Religious Communities in the Parish

In the e-newsletter of Saint Mary the Virgin, Times Square on April 29 were these announcements.

Let me begin with the very happy news that on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, Sister Monica Clare, C.S.J.B., was elected by her community to make her vow of final profession as a sister of the Community of St. John Baptist. Her commitment to the religious life is a witness of God's continuing work through the church. ... Now, some sad news: Sister Eleanor Francis, C.S.J.B, superior of the Community of St. John Baptist, has decided to close the community's branch house here at Saint Mary's. Sometime this summer, Sister Laura Katharine, C.S.J.B., and Sister Monica Clare, C.S.J.B., will return to the convent in Mendham. It is, of course, Sister Eleanor Francis's duty to think about the community as a whole and to assign sisters where they are most needed for the community's ministry, and that is what she is doing. I speak on behalf of all of our clergy, the parish's trustees, and many others that we are unanimous in our regret, indeed our sadness, that this decision has had to be made. The sisters have become an important part of our common life, and it will take time for us to come to terms with their departure.

Since the restoration of the religious life in Anglicanism in the nineteenth century these communities have often found a special place in the heart of our parish churches. They have served as teachers, community workers, sacristans, and officiants at the Daily Office. They have visited to lead retreats and quiet days and offer spiritual guidance. Possibly most importantly they have stood and knelt with all the faithful in the Holy Eucharist.

Over the decades they have been received in many types of parishes outside the Anglo Catholic tradition from which they emerged.

There are also parishes that have had a special relationship with religious communities. Sometimes formal arrangements, often by coincidence.

The parish I attend, Saint Paul's, Seattle has among us four Professed Members, a couple in process toward Profession, three superiors of Orders, and two who have founded Orders. They are all part of disbursed communities that have become more visible in the church over the past 50 years.  Mostly Benedictine in flavor with one Franciscan.

I’m not sure what to make of the coincidence. Except that I doubt it’s a coincidence.

C.S. Lewis wrote this about friendships; I think it applies to much of our life.

“But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of the Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,’ “ There are no coincidences.

It’s part of the mystery of religion 

Of course, some people still make the mistake of assuming there is a special holiness among religious. So, if you’re going to teach on the religious life this quote from Evelyn Underhill might be useful.

But after all a Religious Order isn’t (yet) a community of saints. It’s a collection of people who have been given the grace to offer their lives to God – but alongside that grace, nature persists and his apt to show itself in all sorts of shabby disconcerting little ways. Still, it’s part of the mystery of religion isn’t it that God does work in the world through imperfect instruments. The apostles themselves were in many ways a second-rate lot in yet they were the founders of the Church.

If you see the potential value in lifting up the life of Anglican religious communities in your parish you might want to look for ways to express that. Consider doing a few small things to make the connection. For example,

1. Make available information on becoming an associate of a religious community

 Here are a few examples.

 Order of the Ascension; Order of the Holy Cross; Order of Julian of Norwich; Companions of Saint Luke; Society of Saint John the Evangelist; Community of Saint John Baptist; Society of St Margaret; Saint Gregory's Abbey

 2. Participate in “Take Counsel – Stop Grumbling”

 It’s a spiritual dynamic in all parishes and the Benedictine tradition may be a help in our way to holiness.

3. For a month each year use your e-newsletter to highlight the life of a few of the church’s religious communities and/or sisters and brothers from our history. Or, you could follow the example of Church of the Atonement, Chicago. They dedicate a web page to the religious orders with members in the parish.

June 15 is the Feast of Evelyn Underhill. I hope you’ll observe the feast in some fashion. For me I’ll say the Office as usual, with Brother Basil and others in the evening. It falls on a Friday this year and my Friday “special devotion” includes reading a bit of Blessed Evelyn.

Considerations & Cautions

A parish is blessed by the presence of a religious community in its life. In a few places you have a long -standing practice of sisters or brothers from traditional orders serving as part of the parish’s staff.  For example, at Saint Mary the Virgin, Times Square there are now two Franciscan Friars in residence and before that two sisters from the Community of Saint John Baptist. More commonly in recent years is the presence of newer forms of the religious life. In the parish Michelle and I attend you have brothers and sisters, under vows, from four communities – The Community of Mary: Mother of the Redeemer, The Order of St. Francis, the Companions of St. Luke-OSB, and the Order of the Ascension.; there are also a variety of associates, oblates, and members of religious societies.

These people tend to add to a parish’s life by their service in one role or another. More importantly they add a dimension and perspective about living the Christian Life. An internal dialogue can be set off in parishioners about how deeply and completely the Life if to be lived.

There are two cautions. The first needs to be mentioned but is not usually not a significant matter – vowed sisters and brothers have an accountability to a Rule and religious superiors outside the parish system. Rectors and bishops with high control needs can get anxious. There’s no answer in more rules and centralized authority; systems are healthier when there are various and even contending sources of authority. Increased emotional intelligence and humility all round does help.

The second, is “creeping monasticism.” Practices appropriate to a religious order start creeping into parish life. It may be an unconscious energy but there is a noticeable drift toward little “monasticisms” – uses of a monastic breviary, more antiphons, and referring to the parish as a “house.” None of these things are very important in themselves.

What can become problematic is when server, officiant, and lector roles are disproportionally filled by the Religious. The wrong solution to this is to limit the Religious; the healthy solution is to pay attention to the routine recruitment of others into those roles. For a busy rector it’s easy to miss. The Office is being said and celebrations of the Eucharist offered. Those in the Religious Life will happily and spontaneously serve. But after a year or two of not actively recruiting other parishioners the parish finds itself slightly misshapen. Over time the parish could find itself with sustainability problems especially around weekday Offices and Eucharists.

The church’s spiritual vitality and authenticity 

According to A.M. Allchin, Underhill saw the restoration of the religious life as a sign of the church’s “spiritual vitality and authenticity.” She wrote that, ”the religious life sums up, and expresses in a living symbolism, the ideal consummation of all worship; the total oblation of the creature to the purposes of God.”

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The icon is from my collection - "The Anglo Catholics." This one was written by Christine Simoneau Hales 

It's called "The Restoration of the Religious Life.' The images are of Mother Harriet Monsell, CSJB, Richard Meux Benson, SSJE,  James Otis Sargent Huntington, OHC, and Priscilla Lydia Sellon.