SERVANTS OF THE SACRED CROSS - Updated website including video - CLOTHING OF A NOVICE

[BarbaraTherese]

BarbaraTherese, are you on the journey to the SSC?

Short answer is in the negative. Actually, I wondered the same thing about you when I read your Post - are you in discernment or on a journey into the SSC?
Was very much attracted and I did exchange quite a few emails with Mother Wendy when I first came across the SSC website some time ago now, which is how I know something about them.

Blessings and my regards…Barb

 

[JReducation]

While I wish them nothing but God’s blessing and success in their endeavors, there is no way that an Orthodox bishop would permit one of his faithful to enter a religious community calling for vows of religious obedience to a non-Orthodox superior.

And something tells me that any Catholic bishop would feel the same way.

The Monks of Taize were approved by Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI.

In fact, at Pope John Paul’s funeral, Cardinal Ratzinger gave communioin to the Superior General of Taize, who was then Lutheran, Brother Roger of Taize.

Brother Roger has since died and they have elected a new Superior General who is Catholic. But the Monks of Taize are Anglican, Catholic and Lutheran. They are an approved ecumenical religious community.

They way they do it is by celebrating separate liturgies, but they pray the Liturgy of the Hours in common and all their activities are in common. Catholics have the blessing of the Church to join the Monks of Taize given by the Sacred Congregation for Religious Life.

Check out the videos on John Paul II’s funeral and you will see Brother Roger in a wheel chair receiving communion from Cardinal Ratzinger. Brother Roger has been a well known figure in the Vatican since the days of Pius XII and very loved by the popes for his work to bring these men to a life of prayer and service to youth. They do wonderful youth ministry around the world. Their focus is to bring young people to prayer and contemplation.

JR

 

[BarbaraTherese]

… …thank you…

 

[HOLYHEARTS]

I do agree with your statement…but what is wrong with fssp?

Nothing is wrong with the FSSP or Priestly Fraternity of
St. Peter! I am pointing out that the SSC must be a very
good & solid community if a priest from the FSSP stands
behind his directee`s decision to enter: Like 2+2= 4! Only
logic…something which I find sorely lacking here at times!

 

[Shoshana]

Nothing is wrong with the FSSP or Priestly Fraternity of
St. Peter! I am pointing out that the SSC must be a very
good & solid community if a priest from the FSSP stands
behind his directee`s decision to enter: Like 2+2= 4! Only
logic…something which I find sorely lacking here at times!

We are on the same page…

 

[Cory_Maximilian]

This kind of community kind of reminds me of the SSC. They are All Saint’s Sisters of the Poor (Episcopal) rafandsioux.com/Convent/

I have heard that they are coming home to Rome. Does anyone know anything regarding this?? Also has anyone had any experiences with the order of women called: Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church? They were a group of sisters who belonged to the sedevacante Sisters of Mount St, Michael.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

This kind of community kind of reminds me of the SSC. They are All Saint’s Sisters of the Poor (Episcopal) rafandsioux.com/Convent/

I have heard that they are coming home to Rome. Does anyone know anything regarding this?? Also has anyone had any experiences with the order of women called: Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church? They were a group of sisters who belonged to the sedevacante Sisters of Mount St, Michael.

Thought their website was really great, informative:
sistersofmarymotherofthechurch.org/

…good layout I thought and I liked the muted earth tones of the background. They certainly look a very happy bunch of woimen. Wonderful pictures on their website.
.sistersofmarymotherofthechurch.org/zlcms/editor/uploads/images/Our%20Charism%20-%20Small.jpg

Do stay on the home base long enough to catch the video type images (dont know what they are called in computer language)…they are beautiful!

Lovely habits.

sistersofmarymotherofthechurch.org/files/gallery/dd3007de1abf885726be696010b28e58_thumb.jpg

Interesting apron! Make a great design for a scapular and would fit in well with the blue lining on the white veil and the whole dark blue and white image. As worn above and if a scapular it would have similarities with the Carmelite habit where the scapular is worn over the wimple guimpe and not underneath it. Really appeals to an artistic lean and the female in me.
The title of their Order too is very close to that of the Order Rosalind Moss is forming I noticed, although these sisters came first, not that this matters…Rosalind Moss is looking I have read at a Carmelite design habit in dark blue and a website is to be set up soon.
Latest news on the Sisters of Mary Mother of The Church is in the section “Coming Home” here
sistersofmarymotherofthechurch.org/7,cominghome

‘If you’re seeking truth, there’s nothing to be afraid of’…very true! …although a rocky and difficult path it could prove to be.
…“The free man is he who does not fear to go to the end of his thought. --* Leon Blum*”

 

[Mother_Wendy]

BarbaraTherese,

I so appreciate your posts about this community+. Being a convert from Anglo-Catholicism they seem wonderful, however I had one thought - I couldn’t imagine not having the True, Valid Eucharist. I realize that this must be something that was seen to initially, but I would need to make sure that the consecration at Mass is done by a validly ordained Catholic priest. Or maybe I should address this question to Mother Wendy? (If so, I really apologize).

