Sisters Of Christian Charity

[Lilllabettt]

The [url="http://www.scceast.org/"]Sisters of Christian Charity[/url] were mentioned in the earlier thread about [url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=106865"]"Middle of the Road"[/url] communities.

I think Iggy mentioned that some of the Sisters from the Western province live near her.

Anyways, these are some pictures from the 2009 profession/investure ceremony in the Eastern province. They are inviting young women to come to this year's ceremonies, the weekend of August 15th ... Keep in mind, these are from 1 year ago. No doubt some of the Sisters pictured here will be invested or make first vows in a couple weeks...

They seem like a solid community, with young vocations ... according to their video, devotion to the Eucharist is the "distinctive mark" of their congregation .... and their foundress wanted them to cultivate "a characteristic spirit of youthful joyousness."

Interesting: they run [url="http://www.acs350.org/Welcome.html"]Assumption College for Religious Sisters"[/url] training nuns for apostolate. Kind of neat

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Lilllabettt/2009Sept_newsletter4.jpg[/img]
Postulant and Novice

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Lilllabettt/2009Sept_newsletter.jpg[/img]
Sr. Marie Jose and Sr. Maria Angeline


[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Lilllabettt/2009Sept_newsletter3.jpg[/img]
2 Sisters just after 1st profession ...


[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Lilllabettt/00000006.jpg[/img]
Renewal of vows ...

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Lilllabettt/2009Sept_newsletter2.jpg[/img]
Sr. Anne Marie Paul and Sr. Maria Goretti, making final profession

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/Lilllabettt/00000001.jpg[/img]
Their chapel

Edited July 30, 2010 by Lilllabettt

[Piccoli Fiori JMJ]

That chapel looks just like the chapel of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of the Church at their Motherhouse. It's kinda weird even.

The sisters look absolutely beautiful though... and so does their chapel!

[Two Hearts]

As a side note - this community does not have an "official" age limit and has welcomed "older" vocations, including mothers. Have been blessed to know them for several years - lovely community!

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

Thanks so much Lillibet for posting these photos of "my" Sisters. For those who are used to seeing Sisters in the full habit, look beyond the modified habit--these Sisters are definitely "the real thing." And, as someone who sees these Sisters every day, their modified habit is not THAT modified. They definitely look like religious Sisters--there is no doubt. They show that they are brides of Christ by their clothing. And, all of us who live near them feel blessed to have them close by.

I've told this story a couple of times because I like it. I've looked at photos on the SCC Web site, and in some photos, Sisters are wearing coats that aren't black. I think the first reaction of some people who prefer the full habit is to jump to the conclusion that, "those are lay clothes, they are not real Sisters."

Sister Helen explained to me why all their coats aren't black. As part of their vow of poverty, the Order does not provide them with coats--and this is in the Midwest and New Jersey where it gets VERY cold in the winter! Instead, they rely totally on donations. If they need a coat, they go through the donated coats and find the one that fits best, regardless of color. Over time, most of them eventually find a black coat that fits, and so most Sisters wear a black coat in winter. So, if a Sister isn't wearing a black coat, it's simply because no one donated a black coat that fit her.

BTW--I have NEVER seen an SCC Sister wear lay clothing--anything other than her habit. (There ARE variations in the habit, such as for nursing Sisters, or Sisters who work in other countries, and there is a light blue "summer habit," but they ALWAYS wear a veil.) In this Order, postulants wear lay clothing, which makes sense in a way, because, like most Orders (as I understand it), the SCC count their first day as a religious from the day they are clothed in the habit as a Novice, not from the day they enter as a postulant.

Edited July 30, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='Two Hearts' date='30 July 2010 - 04:48 PM' timestamp='1280526516' post='2150008']
As a side note - this community does not have an "official" age limit and has welcomed "older" vocations, including mothers. Have been blessed to know them for several years - lovely community!
[/quote]

I'd never looked at age limits, but this year, there are two "older" postulants going through formation here in the Midwest province. The information I had didn't give their ages--I would have guessed 40ish, but they could have been anywhere from 35 to 50. Having them go through formation in the Western province makes sense, because most of the "younger" postulants/novices, etc. are going through formation in New Jersey, while the Western province (where I live) has mostly older Sisters.

