October 15, 2016

Dear Friends,

The members of the Society are gathering in different ways and places to celebrate the founding feasts of St. Edward and St. Teresa in 1846. We wanted to greet you at this time because you share so much with us.

The Society’s life began with Cornelia Connelly knowing what it was like to feel alien in the increasingly crowded ‘frontier’ of industrial Derby, England. Many immigrants had come there seeking what was dangerous work in the cotton, silk and lace mills and also the new railway engineering works.

The tiny community started a Poor School. At any one time, about sixty girls – who laboured in the factories for nine hours a day – turned up there and two hundred on Sundays. Soon a night school was begun. The spiritual works of mercy were demanding in the middle of the surrounding slums.

170 years later, in the context of the urgent, escalating nature of the global migration crisis, our recent general chapter has called us to make the needs of migrant people* our shared commitment and concern.

(* We use ‘migrant people’ to include migrants, internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers.)

The Society, in its tradition of responding to the wants of the age, has decided to:

– allocate funds for specific projects to help migrants

– encourage those involved in all areas of SHCJ ministry to consider what they can do

– share the reflections of members and others on the migrant crisis e.g. from the viewpoint of theology, spirituality, education, advocacy, relief work…

– pray together for a just, peaceful and compassionate resolution to the situation

Pope Francis has emphasized the need for dialogue and discernment at the frontier. As we know, religious congregations across the world are engaging in such reflection and action according to their charism, inspired and challenged by many other people of goodwill.

With all good wishes and prayer for all that you are involved in,

Veronica Openibo, Pauline Darby, Cecilia Nya and Marie Ursino

Society Leadership Team

Sr. Mary Bourdon, RJM – Head of School, Washington School for Girls

Washington School for Girls is a co-sponsored ministry of the Society of Holy Child Jesus.

Last school year, the Washington School for Girls (WSG) started a soccer program at The VIEW Campus (3^rd  to 5^th Grades) thanks to a partnership with US Soccer Foundation and DC Scores. This is the first athletic program that WSG has offered to its students at The VIEW and both students and families were excited about this addition: 25 out of 60 students signed up to be on the team last spring!

Because The VIEW Campus has an open field space adjacent to campus, WSG was able to host several games against other schools who participate in the DC Scores program, most of whom were local neighborhood schools. The team is coached by Ms. Dominguez, 3^rd Grade teacher, and Ms. Heard, 4^th Grade teacher, with support and training from the DC Scores staff, who assist in developing coaching skills for our teachers.

This fall, the team is back in action for their second year with 28 members. They practice three days a week and have three games scheduled so far. Because most of the students have not played prior to joining the WSG team, the program focuses on building fundamentals, love of the game, and sportsmanship. In addition, the DC Scores program incorporates character-building and literacy development through off-the-field activities including service-learning and poetry performance events. Because the coaches are also teachers at WSG, the student-athletes connect their soccer experience to their academic lives.

The program also has fostered increased engagement from families who come out to help with practice and watch games, and this increased commitment carries over to academic support of their daughters.

October 26, 2016

It was all joy and excitement when the SHCJ Oghara Community staged a demonstrative exhibition of the art-works of one of her members, Sr. Anita Ekpo Dominic as part of the activities marking this year’s celebration of our Foundational Feast Day.

The day started with the Holy Mass celebrated in the SHCJ Convent Chapel during which the Sisters were reminded of the necessity to follow in the rich legacies left for us throughout the ages by our Blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and his servants –St Teresa of Avila and Venerable Cornelia Connelly.

Needless to remark that the Sisters turned out in their simple attire made up of the various shades of the SHCJ African prints since the celebration took place at home. At the end of the Eucharistic Celebration, we sang the SHCJ’s anthem with such passion that smiles of joy adorned our faces. This was followed by a delicious breakfast which ended the morning session.

By noon, we regrouped at the venue of Adekpo Foundation, set within the sprawling premises of Our Lady of Nigeria Secondary School (OLNSS), Oghara where friends and well-wishers fed their eyes with the quality display of jewellery, ladies hand bags and other accessories made with beads, as well as school cardigans all made by our ever-creative and energetic Sr. Anita Ekpo.