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
A belated reply to the above concern about The Servants of the Sacred Cross (SSC). Do rest assured that we fully respect the Sacramental divisions that exist between the three jurisdictions to which our Community is open. When we gather for our yearly General Chapter, we have separate Roman Catholic and Anglican Community Masses. At these we celebrate our various Community Rites, Clothing of Novices, Professions etc. Although all of the Sisters attend both Masses, naturally, we only receive Communion at our respective Mass. This we feel to be a way forward in our search for Unity of the Church Universal, which is one of our main prayer mandates, along with prayer for priests. We pray, as did Our Lord, for the day “that all may be one” and then we will be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament together!! We attempt to search out all ways in which our Sisters may be united and try not to focus on those that divide us - while, at the same time always respecting the restrictions regarding the Sacraments. We have found there is much more that unites us then divides us! To do any less would not, we feel, be a true searching for the Unity for which we long, but only a sort of false notion of ecumenism.
For the rest of year (our Chapter is one week) we all attend our own home parishes, of course, so there are no issues in this regard.
At the convent, the two Sisters already in residence there are Roman Catholics and they go out to a local parish for Mass at the present time. The convent is open to the same membership make-up as the Community as a whole and in future, when we have Mass in our own chapel, we would have to provide for an Anglican Mass as well as a Catholic one as required. Our convent at present is a small rented house, as we search for a larger, more rural, property where we can more fully live the semi-contemplative life according to the vision we have been given. Then, God willing, we might have a priest(s) living on the property who will serve as Chaplain and celebrate Mass in our own chapel. These are very early days in our establishment of the convent and so we wait patiently. We will need benefactors to help with the purchase of a more permanent property. God will provide in His own time and according to His Will.
Thank you all for your interest in SSC and, once again, please ask about anything that is not clear.
In His Love,
Mother Wendy
Mother Superior, The Servants of the Sacred Cross
www.TheSacredCross.org
“Hail, O Cross, our only hope!”

 

[brigid12]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
A belated reply to the above concern about The Servants of the Sacred Cross (SSC). Do rest assured that we fully respect the Sacramental divisions that exist between the three jurisdictions to which our Community is open. When we gather for our yearly General Chapter, we have separate Roman Catholic and Anglican Community Masses. At these we celebrate our various Community Rites, Clothing of Novices, Professions etc. Although all of the Sisters attend both Masses, naturally, we only receive Communion at our respective Mass. This we feel to be a way forward in our search for Unity of the Church Universal, which is one of our main prayer mandates, along with prayer for priests. We pray, as did Our Lord, for the day “that all may be one” and then we will be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament together!! We attempt to search out all ways in which our Sisters may be united and try not to focus on those that divide us - while, at the same time always respecting the restrictions regarding the Sacraments. We have found there is much more that unites us then divides us! To do any less would not, we feel, be a true searching for the Unity for which we long, but only a sort of false notion of ecumenism.
For the rest of year (our Chapter is one week) we all attend our own home parishes, of course, so there are no issues in this regard.
At the convent, the two Sisters already in residence there are Roman Catholics and they go out to a local parish for Mass at the present time. The convent is open to the same membership make-up as the Community as a whole and in future, when we have Mass in our own chapel, we would have to provide for an Anglican Mass as well as a Catholic one as required. Our convent at present is a small rented house, as we search for a larger, more rural, property where we can more fully live the semi-contemplative life according to the vision we have been given. Then, God willing, we might have a priest(s) living on the property who will serve as Chaplain and celebrate Mass in our own chapel. These are very early days in our establishment of the convent and so we wait patiently. We will need benefactors to help with the purchase of a more permanent property. God will provide in His own time and according to His Will.
Thank you all for your interest in SSC and, once again, please ask about anything that is not clear.
In His Love,
Mother Wendy
Mother Superior, The Servants of the Sacred Cross
www.TheSacredCross.org
“Hail, O Cross, our only hope!”

I so appreciate your answer, Mother Wendy. Thank you. Your congregation is certainly one I want to keep in mind during my discernment.
Yours in Christ.

 

[giftoffaith]

Does anyone know how to contact Mother Wendy? I have sent two emails to the contact email address on their website, but have received no replies to either one.

Deo gratias.

