Rosalind Moss - Mother Miriam Of The Lamb Of God - Update

[AccountDeleted]

Thank you for the video link - it was very informative and an in depth interview that answered a lot of questions.

Prayers for her future endeavours

[Ale]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1315820168' post='2303731']
I also wonder if she is going to wear the Star of David Crucifix that she used to wear and wanted all her sisters to wear - now that she is wearing the Benedictine habit....
[/quote]

What is the "star of David crucifix" ?

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='Ale' timestamp='1319980533' post='2328938']

What is the "star of David crucifix" ?
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Well, she isn't wearing it in the video, so I guess not, unless it is under her habit. Ros had a gold necklace made that has a Star of David intertwined with a Cross - not really a Crucifix since there was no corpus - I don't know if she had it when she was an Evangelical or not - she was part of a group of Jewish Christian converts. You can see it in the old photos of her as a postulant.She told us that she wanted us all to wear one when we got the habit... she was going to have them made for us - I suppose as part of the 'Israel's Hope' theme. Maybe the Bishop didn't think it was appropriate - I have no idea.

[LadyOfSorrows]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1320019945' post='2329106']


Well, she isn't wearing it in the video, so I guess not, unless it is under her habit. Ros had a gold necklace made that has a Star of David intertwined with a Cross - not really a Crucifix since there was no corpus - I don't know if she had it when she was an Evangelical or not - she was part of a group of Jewish Christian converts. You can see it in the old photos of her as a postulant.She told us that she wanted us all to wear one when we got the habit... she was going to have them made for us - I suppose as part of the 'Israel's Hope' theme. Maybe the Bishop didn't think it was appropriate - I have no idea.
[/quote]

Ah, that's too bad! It would have been lovely. I wore one growing up. So much meaning in it...so incredible to be a part of our Church, which is very, very Jewish....

[Ale]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1320019945' post='2329106']

.She told us that she wanted us all to wear one when we got the habit... she was going to have them made for us -
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So, if I understood correctly whot you have written, you rae going to be a "postulant" or "novice " in this new religious community?

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='Ale' timestamp='1320075610' post='2329364']

So, if I understood correctly whot you have written, you rae going to be a "postulant" or "novice " in this new religious community?
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Oh no! Old, old, old news When I left Wolverhampton Carmel, I was heading off to become a hermit. Along the way I met Rosalind Moss, who lived only an hour from me in California. I then flew to Georgia (never having been there before) for a one day conference with her at a parish church to see how she spoke in person... arriving before the conference and flying home after. During the conference, we agreed to meet up again in California and discuss her plans for moving to St Louis. I was so blown away by her charismatic nature and the way she spoke so passionately, and so enchanted by her great plans, that I guess I got swept up in all the excitement. Without taking time to discern (although I did mention my decision to the priest who was head of the IRL at the time - he also lived close by) and he was concerned about it, telling me that most new communities didn't persevere beyond five to ten years - but I discounted his worries and agreed to make the move with Ros within a couple of weeks.

The week before the move, I went to San Diego to stay in a motel and help her pack up her apartment (I had nothing to pack, having just come out of a convent). Then she flew to St Louis while I drove her packed car across country to meet up with her there (she needed to be there first to arrange things). By the time I got there, there were three other women living in the house Ros borrowed from the Good Shepherd sisters (it was an old Novitiate house that they didn't use anymore). The house just happened to be right next door to her brother's house (he is the head of the Catholic Hebrews group) so we would have dinner with him and his lovely wife, went to the 4th of July celebrations with them, sometimes saw them at Mass (we all went to the Cathedral but we usually went at different times).

