A History of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity
Advancing the Anglo-Catholic Movement in the Episcopal Church
By Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook
Pickwick Publications, 279 pages, $35
The religious orders of the Episcopal Church are few and far between, and hence not well known to Episcopalians. There have been only three book-length studies of a women’s order: Sister Mary Hilary’s Ten Decades of Praise, about the Community of St. Mary, and Valerie Bonham’s pair, Living Stones and The Second Spring, about the Community of St. John Baptist.
They now have a worthy companion in this well-researched history of another important order. The author is professor of Anglican Studies at Bloy House in the Diocese of Los Angeles, historiographer of the Episcopal Church, and editor of Anglican & Episcopal History.
The Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity was founded in 1882 by Charles Chapman Grafton and Mother Ruth Margaret (Vose). The convent was in Boston, where Grafton was rector of the Church of the Advent. It moved to St. Stephen’s, Providence, in 1888, the same year that Grafton became Bishop of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The order soon began work in that city, moving the motherhouse there in 1905, where it remained until a small remnant withdrew to nearby Green Lake in 2001 and to Ripon in 2014. I remember visiting the old convent in the late 1950s and noticing a dining set with the six wives of Henry VIII carved into the chairbacks.
Kujawa-Holbrook places the order firmly within the tradition of the Catholic movement in the Church of England and America, beginning with the Oxford Movement of the early 19th century. The context of earlier orders, notably the Sisters of St. Margaret, is fully explained. The “Holy Nats,” as they were often called, emphasized parish work, primarily educational and pastoral, but also with outreach to the community. In addition to the successive locations of their motherhouse, they worked in many other places, from New York City to Los Angeles. They also worked on college campuses and had several retreat centers, notably one in Santa Barbara (now occupied by the Holy Cross brothers).
The richness of detail cannot receive justice in a brief review. Of special interest is the sisters’ work with the Oneida people, told with historical background from colonial times. Also of interest was the sisters’ prayers for the Allies in both World Wars, even before American participation.
In addition to work outside the convent, work inside included the making of vestments, communion wafers, and printed material of a devotional and educational nature. There was also emphasis on the spiritual life of the sisters and their many associates. Once the largest women’s order in the Episcopal Church, it experienced the same declining numbers as many other orders, especially since the 1960s, and only two members remained at the time of writing.
A generous provision of photographs reflects the order as a fellowship of women and not just an institution. There is no index, but copious footnotes, several appendices, and a bibliography segregated by type of material make the work complete. The book sets a high standard for later histories to live up to.
The Rev. Lawrence N. Crumb is vicar of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Cottage Grove, Oregon, and has written book reviews for TLC since 1980.
