.

They sat for a few moments in silence gazing at the altar, each in their own thoughts...

Then Lucy smiled and whispered, "Let's go and get a coffee..."
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Rose of York
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Over coffee Lucy and Therese had arranged to have a stroll along the river bank in the afternoon. It was really Therese's idea, she had a feeling her friend needed a shoulder to lean on.

Lucy poured her heart out. She loved Andrew. He was a good man, he wanted to marry her for life, and he wanted children as much as Lucy did. The problem was, he had been raised to mistrust all churches, especially clergy of all denominations. Once Lucy and Andrew had been round to his parents house, and she had mentioned something one of her friends at Church had said. Andrew's father had growled "don't start talking religion in my house, you can go to church if you want, but there's no reason why I should listen to you talking about religion." Lucy had tried to explain, she was only talking about something funny her friend had said, but the father had said "I don't care, you mentioned church."

Poor Lucy had pinned down the source of Andrew's antagonism. Pauline asked her if it was likely to be passed to a third generation - any children Lucy and Andrew might have.

Deftly, Therese changed the subject. She did not want to give advice, only Lucy could make the big decision. Later Lucy poured out her worries to her mother.

At her mother's house, Lucy told Frances she could not understand Andrew's antagonism towards the Church, indeed to all churches. After all, he had been brought up Catholic and went to a Jesuit school.

Frances made tea, filled two cups and proceeded to tell Lucy the story of Andrew, his parents, and the events that had led up to Andrew transferring from the Jesuit school to the local Grammar school when he was only in Third Form. It was a shame, the priests and lay teachers had been excellent teachers, and the school was very caring. A couple of pupils had upset Andrew, and his father had over reacted.
Keep the Faith!

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Rose of York
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Frances explained to Lucy that when Andrew had been at the Jesuit school he was a rather quiet boy and got picked on by a couple of lads who thought they were very superior, because they were from wealthy homes, whereas Andrew was from one of the poorer estates. They tormented him, for not having uniforms as smart as the other lads, not having the best football kit, his Dad driving a cheap old car, Andrew's mother being seen in charity shops. The family were doing their best, the father had lost his job when the works closed down. Things got bad when the lads said Andrew's mother was a a bad woman because she had left her first husband, which had taken people by surprise because they had seemed to be happy enough. A few years later she had found someone else, and she had a civil wedding in the register office. The torment and bullying Andrew were wearing Andrew down. He kept it all to himself, and his parents wondered why he had become so withdrawn and nervous. The matter came to a head when the two posh boys called Andrew's his mother a whore. Something snapped. Suddenly he lost his temper, there was quite a fight. One of the other boys ended up with a bloody nose and his Father complained to the school rector, Father Ignatius.

The rector wanted to get to the bottom of it and asked all the parents to visit him.

Andrew's Dad had always had a short fuse, and he had it in his head everybody with a bit of money despised him for not being well off or well educated. He went to see Father Ignatius, and as soon as the school rector said "I want to get at the cause of the fight" the father blew up, banged his fist on the table and shouted "I know you lot. You side with the rich ones. I'm pulling my son out of this place right now. And what's more you know what you can do with your Church. I've done with it. You'll not see me or my family there again."

Poor Father Ignatius never had a chance to show Andrew's Dad that he was a decent man, had always suspected those lads of bullying, and the rector wanted evidence so he could suspend them from school.

Andrew went to the local grammar school. He was upset for a while because the family stopped going to Mass. One thing he was good at was football. He got into the school team. When he grew up he became trainer to the Under 14s team of the local Working Mens Club.

Keep the Faith!

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Emee
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Bernard Thwaite was a shaken man. He wondered whether he should be consulting a doctor, or a psychiatrist, or even, God-forbid, and exorcist.

His life had turned upside down again when he had taken a trip to Westbury Deane that Saturday afternoon to visit his Orthodox friend Demetrios (Dem). They had called into The White Lion for a drink and had been heavily into a debate on the Tridentine Mass when Bern paused for breath and gazed briefly out of the window. What he saw caused him to blanch...

Dem immediately noticed Bern's change, and asked if he was feeling alright.

Bern turned to Dem and back to the window. He shook his head as if he were trying to shake some pain out of it.

"I must be mistaken," he said absentmindedly.

"Bern? What's the matter?" Dem asked, full of fraternal concern.

"Oh nothing," Bern blustered, "I thought I saw someone I knew from a long time ago. I think I'm starting to see things mate. Now where were we? Oh yes, Holy Communion under one kind..."

Bern had thought no more about the matter until that evening. He was very concerned. Over 20 years later and he obviously still wasn't over her despite convincing himself he was; that is, if he could be as shaken as he was by an imagined siting of her.

