An Interview With Fr. John Musther of Cumbria
Fr. John Musther, an Orthodox
Englishman, serves in the Orthodox missionary parish of Sts. Bega, Mungo
and Herbert in Keswick, Cumbria, North West England. His community,
which is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is part
of the ancient tradition of the Orthodox Church. The congregation is a
living witness of the truth of Holy Orthodoxy to the people living
nearby.
In the first millennium, before the
Norman Conquest, Church in Britain and in Ireland was in full communion
with the universal Orthodox Church, both East and West. Then the
differences between Eastern and Western Church were relatively minor,
most of them limited to local traditions. Yet striving for holiness was
the same.
During that time the peoples of
Britain and Ireland gave the world thousands of saints, men and women,
kings and queens, martyrs, bishops and abbots, hermits and missionaries.
The whole land of Britain retains the memory of the ancient saints of
these islands. A great number of early shrines and holy sites are
scattered all over Britain and Ireland.
Cumbria, where Fr. John lives, is
one of the largest and least densely populated counties in England. The
Lake District, part of Cumbria, is one of the most picturesque regions
in England, with breath-taking views from the hills. The Lake District
is justly famous for many beautiful lakes, hills and forests, and for
centuries was inspiring poets and writers, musicians and painters.
In the first millennium Cumbria
developed rather separately from the rest of England, and had more links
with Wales than with the seven historic Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Christian
life of its inhabitants had been influenced by many traditions – Roman,
Celtic (Welsh, Irish and Scottish), Saxon and even Norse. Material traces of all of these can be found today.
The Church tradition holds that St. Patrick, Apostle of the Irish, was born here. This region draws people by its magic beauty
and tranquillity—and by its very rich early Christian heritage. Thanks
be to God, that the revival of Orthodox Faith and rediscovering of
nearly forgotten local saints and shrines is becoming a reality because
of people like Fr. John Musther.
St. Bega’s Church in Bassenthwaite, Cumbria
Fr. John, how did you become Orthodox?
I met Fr. Sophrony (Sakharov). I was a student at University College
London reading for a law degree. It was early 1961 if I remember
correctly. At any rate Fr. Sophrony had only recently arrived at the Old
Rectory at Tolleshunt Knights, Essex. I knew just a little about
Christianity through the Church of England but nothing about Orthodoxy.
On Sunday afternoon after the Ninth Hour he invited me into his study
while the tea was being made and asked me: what was the purpose of the
Christian life? He spoke so gently and when I said that I didn’t know,
he simply said, ‘the purpose of the Christian life is to ask the Lord
Jesus to send the Holy Spirit into our hearts that he may cleanse us and
make us more like Christ’.
I sat there dumbfounded. My hair stood on end. I had never heard of
such a thing. I had no questions. I knew that what he had told me was
the truth of his own heart. The only response was to be still and
receive the precious gift he was giving me.
His statement was a complete summary of the Scriptures. It was the
Word of God to me. It changed the direction of my life. The power of
that word still urges me on.
He told me to read, “The Undistorted Image.” Again I felt completely poleaxed. It was like death. How could a man live like this?
I struggled with the Greek culture of the churches at that time. It
was also many years before I could overcome the Protestant spirit that I
found in me. Then one day I woke up and felt all my objections had
fallen away. Christ had won the battle and had made my heart Orthodox. I
discovered I was living near the late Fr. Sergei Hackel’s parish in
Lewes in Sussex. He prepared myself and my wife Jenny for Chrismation in
2003.
Please, tell us about your parish.
