Awaken

Chapter One: Friday, the 15th of September, 1851-3

8:30 AM, The Reliquary at the Carmelite Convent

Chester, England

Rose’s day had begun at three a.m. when she joined with all the other nuns and novitiates in the first prayers of the day. The next three hours were taken up by simple tasks preparing for the day ahead. At six a.m. had been Prime, when they gathered again in the choir and their voices rose in prayer and song for the next hour.

Now she was working in the reliquary, a cramped room more like a study or a library. The shelves lining the walls were crammed with books and scrolls.

The room was called the reliquary as it held the Relic of Saint Ostric, an old monk who had traveled with an early Christian king bringing Christianity to this land. On a catafalque in the center of the room a wood and glass cabinet took pride of place. Inside on a piece of blue material rested an old intricately carved box. Its paint was peeling and almost nonexistent, just a few flakes remaining.

Inside the box was the skull of the Saint. This holy relic had been in the care of the Sisters of Saint Teresa since 700 A.D. when it had been moved in secret from Gilling Abbey in the East. The skull had travelled in secret again when the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII forced the Sisters to flee Britain for France, the skull carried under the skirts of the abbess.

In France the Order of Saint Teresa found refuge at the Carmel of the Trinity Monastery in Caen where they remained until 1821. In that year after many years of petitions by both the Order and members of the local Catholic communities the Order was granted permission and given an invitation to return.

When the bell rang for breakfast, Rose had been sweeping the stone floor of the reliquary. She set the broom aside and made her way to the dining hall. The hall was on the other side of the cloisters, between the kitchens and the dormitory. The reliquary was a small antechamber connected to the chapel.

As she entered the long dining hall she passed the small room where there the contemplative sisters ate. Six of her sisters were focused on a meditative track and had taken vows of silence. They ate in a separate room from the rest of the monastery and were served first. Rose noted Sister Katherine carrying a tray on which the serving bowls for the silent sisters sat. Their eyes met, and each smiled at each other. Rose sat down at her usual table with Sister Judith. The pot of porridge was already on the table and Judith served Rose, spooning a large dollop of the oatmeal into a wooden bowl. It landed with a splat and Judith pushed it across to Rose.

“Why are you so sour faced?” asked Rose taking in Judith’s glum face.

“Those old Frogs were whining again about the food being cold. I told them to take it up with Sister Meredith. I am just the serving wench. Sister Angela and the rest of the old bags spoke in French. I know they were talking about me,” said Judith.

Katherine sat down at the table and Judith slid a bowl over to her. “Bitten by a frog?” said Katherine to Judith. Rose almost snorted a mouthful of the porridge through her nose. In private the three young nuns spoke with disdain about the clique of older women who had come to Chester to reestablish the sisterhood in England and treated the younger sisters with contempt for being English.

Sister Maria, the Mother Superior approached them with a stern look on her face, Rose along with the two others got serious fast. “Why do you not sit with the other sisters?” said the old woman as she pointedly looked over to the other three tables filled with older nuns.

“They don’t want us because we’re not French,” blurted out Judith.

“All Carmelite Sisters have a heart filled with compassion. Even you, with your curt reply. Tonight, before bed contemplate your compassion, while you complete a rosary,” said the Mother Superior. She turned to Rose, “There has been an accident over at the old cathedral. Both the Mason men have sadly died. Rose, I would like you and Judith to go with Sister Honoré to their home for vigil and prayer.”

“Eddie Mason is dead?” cried Rose in dismay. The entire room stared when she had this outburst of emotion.

“Yes, and his father also. Go and comfort them,” ordered her superior.