So, although they aren't shown in the photos, the U.S. actually has four postulants this year (or they did the last time I heard). Since this Order is headquartered in Germany, from what I can tell, they probably have more Sisters outside the U.S. than in the U.S., and their Philippine province is particularly active.

Another FYI: Although they are headquartered in Germany, every Sister I have met has been American. For example, Sister Helen has relatives in Chicago, so I assume she was born and raised here.

Also, we have brought up visiting in the VS. It appears that the SCC are pretty liberal when it comes to visiting relatives, although, because Sister Helen is retired, I don't know if this policy applies to all professed Sisters or is more liberal for retired Sisters. (After all, once a Sister has celebrated her 60th Jubilee, and no longer drives, she can't get in too much trouble. LOL) But, when Sister Helen's brother died (the brother who told her she wouldn't "last six months" LOL) Sister Helen went to the funeral, spent time with the widow and the rest of the family, etc. She spends time with her family on Christmas, Easter, and other times, as well. And, I know they come to visit her.

Edited July 30, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[Sarah147]

What about this order makes them "middle of the road"?

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='JoyfulLife' date='30 July 2010 - 05:14 PM' timestamp='1280528097' post='2150018']
What about this order makes them "middle of the road"?
[/quote]

This is the defininition Lilllabett gave of middle-of-the-road in the first thread naming middle-of-the-road communities:

"These communities usually have a modified habit, and may or may not be members of the CMSWR. They don't have an explicit "political" alignment. Their formation programs incorporate more recent advances in understanding of psychology. Compared with more traditional communities, there are usually fewer restrictions on communication with people outside the community. There are fewer things which require the permission of a superior. The way they live religious life is not as "secret." There is less emphasis on the centrality of religious decorum ... on the other hand, these Sisters live in community, have some new vocations, are orthodox, practice devotions to Mary and the Eucharist, and have a traditional interpretation of the vows and of what a religious vocation is."

I think it's an excellent definition and I would say the SCC fit it pretty well, well, at least from what I know of them. And, some questions I can't answer because I've never asked, such as rules for communication with the outside both for those in formation and the fully professed. I know they are quite relaxed with retired nuns--but retired nuns still wear the habit, and do as much work in the community as their health allows. I've never been beyond the parlor, but I've never asked, either. Part of it is that one floor of the convent is essentially a nursing home, and I don't want to intrude on the privacy of sisters who might be ill. But, for example, for dinner, instead of someone serving, the nuns take a tray, and at least for some meals (maybe all, for all I know) the retired nuns sit where they wish, not in set places, and (I think) are allowed to speak. (Again, it may only be for some meals, for all I know). An aspirant would have reason to ask these questions. I feel like if I asked them, it would just because I was nosy.

I don't know much about how they live religious life, because I've never asked. I had never met a nun before Sister Helen, so I don't have any idea what is okay to ask and what isn't. Sometimes she volunteers information, but then again, she was "formed" pre-Vatican II so I don't know what customs etc. she has decided to keep by her own decision. But, the retired nuns seem to have a decent amount of control over their time, although they have some house responsibilities. Very telling to me is that, I've never met a Sister who wasn't happy and nice and welcoming. Also, they have Philipino lay women who help with the most ill sisters, and whenever I have been at the convent, they have treated these women with respect, and as fellow Sisters--not as "lackeys" as you often see in a standard retirement home/nursing home. The thing I like most about Sister Helen is that she has a wicked sense of humor, and I didn't know that Sisters were allowed to have (or keep that). Whatever her formation was like, even 60 years ago, it did not stifle Sister Helen's basic character.