The two of us moved to Cumbria in 2007 but not before I had been made
a deacon with the mandate to see if there were any Orthodox in the
area. We had bought a small cottage in Keswick which needed a lot of
refurbishment. As the daily offices had already become part of our life
we had the attic made into a chapel frescoed from top to bottom by
(prominent English Orthodox icon painter) Aidan Hart. The painting was
finished before we could move in: it was as though the Saints had moved
in before us. (www.orthodoxcumbria.org/ the One Way of Holiness in Christ/ The Living Tradition in the British Isles)
We hadn’t far to go before we met our first Orthodox, just 80 yards
to the nearest chip shop. We discovered that Orthodox families ran fish
and chip shops throughout the top of the county. We had an instant
congregation. But the chapel was no longer big enough. Happily for us
the local Methodist church had just closed their chapel in the village
Braithwaite just two miles down the road. It was perfect for our needs.
We were allowed to make it into an Orthodox church for Sunday liturgies
while still using the first chapel for Vespers and Matins.
Fr. John Musther at the door of his house in Keswick
The Orthodox who first came to us were from Cyprus but soon we had
English people also asking to be Chrismated. From the very beginning
there was a demand to have a liturgy every Sunday celebrated in English.
We have a good number of visitors from round the county but a good
number more from those who come on holiday to this very popular
location. The buildings include a social and kitchen area so after the
liturgy we can all sit down and eat and talk. People are often reluctant
to leave!
We are very fortunate in having people who are willing to do things.
The ladies took in hand the refurbishing the bedrooms from what had been
a youth center. So now we can have people to stay. We have been blessed
by having a number of families and their children. It is so wonderful
that they ask for baptism. Our numbers are 30-50 most of the year round.
The Chapel is on the village green and in summer people sit out in
the open air; the children run around and enjoy the village swing. Just
higher up is a splendid mountain pool. The water is cold and at
Theophany there are only a few who jump in. But in summer it is a
glorious spot for adult baptisms.
Braithwaite Chapel, Cumbria
You wrote a unique book: The Living Tradition of the Saints
and Significance of their Teaching for Us. It contains over 350 pages
that reflect the wisdom of saints who lived in the Orthodox East as well
as in the Orthodox West in the first centuries of Christianity. This is
a fruit of labours, prayers and research of some forty-five years.
Could you please tell us how this book was created?
Fr. Sophrony gave me a letter of Introduction to visit Mount Athos. I
stayed eleven days, which was no mean feat when the monastic life was
at such a low ebb in 1963. But I had a big gap in my knowledge of what I
call the Living Tradition. I had grasped that the Desert Fathers were
the bedrock of this tradition. I knew two people like them, St. Silouan
and Father Sophrony. But what about the 1500 years in between? In those
days (1962) there was virtually nothing in print in English about
Orthodoxy. But I had regular access to the great library of Chevetogne
and read everything I could, often in French. I started filling the gap.
It took something like forty years to complete.
Home chapel of Fr. John Musther, Keswick, Cumbria
When people found out about what I was doing they were keen to hear,
especially about what the Fathers taught about prayer. Then they asked
me to write things down. This is how the book came about. It has proved
very helpful for people to get an overview of the one way of holiness in
Christ. It has to be read again and again. It has never been
advertised. I prefer it that way. It is also the story of our conversion
to Orthodoxy.
Another view of The Lake District
You have also initiated two very important projects online.
One is a British Saints Synaxarion, for which you selected various kinds
of information on great many saints of Britain and Ireland: lives of
saints, holy sites associated with them, iconography, hymnography, with
many photographs and illustrations. One can search the Synaxarion
website (www.synaxarion.org.uk) using different criteria: rank,
feast-day, icons, troparia and kontakia, holy places, miracles,
pilgrimage sites. It is an enormous piece of work. The second project is
Early Christian Ireland: here you provide information and photographs
of all early Christian sites in Ireland up to 1100, including holy
wells, trees and mountains linked to the memory of a saint, Celtic high
crosses, round towers, tombs etc. How have you been collecting
information on the saints of the British Isles?
One year we found ourselves in Ireland. We visited some of the holy
sites there. I was astounded how many and how rich these places are. But
it had been difficult to get information about many of them. So I
started making a database so others could find their way also. (www.earlychristianireland.org).
