In the Anglican Church, King Henry’s suppression of
monasteries in 1538 was a defining trait for several centuries. By the 1800’s, Anglican religious communities
tentatively reappeared to gradually win acceptance. This restoration took root in the work of Priscilla
Lydia Sellon with her religious sisters and brothers.
The industrial revolution in England caused great human need
among people searching for work. Existing institutions were very slow to
respond. Answering her Bishop’s appeal in
1848, Miss Sellon began work in the Plymouth tenements – feeding the hungry,
caring for the sick, clothing and housing the needy, taking in orphans,
teaching girls, boys, and women. This
became a model for others.
Suspicion of religious communities and antagonism toward
Sister Priscilla constantly hindered her work.
In response to allegations of inappropriate behavior, the Bishop of
Exeter investigated her and her sisters.
Unfortunately, his report praising their life and work did not stop the
gossip. Mother Priscilla persisted. She was criticized for going into areas where
decent women did not go, especially at night.
She replied that she had promised to go to the people in their time of
need.
Primitive sanitation at the time caused regular outbreaks of
cholera and smallpox in English cities. The
reasons were poorly understood. Mother
Priscilla’s communities remained in the midst of the disease to nurse the sick
and dying. The work during one epidemic
left her partly paralyzed.
Even with impaired health, she called people to serve Christ
in others. Members of Anglican religious
communities set up shelters, dispensaries, schools, and food centers. Their
work spread beyond England to the United States and elsewhere. A well-to-do traveler found Mother
Priscilla’s nuns at a humble mission in a distant port teaching children and
visiting the needy. The sisters had no possessions,
no family contact, no leisure. But their
service was joyful and they were serene.
Thousands of women and men in Anglican religious communities
continue to serve throughout the world.
Others with regular jobs and families outside of these communities
adhere to their principles of service and simplicity.
The Anglican Church remembers Mother Priscilla on November
20th, the date of her death at age 55. In the Book of Common Prayer, the Episcopal
Church offers this prayer – first used by the Church of India -- for the
example of those like Mother Priscilla.
O
God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be
rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love
of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Priscilla, may
serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to
come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