 

[Lepanto]

I would like to clarify a point here: the Roman Catholic Sisters
receive Holy Communion ONLY at Roman Catholic Masses &
the Anglican Sisters receive ONLY at Anglican Masses…
Also, I noted that one of the Australian Sisters had her
Spiritual Director (along w/the Roman Catholic Bishop) at
her Vow Ceremony. He is a member of the FSSP: the
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter…Need I say more?

Such confusion and disunity. If they can’t even worship together this is not a real religious community. A sad case of indifferentism.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Does anyone know how to contact Mother Wendy? I have sent two emails to the contact email address on their website, but have received no replies to either one.

Deo gratias.

Sometimes there can be a delay…she can get very busy. I have sent an email to Mother Wendy via an email address that I have.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Such confusion and disunity. If they can’t even worship together this is not a real religious community. A sad case of indifferentism.

Hi Lepanto…“Indifferentism” (as below) is a quite harsh and an inaccurate term I think re the SSC. It is an ecumenical community and a very devout one and has received warm welcome from Catholic Bishops in diocese where it has membership (see SSC website) and also if you have a look at the website, letters of encouragement from Rome. But perhaps you have not had a look at the actual website, which is very informative:thumbsup:

Copied from website:

**“His Holiness (Pope Benedict XVI) will remember you and the Sisters in his prayers, and he invokes upon you the sustaining grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” **
The Vatican, Secretariat of State.

**"(We are) highly appreciative of the Community’s commitment to prayer for the oneness of all Christ’s disciples….such spiritual ecumenism is the heart of the search…" **
The Vatican, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

indifferentism

Terms often used as if they mean the same thing in regard to religious matters, though to be precise the former means carelessness as to practise on the part of those who believe, and the latter professes unconcern about belief as well as practise, denying that there is any duty to believe and practise the true religion. Indifferentism may deny that man need be concerned about religion at all of any kind, and then it is absolute, or it may hold that all religions are equally good, or, again, that any form of Christianity is as true and good as another. A sufficient argument against it is that it had its origin and chief propagating force in rationalism. So far as Christianity is concerned, it is plain that if God revealed truths and moral principles to men they cannot depend on human whim or choice, but must be one and the same always and everywhere, as made known by the Church which He constituted to preserve them and make them known. Indifferentism is culpable if it be due to the fact that one makes no honest effort at examining into religious claims and credentials. To brush aside religion as of no account, especially the Christian religion, for which millions have willingly sacrificed possessions and life, and which has numbered among its adherents the wisest of mankind, is to act with a degree of unreasonableness which no one would be guilty of in other affairs of life. Indifference will vanish, ordinarily, if one acts sincerely and logically in seeking religious truth.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

I meant to mention this before, but it went out of mind until I had occasion to mention it in another thread. The Servants of The Sacred Cross have a work habit, which is a very practical and excellent move, I thought.
I’d mention again too, that those who have impediments to religious life and feel that they do have a vocation, could look into the SSC which is an ecumenical Order that does have Catholic membership, including married women. There are no restrictions in The Church to a practising Catholic women entering.
http://www.thesacredcross.org/images/photoalbum_images/10.jpg
Sisers in full habit

http://www.thesacredcross.org/images/photoalbum_images/23.jpg
Mother Wendy in the work habit (looks to be a plain tunic with white underblouse)

Website Address
thesacredcross.org/main.htm

Photo Album
thesacredcross.org/album.htm

…this post also gives this thread a “bump”

 

[JReducation]

Such confusion and disunity. If they can’t even worship together this is not a real religious community. A sad case of indifferentism.

This is not a confusing as it appears. The Franciscans have an Anglican Province of Friars, Poor Clares and Secular Franciscans. Certain things are shared and others are not.

The Brothers of Taize were approved the the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institute. They are an ecumenical community. Pope Benedict XVI have Brother Roger, their founder, permission to received holy communion from his hands. Brother Roger was Lutheran. Brother died the year after Benedict was elected pope. The new Superior General is Catholic.

There are pictures all over the internet and in several Christian newspapers of Brother Roger receiving communion from Benedict XVI. What I heard is that Pius XII was the first to give the Monks of Taize a “Statement of Praise”.

A Statement of Praise is usually given to a community that is beginning. It is not the same as Pontifical status. To the best of my knowledge, only Catholic religious communities can have Pontifical status and they are far and few between. Most Catholic communities are Congregations, not religious orders. There are few religious orders in the Church.

As to the Franciscans, the issue was the separation of the Anglican communion split the English Franciscans into two groups. There were English Franciscans who remained Roman Catholics and others who went to the Anglican Church. Franciscan history tells us that they truly believed that the issue with Henry VIII was a temporary issue that would blow over when he died. Well, we know that didn’t happen.

