TheSociety of the Atonement, also known as theFriars and Sisters of the Atonement orGraymoor Friars and Sisters, is aFranciscanreligious congregation in theCatholic Church. The friars andsisters were founded in 1898 byPaul Wattson andLurana White as a religious community in theEpiscopal Church. The religious order is dedicated to theBlessed Virgin Mary under the Marian title ofOur Lady of Atonement.
Lewis Thomas Wattson, called FatherPaul Wattson,[1] was born inMillington, Maryland, on January 16, 1863, to Joseph Newton Wattson and his wife, Mary Electa. Joseph Wattson, a former Presbyterian, was an Episcopalian minister. Lewis received his B.A. (1882) and his M.A. (1885) fromSt. Stephen's College,Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1885, and by special dispensation, at the age of twenty-three, he was made a presbyter. Wattson was graduated with aBachelor of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1887. After serving for a time in Port Deposit, Maryland, he became a popular preacher in the New York and New Jersey area and became rector of St. John's Episcopal Church inKingston, New York. In 1891, he established the Church of the Holy Cross Church as a mission of St. John's, to serve working-class families living near the West Shore Railroad.[2] Holy Cross had a moreAnglo-Catholic tradition and a particular mission to the poor.[3] Wattson resigned the rectorship in Kingston to accept a position as superior of an Episcopal mission in Omaha.[4]
Lurana Mary White was born in New York City on April 12, 1870. On October 17, 1894, she became apostulant in the Episcopal community of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus inAlbany, New York, where she made her vows on September 25, 1896. That same year, White began corresponding with Wattson,[5] whom she had heard was "veryHigh Church".[6] Wattson was at the time the superior of a small community of Episcopal priests in Omaha. Both were part of theAnglo-Catholic tradition, whose catalyst was theOxford Movement, which had developed in theChurch of England in the early 19th century. White asked Wattson's help in finding an Episcopal community of religious which practisedcorporate poverty in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. Wattson was unaware of any such community, but began corresponding with her regarding his desire to see theAnglican and Catholic Churches reunited under the leadership of theBishop of Rome.
In October 1898, White and Wattson met at her family's home inWarwick, New York, and made a spiritualcovenant to form a new religious community with the aim of re-establishing Franciscan life in theAnglican Communion. The name of the new community was inspired by a passage in theEpistle to the Romans (Romans 5:11), which, in theKing James Version of theBible, speaks of theatonement Christians have received throughJesus. Wattson chose to interpret the word "atonement" in the literal sense of "at-one-ment," out of his vision that his new community should have the aim of leading allChristians to unity (oneness) with one another. To this end, White spent a year in training with theSociety of the Sisters of Bethany inClerkenwell, London. Before her return, she made apilgrimage to theBasilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.[4]
Albert Zabriskie Gray, rector ofSt. Philip's Church in the Highlands inGarrison, New York, was already serving St. James' Chapel atHighlands and the Chemical Works on the border with Westchester when he erected the mission Chapel of St. John's in the Wilderness in the southeastern portion of the parish.[7] In 1882, Gray left Garrison to take a position atRacine College. The chapel fell into disuse and disrepair, but the trustees of St. Philip's gave White leave to use it and a nearby farmhouse until a convent should be built.
On December 15, 1898, White and two companions took up residence in the area of Garrison, New York, at a farmhouse near the abandoned chapel of St. John's-in-the-Wilderness. She named the place "Graymoor", combining the names of Gray, who had founded the chapel, with that of a Mr. Moore, who had been a generous supporter of its restoration.
Meanwhile Wattson had spent some time at the Anglican Monastery of theOrder of the Holy Cross at Westminster, Missouri, to gain some experience of religious life in community.[4] Wattson joined the sisters in the spring of 1899 and took up residence in a paint/carpenter's shed about a mile distant.[8] With the formal establishment of the Society of the Atonement,[5] they embraced religious life in theEpiscopal Church. In takingreligious vows, White became known as Mother Lurana, while Wattson took the name of Father Paul James Francis. White became head of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, the women's branch of the society; Wattson became superior of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement.Frederick Joseph Kinsman, thirdBishop of Delaware, was chosen as Episcopal Visitor.
The Society preached theprimacy of the Roman pontiff, while keeping its Episcopal allegiance, as they worked to realize a corporate reunion between the two bodies. Due to this, the founders and their small number of disciples came to find themselves not only criticised but ostracised by their co-religionists, who saw them as walking an impossible tightrope between the two bodies.
In 1909 both the men's and women's societies chose to seek union with theHoly See and full membership in theChurch of Rome. In October 1909,the Vatican took the unprecedented step of accepting the members of the Society as a corporate body,[9] allowing the Friars and Sisters to remain in their established way of life.
Now in union with theBishop of Rome, the Friars of the Atonement continued their work of advocating the reconciliation and eventual reunion of the variousChristian denominations with thePope as spiritual leader, known asecumenism. A major part of this effort was theOctave of Christian Unity,[9] an eight-day period of prayer for the various segments of Christianity. The Octave runs January 18–25, starting on the date that—at the time—marked the Feast of theChair of Saint Peter at Rome, and ending on the Feast of theConversion of Saint Paul. This period is now known as theWeek of Prayer for Christian Unity and is celebrated by many Christian denominations.
From 1903 to 1973, the Society of the Atonement publishedThe Lamp, a monthly magazine devoted to Christian unity and missionary work.[10][11]
In England the Friars used to run the Catholic Central Library (now known as theCatholic National Library), situated in the vicinities ofWestminster Cathedral, London, before its move to the small town ofFarnborough, Hampshire, southwest of London.
The friars continue their focus on ecumenical work and church unity. In this many serve as resource people todioceses throughout the world. Theirmotherhouse continues to be at Graymoor in theUnited States, but they have houses inBrazil,Canada,Italy, Japan, and thePhilippines. One has closed in recent years in theUnited Kingdom. Founded as a preaching and missionary order, the Friars operate parishes in the United States and Canada, retreat and reconciliation ministries, chaplaincies, special ministry to alcoholics, and the kinds of direct service to the poor that Franciscans are normally engaged in.[12]
The Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement have establishedcatechetical anddaycare centers all over North America, serving rural communities throughout the western United States and Canada, as well as inner city locales, such asHarlem inNew York City. Several accompanied the Japanese-American communities they served into the forced resettlement conducted duringWorld War II. Today, the Sisters serve in the United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, Brazil and the Philippines.
CardinalTimothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York formally opened the Cause for Canonization of Wattson on Tuesday, September 22, 2015, in New York City. The Father Paul of Graymoor Guild was established in 2016 as a central information source about the status of the cause for Wattson's canonization. In March 2017, the diocesan phase of the process was closed, and Wattson's collected writings were forwarded to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome.[9]
The friars sponsor theGraymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, which has offices in theInterchurch Center at 475 Riverside Drive in New York. This institute publishes a monthly newsletter calledEcumenical Trends which is available by subscription in print and online forms.[13]
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