People have been very appreciative. Sometimes people ask me to plot for
them a two week visitation of holy sites for their vacation!
We have been round Ireland ourselves twice—but there are still gaps
in our knowledge. But by now we had became fervent hunters of remote
islands, beehive huts and the tombs of the saints. I cannot tell you how
excited we got. How close we seemed to these Desert Fathers.
The Lake District
People asked us to “do” Wales, Cornwall, Scotland and the rest of
England. But I wouldn’t have missed the experience for anything. We feel
we have so many friends who surround us, pray for us and encourage us
every day.
When we had our chapel frescoed we had our local Cumbrian saints in
large size under the central deisis, namely St. Mungo, St. Cuthbert, St.
Bega and St. Herbert. We dedicated our Community to Saints Bega, Mungo
and Herbert. Around the other three sides of the walls we have St.
Anthony, St. Poemen, St. Macarius, St. Barsanuphius, St. John Climacus,
St. Isaac the Syrian; St. Maximus, St. Hesychius, St. Gregory of Sinai,
St. Simeon the New Theologian, St. Gregory Palamas and St. Silouan.
These are our “clouds of witnesses.” We sing Vespers and Matins every
day. We are so happy tacked on to the “end.” Knowing where we are, we
know we are truly being saved every day.
Matushka Jenny Musther
In the illustrated articles on these saints and shrines that you put on the parish website(http://www.orthodoxcumbria.org/) you
mention that you and your matushka did visit most of these places
yourselves. It must have brought great inspiration and comfort to your
soul. Looking at these photographs alone, one can say these are truly
“holy landscapes” which transform the soul of nearly each traveller… Who
are your favourite saints? What are your favourite holy places?
We have already mentioned the Saints. Choosing favourite places is hard but some things stand out: the cave of St. Colman Mac Duach
(Colman of Kilmacduagh) on the Burren Co Clare, the cave of St. Ninian
in Galloway, and the cave of St. Columba at Ellary in Argyll; the island
of Illauntannig off the north side of the Dingle Peninsula (county
Kerry), the monastic island of Illaunlochan in Portmagee (Co Kerry),
Church Island off Waterville (Co Kerry), St. Macdara’s Island off
Galway; the seastacks of the Orkneys, the shrine of St. Issui in the
Black mountains (near Abergavenny, Wales), St. Moluag’s church in remote
Eynort on the Isle of Skye, St. Triduana’s chapel on Papa Westray,
Orkneys. All these are an unsurpassable testimony to serious solitude
and prayer. We have made 17 booklets of 40 or so pages covering the
entire British Isles detailing holy sites wherever we went.
What was then needed was a Synaxarion of saints in the British Isles
so that many of them could return to liturgical remembrance in our
services. Of course there was already in existence the extremely
important Calendar of Saints published by the Fellowship of St. John the
Baptist. But the names need to be backed up by information about the
saints in easy accessible form. What better to have it all together on a
website devoted to this purpose. So we selected all the saints who
played an important part in the history of the church in each area. The
saints instead of just appearing on a list are placed in a proper
historical and geographical context. Indeed by having a “next” button
the whole Synaxarion can be read from beginning to end in this way. This
makes not only for a beautiful read but supplies abundant information.
The final coup has been to include on each entry of the saint not only
an icon where available but photographs of all holy sites relevant to
each saint. This in turn will stimulate more visits to more holy sites
and more pilgrimages. People can download what they want or be sent a
printable version of the Calendar. We realize this is not quite the same
as the older Synaxarion but technology has made it possible to do
something which fits the bill getting to know and appreciate saints in a
way we could never do before.
Could you please talk a little about Cumbria, and offer a
brief outline of the history of Orthodoxy in the county? Would you
suggest pilgrimage sites the Orthodox faithful would benefit from
visiting?