Was this something he needed to talk to the Canon confidentially about?
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Emee
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Bernard Thwaite had fallen in love at the age of 16 when Esther Miles had joined his state school's 6th Form, back in Pontefract.

Though he had thought she was wonderful from the very beginning, her feminine pride had caused Esther to treat the round little mathematician with disdain initially.

However, shared work and explanations of mechanics had won her over and he had grown on her like a faithful puppy dog, and, at the age of 17, they had started going out.

The only spanner (and it was not a small spanner) in the works was that Esther's family was Mormon. Her parents, particularly her fiercely over-protective father had declared that she would date only Mormon boys, with a view to eventually marrying one.

So Bern and Esther had to keep their romance a secret, and all their friends at school were sworn to secrecy.

Bern was of the mind that if they could keep their dating secret for a year, once Esther was 18 she would be no longer behoven to her parents' wishes. They could announce the relationship, and her parents doted on their only daughter so much (she had four older brothers) that they would soon come round to her choice of boyfriend.

How very wrong he was...

It was the evening of the 6th Form leavers' ball. Mr Miles had turned up at 10.30pm to collect his daughter - he always collected her early before events finished. Bern and Esther, although aware of this, had lost all track of time and Mr Miles walked into the hall to catch the two of them kissing...

With his face white with fury, and without a word, he collected his daughter and steered her out of the hall, without so much as a glance at Bern.

As it had been the leaver's ball, school was over there were no more exams. Bern never saw her again, despite his repeated attempts to get in contact. He eventually assumed, for all Esther's earlier intentions. she had bended to her parents' wishes for her life.

Sadly he relinquished the possibility of renewing his relationship with Esther. However, the damage done to his sensitive, young heart was traumatic, and even though he had been on dates with other women since, he had never been able to bring himself to have a serious romantic relationship with a woman. At the age of 44, and now a freelance Financial Adviser, he considered himself, almost proudly to an extent, as a confirmed batchelor...
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Rose of York
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Young Father Leon accompanied Corpus Christi and St Isidore boys when they set off to play the Commonside Working Mens Junior team. He stood there cheering with the rest of them. The trainer for CWM Juniors gave him a few funny looks. He couldn't believe the man with the clerical collar could be so human, apparently a normal bloke, but he decided to err on the side of caution. At half time Father Leon introduced himself to Andrew and said "I'm Father Leon, I am helping to train the boys." Andrew said "Thats all right by me mate, so long as you don't expect me to call you Father, and you don't shove religion down my throat." Father Leon replied "Well, lets just be friends with a common interest. We both like football and we are both interested in training the young boys, lets make a start from there."

During the course of the afternoon Andrew began to take a liking to the strange priest, his Dad had told him they were all bad and uncaring, but this bloke seemed OK - well, maybe, he would have to give it time, one thing he was determined about , he was NOT going to be persuaded to go back to church.

Keep the Faith!

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Rose of York
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Over breakfast Father Leon broached a subject that was troubling him.

"Canon", he said "I cannot understand the way things are done in this country. We are priests, ordained to offer Mass, hear confessions, visit the sick, and have, what do you English say, an Open Door to worried people. This is Lent but on Wednesday and Friday this week there will only be one Mass in our parish because the bishop wants you to go to a meeting. Why, Canon, do all English bishops have so many meetings? Are the meetings as good for the people, as prayers and annointings?"

Canon Cardew sighed "Father Leon, Welcome to England."
Keep the Faith!

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Rose of York
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Something was bugging Andrew. That young Polish priest was weird, he was OK but Andrew thought priests weren't supposed to be OK. He'd gotten it into his head years ago that all clergy were a bit soft, not quite part of the real world. That Father Leon was just like the other blokes at the football match. There he was, shouting his team on. He even enjoyed a can of beer and said "I like English beer, very good. At home it is Vodka. I am in England now, so I drink bitter."

Andrew just had to meet Father Leon again, to see what made him tick. He seemed so NORMAL, just like other young men, enjoyed a bit of fun, but no swearing. The truth was, something was stirring within Andrew. On Saturday evening he gave Lucy one big shock - he said he would go to Mass with her, just this once, but she had better understand it was just out of consideration for her, because they should show their faces before the wedding, but no way would he ever take up regular churchgoing again.

Meanwhile, Canon Cardew had mentioned to Father Leon that he wanted to involve him in pastoral care of a young lady, who was engaged to be married and her mother was having fears that the marriage might be a mistake because the young man had a bitter resentment towards the Church. As soon as Father Leon heard the young man was called Andrew, he wondered if it was the Andrew he had met at the match, who had at first seemed rather cautious of getting to know him.
Keep the Faith!

