Back
‘It is love which called us into life in the first place and love which can heal our wounds and give us the courage to come out of our safe hiding places and step out into the world. Only love can enable us to transcend our limits and move into the open exposed country beyond our barriers, and it is Jesus our companion, the one who dwells, and has always dwelt, within our hearts who shows us what his love is and invites us to participate in it.’
Towards a New Day – part-memoir, part-journal – is the story of Ralph Martin, a Canadian priest who travelled to England as a young man to become a member of the Society of the Sacred Mission, an Anglican religious community. He has now been a member of SSM for close on sixty years. For nearly a decade, at a crucial time of change, he was Provincial of the English Province and set a course for the future. Subsequently he fulfilled a number of significant roles in different parts of the world.
Yet this book is more than the story of one monk. Through Fr Ralph’s journey, his insight, wisdom and responses to the challenges facing the SSM as it sought to fulfil its monastic mission in a rapidly changing world, we discover the story of the reimagination and regeneration of one of Anglicanism’s most significant Orders.
Towards a New Day has been introduced, edited and annotated by Canon Vincent Strudwick, an historical theologian, who was Sub-Warden of SSM’s College at Kelham before the crisis years, and has remained a friend and supporter of the Society and its members.