In a chart with Sr. Anita as to what the exhibition has to do with the celebration of the SHCJ’s Feast Day, she responded that ‘this is Cornelia Connelly in action’. ‘This is school environment and all you see on display here speaks of Cornelia’s philosophy of education which is wholistic and which places emphasis not only on academics but also in the practical application of talents’. ‘This is actions, not words’, she concluded.

Sister Elizabeth Ngozi Njoku, the Headmistress of the OLN Nursery and Primary school was particularly attracted to a display of the nicely woven children’s cardigans with one of the pupils already prompting her to take action.

The whole show culminated into a sumptuous lunch of ‘Starch and Owo soup’ which is one of the principal dishes of the Urhobos, popularly known as oil soup and starch and specially ordered-for by the Sisters for the grand occasion.

26 October 2016

By Maria Dinnendahl, SHCJ

Mayfield School in East Sussex, England recently celebrated the Society’s Feast – as Foundress’ Day – on Friday 14^th October as the students departed for Half-Term, the autumn holidays, that afternoon. So the next day Mayfield School should have been deserted and quiet.

However, some months ago Richard Moth, Bishop Arundel and Brighton had decided to arrange a diocesan pilgrimage to the Holy Door at Mayfield on 15^th October. Perhaps a hundred and twenty pilgrims, including children, from the East Sussex part of the diocese came to the Mass celebrated by the Bishop. Some of the students had stayed behind to lead the singing.

The Bishop actually said the Mass of the Feast of St. Teresa and referred at the beginning of his sermon to Cornelia and the 170^th anniversary of the first Mass celebrated by the Society. After all, if Cornelia had not restored the ruin of the Great Hall ( which saw the first Mass celebrated in 1865 ) – there would not have been a Holy Door here for the Holy Year of Mercy.

After mid-morning coffee, the Bishop gave a talk on Lectio Divina which he is keen to promote among the members of the diocese. After an exchange of thoughts and reflection in small groups the ‘pilgrims’ departed after a closing prayer at 1 p.m .

Holy Child Sisters Teresa Joseph, Jean and Maria ended the day with a festive supper.

November 9, 2016

By Terri MacKenzie, SHCJ

Although tree leaves are dropping only in the cool Northern Hemisphere, November is an appropriate month for the whole world to reflect on life and death. The following can be used in any location. For a two-sided pdf, contact terrishcj@aolcom.

Each participant needs a leaf — one that is losing its green chlorophyll and showing other colors of yellow, orange, or red, or one already crisply brown, is elements breaking down, returning nutrients back into the soil for the next generation of leaves. Others can use a green leaf, remembering that it, too, is terminal.

Reflection

Reader 1: We gather in November to remember our beloved deceased relatives and friends. (Participants name deceased.) Reader 2: We also remember our family ancestors, ancestors in our faith, and those connected by shared values over the years and centuries. (Participants name those they wish to remember.) Reader 3: Trees, bushes and plants are experiencing their annual cycle of hibernation because our beloved planet, journeying around our Star, experiences shorter days and colder weather. Reader 4: But everything and everyone ever in existence in the past has transformed, evolved, lived and died. We share this trajectory, for we are part of the awesome process of evolution. Everything has its time. Reader 5: A reading from Ecclesiastes 3: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted ….

Sing:

Turn, Turn, Turn. Sing along as you wish.

To everything, Turn, turn, turn,
There is a season, Turn, turn, turn,
And a time to every purpose under heaven.

Leader: Look closely at your leaf. Note the range of hues, even within one color. Note the lines and contours. Of all the leaves ever in existence, this one is unique! Consider the chemical activity from its first moment of existence from stardust to the present, its months of  contributing to the life of its tree, to its bioregion, and ultimately to the entire planet. Marvel that, thanks to eons of evolution, its tree  developed a thin bumpy line of cells where the leaf stem met the branch. When the stem was ready, bit by bit it pushed the leaf away from the stem and sealed that spot to protect itself for the winter. If the leaf did not drop, it would be a useless permanent appendage, preventing the tree from creating new leaves the following spring. This leaf has begun its demise, and will soon crumble to dust. But first, here it is, helping us deepen our awe for creation and the wonder of the cycles of life.

