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| Book Sale Flyer posted at the site. |
This was the first book sale I've been to in ages. For quite a while I have been avoiding purchasing new books based on the (good) advice of my son. My apartment is already filled with books and I have more in storage in boxes. However, I could not help going to this one because I hoped to find some hard to find items at a good price. I was not too disappointed in my final purchases.
I spotted the announcement of this sale in our (on-line) local paper. 1 Day Only. Basically the Sisters of Saint Joseph are cleaning house because they are downsizing. Essentially, they are going out of business. Like many RC orders, they are dying out due to the lack of new enlistees. The young women of today do not need to become nuns/sisters in order to practice the Social Justice ministry that so many of the order fell prey to as a result of Vatican II. It was something of an "estate sale."
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| View of the Convent from Park Road. |
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| Entrance to the Main Building (and Book Sale). Note the event sign at the left. |
I was hoping to get some good Bible study references including some for my colleague at work, Tony. I was successful in that I was able to get him:
- College Bible Commentary - New Testament
I also got a book about the Eucharist for my mom for her Eucharistic adoration devotion. I also got a book about Marian apparitions, and a volume of Will Durant's Story of Civilization series (which it turned out that I already had).
The major prize for me was an early edition of The Jerusalem Bible.
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| Note: This is a generic picture. It is not a picture of the particular volume I bought. |
As I was browsing through the collection I was saddened by the thought of so many significant books of theology, religion, and history that were being sold for hardly anything, just to get rid of them. They had a lot of fiction also but I didn't see many classics. However, I suspect that most of the books that were sold went to good homes (where they will be prized).
Before leaving for home, I walked around the front of the facility to take in a somber view. The sisters are trying to develop most of the property into apartment housing. They plan to keep part of the building for the remaining members of their order. Eventually, much of the property is likely to be sold to the developers. How this ends up still remains to be seen since it has to get through various groups in the town government. Sadly and somewhat surprising is that the Chapel is not part of the property that the sisters intend to save; they plan to abandon that to the developers who intend to make it into some sort of community meeting space. I think that is symbolic of why this order is dying.
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| Chapel at the Sister of St. Joseph property. |
While I was looking around the grounds, I ran into one of the sisters who identified herself as Sr. Theresa Mary. Although she said she is a member of the order, she lives in a retirement community about 50 miles away. You could not tell who is a sister although I guessed that most of the silver/white haired women sitting in chairs are members of the order. Sr.TM was dressed in work clothes and, frankly, looked very butch. We had a nice chat but it was quite apparent to me that she was totally committed to V2 and a changing church. She compared the situation to a tree adapting to the seasons. Apparently, the book sale and attempts to develop the property due to the diminishing number of members indicates that this particular tree is not doing very well.
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Links:
http://www.sistersofsaintjoseph.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Biblical_Commentary
http://books.simonandschuster.com/The-Dictionary-Of-The-Bible/John-L-Mckenzie/9780684819136
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharistic_adoration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_apparition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Bible
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Written Sunday 29 November 2015.
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