I see "middle-of-the-road as maybe having a modified habit, but more of a habit than in some commnities where Sisters essentially wear what they want, plus a pin to show which Order they belong to. The Order may have given up some of the traditional, strict rules that may have less purpose today, but is still fully Orthodox in its devotion to the Pope, the Magisterium, devotion to Mary and the eucharist, and a traditional view of religious vows and a religious vocation. Nothing "hinky" or questionable.

Edited July 31, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[Lilllabettt]

[quote name='JoyfulLife' date='30 July 2010 - 07:14 PM' timestamp='1280528097' post='2150018']
What about this order makes them "middle of the road"?
[/quote]


Well, first of all, they are NOT members of the CMSWR. They are in fact members of the [url="http://www.lcwr.org/index.htm"]LCWR[/url], an organization which has the reputation of hosting more liberal communities, a number of them I would say appear to be less than faithful. On the other hand, they are also members of the [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/wa?OpenForm&Count=1000"]Institute on Religious Life[/url] which is composed entirely of more traditional, very orthodox communities.

So there's that.

The Sisters all wear a veil and habit, although it is modified.
They continue to take religious names.
One of the Superior General's [url="http://www.sccgen.org/supgen.html"]"circular lettters"[/url] has a quote from the rather infamously heterodox [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Chittister"]Sr. Joan Chittister[/url]. There was nothing iffy about the quote itself, but she is quoting a decidedly iffy person. On the other hand, the Popes are quoted far more often; several letters are presentations of Pope Benedict's encyclicals.

The Sister's website advertises a social justice [url="http://sccjpic.blogspot.com/"]blog[/url] and "social justice initiatives" [url="http://www.scceast.org/SocialJustice/SocialJustice.html"]which revolves around the usual ecology/nonviolence/migrant[/url] sort of thing. They send a group to protest at the School of the Americas. This is definitely left-wing stuff. But none of this is unorthodox: I don't see any prayers to Mother Earth or calls for women's ordination.
[u]
"Traditional" Quotes from their vocation video:
[/u]
[i]"Our name expresses our life's purpose: to glorify God by letting the love of Christ so permeate and fill us, that it flows over to love of others in our service of the Church."
"In its deepest dimension, all our religious life is prayer."
"Our particular love of the Eucharist is the distinctive mark of our Congregation and the source of its life."
"The focus of our life is not what we do, but who we are ..."
"Whatever our ministry is, it is to be rooted in a distinctive charity that is the fruit of a contemplative, Eucharistic lifestyle."[/i]
[u]
and the "middle of the road" element:[/u]

[i]"We appreciate and celebrate diversity of character, background and opinion."
[/i]

[she_who_is_not]

I've been in contact with this community and from my experience they are pretty orthodox. However, they definitely took on the spirit of "aggiornamento" I would encourage discerners to really get to know this community.

[Two Hearts]

[quote name='Lilllabettt' date='31 July 2010 - 12:15 PM' timestamp='1280589324' post='2150252']
One of the Superior General's [url="http://www.sccgen.org/supgen.html"]"circular lettters"[/url] has a quote from the rather infamously heterodox [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Chittister"]Sr. Joan Chittister[/url]. There was nothing iffy about the quote itself, but she is quoting a decidedly iffy person.
[/quote]

Cannot allow this to pass - Sister Joan Chittister is in no way an "iffy" person. She is a woman of faith and has devoted her life to God's service as a Benedictine. She has not been excommunicated and in fact was welcomed by Venerable Pope John Paul II.

Maybe a gentle reminder is due here - we are not to judge, that remains in God's care.

In the Two Hearts

[Lilllabettt]

[quote name='Two Hearts' date='31 July 2010 - 01:08 PM' timestamp='1280592514' post='2150260']
Cannot allow this to pass - Sister Joan Chittister is in no way an "iffy" person. She is a woman of faith and has devoted her life to God's service as a Benedictine. She has not been excommunicated and in fact was welcomed by Venerable Pope John Paul II.

Maybe a gentle reminder is due here - we are not to judge, that remains in God's care.