Quiet reflection

Share anything you wish from your leaf reflection including any connections you made between your leaf and your deceased loved ones and your self.

Sing:

Just to Be Is a Blessing, chorus only, as many times as group wishes. Colleen Fulmer, first 55 seconds:

Just to be is a blessing, Just to live is holy; Just to be, just to live, Is a blessing, is holy.

All: Let us be grateful for the gift of our own life/ for being part of the life and death of creation/ for being so closely interconnected with all life/ that we actually “interbe.”/ Let us be grateful for all those we know and love/ living and dead/ for those who inspire us/ and help us experience love/ for the awareness that some day/ we too shall die./ Let us rejoice in the divine presence/ living and acting in us and in our world./ How blessed and holy are our lives!

Leaders: Go in peace, to love, treasure, and care for all life.

All: Yes, gratefully!

Dec. 21, 2016

The Society’s general chapter of 2016 calls us all to address the root causes of violence, war, human trafficking and the myriad humanitarian and environmental crises of our time and respond to them collaboratively through actions in accord with our spirit and mission: education, political and social advocacy, direct action, prayer and sharing of resources.

We are to do all we can, individually and together, to alleviate the struggle and suffering of migrants, internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers in whatever parts of the world we find ourselves.

So we pray…

PRAYER INSPIRED BY ST PAUL’S CALL TO THE EPHESIANS

(Ephesians 6:10-20)

FOR THE WORLD OF OUR TIME AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN IT

God of justice and love,

strengthen us

that we may work against all that is dark in our world.

Grant us the spiritual and human resources we need

to hold our ground against all that is not of the kingdom.

May we be rooted in the truth,

and living with integrity,

eager to spread the gospel of peace.

Show us how to pray in the Spirit on every possible occasion,

asking for what our world needs.

Give us the grace

to speak and to act without fear

in the name of all struggling and suffering peoples.

We are called to live and proclaim the gospel.

May our words and our actions

be as bold as they can be.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, Amen.

Download a PDF of the prayer

Dec. 26, 2016

Corn husks in the United States; thorn wood from Nigeria; ceramics in Chile…

A Nativity scene from Peru

The materials artists from around the world use to depict the birth of Jesus contribute to how we think about Advent and Christmas, indeed about God. Over the years the Society has accumulated a small collection of international Nativity scenes that are currently displayed at New Sharon in Rosemont, Pennsylvania.

“I hope that it will deepen the recognition that Jesus came for all nations,” said Sister Catherine Quinn, SHCJ, who oversees the exhibit.

Every year from the beginning of December, friends of the Holy Child community can participate in a spiritual reflection and self-guided tour of the scenes. Alongside Sister Catherine, Cathi Duffy, Director of SHCJ Associates for the American Province, organises the annual event. The two “had the desire to create reflective time, enjoyment and an affirmation of our spirituality around the Word made flesh.”

A Nativity scene made in Vietnam

Members of Holy Child ministries and schools are invited to the exhibit. Sister Catherine said she hopes that the children in particular learn that “there are different ways of expressing our affection and devotion to Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”  One of her favorite scenes is from Vietnam because, she said, “how happy are the Holy Family members depicted”.

Click on the links below to read the blog posts you missed last year.

Below are some of the videos we made and published in 2016.

To watch all our the videos from The Society of the Holy Child Jesus, check out our Vimeo account.

January 15, 2017 marks the 208th anniversary of the birth of Cornelia Connelly, an American-born wife and mother and a zealous convert who became the founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in England in 1846.

View a complete timeline of her life by clicking here and read about her story here and here.

The Cornelia Connelly Library provides exhaustive online resources about the life of the founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

From historical documents to biographies to inspiring texts for children, the Cornelia Connelly Library allows anyone to research Cornelia’s life and legacy. Some texts are available in Spanish and French.

