| EVENTS Throughout the years the Bedlington chapter of lay Carmelites have taken part in many different events - days of recollection, pilgrimages, celebrations etc. One memorable event was when we went to Hazelwood Castle in 1986 to celebrate the fact that mass had been celebrated there daily for 7oo years in St. Leonard�s Chapel. The late, Cardinal Basil Hulme celebrated mass and we had the joy of two of our members being received into the Third Order in St. Leonards Chapel. In the year 2000, to celebrate the jubilee year we arranged a trip to Holy Island and Hulne Priory on 16th July, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Fr. Martin Sankey could not attend due to illness, but we welcomed Fr. Malcolm Cairns, (Blackhall) a lay Carmelite before ordination, who offered to say mass in St. Aiden�s Church Holy Island. Two to three miles north-west of Alnwick, on the Duke of Northumberland�s estate, the remains of Hulne, Carmelite Priory stands upon a hill on the north bank of theRiver Aln. The Carmelites arrived in Hulne about 1240 and founded the priory and remained there for 300 years until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1539. It was a very happy and memorable pilgrimage for everyone but especially so for the two new Lay Carmelites who were received into the Third Order at Hulne Priory. On 5th June 2001 it was the 25th Anniversary of the Cleater Moor Chapter. Four of us attended this very special celebration. It was wonderful to meet them and we had a very enjoyable day. In December 2001, our own chapter celebrated its 25th anniversary. Fr. Brendan Grady, Fr. Malcolm Cairns and Fr. Neil Fitzpatrick concelebrated mass. We were blessed with many of our brothers and sisters from Newcastle and Cleator Moor and the Carmelite sisters from York who came to join us along with many friends. We had a truly unforgettable day. Since June 2002 we have been having yearly, weekend retreats at Minsteracres Monastery and Retreat Centre, Consett, County Durham for our members and anyone else who wishes to join us. These have been led by Fr. Brendan Grady and have been a tremendous success, with bookings made well in advance resulting in the retreat being very quickly booked up. |
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