In the Two Hearts
[/quote]

How about this: she's iffy for me.

For example: When referring to someone, if it is necessary to clarify that she has NOT in fact been excommunicated... that to me is itself a sign of iffyness.

But in any case: I read, and enjoy a lot of of Sister's writing. Lots of insight there. But sometimes she makes reference to the fact that she feels women should be allowed to be ordained priests. Supporting women's ordination = "iffy" for me.

*Sr. Joan is NOT what I would consider "middle of the road"

Edited July 31, 2010 by Lilllabettt

[Two Hearts]

[quote name='Lilllabettt' date='31 July 2010 - 01:56 PM' timestamp='1280595404' post='2150273']
How about this: she's iffy for me.

For example: When referring to someone, if it is necessary to clarify that she has NOT in fact been excommunicated... that to me is itself a sign of iffyness.

But in any case: I read, and enjoy a lot of of Sister's writing. Lots of insight there. But sometimes she makes reference to the fact that she feels women should be allowed to be ordained priests. Supporting women's ordination = "iffy" for me.

*Sr. Joan is NOT what I would consider "middle of the road"
[/quote]

I made that reference because of your comment about Sr Joan, which I found disrespectful. Her belief that women should be welcomed into the priesthood is based on Jesus' teaching. Unfortunately, the men in Rome believe pedophiles are okay, but women would be a danger to the priesthood.

Heaven only knows why I read or respond to this phorum - it is by far the most judgemental and mean-spirited I've ever encountered. Jesus must cringe! Do you honestly believe he cares about habit lengths and orthodoxy more than how we treat one another or serve his people? Jesus was a gentle soul, not judgemental. Let's discuss how religious communities best serve, rather than the image. Catholics are taught to use our God given conscience....which seems to have gotten lost in much nonsense the last several years. If only as much energy went into caring and serving the disadvantaged and disenfranchised, both financially and spiritually, as it does into discussing to which organizations communities belong or how long the veil is or how many home visits are allowed or if they wear bridal attire at reception.

The SCC's are a wonderful community. They slowly and carefully adapted to the Vat II guidelines for religious communities, rather than rush to change or refuse to change/adapt as requested by the Council.

[Sister Marie]

Dear Two Hearts,

After reading the thread, I didn't find anything offensive or disrespectful about stating a personal view on a sister's theology. My community doesn't have full length habits and we belong to the LCWR and I personally disagree with Sister Joan on almost everything she says. That doesn't mean that I am personally attacking her or that I don't like her as a person. God created her. She is good. Her views are, in my opinion and in the teaching of the Church, incorrect. I would be absolutely justified in saying that she does not hold the views of the Church because objectively she doesn't, which I think is what Lilllabettt was trying to say. Does she think she is following the Gospel? I'm sure she does. But sometimes I think I'm following the Gospel when I'm really messing up. I would hope that I would be corrected... who knows I may be messing up right now by replying, but I felt I had something to add to the conversation.

Just to let you know, your comment seemed much harsher in tone than any others I read on here. I do not mean to criticize or judge what may have been your intention in saying what you did, but to tell you that calling people around here mean-spirited and judgmental doesn't make you seem any different. If you think people need a gentle reminder than maybe you should give a gentle reminder... with patience, charity, and forgiveness. They always say you attract more bees with honey than vinegar, and it is very true. I think we would all love to learn from you and share faith with you but we can't if all we meet up with is what seems to be harsh comments. Someone told me once that if you disagree with someone the best thing to do is to ask them questions about their viewpoint in a way that leads you to understand them better and for them to question their own viewpoints. You have a mutual exchange of ideas in search of truth instead of a tug of war (not that that is what is happening here). I have found it a great way for me to have discussions without being harsh - which has been and continues to be a great struggle for me. When I think I'm right... well I think I'm right!