I lived with her for two months while we cleaned and repaired the old convent that our new parish was letting us use (it was part of an old Catholic school and had been vacant for years - ugly 1970s building - like a prison!). During this time she still had to fulfill conference commitments so she was coming and going a lot and we had basically no formation at all - just cleaning and renovating and meeting with people and checking out fabric for the habit and meeting with the seamstresses etc etc. The five women were are all great people but we all felt the stress of having our foundress absent a lot of the time in the first few months. I also felt there was little time for prayer and no structure or routine (apart from myself, none of the women had ever been in religious life before), and since I was just out of Carmel, it became too much for me. I spoke with one of our Bishops frequently (he was our Confessor) and he told me that following a living foundress was very difficult. I asked Ros if we would have formation in religious life and she said we would 'form ourselves'. Later, after I left, she went to do her novitiate with the Visitation, but this was not in the plans at the time. I also asked if we could have a routine for praying the Office and she tried to accommodate me but would get distracted by things that were happening or people, and would just say 'we'll skip that Office' and I used to pray it in private but feel we were getting lost in activities.

I was also the vocations director and had to go through the applications from candidates and talk with them on the phone and work on a 'Come and See' visit etc etc... I was very unhappy over some of her criteria for candidates at the time, but we talked about it and she was good enough to listen to my concerns and we worked some things out that felt better. Whenever I had a concern, she did try to resolve it with me. She was strong and opinionated but also tried to be fair and would listen to concerns with an open mind.

Then one day when I was really feeling a lack of prayer life (at the time - I am sure things have gotten better since she completed her novitiate) I went to confession to talk about it. When I got home, she knew there was something wrong and we had a chat. She basically told me that she felt I wasn't called to her apostolate and that I should back into a more contemplative life. I was very hurt at the time because I felt I had given so much of my life to helping the new foundation, and she was basically 'kicking me out'. But in my heart I knew she was right and that I needed a more structured routine of prayer than we could have at that time. I also knew that I didn't want to 'walk the streets' evangelising - I had always hated the 'Evangelical Christians' (Protestants) when I was growing up - they seemed too 'over the top' to me, and that's why I was more attracted to the Catholics, they lived their faith instead of proclaiming it (my perception at the time). And some of the other women were also having problems at the time (they all ended up leaving after me) so the atmosphere was very stressful. I think the main reason I had even started on the journey was that I admired Rosalind. It was a bit of hero worship I think.

Anyway, I can't say it was an easy parting, but she did try to help me - she phoned the local Carmelites in St Louis but they said I was too old for them and wouldn't consider me, so I told Ros I would do what I had originally planned to do - go to the hermits. So I left St Louis and joined the Hermits of Bethlehem in New Jersey. I have tried to maintain contact with her over the years, but she gets so busy that she often doesn't reply or just sends a 'form email' that she sends to a lot of people. This hurt me in the beginning too since I had felt a real personal connection with her, but I just accept it as her personality now, and continue to admire her single-mindedness in pursuing her mission.

Working with Ros was an experience I will never forget.. and I am so glad that she made the choice (or was guided?) to do a novitiate year before continuing on with her foundation. I have seen a growth and maturity in her since we lived together. The fact that she has persevered so far despite all the obstacles that have been placed in her way, and all the setbacks, is a good sign. The one problem I see remaining is that right now she is an integral part of the whole charism - without her, it might all fall apart. And she is about five years older than I am. One of the Bishops told her that if she didn't complete the foundation in her lifetime, another one could pick up the reins, but she told him she wanted to do it herself. Only God knows how long she will be able to do this work, and if she is not in the picture, I wonder what will happen to the congregation... the best thing, in my opinion, that she could do, is to get a really good 2IC to help her now and take over if she can't do it anymore. I have seen other new congregations fall apart after the founder has left because their personality and charism was what held it all together. I hope she (and her advisors) see this danger and help her to prevent it).

Rosalind is an amazing person - she has gone from being Rosalind Moss to Mother Miriam, and it can't have been an easy journey over the past few years (I was with her in 2008). She still has a long way to go and her postulants still have a long way to go (a 9 month postulancy before they get the habit) before they are members of her community, so we need to pray for perseverence for all of them. She mentioned having a 'Come and See' early next year (perhaps once the sisters are clothed) and once that happens, perhaps there will be more forward movement with her plans. In the meantime, she is once again setting up house and getting things organised. I don't envy the postulants this time! I hope they get some religious formation in there as well.

So, prayers for her foundation ,that it truly be 'God's work' and all be for His greater glory. She has great resources in all her contacts with EWTN and Catholic Answers, so all she needs now are our prayers