Daughters Of Mary, Mother Of Israel's Hope

[das8949]

[size="5"]Has anyone discerned with Sister Rosalind Moss's new congregation that will be in Tulsa OK now? She has had a rough start of it but perserved.


[b]Daughters of Mary, Mother of Israel's Hope[/b]
[i]"A light to reveal Thee to the nations and the glory of Thy people Israel"[/i]


[b]Our Charism:[/b]
[b]In a word: Hope.[/b] Taking the Mother of our Savior as our model, guide and support, we desire to echo Mary's "yes" in offering our lives to God as [i]messengers of hope[/i] to the world He came to save. As the Blessed Virgin gave birth to the Messiah, the Savior of the world, so we desire to bring the life-giving message of His forgiving, healing love to those who have not yet heard, and to all who long for a sign of His mercy, that the Christ of God may be born in every seeking heart.


[b]Our Apostolate:[/b]
As a contemplative-active, evangelistic and teaching community of consecrated women, we wish to give ourselves to a life of prayer and outreach to individuals and families of every race and creed — young and old, rich and poor — with the love of God and the truths of His glorious Church. As fully habited sisters, we desire to be joyful signposts to the God of Hope, reaching out, neighborhood by neighborhood, to those in need, teaching the faith, inviting all to the fullness of life made possible in our beloved Savior, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

[i]"The Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope . . . who incarnated the hope of Israel, who gave the world its Savior, and who remained at the foot of the Cross with steadfast hope, is our model and our support. Most of all, Mary intercedes for us and leads us through the darkness of our trials to the radiant dawn of an encounter with the Risen Christ."[/i]

Pope Benedict XVI
24th World Youth Day, March 4, 2009


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[AccountDeleted]

Yes, I lived with her for two months when it first started. It was a very interesting experience.

She has now changed the name to [url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/www.motherofourhope.org"]Daughters of Mary, Mother of Our Hope[/url] and the website is also active. She sent out a newsletter at the end of April. At that time, she still didn't have a permanent home but seemed in good spirits. There's more info on the web site.

[das8949]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1304817417' post='2238541']
Yes, I lived with her for two months when it first started. It was a very interesting experience.

She has now changed the name to [url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/www.motherofourhope.org"]Daughters of Mary, Mother of Our Hope[/url] and the website is also active. She sent out a newsletter at the end of April. At that time, she still didn't have a permanent home but seemed in good spirits. There's more info on the web site.
[/quote]

Do you think that they will get the order started? Would you have entered back when you lived there if it had taken off?

Darlene

Edited May 8, 2011 by DarleneSteinemann

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='DarleneSteinemann' timestamp='1304888578' post='2238793']
Do you think that they will get the order started? Would you have entered back when you lived there if it had taken off?

Darlene
[/quote]


I don't think it would be at all constructive for me to speculate on the future of Sr Rosalind's efforts. We need only look to the Acts of the Apostles for advice...

"For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5:38, 39

No one can doubt Sr Rosalind's sincerity of heart and love for God, and her incredible energy and enthusiam about this project. The best thing we can do is to pray for her and the success of her community in bringing praise and glory to God, whatever the final outcome. She says she has 70 applicants, so that is a hopeful sign.

As for me personally, I didn't leave because it hadn't 'taken off''. Ros and I had different charisms as she is an evangelist and I am a contemplative - we both knew that as much as we cared for each other, and as inspired as I was by her dream, I would never be able to do the work she was asking of her future sisters, so I left to spend a few months with the Hermits of Bethlehem. We email each other occasionally but our paths have diverged and she is also very busy and needing to focus on her work right now. If anyone can do what she has set out to do - she can - with God's help and by His grace..

Edited May 9, 2011 by nunsense

[MoniC]

I am in touch with Mother Miriam Moss, osb, but due to personal circumstances have not been able to visit as yet. She has 6 new postulants and as of 9/20/13 they are all going to spend 14 months of formation in Angers, France with the Benedictine Servants of the Poor- (www.servantesdepauvres-osb.org). Yipeee!  How I envy them the time they will have with this wonderful large community of sisters. Many blessings, and may God continue to give both of them good and holy vocations! We need their presence and witness so much in our world today!!!

  :dance:   :nun2:

[Feankie]

The Benedictines just seem to be growing with new orders springing up within the last few years.  Mother Miriam's order as well as Mother Gabrielle's in Italy.  God bless them an all who seek to enter.

