Proposals before us
After the last session of the Provincial Chapter, I reported about two proposals that were accepted by the chapter. Both proposals came from the youngest cohort of province membership.
The first, Proposition #4 (which became statement #2), underscored the value for the communities of the province to set aside a period of time each day for prayer in common. Many communities have addressed this referral and have incorporated this practice, in some form, into the daily horarium.
The second, Proposition #3 (which became referral #6), directed the Provincial Council to initiate a discussion about common dress.
The question of common dress
This question has surfaced from time to time since the dramatic changes after the Vatican Council. Some members of the province continue the practice of wearing a black tie and white shirt. In recent years, others have experimented with apparel bearing a Marianist logo.
The Rule of Life #77 states that each province makes a determination of accepted practice regarding external signs of membership. Our Province Directory simply indicates that a gold ring is given at the time of perpetual profession as a sign of membership.
Since our consolidation in 2002, we are more aware of the varied cultures, both religious and ministerial, within our expansive province. As well, each of the former provinces had somewhat different approaches to the issue of dress.
Some members have made appeal to the early history of the Society of Mary and Fr. Chaminade's preference for a simple dress for lay members, reflective of the professional laymen of the time; clerics were to wear accepted clerical dress. Some feel that this was less a reference to "secular dress" than to simplicity of common dress.
In any case, some units of the Society of Mary embraced a common style of dress. This practice existed, more or less, until just after the Vatican Council.
A complex, personal issue
One thing is certain: this discussion always generates a good deal of passion one way or the other. That in itself points to the complexity and potency of the issue. For many of our members, a discussion about dress touches something of value, both religiously and personally.
A chapter titled "Signs of the Times" by
Joseph T. Lienhard, SJ, is part of a book called
Apostolic Religious Life in America Today. The author, a professor at Fordham University, was writing in the context of the Vatican study of women religious in the United States. It presents historical context and includes some stimulating observations.
Action item for communities
We ask each member of the province read the article and that each community have at least one community discussion on this issue.
Here are three questions to guide the discussion:
1. Some members feel that we as religious are "invisible," that our public witness could have more depth, and that signs and symbols of our common brotherhood are weak. Having a more obvious commonality of dress makes our religious witness more evident and directly challenges a cultural bias towards individualism. How would you engage brothers with this concern?
2. Others members of the province believe that dress is less compelling than a personal witness to holiness and the relationships that are built within a ministerial context in which people know us as religious, regardless of what we wear. Dressing like our lay colleagues, they believe, can make us more approachable. How would you engage brothers with this perspective?
3. Some members feel that the issue of common dress is divisive, that we have had a 40-year history of secular dress, and that attitudes and practices are not likely to change. Is this pragmatic position likely to prevail?
Be sure to read the article and plan for a community discussion before Advent. We ask community directors to
send minutes of the discussion to Bro. Joe by Nov. 30 so that we have a basis for our report to the chapter.
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