Today, the descendants of those former Catholics have maintained the Franciscan presence in the Anglican communion. The Franciscans in the Anglican communion do belong to the old English Catholics and not to the current Episcopal Church. The hope is that someday they may be fully reunited with their Franciscan brothers and sisters.

They have done some very good work for the Christians in England, because they have served as a bridge for dialogue and for peaceful co-existence in areas where there was much animosity between Catholics and Protestants. During the early 20th century a group of them arrived in Garrison, NY and opened up a friary and a convent under a new name, Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement. They were received into the Catholic Church as a Society of Consecrated Life, not a religious order, but as religious nontheless. Their mission is to reunite the Anglicans with the Catholic Church.

These things get complicated, but sometimes the bishops and the popes have project, goals and agendas up their sleeves that we do not always understand.

Fraternally,

JR

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Excellent post, JR! Thank you.

We who live in an age of rapid change have great difficulty adjusting to it at times, and the older we get the more difficult it can be. There is change afoot in The Church and much of it I am convinced is the work of The Holy Spirit. It can be very hard for those of us who lived as adults pre Vatican2 to adjust to the post Council period. And after every great Council in The Church there has followed a period of unrest and dissention, arguments and veering off into the incorrect etc. etc. Hence what is happening today is nothing new really, in fact it has marked every age of The Church. Christian Catholics arguing and disagreeing…nothing at all new in that.
St. Paul in the opening years of The Church had tremendous difficulty with the established Church with his new concept of the gentiles and his mission to them…in fact he had a big argument with St. Peter over it all. It was never that St. Paul was starting something new, rather he was building upon the old. Not starting something new, rather - and under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit - was building on the old. But for a while there was overwhelming animosity towards him and the gentile movement into The Way (as The Church was then known).

Personally I thank The Lord for the Servants of The Sacred Cross since they do present and quite visionary and ahead of their times a way those who have impediments to religious life can actually become a type of religious and a new type of religious sister in The Church. But some want to stick with the older concept of a religious sister.
The real unity of the SSC in my opinion and I have been in contact with them on an on and off type of basis for a couple of years now I think is their mutual love in community which positively shines…and from what feedback I have flows out to all. “By their fruits you will know them”.

These things get complicated, but sometimes the bishops and the popes have project, goals and agendas up their sleeves that we do not always understand.

… …

The really new is most always complicated…once it becomes established, these complexities iron out. Just like learning something new is quite complex…until one has learnt it and then complexities disappear, except for those still to learn. And I am still trying to learn computers - so very complex

Barb

 

[JKirkLVNV]

The Brothers of Taize were approved the the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institute. They are an ecumenical community. Pope Benedict XVI have Brother Roger, their founder, permission to received holy communion from his hands. Brother Roger was Lutheran. Brother died the year after Benedict was elected pope. The new Superior General is Catholic.

Just a factual question, JReducation: I may be mistaken, but I think Brother Roger came out of the Calvinist tradition, did he not?

 

[JReducation]

Just a factual question, JReducation: I may be mistaken, but I think Brother Roger came out of the Calvinist tradition, did he not?

That’s an interesting question to which I do not know the answer. He may have been a convert to the Lutheran faith for all I know. What I know about Brother Roger has been through my studies of the spirituality of Taize. I’ve never studied his history prior to Taize.

Wish I could help.

Fraternally,

JR

 

[JReducation]

Excellent post, JR! Thank you.

We who live in an age of rapid change have great difficulty adjusting to it at times, and the older we get the more difficult it can be. There is change afoot in The Church and much of it I am convinced is the work of The Holy Spirit. It can be very hard for those of us who lived as adults pre Vatican2 to adjust to the post Council period. And after every great Council in The Church there has followed a period of unrest and dissention, arguments and veering off into the incorrect etc. etc. Hence what is happening today is nothing new really, in fact it has marked every age of The Church. Christian Catholics arguing and disagreeing…nothing at all new in that.
St. Paul in the opening years of The Church had tremendous difficulty with the established Church with his new concept of the gentiles and his mission to them…in fact he had a big argument with St. Peter over it all. It was never that St. Paul was starting something new, rather he was building upon the old. Not starting something new, rather - and under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit - was building on the old. But for a while there was overwhelming animosity towards him and the gentile movement into The Way (as The Church was then known).

