For more than a decade, my spiritual life has been nurtured
through association with several of our Episcopal religious orders. I am a priest associate of the All Saints
Sisters and of the Community of Saint Mary, and I have visited both communities
regularly to share in the daily prayers, to make retreats, and to receive
spiritual guidance. These are not easy
times for Anglican religious orders, and both communities live, in some ways,
amid the signs of former grandeur, while also holding fast to our faithful God
and pushing on in the simpler vocations He has given them today. They operate fewer schools, hospitals and
mission houses, but remain devoted to enriching the Church’s life through
unceasing praise of God and sharing what they have learned about following
Christ.
The Community of Saint Mary is blessed with an extensive
library, a relic of the days when dozens of women were trained in the novitiate
at a time. On my last visit, after
speaking with the mother superior about some spiritual challenges I was facing,
she asked me if I had read any Father Hughson.
I had not, something she insisted must be remedied. I departed with a copy of With Christ in God (among several other
treasures from the shelves), and now can understand just why she was so enthusiastic.