[DameAgnes]

I'm really glad to hear that the whole community will be in formation with an established community for a while. I really would like to see Moss' efforts succeed but it seems to me (as a sympathetic observer) that perhaps she needs to focus a bit. She sort of seems all over the map. Aside from the shifting name of the community (I think it's been tweeked three times, now) there's a sense of them not really knowing yet who they are or want to be -- to have Benedictine and Visitandine patrons is unusual enough, but then there is the whole, "we're contemplative! But active! And Evangelical! And Educational!" It's like "we want to be everything to all people!" Which is really a good instinct, but I'm not sure it's a workable one. 

[Pia Jesu]

Yes, there seems to be a flourishing of new Benedictine communities!  I've mentioned Sr. Gertrude Gillette, OSB in

another thread...but Bishop Jurgis of Charlotte, NC has recently approved both her and Sr. Scholastica as a Private

Association of the Faithful.  Belmont Abby has a good article on them:

 

http://www.oblatesosbbelmont.org/2012/02/17/benedictine-sisters-start-community-in-mount-holly-nc/

 

I remember reading about Mother Miriam's formation with the Tyringham Visitation nuns...so, is it a canonical requirement

of some sort (for new communities) to send the six postulants to France for their novitiate?  When Sr. Gertrude lived near

Ave Maria University (FL), her community was affiliated with--and under the auspices of--a Monastery of Benedictine nuns

in Mexico.  The then-bishop of the Diocese of Venice required it.  As other posts note...discerning with new communities

is best done with much prayer and a lot of questions!  It is definitely a "leap of faith"!!

[Pia Jesu]

Good insight, Dame Agnes!  Sr. Gertrude describes the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Peace as a monastic

and teaching (at nearby universities, schools, etc.) community.  Other threads have addressed the contemplative/active

charism debate--but it appears to be a Benedictine tradition (plus hospitality!) that has survived over the years.

Let's pray that all three new communities do well.

[Anselm]

I'll be honest and say that I cannot comprehend how a community can describe itself as both contemplative and active at the same time. Perhaps I should search for those threads you mentioned...

[Sponsa-Christi]

Anselm,

 

I think "active-contemplative" might be kind of an American thing. Generally, this phrase means that a community has an outside apostolate, but that they still put a heavy emphasis on prayer.

 

In the early days of the Catholic Church in the United States, religious communities were tasked with a HUGE amount of work founding schools, hospitals, and other social service institutions all at once and basically from scratch--unlike in Europe, where these things had a chance to develop more gradually and "organically" over the course of centuries.

 

Oftentimes, a bishop would found his own community of Sisters just because he wanted someone to run a Catholic school system in his diocese. Sometimes even contemplative nuns from Europe would be invited to start a new foundation in the United States, only to be re-labeled "Sisters," dispensed from their commitment to enclosure, and put to work with the apostolic needs of the diocese once they got here! (This is why the U.S.A. has so many communities of active Benedictines, by the way.)

 

Here in America, it's not unusual for a purely "active" Sister to have only an hour or 90 minutes of prayer every day. But a Sister from an "active-contemplative" community might have more like four hours of daily prayer. Also, active-contemplative communities are more likely to incorporate monastic customs like times of silence, reading at meals, etc.

[Anselm]

Sponsa-Christi, it makes sense that it may be an American phenomenon as I've certainly not heard the phrase used in the UK. For example, the Abbey I'm hopefully joining runs a boarding school but would still describe itself as contemplative, despite its apostolate.

 

I also suspect that it's a designation more relevant to women, where the difference between enclosed and active is much more delineated than for me. Even so, I'm struggling to think of any orders of active Benedictine sisters in the UK.

 

Thank you for the description - it makes a lot more sense now!

[hoosieranna]

The Grace and Compassion Benedictines - they're a nursing community.

 

http://www.graceandcompassionbenedictines.org.uk/index.htm

[Benedictus]

The Grace and Compassion Benedictines - they're a nursing community.

 

http://www.graceandcompassionbenedictines.org.uk/index.htm

They're small in the UK and don't get much limelight but they are a good institute. They used to have friendly connections with Worth Abbey in the past. The Grace and Compassion Benedictine's remind me of the Little Sisters of the Poor, which seems equally as good. 

I know the men's branch of the Carmelites (O'Carm) describe themselves as contemplative and apostolic. I can see why they would do so, as they started as hermits and evolved. But I've also seen the tag used for Jesuits and a couple of other institutes where it made little sense to me. 

[Anselm]

Yes, I can see what you mean about the O.Carms; I have a huge amount of respect for their work, though I can see how the OCD Friars are a little more contemplative than their O.Carm brothers.

 

I'm not sure how the Jesuits could be described as both Active and Contemplative when they don't say any offices in common though!