February 1, 2017

Please help us congratulate the newly-appointed leadership team of the European Province! The team consists of sisters who provide a pastoral ministry of love and service, combining spiritual leadership and administration.

The team members who will take office in May are: (front row l to r) Jean Newbold, Anne Stewart and Carmel Murtagh (appointed Province Leader); (back row l to r) Geraldine MacCarthy and Angela O’Connor.

Read below to learn more about each sister and see some of the well wishes received on our Facebook page.

Carmel Murtagh has just completed a six month sabbatical in Ireland having completed a term on the Society leadership team in Rome. She is presently living in Oxford, England.

Geraldine MacCarthy lives in Dublin, Ireland. She is a member of the Stable Lane community. In addition to SHCJ commitments, she is involved in collaborative anti-trafficking efforts and school related activities.

Jean Newbold currently teaches English to refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers at the Cardinal Hume Centre in London and is passionately interested in Incarnational theology.

Angela O’Connor co-ordinates the work of the Cherwell Centre in Oxford and is the Provincial Bursar for the European Province.

Anne Stewart lives in Blackpool, where she is very involved in the local church and community. She accompanies SHCJ Associates in the European Province with Sr Angela O’Connor and supports the Step Into the Gap project with colleagues from CAFOD (Catholic Fund for Overseas Development.) She has also worked with the national anti-poverty campaigning organisation Church Action on Poverty. She is also involved in the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults locally and nationally in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

February 1, 2017

By Terri MacKenzie, SHCJ

Before Big Business exploited the commercial value of February 14th by selling cards, candy, candles, and flowers*, the day honored St. Valentine — a Roman priest who secretly married couples when the emperor had forbidden his soldiers to marry. For this, Valentine was executed. His feast day was meant to remind us that the call to love transcends political regulations.

The concept of love has evolved, always expanding. From love of immediate family and tribe, it broadened to loving those beyond tribal members, provided they were friends. Jesus expanded the concept to include enemies — a challenging concept even today. “Do to others as you would have them do to you” became an accepted goal of most religions. Modern science introduced us to a vast and interconnected creation that has been evolving for aeons. Many discovered that their surroundings were not a collection of objects, but rather a communion of subjects — as Thomas Berry stated it. Nothing can be isolated from the whole. Science has also shown us the power of love. No “other,” of whatever religion, color, or nationality, is separate from us, and those in need deserve preferential care.

Here are some challenging quotes to ponder about the kind of love needed in our time. Important notes on Valentine’s Day gift-giving follow*:

 Jesus of Nazareth

As found in Matt. 5: Love your enemies! … If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much. If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that ….

As found in John 13: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Martin Luther King, Jr.:

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

Unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin:

… Love is the most universal, the most tremendous and the most mysterious of the cosmic forces.

Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves.

Love is a sacred reserve of energy; it is like the blood of spiritual evolution.

