Today the Church remembers a group of Episcopal nuns in the United States who gave their lives in services of the sick, Constance and her companions. James Kiefer writes: “In 1878 the American city of Memphis on the Mississippi River was struck by an epidemic of yellow fever, which so depopulated the area that the city lost its charter and was not reorganized for fourteen years. Almost everyone who could afford to do so left the city and fled to higher ground away from the river. (It was not yet known that the disease was mosquito-borne, but it was observed that high and dry areas were safe.) There were in the city several communities of nuns, Anglican or Roman Catholic, who had the opportunity of leaving, but chose to stay and nurse the sick. Most of them, thirty-eight in all, were themselves killed by the fever. One of the first to die (on 9 September 1878) was Constance, head of the Episcopal Community of St Mary.”
The Community of St. Mary still exists today as a religious order within the Episcopal Church. It was the first Episcopal religious order in the United States, founded in Greenwich, New York in 1865. They follow the Rule of St. Benedict. The Sisters of the Eastern Province of the order seek to live a traditional, contemplative expression of the monastic life, giving Evangelical witness to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior through faith and practice, empowered by the Holy Spirit in sanctified daily life.
The Eastern Province is comprised by two houses – one in Greenwich, New York, and the other in Luwinga, Malawi, Africa. The sisters in both houses draw near to Christ through a disciplined life of prayer set within a simple agrarian lifestyle and active ministry in their local communities.
They are an example to us of people who give their entire lives to the service of others always putting themselves second to those they serve. This is truly the giving of one’s life.
Let us pray: We give you thanks and praise, O God of compassion, for the heroic witness of Constance and her companions, who, in a time of plague and pestilence, were steadfast in their care for the sick and the dying, and loved not their own lives, even unto death. Inspire in us a like love and commitment to those in need, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
Invite Someone to Church Sunday is on the 21st of September 2014. Please invite someone to Church to experience the joy of the Good News.
Church Women United: Human Rights Celebration: “We Are in God’s Hands and We Are God’s Hands”, Friday, 26 September 2014 from 11 AM to 1 PM. Everyone is invited!
St. Vincent’s Feast Day and the 60th Anniversary of St. Vincent’s House will be celebrated the weekend of 27 and 28 September 2014. We will have the installation of the new director of St. Vincent’s House, the Rev. Freda Marie Brown, on Saturday, 27 September 2014 starting at 10 AM, the Houston’s Hero Award and then on the 28th the Eucharist at St. Augustine’s at 9 AM with Bishop Jeff Fisher and then the dinner starting at 3 PM. Don’t miss this!
The 6th Annual Art Show, “Let There Be Light,” will start on the 4th of October and last for 1 week.
Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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