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Emee
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Lucy Ward knew the Church would be unlocked that evening in preparation for the Vigil Mass.

Her faith shakier than ever, she wanted to pop in for half an hour - even though she would be going to Mass (with Andrew now) on the Sunday morning. She wanted to spend a bit of time sitting in front of the Tabernacle and the beautiful statue of Our Lady and literally pour out her worries and fears to God - she would leave before everyone arrived for the Vigil Mass. All she wanted was a quiet half hour...

Her years away from the Church had made her forget the significance of the coming weeks and to her great sadness she arrived at the Church to find her mother and Moira had already covered the crucifix and statues in purple in preparation for Holy Week.

Maeve and Niamh were quietly putting out batches of newsletters on the front table announcing the Holy Week times of Masses and services.

Nevertheless, Lucy sat where she would have sat anyway - just in front of the now-covered statue of Our Lady.

She considered if it would be better to call everything off. Was she living a lie? Her own faith was not even strong, never mind Andrew being so anti-Church. Were they only making a rod for their own back in getting married? Initially all she had wanted out of this was a Church wedding and had agreed to go to Church for a few months beforehand to show willing. She had intended being there in body only. However, now, like it or not, she was emotionally involved; like it or not, she was asking God question after question... She deduced she must have at least some faith left for her even to be like this...

She realised she couldn't play tricks with God. He could see she had ulterior motives for attending Church and, until now, she had not been going for the right reason. Well now her conscience seemed to be kicking in and she knew she couldn't play games any longer. If Andrew was really so against Catholicism as he made out, sadly she now knew what she had to do. She needed to call the whole thing off...
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Emee
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Andrew stared across his cream tea at his beloved fiance...

Lucy had said to him earlier that afternoon: "Andrew we need to talk."

She had dragged him off to Pippa's Olde Tea Shoppe at Hawkesley, the little village just outside Westbury Deane.

The news had come to him like a bombshell as she concluded: "...and so Andrew I can't really see any future for us together."

Andrew slowly spread clotted cream on his freshly baked scone. It had looked so delicious a moment ago. Now he felt as if he might not be able to eat it...

"Let me get this straight Lucy," he began, You think we should break up because you've rediscovered your Catholic faith and you feel that with me being a non-believer this situation will eventually cause us to move in two separate directions?"

"That's about the gist of it," Lucy stirred her tea. She could not meet his gaze.

"Lucy, you haven't even asked me recently how I feel about the Church?!" he spoke somewhat impatiently.

"I know you only agree to come with me to Mass to please me," she replied, still not looking up.

"How do you know that Lucy?"

"It's so obvious. I know how you feel about the Church. You've always made that patently clear."

"Lucy, first and foremost isn't anyone entitled to a change of heart? You've had your say and it sounds like you've already made up your mind. Now please be so good as to hear what I have to say. I've seen a different side of Catholics recently. I've realised that not all Catholics are closed off from the outside world and fixed in their ways. I was chatting to Father Leon after the match. I didn't realise priests were allowed, er, outside hobbies..."

Lucy couldn't help laughing: "Andrew, I think you have had a very narrow-minded view of Christianity. However, I'm glad you have met Father Leon. The parish is truly blessed that he has come to join us. He's great for the younger generation. I even think there's talk of starting up the youth club again, and now the parishes have amalgamated there are so many young people to reach."

"Yes, if all priests were like Father Leon I wouldn't have a problem with the Church Lucy. However, please don't write us off as a couple just yet. I'm not really only going to Mass under sufferance. I actually enjoyed it last Sunday. It's just, I have so many, many questions..."

"Andrew, we all do," Lucy reached out for his hand, "But this is wonderful news! We can commence this journey, this search, together."

"So we're not breaking up then?" Andrew said, still a little confused.

"Gosh no! I just wish you'd told me earlier how you really felt about things."

"I couldn't Lucy. I couldn't even explain to myself how I felt."

Lucy smiled at him then gazed out of the window. She was so happy she felt her heart might burst.

Suddenly, however, a frown crossed her face.

"What's the matter now Lucy?" Andrew loved Lucy to bits even though he couldn't always understand her.

"I don't understand... What on earth is Bern doing creeping stealthily behind the back of that Peugeot 206?"
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Emee
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Bern, now convinced he wasn't seeing things the other day, had phoned his old friend Peter who still lived in Pontefract.

"Bern me old mate you can't STILL be hung up on her after all these years? This is a type of sickness."

"I just want to know what happened to her Pete..."