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

Your favorites? Please add other quotes (women’s needed!) in Comments. Thanks!

~~~~~

If you give cards, candy, candles, or flowers, live your love this way:

• Cards: Make sure paper is recycled or from sustainable sources. This protects forests, a vital contributor to reducing global warming. Recycled things reduce waste and pollution. Also, recycle the ones you receive.

• Candy: Give chocolate labeled Fair Trade. Cacao farming done improperly strips the world of hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforest. More than 15,000 child slaves work on cacao farms in west Africa. Fair Trade guarantees social justice, environmental protection, and economic development.

• Candles: Avoid paraffin, which is the byproduct of gas and oil refineries and will emit pollutants and carcinogens.

• Flowers: Give Fair Trade flowers. Conventional workers are often exploited to keep costs low, leading to severe abuse and mistreatment. (Mega farms in South America mostly employ women, often for long hours and low pay, including unpaid overtime. Some have been accused of using child labor.) The work can result in repetitive stress injuries and exposure to pesticides and herbicides, including known carcinogens. The not-fair-trade farms suck up local water and leave behind toxic chemical residues.

The Cornelia Connelly School of the Holy Child Jesus at Mpeasem, Cape Coast, Ghana opened in 2016. Here are a few photos of the new school building.

February 2, 2017

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States, has said that it is “deeply disturbed by many of President Trump’s recent executive orders. His misplaced priorities and denigration of the values that form the bedrock of this nation, threaten us all.”

Photo credit: L’Osservatore Romano

The Leadership Team of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus shares the LCWR’s concerns, endorses its statement (in full below), and supports the organization’s call to “stand in solidarity with families, regardless of immigration status, who labor daily to provide safety and security for their children.”

The Society’s 2016 General Chapter calls us to address the root causes of crises of our time and respond to them collaboratively through actions in accord with our spirit and mission.

Click here to learn about some of the many actions the Society and its members are taking in response to alleviate the struggle and suffering of migrants, internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers.

The Society leadership team prepared a prayer that everyone can pray together for a just, peaceful and compassionate resolution to this major crisis. Click here to download a copy.

Statement from LCWR

We are deeply concerned about the administration’s executive orders on immigration and refugee resettlement which serve only to threaten border communities, force our immigrant community members further into the shadows, and endanger those fleeing violence. These misguided executive orders do nothing to make anyone more secure and may well have the opposite effect.

Spending billions of dollars on an unnecessary and ineffective wall and further militarizing the border will divert funding from health, education, and social programs and will not make America safe again. In fact, such action threatens the health and well-being of border communities, the environment, and those seeking refuge in our country. President Trump’s orders, if enacted, will tear families apart, challenge our already stressed immigration courts, and deny those fleeing persecution and violence their right to asylum; all at enormous cost to our treasure and our souls.

The president’s attempt to enhance public safety in the interior by cutting federal funding to sanctuary cities and counties will have the opposite effect. It challenges local authority and threatens to destroy the hard won trust of the immigrant community. The order eviscerates prosecutorial discretion and places every undocumented person in the country in danger of immediate deportation.

Finally, we are appalled by President Trump’s order which bans residents of seven Muslim majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days, suspends refugee resettlement entirely for four months, and bars resettlement of Syrian refugees indefinitely. This is unconscionable in the face of the unprecedented global refugee crisis. More than 61 million people have been displaced from their homes, more than at any time since World War II. Some 21 million are refugees; most are children who have been forced from their homes by unthinkable violence. The Trump administration has forced all of us to turn our backs on families who are literally running for their lives.

This nation has a long history of welcoming immigrants and sheltering refugees. Women religious have been blessed to be able to accompany and serve immigrant and refugee communities across this country for a very long time. Catholic sisters remain committed to welcoming refugees who come to this country after passing through the U.S. government’s already rigorous screening processes. Halting or undermining the U.S. refugee resettlement program leaves vulnerable refugees, including women and children fleeing violence, in extreme danger and diminishes us all.

We strongly object to President Trump’s attempts to limit our ability to heed God’s call to welcome the stranger (Mt. 25:35) and to care for those most in need (Mt 25:40) and we are particularly concerned about rules and regulations that deny access to refugees because of their religion, race, or nationality. It is a violation of our faith and every norm of humanity.