Personally I thank The Lord for the Servants of The Sacred Cross since they do present and quite visionary and ahead of their times a way those who have impediments to religious life can actually become a type of religious and a new type of religious sister in The Church. But some want to stick with the older concept of a religious sister.
The real unity of the SSC in my opinion and I have been in contact with them on an on and off type of basis for a couple of years now I think is their mutual love in community which positively shines…and from what feedback I have flows out to all. “By their fruits you will know them”.

… …

The really new is most always complicated…once it becomes established, these complexities iron out. Just like learning something new is quite complex…until one has learnt it and then complexities disappear, except for those still to learn. And I am still trying to learn computers - so very complex

Barb

Councils always trigger new life into the Church. Some of it is healthy and some is not. I am most familiar with the birth the Dominican and Franciscans Orders. They were responses to the crises of the Church at the time of the Lateran Council. As we can see from their growth and their contribution to the Church’s tradition, they were blessings.

At the time they were considered very radical. When Dominic approached Innocent III for approval of his rule it was denied. The Pope said that there would be no more religious rules in the Church. Dominic had to make use of the Augustinian Rule. Thus the Dominicans are part of the Augustinian family.

Two years later, Francis went before Pope Innocent with his rule. Pope Innocent wanted to deny it as well and oblige Francis to take the rule of Augustine or Carmel. What persuaded Innocent III to accept the Rule of St. Francis was the fact that Francis was able to prove that the his rule was revealed by Christ and could not be touched. Thus, Innocent III approved the Rule of St. Francis and sealed it so that it could never be changed.

Afterward, he made it a law that there could be no new religious orders in the Church with new rules. All future religious orders and congregations had to use one of the existing rules: Benedictine, Carmelite, Augustinian, Franciscan and Basilian (Eastern Rite). To this day, no pope has ever approved a new rule, only new religious communities that have adopted one of these rules for their way of lfie or congregations that follow no rule, but have a constitution that they can change at their discretion.

None of this would have been possible without a Lateran Council and all the confusion, debate and dialogue that followed.

In fact, the Gregorian mass came out as a result of the Lateran Council and the founding of the Franciscans. Francis asked Innocent III for a simple missal for his community, because the mass of the time was very monastic. Innocent found some old manuscripts for a mass and gave them to Francis. The friars put them together.

Several hundred years later, the Council of Trent revised this missal. Almost 40 years later St. Pius V revised it again and came out with the Greogrian mass.

As you can see, Councils can stir up a lot of water, but in the end good things come out of them. We must be patient and vigilant at the same time.

Fraternally,

JR

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Thanks for all that JR…some of it I did not know some of what you have shared, and this was of especial interest -

Afterward, he made it a law that there could be no new religious orders in the Church with new rules. All future religious orders and congregations had to use one of the existing rules: Benedictine, Carmelite, Augustinian, Franciscan and Basilian (Eastern Rite). To this day, no pope has ever approved a new rule, only new religious communities that have adopted one of these rules for their way of lfie or congregations that follow no rule, but have a constitution that they can change at their discretion.

Does this still apply? If one should start or found a religious community, then one must adopt one of the established and papally approved Rules and then adapt it perhaps via statutes to itself and particular charism. Could then a religious community write its own Rule and call it merely “Constitution”? I have a feeling that this is what St. Teresa of Avila may have done under the Rule of St. Albert?..but I am on shaky ground personally and that is a real question and not a statement.

In fact, the Gregorian mass came out as a result of the Lateran Council and the founding of the Franciscans. Francis asked Innocent III for a simple missal for his community, because the mass of the time was very monastic. Innocent found some old manuscripts for a mass and gave them to Francis. The friars put them together.

Several hundred years later, the Council of Trent revised this missal. Almost 40 years later St. Pius V revised it again and came out with the Greogrian mass.

This was fascinating to me too!

My problem is that my memory nowadays is dreadful and I can no longer recal dates and times and the who or what of it all…only general outlines. Ah well one does not get to 62yrs I suppose without some sort of human frailty…

not that memory is the only one

We are in the aftermath of Vatican2 and some of what is happening is the work, I am sure, of The Holy Spirit, some things I am not so sure. “Test the spirit to see if it be of God” and that takes time to go under the bridge and then “by their fruits you will know them”. The other thing that struck me is just how many of our saints and some of them great and renowned saints were persecuted in some form in their own lives and some of them by The Church. Fortitude in the Grace of The Holy Spirit.

Your posts make fascinating reading, JR…and for many of them I am only lurking and reading with great interest. Thank you for all you do share.

We must be patient and vigilant at the same time.

… …

You may be able to answer a question for me, JR. Do you happen to know why some religious orders are so secretive about their Rule and Constitution etc.? It seems to me that an applicant would want to ponder these as part of the discernment process?
I have never struck this personally, but I have heard of it more than once.

Barb