Questions and Answers: Community of Saint Ita and Saint Fillan

COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Support, sharing, vocations, consecration. Following the way..

Welcome to the Community of Saint Ita and Saint Fillan

We are a non-profit society that supports the religious vocations of Christian Hermits, Anchorites, Religious Solitaries, and others who wish to follow the a consecrated lifestyle. Our association has both vocational and lay members, as well as friends who choose not to have a more formal relationship with the community. The Community also supports social ministries through shared financial assets and the encouragement of personal acts of mercy.

Who may belong?

Anyone who truly desires to love Christ and those around him, and who wants to live a dedicated, regular life of prayer, study, and useful industry, caring for others whether they are Christian or not. Anyone who wants to 'walk humbly with his God' and to do good.

Must I give money to the Community in order to join it?

No. The first level of membership has no fees or required donations. As one of our fathers in the faith has said, 'We require more of you than that. We ask that you at least intend to be life-long friends, we would like you to pray for us and with us, to learn more about Our Lord and to want to grow in grace and love.'

Community members are required to be contributors of record, but no specific amount is laid down. It is hoped, however, that the cost of carrying them is covered. So we are looking at obvious things here as well as help to maintain some of the services we do - travelling to bless houses and the like. The purchase of Bibles and Altar linen, and the giving away of food to the hungry, the carrying of goods to those who support the missions or the Salvation Army. The price of printer cassettes and paper, of postage and web sites, maintaining the mother house, the teaching program. The list goes on.

How can the Community support my vocation?

If we are speaking here of money, then, in theory, the Community can use its Relief budget to help defray the cost of some ministry projects of vocational members. In addition, many of the operating costs can be shared. Other types of financial support depend on the type of membership and individual needs. In practice there is as yet no such fund or budget. We are relying entirely on God, and some very generous friends for almost everything.

Of course there are other, equally important contributions available, study resources, people whose wisdom and experience can support advise and illuminate.

Can contributions be made to the Community of Saint Ita and Saint Fillan?

Certainly! Monetary Donations to the Community are normally divided between Relief Aid, Operating Costs, and Housing or Ministry costs of the Professed Members. However, a benefactor may specify a specific purpose for a donation, if they wish.

If you feel called to support the work of the Community, there is a button directly below this through which you may contribute in complete safety. Please note: NO donations are ever used for personal reasons. ALL donations, without exception, go toward the work of the Community.

May a member set up a fund for an individual ministry project?

Sometimes. Servants and Ministers may not set up a specific account, but they may apply to the Community Board of Directors to have some of the common Relief Fund provided to support their ministry projects. Life Professed members may have a Mission Fund set up to support their own ministry projects. They would be responsible for supporting it, and could also establish an income producing endowment for it if they chose to do so.

Of course, any private citizen may initiate and perpetrate acts of kindness with no intervention or inquisitive probing from anyone else at all. Let not your right hand know what your left is doing is a good principle. In practice it probably pays to check in case several people have but one idea.

Can I join the Community if I have a serious medical condition or handicap?

Yes. Unlike more traditional communities, the Community is not at risk for medical costs of its members because we are not responsible for members living expenses, and member assets are not held in common. Of course, however, we expect to be caring of each other, spiritually and morally, as well as socially and emotionally.

May I become a dedicated member of the Community without belonging to a particular denomination?

Yes. To us it is more important that you _are_ a Christian, than what breed of Christian you might be. However, we prefer you to be a communicant member of a particular Church, since it is vital to be part of the Life of Christ. Vocational members may belong to any Christian denomination. However, each must have the approval of a spiritual director before making vows. In addition, secular Solitaries must have approval of a bishop, or Abbot, and oblates need to be part of a visible religious community or denomination. Those authorities may include the Abbot of this Community, or officers of th, furthermore same. They and the Spiritual advisor of the candidate must also approve the member's Rule and its practice. It is also wise to make sure that any denominational requirements are met.

This page contains questions frequently asked by visitors to this web site. If you have a question not covered here or elsewhere on this site, please send it by email or letter.

MEMBERSHIPS. The Community seeks those who wish to consecrate themselves to a living and flexible way of growing spirituality, commitment and spiritual insight. We hope to help Christians of any point of view support each other in living a disciplined, creative Christian life, to give each other encouragement, perhaps to point toward ways of achieving aims or enhancing gifts, certainly to talk openly about practices of prayer and what used to be called works of mercy. The community also values less (or differently) committed people as well as those totally devoted to God through the community for spiritual and practical support.

ACTS OF MERCY. We encourage social ministries by sharing financial assets for common relief aid projects and by sharing with each other our concerns and leadings toward individual and community acts of mercy.

WEB SITE Our web site displays Community activities as well as news about our various denominations. Readers are encouraged to submit religious essays, photos, prayer requests and stories about their spiritual practices and acts of mercy. Excerpts may well find themselves on the web site from time to time, as being specially helpful or insightful, and therefore as being worth keeping.

To whom are the members of the Community obedient?

Lay members of the Community are not under vows and are not expected to be obedient to anyone in the religious sense of the word. Vocational members are considered parallel and equal members. No member has authority over any other member. Obedience is to ones Rule or an entity specified by it.

Having said that: Each person's station in life entails primary relationships, such as marriage, or parenthood, or the oversight of a parish, or membership in a service organization, and these primary relationships do entail obedience. It is important to recognize that each of us is required to be obedient to the inner voice of conscience and inspiration, and to the relationships which carry with them attendant responsibilities. Thus our obedience is to God, the canons of the New Testament, the obligations of our station in life, and the voice of a loving conscience.

Are all dedicated members necessarily "active"? or "secular"?

No. Those vocational members who progress through the various membership steps would do so with the goal of vocations which may be either 'active' and secular' or 'monastic and contemplative. Strictly speaking 'seculars' are those in ecclesiastical orders who do not follow a 'rule'. We use the term to indicate someone who follows a 'rule' but who also works 'in the world' rather than in seclusion.
Solitaries who have already been received by their denominational authority and live a contemplative lifestyle, may take up their vocations intact within the Community. Those "quiet and secluded" members would be entitled to all the benefits available to active Solitaries in the Community, though it would be understood that some of the vocational work should result in recompense, charitable aid, sale of products or some type of reimbursed service. In other words, each member must be able to support themselves to some degree.

Can members be anonymous?

The Community recognizes that many Solitaries do not want public recognition. Those who wish to remain anonymous would be welcome to take advantage of any benefits available to active members, and to take part in community activities and worship as much or as little as they and their spiritual adviser may deem appropriate according to their current spiritual state and path.

However, when making a commitment to the Community you will be asked for references from your current spiritual community, parish or worshipping community. It is also useful to be called something, for ease of communication. For this purpose the candidate may wish to have a name 'in religion'. Some denominations indeed, give the candidate such a name at the time of their Baptism or of their first vows.

May married, widowed or divorced persons become vocational members?

Yes. Married couples may make their vows together (or feel called to separate vocations). Single people may feel called to a particular relationship with one other person as well as their commitment to God and their fellow beings within the Community.

I am over 45, can I become a part of the Community?

Definitely. One is never too old (or too sick, or too frail) to turn to God, and to seek to live for His love and His purposes. Having said that however, we must be clear that we cannot take the responsibility of physically caring for members, though we might wish to very much, and would certainly do what we could. We have so few material resources that . Regretfully Ad succurrendum is not an option for us at this time.