We vow to continue to welcome refugees and minister to immigrants. LCWR and its members will continue to press for restoration of refugee resettlement, relief for families, an end to needless deportations, and the closure of all family detention centers. We will continue to advocate for compassionate, bipartisan legislation that fixes our broken immigration system. We will continue to stand in solidarity with families, regardless of immigration status, who labor daily to provide safety and security for their children.

LCWR is an association of leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States. The conference has nearly 1300 members, who represent more than 38,800 women religious in the United States. Founded in 1956, LCWR assists its members to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today’s world.

February 15, 2017

Carmen Chavez, Executive Director of Casa Cornelia Law Center, recently spoke to Society members, staff and supporters about the patterns and causes of migration in all parts of the world.

She also told the audience how the Law Center offers legal help to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, with particular programs for unaccompanied children and victims of domestic violence and trafficking.

Click here to view a preview of the video and download the full version.

Click to read about some of the actions the Society and its members are taking in response to alleviate the struggle and suffering of migrants, internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers.

February 17, 2017

By Judith Lancaster, SHCJ

Epiphany, the visit of the wise men to Bethlehem, was the feast that Cornelia chose as the most important celebration of the year for the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, ‘our great feast of the year’ as she called it.

We may wonder: Why? Why did she not pick Christmas itself, with the little family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, in the stable, and the angels announcing the breath-taking news to the shepherds on the hillside – to the poorest people around?

Today, with our 21st century understanding of the feast, we might be inclined to say that it was because Cornelia wanted to emphasise the truth that Christ came to save all peoples, not just the Jews – and not just Christians, either; that the feast of Epiphany is indeed a Manifestation that Christ came to save us all without exception. But it doesn’t seem that that was at the forefront of Cornelia’s thinking.

What we know from written sources (which is all we have to go on now) is that Cornelia wrote a letter to all the members of the Society every Epiphany from 1851 to 1878. Before 1851 there was no need of a letter, because the Society consisted of a single community at St Leonards, and by January 1879 she was too ill, too near death, to write.

Sadly, we don’t have all the letters, but from the ones we do have we can see something of Cornelia’s thinking about the feast and what she wanted it to mean in the Society. What she emphasises is the giving and receiving of spiritual gifts. And it is for this reason that members of the Society renew their vows on this feast day – recalling to mind that God has given each of us so many gifts and that we are to dedicate ourselves again to living them as fully as we can in the year ahead. (The first letter, written in 1851 – less than five years from the founding of the Society – shows that the practice of renewing vows on 6 January was already established.)

In Epiphany letter after Epiphany letter, Cornelia suggests three gifts to reflect on – because, of course, the magi gave three gifts to the Christ Child. So one year she will speak of Faith, Hope and Charity, another of Poverty, Chasity and Obedience which, she hopes, ‘you may day by day understand more and more brightly, and love more intensely, and practice more diligently’.

In the letter of 1856 Cornelia chooses three gifts which are more personal to herself and more revealing of her hopes for the Society – ‘our old friends, though ever new, Vigilance, Humility and Fidelity’. We might want to reflect on these three gifts and what they mean to us and how we live them. Cornelia, expanding on her theme, gives us some pointers:

‘Be then like the Holy Child Jesus in your thoughts, in your words, and in your actions, cherishing diligence [that is, vigilance] and fidelity in what is called little by daily occurrence – and be persuaded that nothing is little with God, if it is the practice of virtue – God and I – Fidelity.’

February 17, 2017

This is the first in a series of articles written by Carlotta Bartone, SHCJ, for Our Cornelia.  Sister Carlotta presents an overview of the canonization process from early Christian times to the present.  She shares the journey of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus to promote the cause of Cornelia Connelly, Founder of the Society, for beatification and eventual canonization, and where this effort stands today.  Her “On the Road to Canonization: The Cause of Cornelia Connelly” explains the canonization process as it pertains to Cornelia’s life and the Society’s hope that one day, she will be recognized as a Saint.

By Carlotta Bartone, SHCJ

Holy Child Sisters Carlotta Bartone and Helen McDonald

Within the past few months, the Roman Catholic Church recognized as a Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

What does it mean to achieve such status, and how does one become a saint?

In the first years after the death of Christ, his followers were being persecuted for their faith. Those who were willing to suffer martyrdom rather than deny their faith were considered saints and venerated as such.  As time went on, the making of saints was a spontaneous act of the local Christian community, and those who lived holy and exemplary lives were acclaimed as saints.  In the Middle Ages, the names of the founders of religious orders, both men and women, were added to the list.  By their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they were considered confessors, as opposed to martyrs, and they were typified according to their sex and state of life.  Men were bishops, priests, or monks; women were virgins or widows.

