“In the films, when all would seem darkest, the American cavalry would come charging over the hill. Well, I’m here to say that our cavalry has arrived,” he turned a beaming smile on them. “Sisters, welcome to Scotland, with all our hearts we welcome ye.”
The four sisters, all in their early 30s, had since settled happily into their new lives in Scotland. They were there for the poor, after all. For the tired women their own age with alcoholic, unemployed men and intractable teenagers. For the pregnant young girls without hope, headed for the abortion mills to erase the consequences of their ‘mistake.’ For the Catholic families that were simply not forming.
Of course, it wasn’t just the Catholics. Scotland’s native population was actually declining, a fact mostly hidden behind the statistics which showed a 2% growth rate. A little digging would reveal the truth –Scots were dying later, and the shortfall in births was made up by immigration, largely from Eastern Europe and the East.
It seemed as if the Scots had entirely lost interest in the humble joys of married and family life. Middle-aged Scots were divorcing in record numbers. Among the working class young, interest in love and marriage was being replaced by casual sex, incited by internet porn and binge drinking bouts.
On the university campuses, homosexuality was all the rage. At all levels of society, easy access to drugs and booze cushioned the impact of lives led on the knife’s edge of a hopelessness.
After two years in Scotland, however, the sisters were optimistic, with no thought of returning to their bursting motherhouse back in Boston. This wasn’t just because there was simply not enough room for them there.
For, unbeknownst to the vast majority of American Catholics, a whole new generation of women were ‘discerning’ their vocations as religious. They were drawn by the traditional life of the Sisters, who lived in community, wore floor-length habits and prayed the Divine Office. Hundreds of young women found their way to the Order’s doorstep every year, and Mother Superior’s major problem was how to find room for them all.
Her solution to the overcrowding was the traditional Catholic one – founding daughter houses in other places. In a decade, they had begun eight houses in America, plus the house in Glasgow. Everywhere, the teams of sisters were kept busy taking in pregnant women and helping them through the birth and early years of their babies’ lives.
“We really can do so much good here,” Sister Mary Grace explained via Skype to her Superior. The Scots, for their part, were flabbergasted at the appearance of these young Sisters. Most had never seen a habited Catholic sister in their
entire lives.
REGINA | 81
“In the films, when all would seem darkest, the American cavalry would come charging over the hill. Well, I’m here to say that our cavalry has arrived,” he turned a beaming smile on them. “Sisters, welcome to Scotland, with all our hearts we welcome ye.”
The four sisters, all in their early 30s, had since settled happily into their new lives in Scotland. They were there for the poor, after all. For the tired women their own age with alcoholic, unemployed men and intractable teenagers. For the pregnant young girls without hope, headed for the abortion mills to erase the consequences of their ‘mistake.’ For the Catholic families that were simply not forming.
Of course, it wasn’t just the Catholics. Scotland’s native population was actually declining, a fact mostly hidden behind the statistics which showed a 2% growth rate. A little digging would reveal the truth –Scots were dying later, and the shortfall in births was made up by immigration, largely from Eastern Europe and the East.
It seemed as if the Scots had entirely lost interest in the humble joys of married and family life. Middle-aged Scots were divorcing in record numbers. Among the working class young, interest in love and marriage was being replaced by casual sex, incited by internet porn and binge drinking bouts.
On the university campuses, homosexuality was all the rage. At all
levels of society, easy access to drugs and booze cushioned the impact of lives led on the knife’s edge of a hopelessness.
After two years in Scotland, however, the sisters were optimistic, with no thought of returning to their bursting motherhouse back in Boston. This wasn’t just because there was simply not enough room for them there.
For, unbeknownst to the vast majority of American Catholics, a whole new generation of women were ‘discerning’ their vocations as religious. They were drawn by the traditional life of the Sisters, who lived in community, wore floor-length habits and prayed the Divine Office. Hundreds of young women found their way to the Order’s doorstep every year, and Mother Superior’s major problem was how to find room for them all.
Her solution to the overcrowding was the traditional Catholic one – founding daughter houses in other places. In a decade, they had begun eight houses in America, plus the house in Glasgow. Everywhere, the teams of sisters were kept busy taking in pregnant women and helping them through the birth and early years of their babies’ lives.
“We really can do so much good here,” Sister Mary Grace explained via Skype to her Superior. The Scots, for their part, were flabbergasted at the appearance of these young Sisters. Most had never seen a habited Catholic sister in their
entire lives.