17th century Mystic.
Vicar of Credenhill, Hertfordshire he wrote a huge quantity of brilliant spiritual guidance and beautiful poetry. Briefly in Teddington as Chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgeman he died aged 38 and is buried under St Mary’s church.
Hidden centuries.
Over 200 years he was forgotten and his manuscripts lost.
20th century resurrection.
Beginning with a find on a bookstall, a huge collection of writing have been recovered, edited and published, creating wide interest.
A Saint for the 21st century? On the 12th March a Conference was held to extend the interest in Traherne – all the events had large and enthusiastic attendances.
The Bishop of London opened in St Mary’s church and with lucid style and gentle wit gave a brilliant summary of Traherne’s work and its remarkable relevance to today’s overcrowded world facing climate change and environmental dangers.
After a fine lunch in the hall prepared by the great cook June Demont and a band of helpers, the Conference continued at the University College at Strawberry Hill.
Dr Denise Inge, a leading authority on Traherne, gave a fine scholarly exploration of a selection of his writings with an emphasis on the quest for happiness (Traherne had a great fondness for the word felicity) – not selfishly for oneself but for all people.
The talk was followed by two seminars to discuss the mysticism and the poetry.
The day ended with a splendid concert in St Mary’s church by a string ensemble formed by Janet Smith, led by Alexandra Reid and conducted by Mark Austin. After well-known works by Holst and Elgar, the climax came with Dies Natalis, a setting by Gerald Finzi of words by Traherne, most movingly sung by Andrew Dickinson, tenor.
A marvellous end to a great day organised by Rev Joe Moffatt and a hard-working host of helpers.
Well done. John Ould
‘He is Rising – He Wants to be Found!’
On Saturday 12th March over one hundred people gathered at St Mary with St Alban, Teddington and St Mary’s University College, Twickenham to celebrate the life and legacy of Thomas Traherne (1637 – 1674). The English seer and Anglican Divine was born in Hereford during the English Civil War, educated at Oxford during the Protectorate of Cromwell and died in Teddington under the Restoration of King Charles II. In the talks and addresses of the day that began with a remarkable address by the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, we heard of the remarkable fact that Traherne’s extraordinary writings had lain hidden until the first two documents were rediscovered on a London second-hand book barrow in the late 19th Century. Since then pages and books have turned up in the most unlikely places. As Dr Chartres put it, ‘He is rising –he wants to be found’. The consequent lectures and seminars of the day only confirmed this fact.
Dr Denise Inge (University of Worcester), one of the foremost Traherne scholars working in the UK today, told the audience how as recently as 2005 new manuscripts had been discovered as well as giving the stories of how many more have been recovered – one being retrieved from a bonfire! Not surprisingly academic interest in the documents is high and many alert and attentive PhD scholars were present who are presently pursuing studies on this fascinating scholar, theologian and poet.
Contemporary scholars Professor Mary Grey (St Mary’s) and Dr Patrick Moore (Sarum College) teased out the remarkable contemporary relevance of Traherne’s writings, especially in relation to the rediscovery of ‘green theology’ and the new re-evaluation of the place of science and religion in the contemporary world. As Dr Chartres said in his opening address, ‘Traherne allows us to recover a way of being that is going to help us to survive in the 21st Century’.
The day concluded with a wonderfully evocative performance of Gerald Finzi’s (1901-1956) translucent setting of Traherne’s ‘Dies Natalis’, the concert being preceded by an illuminating account of Traherne and Finzi by Professor Cedric Brown (Reading University). The young tenor, Andrew Dickinson, sang his heart out as he intoned the mystic visions of some of Traherne’s greatest verses. With his final evocation ‘From dust I rise and out of nothing now awake’ we were reminded of Dr Chartres’ opening words of the day and that Traherne’s spirit has now returned at perhaps the time that humanity most needs to hear again his message of peace and reconciliation with ourselves and the earth.
The event was jointly sponsored by St Mary with St Alban parish, Teddington and the Centre for Initiatives in Spirituality and Reconciliation (InSpiRe) at St Mary’s University College. Podcasts and texts of the talks and the evening concert will shortly be available on the parish website (www.stmarywithstalban.org) and the InSpiRe website (www.smuc.ac.uk/inspire). For more information on InSpiRe and future activities see the website or email inspire@smuc.ac.uk
The Bishop of London opened in St Mary’s church and with lucid style and gentle wit gave a brilliant summary of Traherne’s work and its remarkable relevance to today’s overcrowded world facing climate change and environmental dangers.