The church came to Cumbria early. At least two chapels have been
found on Hadrian’s Wall, Vindolanda and Birdoswald, and Vindolanda may
date even back into the fourth century. Just round the corner is Ardwall
Island in Galloway where early Irish monks settled in the fifth
century. St. Ninian worked out of Carlisle and could have founded the
hermit caves of Ninekirks. St. Kentigern (St. Mungo) is said to have
preached at Crosthwaite in Keswick. St. Cuthbert was a regular visitor
to these western parts. St. Herbert his friend lived on his island in
Derwentwater (situated on the territory of Keswick). St. Bega made her
cell on the shores of Lake Bassenthwaite very near to Keswick. This is
rich stuff for such a small area as Cumbria; and Keswick shows itself to
have four saints! What more could we want?
Cumbria
Is there a growing awareness of the ancient saints and
shrines of these isles among the native residents of Cumbria and all
Britain? What is your heroic parish currently undertaking in order to
contribute to the restoration of the rich Orthodox heritage of your
country?
In 2007 we did an eight-day pilgrimage to the holy sites of Cumbria
using the accommodation at Braithwaite. We hunted down holy wells and to
our astonishment found seventy—a figure far higher than previous
estimates though some are now lost. Astonishingly such density of wells
in the northern area of Cumbria is a new revelation and makes it not far
off the density of Wales or Cornwall. In 2014, we began a work of
restoration and blessing of the wells. We hope to continue this in 2015
and beyond. At the moment we are writing up what is turning out be a
lovely book on all the wells.
In the background here is a deeper question: if Orthodoxy is recently
returning to this ancient area of Britain and reclaiming its saints and
holy places, how can it be meaningful to reclaim the wells also? People
can connect with saints, with (British) monastic sites (of which there
are several in Cumbria), and with the great crosses (such as Bewcastle
and Gosforth) But with wells? Are they not a cultural embarrassment? We
have to answer that. Otherwise we are just making a romantic selection
of the past which has little to do with reality. Cultural heritage in
Cumbria is the county’s only remaining economic asset and here the
Orthodox Church is seen to be preserving a very overlooked part of that
heritage. We believe that awareness of the spiritual landscape of
Cumbria will dramatically increase through pilgrimages, annual blessings
of the wells, and of course through what we publish.
St. Helen’s Holy Well in Great Asby, Cumbria
How do you see the future of Orthodoxy here? Do the various
Orthodox jurisdictions (Greek, Russian, Romanian, Antiochian and others)
work together in this country?
Did you know Cumbria was not part of England to the tenth and
eleventh centuries? It was then swallowed up by the Western church just
like the rest of the country. The voice of Orthodoxy has been submerged
that long. People are deeply ignorant of it because they have no
experience of it. It comes as something of a real shock when we came
here.
The first thing has been to establish the liturgy every Sunday; the
second thing is to have it in English. We must speak about our Fathers:
the Greek speakers that we have saints they know nothing about; the
English that they have saints they have all but forgotten about. The
kingdom “works” through the prayers of the saints, the Gospel is
liveable, and sanctity is possible. This is the core of Orthodoxy and it
cannot ever change.
But the religious culture of England (and elsewhere) was turned away
from the Mother of God, and all the Saints and the Angels. The communion
of earth with heaven was met with denial as was the liturgy as a
transforming reality. It lost the one way of holiness at the heart of
the Living Tradition. People do not know what they have lost.
Holy Well at Shwark Quarry, Cumbria
Orthodoxy must not add to this tragedy. Generations of young Orthodox
have already been lost by lack of vision. Multiple jurisdictions wreak
havoc with our witness. Where will we be in fifteen or twenty years
time? Perhaps even slimmer than we are now, but hopefully more wise and
aware.
Pray for us.
It was a real pleasure to talk to you, Fr. John!
Thank you for the wonderful interview! We wish you abundant blessings
from God in all your labors! May He grant you strength for many years!
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