RBWords - Volume 20 - Number 5: May 2007
Something to Think About
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - I have always been interested in history, and I particularly find Church History interesting. My current assignment has placed me in the middle of some fascinating American church history, both Catholic and non-Catholic. The area I live in, Central Kentucky, is known as the Catholic holy land of Kentucky. Pioneering Catholic families moved from the Maryland and Virginia colonies to this area to take advantage of offers of land and to escape religious discrimination. In 1806, Bishop Carroll of Baltimore asked the newly established American Dominican province of St. Joseph, led by Edward Dominic Fenwick, OP, to come to this area to serve the needs of the Catholic settlers. The church of St. Rose which resulted from that ministry is about 5 minutes drive from my door. I can see the steeple from my backyard. It is still served by Dominican friars of St. Joseph Province. Shortly after they came, the Vatican established the first dioceses after Baltimore: New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Bardstown, KY (the first American diocese west of the Alleghenies). There were one or two pioneering diocesan priests serving out in the area, Frs. Nerinckx and Badin. One must remember that transportation was strictly by foot, horse or wagon. Most of the area was wilderness. In 1812, Fr. Nerinckx founded the Sisters of Loretto, whose motherhouse is located about a half hour from here. That same year, the future Bishop Flaget founded the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth at a site near Bardstown, KY, about 15 miles from here. That congregation is also still in existence. In 1822, one of the Dominican friars gave an appeal from the pulpit at St. Rose for women to teach religion to the children of the settlers. Nine young women responded and formed the nucleus of the Kentucky Dominican sisters. The motherhouse that I serve as chaplain is about 15 minutes or less from the first location, which was a rude log cabin that had served as a still! The current motherhouse was built in 1904 after a terrible fire destroyed the first large building. In 1848, Trappist monks from France arrived and established Gethsemani Abbey at a site about a half hour\'s drive from here. Thomas Merton (d. 1968) is easily the most famous member of that monastic community. Thus, there are three congregations of sisters and one monastery, all within a hour of each other in this rural area of Kentucky!
On the non-Catholic side, I want to mention the establishment of at least two communities of the Shaker religion in Kentucky. This fascinating sect practiced both communal living and strict celibacy. They obtained members only by conversion to the group. Both locations are about an hour from where I live. The Shaker Settlement at Pleasant Hill, KY, near Lexington, is particularly well preserved. The religion itself has almost entirely died out with only two or three living members. Most folks would be familiar with the furniture design developed by that community to reflect their emphasis on simple life.
I mention all of this because it emphasizes to me that I live not \"in the middle of nowhere\" but in the midst of living history. The Kentucky Dominican sisters will join six other Dominican congregations to form a new Dominican union of sisters. But the history will continue to live in this area along with the other Catholic pioneers who came so that they could be free to be Catholic. How much would we be willing to do for that same privilege? IT\'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
IT HAS BEEN SAID: \"The writer is what may be justly called an old, or rather ancient fashioned Shaker. This term has been objected to, as tho it meant what is stationary and precluded increase. But far from this: it signifies that primary Shakerism which is founded upon the Revelation of the External principles of Godliness, that looks for and requires an endless increase, right forward into higher and higher degrees of that which is heavenly - that which is taught by the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit,coming down from above, from a Divine Source, and not from the natural wisdom of the world, and keeps it in its proper Order.\"
from a selection [ca. 1850] in THE SHAKERS - TWO CENTURIES OF SPIRITUAL REFLECTION ed, by R.E.Whitsun
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