By the fifth to the tenth century, bishops assumed greater control over the process, and insisted that petitioners provide them with written accounts of the candidate’s life, virtues and death, and especially of any purported miracles.

At times it was found that some who had been acclaimed as saints were not truly worthy of the title, so that by the 12th century the Church gradually developed a legal process of investigation into the lives of candidates for sainthood.  Witnesses were called and evidence was gathered in an effort to determine whether the candidate’s reputation for holiness was deserved.  From the late 12th century onward, the papacy required posthumous miracles as signs from God, especially for non-martyrs, confirming the candidate’s reputation for holiness and proof of heroic Christian virtue.

What has this to do with Cornelia?

After Cornelia’s death in 1879, the second mother general of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus asked one of the Sisters to collect all her writings, evidently with a view to eventually writing a biography of Cornelia and possibly introducing her cause for beatification. The same mother general later asked the Sister to destroy all the writings. Fortunately, on the advice of her confessor, the Sister disobeyed the order, but the first biography of Cornelia was not published until 1922. Finally the General Chapter, which is the governing body of a religious congregation, decided in 1924 to formally introduce the Cause for beatification of Cornelia Connelly.

A second biography in French was produced in 1930, and this was then translated into Italian. The priest who was consulted about the possibility of introducing the Cause was not encouraging, and it was only in 1946, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Society, that the General Chapter established a commission to promote the Cause.

February 17, 2017

WALTZ WITH ME is a new play by Diane Samuels. Also involved in developing the project is creative and research consultant Ghislaine Kenyon, alumna of Mayfield School.

In WALTZ WITH ME, Aggie, who herself once attended Mayfield, revisits the school for the retirement lunch for a beloved teacher. Struggling to decide whether to leave a deeply unhappy marriage, in desperation, though lapsed, she finds herself in the chapel beside Mother Connelly’s tomb and turns to her in prayer for guidance. During the acrimonious divorce that follows, including loss of custody of her two children, Aggie, continues to call on Cornelia for solace and never lets go of the hope that one day she will be reunited with both her children, despite the increasing alienation from them. Cornelia’s own life story, initially happy home life and marriage to Pierce Connelly, conversion to Catholicism, losses, struggles, discovery of her calling as a nun and foundress of an order and schools,  then heart-breaking separation from Pierce and her children, weaves and dances alongside and through Aggie’s journey, somehow informing and inspiring her to some kind of redemption, perhaps even a miracle. With a company of actors and musicians, Cornelia’s story and legacy are brought alive through modern lives with words, music and dance.

By Diane Samuels

I first came across the remarkable story of the life, marriage and pioneering work of Cornelia Connelly when it was told to me by Ghislaine Kenyon (a Mayfield School alumna). I was immediately compelled, listened with rapt attention, gasped more than a few times, and was on the edge of my seat till the end. This story was all the more powerful for being true and felt like it was already finding its way into dramatic life merely in the telling. In those first few moments WALTZ WITH ME was born.

Researching for the play has been quite an adventure, brimming with surprises, strange coincidences and fascinating discoveries. I was raised in a Jewish tradition and had little knowledge about the church and what it meant to be a nun. So I listened and learned what I could, helped most generously by sisters belonging to the Society.

Especially significant was my first visit to Mayfield School one wintry Ash Wednesday. Being led to the chapel to visit my first ever Catholic service, I passed by photographs on the wall of a student production of my play KINDERTRANSPORT, inspired by the true-life experiences of Jewish child refugees before and during World War 2. Cornelia’s commitment to the arts as a hugely important and integral part to education, particularly drama and live theatre, rings strongly for me too. I wondered if theatre might be a crucial medium for addressing human relationships with the Sacred or Infinite, across boundaries of different religious or non-religious affiliations.

I also realized that day that WALTZ WITH ME is in some ways a surprising sequel to KINDERTRANSPORT, picking up the theme of mother/child separation and taking it further, to some kind of restitution.

WALTZ WITH ME is a story within a story within a play, owing a great deal to true-life experience and just as much to imagination of the playful, psychological and spiritual varieties.

My understanding of what it means to be married, to bear and lose children, and to take up a path of spiritual devotion has been enriched by learning about Cornelia. My commitment to the arts being central to the education of the whole person has been deepened by researching and writing this play. My heart and life are bigger and better for it.

This is a play about faith in the broadest sense of the word, without limits. In a world where different belief systems often regard each other with incredulous hostility, I am glad to make a contribution to the exploration of what is in essence true for all. I hope that all who come to see WALTZ WITH ME will have their eyes opened, hearts moved and minds expanded in unexpected ways too.