Denis Shaw sent this last article to complete the set celebrating Canon
Carter’s centenary just before his death. -Ed
At dusk on the evening before Canon Carter’s death, one of his daughters
was about to draw the curtains. He stopped her saying "I want to see the
star." He was referring to the evening star, and, as his biographer
records, "he lay gazing at the planet which shone in unusual splendour through the window at the foot of his bed." If you look at the exquisite
small bronze memorial (by W Bainbridge Reynolds) on he north wall of the
sanctuary in Clewer Church, you will see the star in the background.
Two days after his death, on the eve of All Saints, Carter was laid to rest,
beside his wife, in Clewer Churchyard.
The funeral procession from the House of Mercy was a quarter of a mile long,
with 150 clergy and 100 Sisters taking part.
A Solemn Requiem at the Convent was celebrated by Carter’s nephew, William
Carter, Bishop of Zululand.
The stone which marks Carter’s grave is carved with passion flowers, and
the same motif may be seen embroidered on one of his stoles which is in the
Clewer Museum. The symbolism of the flower has been explained as follows: the
leaf symbolises the spear which wounded Christ, the five anthers are the five
wounds, the tendrils are the cords used in the scourging, the column of the
ovary is the pillar of the cross, the stamens are the hammers, the three styles
are the nails, the fleshy threads within the flower are the crown of thorns, the
calyx is the nimbus or halo, the white tint stands for purity, the blue tint
stands for heaven. The flower is reputed to stay open for three days,
symbolising the three years of Christ’s ministry.
It is easy to understand how such an eloquent representation of the story of
our salvation, found in nature, should have appealed to Thomas Thellusson
Carter.
The records of The church Times give a curious, and perhaps rather shocking
footnote to Carter’s life. Two years after his death the dean of Lichfield (H.M.Luckock)
spoke to the Sisters in the Convent Chapel, about their founder. Towards the end
of his talk he felt it necessary to tell the Sisters that they should not
address their prayers to Thomas Carter but directly to God.
This completes the series
Denis Shaw