Father Cyril Hazlewood

May 12th 1913- November 10th 2006 

… But when you grow old, someone else will put a belt around you and take you where you would rather not go… (John 21.1-19)

This all happened by the shores of the Sea of Galilee, a place that Fr.Cyril knew very well. He belonged to the last generation of SCJ priests and brothers to be trained in Holy Land.  After his time we were trained in our own individual countries, so he was the last one among us to know the ancien regime. He was also the last one who knew people who knew St.Michael personally. He was the end of an era.

Although his life was long and active, it is no secret that the last 8 years were very hard for him after the illness that caused him to lose his right leg. Jesus’ words to Peter came painfully true for Cyril: ‘when you were young you ……..walked where you liked, but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will put a belt around you and take you where you would rather not go’   He found the dependence of his  last 8 years a heavy cross to carry.

But in fact it is not just in old age that we have to be led by the belt. The whole of Christian living and the following of Jesus involves a ‘conscription’ that takes us to places we would not have dreamed of going.  There is a ‘belt’ placed around every single one of us as we try to follow Jesus faithfully. Those of you here today who have been married several years would agree that marriage and raising a family will take you to places that you might not have chosen. Think of simply moving districts in order to find work. Think of waiting up all night in a busy hospital while your child undergoes surgery. Think of coping with depression … the in-laws..etc.. You can make your own list. The ‘belt’ takes many different forms.

For Fr.Cyril, faithfulness to religious vows was the belt around him, and it took him half way round the world and back again. Born in 1913 in the Black Country before World War I in the early years of King George V,  it took him to Bétharram as a young boy and then to Palestine at the age of 20. He made his first vows in 1934 in Bethlehem and was ordained priest in Jerusalem in 1940. He spent a couple of years teaching at the Jerusalem Diocesan Seminary at Beit-Jala, and then made his way back to England.

But this was in the middle of World War II and all travel was dangerous and circuitous. His route back home took him via South Africa, but his ship was torpedoed in the Indian Ocean, and he drifted on the waves for a couple of days in a life raft. Eventually rescued by the Royal Navy, he landed in Durban where he worked in a parish for a few weeks, before embarking on a boat for Glasgow. He had lost all his clothes in the shipwreck, and had been given clothes by the Navy, so his family were surprised when eventually their newly ordained priest turned up Birmingham dressed in a sailor suit!

For the next 60 years the belt took him to Droitwich where he taught French for many years, to Sambourne prep school where he also taught, to Holy Name Parish Great Barr where he ministered for 10 years, and then on to Guernsey where in the Autumn of his live he served 9 fruitful years as Parish Priest at Our Lady Star of the Sea.

Those who knew him remember him as honest conscientious and hardworking, and it was in that mode that he served for many years as a bursar, and as a schoolteacher.  The boys at Sacred heart College affectionately called him ‘nutty’ because of ‘Hazel-wood’. But it was an affectionate nickname and not dismissive. Past pupils remember him as a great source of strength and stability for them, and the community remembers his kindness. As a good French speaker he was often on call as an interpreter for a visiting Superior General.

Other people recall his artistic side and his love of classical music, his accomplishments at piano and organ and his love of art. He often played at our retreats and community gatherings, and he still played the piano occasionally up till a few years ago.

He was never given to boasting of his achievements but he was very proud of the stained glass window he commissioned for the West window of Our Lady Star of Sea church at Delancey. A photo of this beautiful stained glass with its image of Mary protecting the ships at sea was always kept in his room.

It was at Delancey that his life experienced an Indian Summer. After the death of Fr.Philip Ilsley he volunteered for the job of Parish Priest at the age of 75, and spent nine fruitful years of ministry there. To the amazement and delight of his brothers he blossomed and learnt new skills. He visited his flock regularly in spite of being unable to drive a car, became a compelling preacher, encouraged the young, and organised good catechesis for all ages. Much to the amazement of the Portsmouth Diocese he built a new parish school, and it was all paid for before the first pupils crossed its threshold. He was always very modest about any of his parish achievements and attributed any successes to the work of the good people around him.

He was much loved in Guernsey and parishioners always kept in touch even after illness forced his retirement. He thought of this as the most fruitful period of his life. If it may seem strange to some that he reached his prime at such a venerable age then we must always recall that God does not look at the world through the eyes of a modern personnel manager. Only last year God chose Pope Benedict at the age of 78!

But when illness struck, and he lost his mobility he found life very difficult, and he had to learn about the belt in a new and literal way. Anselm Grün the famous Benedictine abbot of Münsterschwarzach once said: ‘What the younger man confronts externally, the older man has to confront internally’   Cyril had to confront within him the basic helplessness of our human condition, and that we are powerless to do anything good without the help of a power greater than ourselves. This last lesson in life was a hard and a difficult journey for him.

When he came to Olton in 1998 he knew that his days were numbered and it was his earnest wish that he die at home and not among strangers. Several people in our community and several generous helpers in Olton parish made that possible for him in spite of his increasing frailty and need of nursing care. I won’t embarrass them by naming them but would just like to thank them for that loving service. It really was a service to the Lord.

But to return to the Sea of Galilee: Jesus spoke to Peter about the belt and then said ‘follow me’. Peter followed him and so did Cyril. For 93 years he followed him and now he has found the company of the Lord who first called him, not for a picnic by sea but for a banquet in the heavenly Jerusalem where all saints sing the praises of the Lord.

Cyril’s life began in the age of George V and ended in the age of George Bush; a very different world. And in a world in which people find it really difficult to be faithful to long term commitments, we thank God that a faithful witness lived among us for over 93 years and was willing to keep on learning about the mystery of God’s love for his people right to the very end.

Austin Hughes,SCJ

Provincial Superior of England