When a sister lives outside the main house, it does not mean she is living outside the community. She is just living outside one of the houses, Sister Marjory Gallagher SC told the Council of Women Religious spring assembly May 23 at St. Joseph’s Basilica.We are human beings,” said Gallagher, a member of the Sisters of Charity (Halifax). “If we were to put religious life on a continuum between boarding house and marriage, it would be closer to marriage. But it is not marriage. And people understand the type of relationship that is the ideal of religious life.”
The women share in their order’s rich traditions that Gallagher described as “spiritual patrimony.” They share a common life of food, clothing and furnishings, but the community life is much more.
“The essential element of a congregation is its charism, its gifts. You should be able to read a congregation’s constitution by how the members live their lives. A charism is stable. How it is lived out is what can change,” she said. Adapting charisms to the times is a way to live an apostolic life in today’s society. It is not about changing the rules, Gallagher said.
Different groups have different charisms that fit certain individuals. The purpose, nature and spirit of a congregation influence how the sisters live their lives, Gallagher told the group.
“People who find they fit in a particular congregation are proof that there is charism. It is used in many ways and in many circumstances.”