About habits, and customs... you are correct that they are not the most important things. However, we are incarnational people. We are see it to believe it people. God made us that way. He created our world so that we could see Him and know Him in creation. He gave us the Sacraments, so that we could see and know Him. He became man so that we could know His love for us. I'm a teacher and I know from experience that my children need to see, touch, smell, hear, and taste things to understand them. We are the same. So if a habit helps people remember that God is present in our world - it makes sense. We depend on exteriors to help us understand interior realities. That isn't bad. The exteriors also, as you say, are not necessary to know God. We can see Him in the way we treat one another and love one another. When I was studying a priest I had in class said that we are a both/and Church. We need both the interior and exterior to show us who God is and where He is.

Lastly, your comment about the men in Rome was very upsetting to me. Maybe you haven't heard about this but nuns have sexually abused children as well as priests and their communities have hidden it during a particular time period as well. We as a Church are responsible. Women religious are responsible. SNAP requested a meeting with the LCWR leadership to tell their stories of being sexually abused by women religious and they were denied (many priests and the Pope have listened to the stories of victims of sexual abuse). I would not call that the most compassionate and loving service to deny people so destructively hurt the chance to speak up for themselves and to find some closure in knowing that they are cared for by the Church.

I hope you can see this comment not as a chastisement (and if it seems that way, I humbly ask your forgiveness because I mean it only to help and not to hurt) but as a suggestion of a different way to look at this situation and to communicate better what you would like to say. There is a place here for you to share your faith and your feelings, especially about discerning religious life, but you have a better chance of being heard and having meaningful discussions if you are willing to let some of your defenses down and accept the possibility that some of what you say is right, and some of what someone else says is right. We all struggle with this and all of us must work on it, myself included.

I'm sorry this is so long. In writing this I really hope you can feel that I am holding all of you in my prayers and not in judgment at all. I pray that this is helpful but if it is not, please forgive me. Know that I pray for everyone here daily.

God bless you!
Sister Marie

[Lilllabettt]

Dear Two Hearts,

I'm not sure if your post was supposed to be ironic or not.

Because the whole entire point of the earlier "middle of the road communities" thread and a lot of posts in this one is to point out that there are more "liberal" communities, who don't necessarily use all the "externals" who are nevertheless perfectly orthodox, have young vocations, etc. You can do liberal things, like protest at the School of the Americas (NOT my cup of tea) and still be orthodox. Authentic Catholicism has a wider definition than some of us may be used to; it encompasses more points of view, it is beyond political labels; externals are not so important, faithfulness to Catholic teaching is.

Any community that is faithful is deserving of consideration for following a vocation, both traditional and updated ones. If they are not orthodox, then I would not consider them. Not because I think they are evil, but because I wouldn't see the point. I am Catholic because I believe Catholic teaching, about the priesthood and everything else; if I didn't, then I wouldn't be. In many ways I don't understand Sr. Joan, why she continues in a religion whose teaching she doubts. But that is between her and God.

My advice, for what its worth, is to do some deep breathing and relax.

[Two Hearts]

I am sorry my post came across other than the tone with which it was written - I am not and was not upset by your views. Again, I did feel it was disrespectful to make such a comment about Sr. Joan. I don't agree with some of her views - and find her, shall we say, over the top at times, but to call her "iffy" was disrespectful imho.

Sister Marie, concerning women abuse within the church - my comment never indicated otherwise, but was a simple statement as to how I am personally saddened that Rome sees women as a threat to the priesthood, yet continue to allow pedophiles to remain. No one should be allowed to remain a priest or religious if they have abused anyone in any way; It is a head scratching sort of situation.

My experience has found many of members of this phorum to be judgemental and mean-spirited. Perhaps you've not found this to be the case because you agree with their opinions - I don't know, but I will share that I've received private messages thanking me for speaking out. Sometimes we are so comfortable with a situation in sharing our opinions that we do not see how it may be coming across to others; Just because no one says anything does not mean they do not see/experience it as hurtful.

Lilllabettt, thank you for the advice. There is a time to speak up - for me, this was one of those times. I'll save the deep breathing for the next biopsy.

How about we move on and go back to why the SCC's are a wonderful Community?