Timothy Pritchard writes:
ÆLRED (né Raymond) was born in North Shields, Tyne and Wear. He was one of two children. Initially, they were well off, but, during the depression, his family suffered considerable hardship. His father, a shipping broker, was often unemployed. They were able to survive owing to the generosity of their neighbours, a kindness that had a deep impact on Ælred.
In the Second World War, he joined the Royal Navy. He served on HMS Belfast during the Battle of the North Cape, and later served on a minesweeper in the Mediterranean.
After the war, he read theology at Queens’ College, Cambridge, then going to Lincoln Theological College. He was ordained in the diocese of Newcastle, and served as a curate of St Francis’s, High Heaton, from 1952 to 1955. At this time, he began to read about the Cistercian monastic life. This gave him the vision that he pursued for the rest of his life.
Aelred joined the Anglican Franciscans in 1955. They supported him in his wish to pursue a more contemplative life. During this time, he served for several years as chaplain at two convents (Tymawr and Freelands). The Franciscans then gave him permission to go on tour to talk about his vision for an Anglican Cistercian monastic community. The nuns of West Malling Abbey invited Ælred to start a community in their grounds, and, in 1966, Ewell Monastery came into being. Ælred and two other monks were formally inaugurated by Archbishop Michael Ramsey.
For the next 38 years, Ælred led the community at Ewell. It remained small, with never more than three long-term members. The life was based in the Cistercian vision of prayer and manual work. Using money given by the Franciscans, they invested in a greenhouse to grow tomatoes commercially. Guests were invited to participate fully in the prayer and work. The community was officially recognised by the Roman Catholic Cistercians of the Strict Observance.
Ælred had brilliant practical skills. In his sixties, he taught himself computer programming and computerised the running of the greenhouse. He was an expert in growing tomatoes and invested in the latest hydroponic growing system. He was also a wonderful cook.
Visitors to Ewell Monastery were often challenged by Ælred’s understanding of Christian prayer and worship. He spoke of the simplicity of being called together into a relationship with the risen Christ, in which God is revealed to us. He abhorred anything that got in the way of this simple understanding, and was deeply critical of any liturgical trend that, he felt, obscured this relationship. In the last Good Friday homily that he gave, he said, with some passion, “Let us not put out the lights.” In a paper for Theology, he criticised what he called the “magical-manipulative” accounts of some theories of the eucharist. Instead, he viewed the eucharist as a welcome by the risen Christ to share together in the bread and wine, and he focused on the discipleship that follows on from this invitation.
The monastery closed in 2004. Ælred moved first to Cambridge and then to London. He made a new life for himself, displaying the same creativity and energy as had always characterised him.
This was also the time for Ælred’s last project. He developed a great love of dance, in particular of ballet. He travelled frequently into central London to watch the ballet, and, in his eighties, took himself to Washington, DC, to watch, and talk with, the dancers there. He conceived the idea of using a dance to express his understanding of the eucharist. This led to his commissioning Bread of Life, a dance choreographed by Suzannah McCreight and performed by the Springs Dance Company in churches and cathedrals around the UK. The eucharist at Ewell involved everyone in standing around a round table, and Ælred replicated this in the 50-minute Bread of Life. With a round table in the centre of the stage, the dance shows the risen Christ openly inviting others to join him. There are no barriers, except for the barriers that come from people when they refuse the welcome.
Ælred was a very kind man. One of the main reasons for closing the monastery in 2004 was to enable the only other member then present the chance to start a new life. Ælred always expressed his gratitude for kindness shown towards him. And, in his final years, he particularly expressed this for the help given to him by his neighbours, friends, and carers at Hanwell, where he lived.
Ælred never lost his determination to pursue the Christian life to the greatest degree that he could. Even in his final year, when bed-bound, he was continually looking to see the good and how to continue his Christian discipleship.
The Revd Brother Ælred OC (the Revd Raymond Halfdan Arnesen) died on 7 January, aged 96.
