Sea change: the sisters get some company at the Jersey shore

Deacon's Bench ^ | July 22, 2009

[NYer]

I was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph, from Chestnut Hill, Pa. (just outside Philly), and remember tales of the black-habit-wearing nuns heading to Cape May for their summer vacation, where they'd sit on the sand, in habit and veil and everything, and soak up the sun. (One of the sisters who taught me recalled not long ago: "In the evenings, back at the retreat house, you could always tell who had been to the beach. You'd see women in the showers with white bodies and red hands and faces!")

Well, the Philadelphia Inquirer has a look at how things have changed for the sisters by the sea:

Three women in capri pants lounge on wicker chairs in an enclosed porch within sight of the sea. One has pierced ears, another has dyed hair, the third is wearing a T-shirt with a Winston cigarette logo.

They don't look like nuns.

But the dress code changed significantly after Vatican II. And besides, these sisters are on retreat here at St. Mary-by-the-Sea in Cape May Point.

Dress is not the only thing different at houses such as St. Mary. Retreat, the centuries-old practice of traveling to a secluded spot for an intense period of silent renewal and reflection, is no longer the province solely of avowed Catholic sisters.

Decades of decline in the number of women taking religious vows, juxtaposed with an increase in people describing themselves as spiritual but not religious, has created a sea change, if you will, in attendance at retreats.

Group and individualized retreats are increasingly popular among the Christian laity, among women (and some men) for whom spirituality has supplanted religion - even among secular members of the Jewish community.

"I've been eager to come here for years," says Alice Farber, 64, a secular Jewish woman from Roxborough, who left St. Mary yesterday after an eight-day retreat.

"As an artist, I love nature and this is a beautifully situated house for that," says Farber, who is retired from a career teaching art in the School District of Philadelphia, and is certified as a masseuse.

"But also as an artist I crave quiet, contemplative spaces like this. It feeds the creative soul."

If you've been to the lighthouse at Cape May Point, just south of the town of Cape May, you've likely noticed St. Mary's red roof in the near distance - so unlike Red Roof Inns elsewhere.

This summer and next, St. Mary, which began life in 1890 as the Shoreham Hotel, is marking its 100th year as a retreat house for the Sisters of St. Joseph in Chestnut Hill.

It's hard not to feel calm in this place when the floorboards creak and the porch chairs seem to call as clearly as the songbirds and the crashing waves: Come, feel the wonder of the sea and its creatures.

Initially, that call went out only to the Sisters of St. Joseph, a 17th-century French order whose members came to Philadelphia as teachers in 1847.

But in the 1970s, the number of religious sisters started to decline everywhere. Nationwide, there were 65 percent fewer nuns by 2008, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

The Sisters of St. Joseph lost half their number by 2008. The median age of the remaining 1,000 sisters is 70. But the order also has about 500 associates - women and men, many of whom are married, who share the order's mission without taking formal vows.

Those declining numbers forced some religious orders to sell their beach retreats, so St. Mary opened its doors to sisters of other orders starting in about 1980, says Sister Dorothy Urban, an administrator at the order's motherhouse in Chestnut Hill and liaison to the retreat house at Cape May Point.

Another shift became palpable by the 1990s, as an increasing number of women - and later, men - began to self-identify as spiritual, but without specific religious beliefs. A 2002 Gallup poll showed 33 percent of Americans fell into that category, up from 30 percent just five years earlier.

In support of that trend, in the 1990s St. Mary began welcoming women and men of all faiths who were seeking spiritual, if not religious, calm.

Take a look at the link for more.

[Frantzie]

“In support of that trend, in the 1990s St. Mary began welcoming women and men of all faiths who were seeking spiritual, if not religious, calm.”

Note “all faiths.”

Inclusiveness will lead to this place being overrun by CAIR and Muslims.

[NYer]

Can you imagine cleaning this place each week!

[the anti-liberal]

It's not 'sea change,' it's 'c change.'

The change from one octave to the next is a c change.

[AnAmericanMother]

No it isn't.

It's a quotation from Ariel's song in The Tempest:

Full fathom five thy Father lies,
Of his bones are Corrall made:
Those are pearles that were his eies,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a Sea-change
Into something rich & strange
Sea-Nymphs hourly ring his knell.
Harke now I heare them, ding-dong, bell.

I've been a choir singer for over 40 years and I've never heard of "C-change".

[the anti-liberal]

Be that as it may, 'sea change' makes no sense at all as a term, whereas 'C-change' at least makes some modicum of sense.

I suspect, like many terms people use, the idea behind the term, or the origin, is lost on those who use it, including the writer in this Ariel song.

[AnAmericanMother]

I also play handbells, and it is true that the octave changes on C on the bell markings.

But I've never heard the term "C-change" and I started singing in choirs at the age of 6. I also studied piano for 20 years and sang in two touring choirs in high school.

Show me a citation to a musical use of the term. All that comes up on google is a cancer organization and a couple of businesses.

And for you not to recognize Shakespeare is just funny, but saying that he doesn't know what he means is embarassing. Sheesh! I can understand arguing your point, but . . . . clearly the author of the article was making a cutesy literary reference to Shakespeare, o.k.?

[netmilsmom]

>>is marking its 100th year as a retreat house for the Sisters of St. Joseph in Chestnut Hill.<<

How did I know?
Sisters of St. Joseph.

The Convent in Cleveland has a Labyrinth.
Across the street is a cloister of Poor Clare nuns. You can feel the prayers flying across Rocky River Drive begging the Lord to bring the St. Joseph Sisters back to the flock!!!!!

[MockTurtle]

The Sisters of St. Joseph are certified loonies. The nun who taught Philosophy at Chestnut Hill a few years ago was pro-abortion. Not sure if she is still there. Even the ones who are still there are not all there. Chestnut Hill College had to go co-ed to keep it alive. Dying school. Dying order. Should have kept the habits - stopped the brains from leaking out their ears.

[MockTurtle]

Here is what it says on the Chestnut Hill College website under "Core Values" on the Mission Statement:

-inviting dialogue on issues pertaining to human dignity, social, and economic justice, and stewardship of the environment;
-promoting on-going interpretations of core theological values and contemporary needs.

That says it all about their commitment to the Catholic Faith. On-going interpretations?

[NYer]

Should have kept the habits - stopped the brains from leaking out their ears.

Lol! I had the Sisters of St. Joseph (Brentwood Branch) in HS. One of my classmates joined the order just as they were abandoning their habits. She is now principal of our Alma Mater. All their branches have withered since they dropped the dress code. Let's face it, what is there to distinguish them from the laity? They have also adopted a Social Justice agenda with support for the UN.

Young Catholic women today are drawn to those religous communities that embrace and practice the Catholic faith. Among the fastest growing orders is:

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

The community has grown quickly from four Sisters to over 80 Sisters in just over twelve years. The average age of women entering is 21 years old; the average age of all the Sisters is 26.

Here is a listing of the Major Religious Communities.

[Tax-chick]

Anoreth is at Cape May in Coast Guard training. She says it’s quite malodorous after a rain. (Cue New Jersey jokes ...)

[nanetteclaret]

***the writer in this Ariel song***

um, that would be Shakespeare ...

[Huber]

A vivid image!

[Huber]

I suppose that you don’t read Will S. or sail much... Both are excellent diversions!

[BlackVeil]

Inclusiveness will lead to this place being overrun by CAIR and Muslims.

But Muslim women wear veils, and that would make them look very strange, very out of place, in the convent.