Welcome to the Friary... Here's a rake.

So, I'm here.


First thoughts on waking up on Friday morning in Winchester were, 'Yay, it's today!'  By the time I was on the train, that had morphed into, 'Wow, this is potentially a really significant moment in my life,' which by the time Br John was driving me into the car park had become, 'AAAAAAGH WHAT AM I DOING???'

The front of the friary in its glorious surroundings

That went away pretty quickly as I started to unpack.  Yes, the first thing I did was take down the crucifix on the wall (sorry, God, but that was the only wall big enough to hang my EU flag), but I think that is legitimate when you're living in a friary.  Bare walls are overkill.


In the Church of England one of the most important aspects of the faith is eating.  Opinion is divided as to whether this is at Communion or coffee afterwards, but at Hilfield things are no different.  You quickly realise here that the best way to see God is to talk to people.  When do people talk?  When they are eating.  How often should you eat therefore?  As often as possible.


The Hilfield Marathon is as follows.  Competitors line up for breakfast, round the corner of morning tea into the long but exquisite straight of lunch.  After this quick succession of landmarks there is a two hour straight before afternoon tea, which is shortly followed by dinner.  I arrived for afternoon tea. Verdict: NOM.  One of the ways I defended my decision to come to Hilfield was that I would learn how to make homemade jam.  I admit now that I will never be able to compete.


More free time and evening prayer.  Prayer is quiet at Hilfield,  not quiet in that 'Half of us don't really believe this and the other half don't know what is going on' kinda way, but quiet in that it is so heartfelt that it doesn't need to be shouted from the rooftops.  Prayer is in everything that goes on here, even if you don't realise it.  Chapel is just another part of daily life.

The Chapel Entrance - Will try and take a picture inside when no one is using it (pretty rare in a friary!)

Like eating and prayer, the bells that announce them feature heavily in the life of the Friary.  Although the bell rang to summon the community to morning prayer at 0650 on Saturday morning, it only managed to summon me to my caffetiere.  I retreated back to bed to say the office in my pyjamas.  If St Francis had had pyjamas and a Bodum French Press, I'm sure he would have been happy saying his prayers with them too.


First day was a lot of raking.  It seems we are being hazed.  Well, probably not, but when you rake the same patches of lawn with three different rakes you have to wonder.  Much time for talking to the other volunteers though.  I also learned how to pick apples (apparently, you should never actually pick them and the image of an apple with a leaf sticking out the top is a badly picked apple - childhood image shattered).  On the plus side, it was an excuse to spend most of the day getting to know the other volunteers and admiring the scenery.  Clouds so couldn't see the nearby towns from the top of the hill.


THE SHORT SUMMARY: I'm having a marvellous time already.  Not regretting taking such a crazy decision after all.

NEXT TIME ON WANNABE FRANCISCAN: The crazy people who are volunteering and the wonderful people who put up with us.