walk.
Homily by Bishop Mark Jabalé.
"Today we say farewell to Michael
Oakley, and celebrate the mystery of Christ's
death and resurrection, the mystery of our redemption, the Sacrifice of the
Mass, for the repose of his soul. As far as age goes, he was not a youngster;
nor indeed had he enjoyed good health for quite some time - yet, all the
same, his death was sudden, almost unexpected. I think I can truthfully say
that Michael was a character - he was undoubtedly one of the really colourful
people of my youth, whom I considered a true and firm friend.
Robert Michael Antony Oakley was born on the 21st December 1922 in Barnet,
Hertfordshire. In his last letter to me, last December, written on the 21st
December, he says "today I entered (at 8.20 am) my eightieth year on this
planet and, boy, don't I feel it. I remember an Ethelbert (Ethelberts were
members of the Junior House at Belmont Abbey School); an Ethelbert called
Grisewood asking me what it was like to be 21 - it seems but yesterday! As it
happens, this Ethelbert called Grisewood is here today. You see, Michael
Oakley had that wonderful gift, not only of making firm and lasting friends,
but of remaining in their memories and their affection.
The Oakley family moved to Woking, Surrey, in 1924 where they bought a house;
as I remember it, Meadowcroft, on Constitution Hill. Michael was sent to
Belmont Abbey School in Herefordshire; a Public School run by the
Benedictines. An extremely intelligent young man, he shone at his studies and
was particularly fond of Classics. He was also a very good actor, and took
among many other parts over the years the lead in the play Murder in the
Cathedral which Belmont performed at Westminster, in London; I remember his
showing me photos of himself in the Times, being coached by Robert Speight, a
very well-known actor at that time. In his last two years at school he was a
prefect, and Head of the School in his last year.
Straight after School, he joined the monastery in 1939, where he took the
name of Brother James. He had an excellent singing voice, so he became a
cantor, and soon the first cantor at the Abbey; a post which he held most of
the time 1969. He was, at that time, destined to go up to Oxford to read
classics; but, somehow that never materialised - I have no doubt that he
would have had little trouble in getting even a First Class Honours degree.
His monastic career developed, and he took simple vows, which he renewed
after three years; but he then decided that he would rather be an oblate
member of the community. During his time at Belmont he variously taught
English, Latin, Greek, French and Art; and, although he never taught it, he
had a good working knowledge of German. That was the time when I got to know
him, when I came to the school as a fifteen-year old boy in 1949. When I got
into the sixth form, he taught me French to A Level.
I remember Brother James as the sort of school master boys trust and
naturally like; he was an excellent raconteur, with a great sense of humour.
Although he was no great sportsman, he was an indefatigable walker and
cyclist; and he set about conquering the Herefordshire countryside during his
thirty years at Belmont as a monk. He came to love Herefordshire; and I could
not think of anything better to send him as a present last Christmas than a
book entitled Herefordshire from the Air. This delighted him, and in his
letter to me he said it had brought back to mind so many beloved places. He
was also a considerable artists, and drew an illustrated map of the region;
it is an absolute gem, and still has pride of place at Belmont. He called it:
A map of the countryside within an afternoon's
walking distance from Belmont.
| To anyone else it would have been a
day's walking distance, but to Michael a fast walker attracted by fields,
muddy or not, it was just an afternoon's walk. |
|
As I have said already, he was quite a classical
scholar. He translated
Horace's Odes, and Virgil's Aeneid - and, if I am not mistaken, his
translation was the Everyman Edition, for which to the best of my memory he
got paid absolute peanuts - but then, Michael was too kind and unworldly a
person to ever worry about such matters. Monsignor Ronald Knox, before he
died, had expressed the wish that Brother James Oakley should be the one to
complete his unfinished translation of The Imitation of Christ; and this he
did. He was a poet of no mean stature; and, although he always preferred to
write serious poetry, he had a natural talent for epigrammatic verse; but he
always decried that as not worthy of consideration. However, I do remember he
used to write poems for the boys in the school, and was particularly good at
writing acrostic poems - poems when the first letters of all the lines spelt
out the christian name and surname of a particular boy.
As I have said, he absolutely loved cycling and walking; and, together with
another monk of Belmont founded the Oakley Society; its members went out once
a week visiting sites of interest round the Herefordshire countryside. He had
a passion for mills; the water variety were his favourites - and these he
would travel miles especially to see; but he also liked the wind variety.
But, we mustn't think of him just as a scholar and a serious and dull person.
Michael Oakley had a tremendous sense of humour; and I mean a real sense of
humour. So many people think they are so gifted in that line, and really are
not; he was - and why do I say that? Well simply because Michael had that
rare gift of being able to laugh and poke fun at himself. He could always see
the funny side of things. He liked playing the odd practical joke on others,
and was as such a target for others.
By now, you will have gathered that I had great affection for Michael.
| When
I, in 1969, was appointed Headmaster of the Belmont Prep School at Alderwasley Hall in Derbyshire, I asked him to come up with me, as one of the teachers, which he did. I myself lasted there only a few months, before being appointed Headmaster of Belmont; this gave him the opportunity to explore the Derbyshire countryside - Michael stayed on there until 1974, when it closed; he then transferred to Belmont's other Prep School, Llanarth Court where he was until his ill-health forced his return to Belmont. |
|
He who had been so active and avid to explore was then forced to forgo these pleasures.
And, in1987, with even greater deterioration in his health, he decided to retire to
Forton, Chard with his brother and sister. Here, he became more and more
infirm and housebound with only radio and television as entertainment. On the
20th May I was motoring down to Devon, and I decided to visit him at home.
When I got there, Dominic and Hilary, his brothers, told me that Michael had
been in Chard Hospital since March and that he was poorly. I went to see him;
his face lit up as I approached his bed - it always did, when friends visited
him. And we had a conversation in a mixture of French and English, as was our
custom. Afraid of tiring him too much, I only stayed just over ten minutes.
The following morning, he died. I consider it quite providential and I thank
God that He gave me this opportunity of seeing him again one last time.
The Christian vision of death receives a privileged expression in the liturgy
of the Church:
Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended.
When the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death
we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven.
God has called Michael to himself. His earthly suffering now over, he has
joined his parents in their eternal reward. May he rest in peace."
Bro. James in the Kemble Press printing a page from Haunted
Ground. 1955.