"Ok well if I'd known you still harboured a secret affection for her I'd have told you long ago, but I was so convinced you'd got over her. You never spoke of her again. You moved away and made a new life for yourself down south and you always came across as being quite proud of being a confirmed batchelor."

"Pete old friend it was all a front. What else was I supposed to do? She gave up on me. Anyway, please go on."

"Well, Susan, (I've been told off for calling her 'the wife'...)"

"And not before time Pete..."

"Anyway, Susan tells me Esther was a dutiful Mormon daughter and mixed only with her own for many years. However, Susan says she never really found a Mormon chap she wanted to marry. As time went by, she started questioning Mormon rules like no tea or coffee, no alcohol and finally renounced her faith, or at least the Mormon church. Fortunately for her, her parents said they wouldn't stop loving her but they hoped she would lead a good moral life. She doesn't live round here anymore. She became a bit of a career woman and her job took her away. She trained to be a school teacher and by all accounts has done very well for herself becoming Head of Maths in a very good state secondary school."

"Pete, where does she live now?"

"Mate how would I know? Oh flippin' 'eck, let me go and ask Susan. I can see you're not going to let this one go are you?"

The wait for Bern seemed interminable... Eventually Pete returned to the phone.

"Susan says she moved down south to a little village called Hawkesley..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Armed with an address from Susan, Bern went out that Saturday afternoon to check out the street where Esther lived. He didn't have the confidence just to pick up the phone and speak to her after all these years, although Susan had, after realising the strength of Bern's feelings, passed on Esther's current phone number.

On arrival at Hawkesley, after parking his car at the far end of the street, Bern just had to walk down the road to see the house for himself (he was starting to feel like Freddie out of Shaw's Pygmalian and the Lerner and Loewe film "My Fair Lady" although he was too terrified to burst into song...).

Just as he approached the house, Esther, looking not much different after all these years, apart from a little older, suddenly came out of the front door and walked towards her parked car on her driveway. Bern's reaction was instinctive. After all these years he was petrified of talking to her and he hid round the back of a Peugeot parked in the street.

Esther started the engine up and pulled out of her driveway. To Bern's horror she turned in his direction. There was nowhere to hide without creeping round the side of the car. What was he to do?

Too late, Esther pulled up alongside the back of the Peugeot without any sign of shock on her face at all.

"Bernard Thwaite," as if the last time she had seen him had been only yesterday, "What on earth are you doing behind the back of that car?"
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Emee
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The reason for Esther's lack of surprise soon became abundantly clear.

Firstly, asking Bern to stay put, she returned her car to her driveway and then steered him into Pippa's Olde Tea Shoppe. Bern nodded in acknowledgement as they walked past a bewildered-looking Lucy and Andrew.

It emerged, over coffee, that after leaving the Mormon church, Esther had not wanted to give up on Christianity altogether but had never joined any particular denomination. Instead, over the years her search had brought her through the entire spectrum of Christian denominations and her latest exploration was of the Catholic Church. Hence, for the past few weeks, she had been attending Mass at St Patrick's in Westbury Deane. While there one Sunday, she had happened to pick up a diocesan newsletter which contained news of the amalgamation of the Parishes of St Isidore's and Corpus Christi.

Underneath the headline was a photograph of some parishioners. In between a Canon Cardew and the Chairman, one George Williams, was a face she remembered, a real blast from the past. There staring up at her out of the picture was only the love of her teenage years, Bernard Thwaite!! At first she had stared and stared as if her eyes would pop out of her head, and then felt it would be more proper to buy the newsletter and take it home to read it.

She had realised that with Bernard living so locally, it would only be a matter of time before they would meet. In fact she thought she had seen him the other weekend with another chap in the window seat of the White Lion while she had been out shopping in Westbury Deane.

Telling herself she was probably seeing things, she had hurried away in case the chaps had thought she was staring at them.

"It WAS me," Bern laughed, "And my good friend Demetrios, Dem. And I saw YOU and thought I was seeing things too!!"

"Bern," Esther began quietly, "I never really met anyone after you, at least no one I wanted to marry," she blushed ever so slightly.

"Nor me," Bern blushed too.

He was still in a state of shock, however, he didn't want to lose Esther for a second time.

"Esther, I know it's been a long time and many years have passed, but would you... er... just like to meet up now and again? You know, like this, for coffee? As old friends?"

"Bern, there's nothing I would like better. We can't possibly catch up on all our news in just one afternoon. I would love to see you now and again. Perhaps I could even go over to your Church occasionally?" she asked tentatively.

Bern's smile grew wider and wider.

"Our parish is a very friendly parish. I'm sure people would make you feel most welcome."
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