I stumbled upon a podcast months ago, half paying attention, about Mother Thekla (1918–2011). Teacher, nun, founder of an Orthodox monastery at Normanby near Whitby, and spiritual inspiration to Sir John Tavener. Whitby caught my interest. A quick map check suggested it might merit a visit someday. Today was that day. I could not get close, nor was I expecting Monte Cassino, but the underwhelming sight made me grateful for Robin Hood’s Bay, which at least has photographic appeal. Mother Thekla’s story, however, redeems the trip.
Marina Scharf, born amid the Russian Revolution, led an extraordinary life. Academic brilliance, wartime codebreaking at Bletchley Park—she had the credentials. But in 1966, she turned her back on worldly pursuits, converted to Orthodox Christianity, became a nun, and adopted the name Mother Thekla. Alongside another nun, she established a rigid monastic order at Normanby near Whitby. Silence, solitude, prayer—charming, no doubt, for the spiritually inclined.
Despite the reclusive lifestyle, Mother Thekla managed to leave a mark. Sir John Tavener, the composer, considered her a spiritual guide. She inspired his work, including The Protecting Veil, catapulting her story beyond monastery walls.
The monastic life she embraced was ascetic to a fault. Farmhouse cells, a converted cowshed chapel, daily routines of prayer and liturgy translation, icon painting, and subsistence farming. The sign at the monastery entrance declared, “Do not enter,” which says it all. They lived without modern distractions: no television, no radio, no phone, no newspapers. Just bread, goats, silence, and prayer. Rising at four in the morning, praying six times a day for hours on end. Truly, the pinnacle of joyless devotion.
The monastery eventually dwindled to five nuns. Over time, all but Thekla and a younger American-born sister passed away. Thekla, ever hopeful, assumed this younger nun would inherit her duties. Predictably, it went wrong. They fell out, as nuns in cloisters often do, though with just two, the drama intensifies. The younger nun delivered Mother Thekla to the Anglican Abbey of St Hilda in Whitby, where she spent her final years with the Order of the Holy Paraclete.
Thekla’s life is a curious blend of intellect and extreme piety. Whether inspiring faith or simply making us marvel at humanity’s penchant for self-imposed hardship, her story is undeniably compelling. For those inclined toward asceticism and spiritual muses, there is an annotated monastery still on the O.S. map—if you care to look.
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