Robert Llewleyn, whose life became inextricably linked to Julian of Norwich, has died at the age of 98. Ordained in 1936, much of his priestly life was spent in India. He was sent there by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel on the eve of war in 1939 and began work in Uttar Pradesh. As war broke out and children were no longer able to return to their English schools, the State Governor, Sir Maurice Hallett, determined to establish his own substitute educational establishment. The Hallett War School was launched with Robert Llewelyn as its first head master. The Governor had tried to steal an entire university campus in order to set up his school. But the Vice-Chancellor, a man of metal, was the distinguished philosopher and campaigner for Indian independence: Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, later to become President of India took the train to Delhi and successfully appealed to the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow.
Whatever the skulddery between distant bred rivals - Whyckamist v. brilliant Oxford Whitehead annointed philosopher spanning the questing aeons from Hinduism to Plato - Father Llewelyn spent the next 25 years teaching in India.[seen above being welcomed by two former pupils at a school reunion]
He had a brief four year spell in the Bahamas but returned to his beloved India for a further 20 year spell - he became Principal of Sherwood College Lucknow, another successfull venture as he revived an ailing school. He was subsequently Archdeacon of Poona.
Returning finally to England in 1990, Robert was invited to become chaplain to a contemplative Anglican community in Kent. Most would have rested their laurels. Robert always looked ahead.
Now suddenly, he was invited to Norwich. Always a lifelong man of prayer, would he now become chaplain to this little church where someone long ago had lodged. ‘I only knew Julian in a very vague way,’ he confessed, ‘Then I came to study her and to find out what a remarkable woman she was.’ He began to pray in her neglected shrine and describes how slowly people came to join him. The publishing success of Sheila Upjohn’s Enfolded in Love (10,000 copies in the first year of publication) lit the touch paper to a revival in Julian’s popularity.
The annual Julian lecture, given on her May feastday, became an important fixture in the calendar. But it was the day to day flow of pilgrims from far and wide visiting her cell at St Julian’s church that became the fruit and reward of Robert and his hard working support team.
‘In Julian there is this theme, which, so far as I know is unique: that there is no wrath in God, the wrath is in us, and it is the working of God’s all compassionate love to quench that wrath in us.’
There was never much wrath in Robert, little enough at his end: his years in Norwich shed light and inspiration to all who came to meet Julian and her Revelation of God’s Threefold Love.
‘We will miss him,’ says Felicity Maton, longtime servant of the Julian Centre. ‘He would arrive on his motor scooter and always cheer us with his infectious sense of humour.’
