- Feb 5, 2002
- 167,601
- 56,844
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Venerable Cornelia Connelly shows us that no sacrifice made for the love of God goes unrewarded.
Mother Cornelia Connelly, ca. 1877 (photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Venerable Cornelia Connelly is an odd case of vocational discernment. She was a mother, wife of an Episcopal minister, wife of a Catholic priest, and foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, although she took on the last two roles reluctantly. She and her husband, Pierce Connelly, had converted to Catholicism in 1835, long before Episcopal minister converts were allowed to become priests without having to give up their marriages. Exchanging family life for consecrated life wasn’t Cornelia’s idea, but rather one she gradually accepted as the will of God in the face of Pierce insisting on his own vocation to the priesthood.
Ironically, though, she was the one who persevered in both her new faith and new vocation.
Cornelia’s husband often serves as a foil for analyzing her life and sanctity, and perhaps it couldn’t be otherwise. As husband and wife, their lives were intimately intertwined. Pierce was also the catalyst for the chain of events that lead Cornelia to a unique vocation and put her sanctity in relief. Cornelia married the handsome, eloquent Episcopal minister in 1831 in Philadelphia. Afterward, they settled in Natchez, Mississippi, where Pierce was given a church. They had an exceptionally happy marriage, but he was becoming disillusioned with his ministry and Protestantism in general. He was on the verge of becoming Catholic. In 1834, he resigned his position in the Episcopal church to dedicate himself to the study of Catholicism. He wanted to go to Rome. As later events would show, Pierce’s reasons for conversion and what he expected from life in the Catholic Church were complicated.
Cornelia had been following her husband’s crisis and studies. Though she may have started into the adventure as a wife trusting the husband she deeply loved, she embraced Catholicism as her own choice during their stay in New Orleans awaiting passage to Rome. While Pierce was delaying his entrance into the Church until he could get all his questions answered in Rome — perhaps also to explore the possibilities of an ecclesial career before making a final commitment — Cornelia suddenly decided to seek admission into the Church independently of her husband. She was convinced she needed to be Catholic and that she couldn’t make the dangerous sea voyage without having taken that step.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
Venerable Cornelia Connelly is an odd case of vocational discernment. She was a mother, wife of an Episcopal minister, wife of a Catholic priest, and foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, although she took on the last two roles reluctantly. She and her husband, Pierce Connelly, had converted to Catholicism in 1835, long before Episcopal minister converts were allowed to become priests without having to give up their marriages. Exchanging family life for consecrated life wasn’t Cornelia’s idea, but rather one she gradually accepted as the will of God in the face of Pierce insisting on his own vocation to the priesthood.
Ironically, though, she was the one who persevered in both her new faith and new vocation.
Cornelia’s husband often serves as a foil for analyzing her life and sanctity, and perhaps it couldn’t be otherwise. As husband and wife, their lives were intimately intertwined. Pierce was also the catalyst for the chain of events that lead Cornelia to a unique vocation and put her sanctity in relief. Cornelia married the handsome, eloquent Episcopal minister in 1831 in Philadelphia. Afterward, they settled in Natchez, Mississippi, where Pierce was given a church. They had an exceptionally happy marriage, but he was becoming disillusioned with his ministry and Protestantism in general. He was on the verge of becoming Catholic. In 1834, he resigned his position in the Episcopal church to dedicate himself to the study of Catholicism. He wanted to go to Rome. As later events would show, Pierce’s reasons for conversion and what he expected from life in the Catholic Church were complicated.
Cornelia had been following her husband’s crisis and studies. Though she may have started into the adventure as a wife trusting the husband she deeply loved, she embraced Catholicism as her own choice during their stay in New Orleans awaiting passage to Rome. While Pierce was delaying his entrance into the Church until he could get all his questions answered in Rome — perhaps also to explore the possibilities of an ecclesial career before making a final commitment — Cornelia suddenly decided to seek admission into the Church independently of her husband. She was convinced she needed to be Catholic and that she couldn’t make the dangerous sea voyage without having taken that step.
Continued below.
This Mystic Nun Lost Her Husband to the Priesthood, and Her Children to Her Husband
Venerable Cornelia Connelly shows us that no sacrifice made for the love of God goes unrewarded.
