THE
ORDER OF THE HOLY CROSS
"...God
is not an abstraction. He is not the Great Emptiness but the Great Fullness. We
really do meet Him everywhere and in every one".
-- Fr.
Huntington &&
Addresses
& Web Sites -- To Test a Vocation
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On November 25, 1884 a young Episcopal priest, James Otis Sargent Huntington, took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as the first member of the Order of the Holy Cross. There was already one English Order, the Society of St. John the Evangelist, working in the United States, but the Order of the Holy Cross was the first Episcopal order for men actually founded in America. Like many other religious young people at that time, Fr. Huntington was deeply disturbed by the absence of fair working conditions and social justice in 19th century America. He was strongly in favor of social reforms, but he did not think that social reforms could produce a just society by themselves. That required a change of heart and a society really oriented toward God, the Source of justice. His monastic commitment grew out of a desire to witness to that Source in his own life, and to try to establish a community dedicated to a real transformation of the heart in Jesus Christ. From that first beginning in 1884, the Order of the Holy Cross has grown to include four houses in North America and one in Africa. Incarnation Priory is among them. Fr. Huntington envisioned a mixed life of action and contemplation, since he believed that a heart really focused on God would certainly produce the fruit of good works. In 1984 the Order of the Holy Cross tried to clarify what that meant by adopting the Rule of St. Benedict as a companion to the Founder's Rule. In keeping with that Rule we now take our vows in their Benedictine form and try to live the balanced life of Prayer, Study, and Work that St. Benedict envisaged. |
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ADDRESSES
AND WEB SITES
You can find out about some of our
other houses by visiting the following web sites:
Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY.
Mt. Calvary Retreat House, Santa
Barbara, CA.
Holy Cross Priory, Toronto, Canada.
uMaria uMama we Themba
Monastery, Grahamstown, South Africa.
TO TEST A
VOCATION
If you think God may be calling you
to test your vocation as a monk in the Order of the Holy Cross, you can explore
this possibility by contacting the Director of Admissions
at Holy Cross Monastery, West Park.
.