The Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross

I continue to hear about ministries that women across the Diocese of the Rio Grande are involved in. During Diocesan Convention, I learned more about a ministry I had never heard of: The Society of the Companions ofthe Holy Cross.

This is a ministry that approximately seven hundred women, both lay and ordained, across the Anglican Communion live by. Each woman patterns her life under a Rule of Intercessory Prayer, Thanksgiving and Simplicity of Life. They pray with intentional concern for three themes: the Unity of all God’s People, God’s Mission in the world, and Social Justice. Members exercise their intellect with study, their spirituality with meditation and seek to live lives of simplicity. In Albuquerque Companions meet at 3PM on the second Sunday of the month in the St. Thomas of Canterbury Library. If you would like more information, contact the Rev. Carole McGowan at Canterbury.

This ministry was the vision of Emily Morgan and Harriet Hastings. It started in 1884 and was inspired by Adelyn Howard, an invalid friend of Emily who “expressed a need for spiritual companionship, and who, in her confinement, desired to intercede through prayer for a wider circle of people. Later that year seven women under the leadership of Miss Morgan organized themselves as the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross.”

Over the next decade membership grew and in 1901 the Society rented a farmhouse in Byfield, Massachusetts. Four years later the retreat center Aldelynrood was built. (see photo at left) Since 1915 “the buildings and grounds have offered a variety of silent retreats, quiet days and study programs on religious, educational and social justice topics.”

“Companions” carry on their individual ministries primarily in their local churches and communities. “Through intercessory prayer, the Society currently is bound together through some thirty-one Chapters with Companions and Probationers in England, India, South Africa, Japan, Wales and the United States.”

“Emily Morgan’s vision was a religious association focused on the centrality of the Cross and intercessory prayer in a troubled and hurting world. It continues to offer women a shared spiritual Companionship and “the sacrament of coming together” in prayer and in person through local chapters and at Adelynrood.”

If you are a member of a ministry not yet highlighted on this blog, please let me know! The goal is for women across the Diocese to learn about the abundant ways that they can live, pray, and build up the Body of Christ and share the Good News of the Kingdom. Continue to check this blog for ministries of women in the Diocese of the Rio Grande. At the Crazy Quilt Conversation retreat, we’ll be talking about some of them.

Next week I’ll highlight the Our Lady of Las Palomas ministry, which I also learned about at Convention.  

Skunks and Quilts?

What do you think this conglomeration of items might have to do with Women's Ministry in the Diocese of the Rio Grande?

 

They are all things that will be found at the Crazy Quilt Conversations Retreat November 9-10 at the Bosque Center in Albuquerque.

Be part of the fun!

Invite a friend and come together!

Why not invite a younger woman to help vision ministry in the Diocese of the Rio Grande?

 

Registration forms can be found here, or contact Cindy Davis.

 

Recently I came across a poem that is one, rather fun, way of looking at what happens when we let God be in control of our life! Read it though and mediate on the idea of God being the lead rider on a tandem bike...

The Road of Life

At first, I saw God as my observer,
my judge,
keeping track of the things I did wrong,
so as to know whether I merited heaven
or hell when I die.
He was out there sort of like a president.
I recognized His picture when I saw it,
but I really didn't know Him.

But later on
when I met Christ,
it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride,
but it was a tandem bike,
and I noticed that Christ
was in the back helping me pedal.

I don't know just when it was
that He suggested we change places,
but life has not been the same since.

When I had control,
I knew the way.
It was rather boring,
but predictable . . .
It was the shortest distance between two points.
But when He took the lead,
He knew delightful long cuts,
up mountains,
and through rocky places
at breakneck speeds,
it was all I could do to hang on!
Even though it looked like madness,
He said, "Pedal!"

I worried and was anxious
and asked,
"Where are you taking me?"
He laughed and didn't answer,
and I started to learn to trust.

I forgot my boring life
and entered into the adventure.
And when I'd say, "I'm scared,"
He'd lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed,
gifts of healing,
acceptance
and joy.
They gave me gifts to take on my journey,
my Lord's and mine.

And we were off again.
He said, "Give the gifts away;
they're extra baggage, too much weight."
So I did,
to the people we met,
and I found that in giving I received,
and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him,
at first,
in control of my life.
I thought He'd wreck it;
but He knows bike secrets,
knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners,
knows how to jump to clear high rocks,
knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.

And I am learning to shut up
and pedal
in the strangest places,
and I'm beginning to enjoy the view
and the cool breeze on my face
with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.

And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore,
He just smiles and says . . . "Pedal."

-- author unknown

Mystics

We've all heard the term 'mystics' to refer to some women and men in the history of Christianity (and other religions).  Some of us think that there is no way anyone now can be that 'holy'. However, it's not a matter of being extra special, but rather a willingness to let God work. I think we all have moments when we 'go deeper in and higher up' as CS Lewis says. The Celts call this experiencing the Thin Places-where heaven and earth are very close.
Who exactly is a mystic? Simply someone who is able to surrender to God and to believe in realities beyond human comprehension. There is an analogy that a mystic is like bubbles on waves. Every so often one of the bubbles decides to go deep into the water and that's who a mystic is. Last weekend, I was at Lake Dallas and took a photo of the waves lapping on the shore because they reminded me of this image.
Sometimes we experience the thin places or dive, like the bubble, deeper into the ocean of God's Love during prayer. It can happen listening to music or at Eucharist. Something like a beautiful sunset or rainbow can bring us close to God.
Oddly, we can find a 'thin place' when we least FEEL that God is present! When we surrender our score-keeping of how 'holy' we are and just let God be God and then we can be assured that God is using us.
It has been said that life is a school where we learn to love. Diving into God's vast love is a way of learning the lesson of love. Mystics have looked at this 'going deeper' in different ways. Claire of Assisi (12th Century) said:
Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!
Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance!
And transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation!
So that you too may feel what His friends feel as they taste the hidden sweetness which God Himself has reserved from the beginning  for those who love Him.
Catherine of Sienna (14th century) says it differently:
O immeasurably tender love! Who would not be set afire with such love? What heart could keep from breaking? You, deep well of charity, it seems you are so madly in love with Your creatures that you could not live without us! Yet You are our God, and have no need of us. Your greatness is no greater for our well-being, nor are you harmed by any harm that comes to us, for You are supreme eternal Goodness. What could move You to such mercy? Neither duty nor any need You have of us (we are sinful and wicked debtors!)- but only love!

Just recently, I was listening to a CD I hadn’t heard for a while. The song “Stonesand Sea” by Eden’s Bridge that seems to capture how a mystic sees the world and God.  

In the beginning,
I was counting the stones on the seashore,
Looking for the precious ones.
Among the stones, I found many pretty things
While the sea rolled on beside me all the time.

Time moved on.
I had collected many stones 'til I tired of them,
And I think they tired of me.
Some were lovely, but I was never satisfied,
And the sea rolled on beside me all the time.

And the wind rose, east and cold.
Whisp'ring sweetly to my soul.
And it said "Look you fool,
You are missing precious things:
Raise your eyes and look towards the sea."
So I looked:
It was as if I saw the sea for the first time,
And it's power captured me.
All the time I had wasted seeking stones,
I had missed the rolling glory of the sea.

And the sea
Devoured a mighty swathe of heart, overwhelmed me
In a way I couldn't know,
And the price for the love of greater things.

Most of the time we stay on the shore and leave tracks, but sometimes, we try out the feeling of diving deeper. Then we are a mystic, just like Claire and Catherine and hundreds of other women throughout church history. Have you ever let yourself be the bubble that sinks deep into the love of God? Have you looked toward the Sea?