community of st. mary

“Do not, in taking your allowable, and even necessary, summer pleasures, allow yourself to forget your duty to God.”

The external witness of vowed religious — habits, cloister, the Opus Dei (the daily round of psalms, hymns, and collects recited in chapel) — are the first things Christians notice about the monastics among them. But, of course, that is not the whole story of the charism and fruit of the religious life

Why have so many religious communities determined that the distinctive separation of religious men and women from the laity is a problem to be erased?

By Richard J. Mammana, Jr. • Mother Miriam is the 18-year superior of the Community of St. Mary, Eastern Province.

By Richard Mammana, Jr. Harriet Starr Cannon’s decision to consecrate her life completely to God came in the wake of a personal tragedy.