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.