St. Mary’s Celebrates 150 Years

It was standing room only for the Festival Eucharist at St. Mary’s Convent Chapel on Feb. 7. People of all ages gathered for the sesquicentennial celebration of the founding of the Community of St. Mary. 

With the Rev. Jo Ann Barker as celebrant and the Rev. Robert Hughes as preacher, members of the congregation shared the Eucharist while accompanied by the organ and a five-piece ensemble of community musicians. 

In his sermon, Hughes told the congregation about the origins of the Community of St. Mary. It began at the dedication of the Mother Harriet Cannon and four other sisters at St. Michael’s Church, Bloomingdale, New York in 1865, as the first Episcopal Benedictine monastic community for women in the United States. 

The sisters went to Memphis in 1871 during the yellow fever epidemic, and four of the sisters were among “the martyrs of Memphis.” 

Sisters arrived in Sewanee in 1887 with the founding of St. Mary’s on-the-Mountain, a school for impoverished children. Hughes said that “these events established the religious life in the Episcopal Church in the United States, Tennessee and Sewanee, respectively.” 

Currently, as part of the Southern Province in Tennessee, the sisters continue their ministry of addressing the spiritual and temporal needs of society with a special emphasis on connecting faith with the stewardship of the environment. After the service, everyone shared a meal and their memories of their life at St. Mary’s.

­—Reported by Harriet Runkle
Special to the Messenger

Sisterhood of St. Mary Celebrates 150th

The Community of St. Mary’s Sewanee will celebrate its 150th anniversary on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the convent chapel. The Festival Eucharist will be at 11 a.m., followed by lunch. All are welcome to attend.

The Sisterhood of St. Mary, the first Episcopal Benedictine monastic community for women in the United States, was founded on Feb. 2, 1865, in New York. It has been involved in countless ministries over the past 150 years, including establishing a local school for Mountain children mired in poverty. The site of St. Mary’s School is where St. Mary’s Sewanee: the Ayers Center for Spiritual Development stands today. 

At present, there are three provinces of the Community: the Eastern Province in New York, the Southern Province in Tennessee and the Western Province in Wisconsin. It also has two international branches in the Philippines and Malawi. The local community of the Southern Province expresses its unique way of life through care for the body, the soul and the earth. It is particularly keen on connecting faith with the stewardship of creation. Through its innovative Organic Prayer Program, the Sisters seek to address the spiritual and temporal needs of society through a life of prayer, contemplation, ministry to the poor, spiritual direction and radical hospitality.

For more information call 598-0046 or go to < www.stmary-convent​sewanee.org>. 

Sowing Seeds of St. Benedict

by Michael Trent Thompson

Special to the Messenger

From August of 2013 until the end of this month, two young adults —interns of the Organic Prayer Project—have been providing “radical hospitality” in every sense of the phrase. 

From the weekly Tuesday night dinners that they prepare by hand with local and organic produce to their weekly volunteer work at the convent of the Sisters of the Community of St. Mary and with the University Farm; to their efforts in forming a partnership between Thistle Farms and the convent, Eileen Schaeffer and Nathan Bourne (both graduates of the College) have been living their lives in a form of ora et labora (prayer and work) in an intentional community. Not one wrought with theory, but one in practice, formed as Thomas Merton described, with “active contemplation.” 

In addition to their significant year of volunteer efforts, and their radical hospitality dinners (that have included many from the local community, as well as the University), these two have been examples of living an intentional life. Indeed they have lived a Benedictine way of life under the guidance of the Sisters of St. Mary’s. 

From these “two seeds,” others are following their example. Two summer interns who have been “cultivated” by Eileen and Nathan will be spending this summer living at the convent and participating in the gardens and prayer life. Two more Sewanee students who are scheduled to graduate this May are considering carrying on the work Eileen and Nathan have started, which is based at and managed by the Sisters. Perhaps their example has captured some imaginations.

The combination of the agrarian life they have shared in, as well as the monastic way of life they have participated in, shows the community perhaps what “new monasticism/agrarianism” really is: a new way of expressing an ancient way of living. They have learned to read scripture, literature and nature in sacred manner, while being formed and tethered to an ancient order and living community of Benedictines. They have become fruit of a sacramental, organic, intentional life. 

Nathan is on his way to divinity school and Eileen on her way to study permaculture. Both have touched many here in Sewanee, and we are all better and grateful for their example, indeed for their lives. They will continue to sow seeds of St. Benedict wherever they go and take a little Sewanee with them, as well. Their lives have become a prayer for all of us to encounter. “Be Thankful and repay growth with good work and care. Work done in gratitude, kindly, and well, is prayer.” – Wendell Berry, “The Farm.”

Godspeed to you both.

Thompson is the director of the Organic Prayer Project.

Sister Lucy Shetters at St. Mary's Convent

Sister Lucy Shetters, sister-in-charge for 38 years at St. Mary’s Convent in Sewanee, preached the sermon on the Feast of the Presentation on Feb. 2. On this date in 1865, the Community of St. Mary was founded; it is the oldest indigenous Anglican order in the U.S. Congratulations to the Community of St. Mary for 149 years of service. Photo by Laura Ellen Truelove

CFM Hosts Taste of the Market on Saturday

The Cumberland Farmer’s Market (CFM) will host “Taste of the Market,” 1–3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Sewanee Community Center. This is an opportunity to meet the growers and artisans of the market, as well as learn more about the products and services it provides. Tickets will be available at the door; Tickets are $10 for the first ticket and $5 for each additional ticket (ages 12 and under are free). 

Since 2007, CFM has been providing Sewanee and Monteagle residents with online access to local growers and artisans. Many residents are not aware that the market provides products year-round, and others have yet to take advantage of this local resource.

The event will offer tastes of many of the fall products grown by local farmers. On the menu are salads with homemade dressings; deviled eggs; many baked goods, including scones, breads, muffins, cookies, pies and pastry; local artisanal cheeses; and smoked brisket. The Christmas baskets prepared by the Community of St. Mary in Sewanee and Thistle Farms of Nashville will be available for order at the event. For more information call (931) 592-3399 or email <cumberlandfm@gmail.com >.