Cheam & Carshalton

Cheam Associates

Following much prayer and preparation on the part of a group of Sisters, The Associates of the Daughters of the Cross came into being in Cheam in July 2008

Associates are ordinary people who, after about a year’s formation in the spirit of the Congregation and of the specific vocation of an associate, make a commitment to:

• Develop their personal prayer by spending some time each day in prayer

• Take part in the Eucharist as often as possible during the week

• Recite the Prayer of the Church daily, if possible

• Attend associate meetings held at approximately monthly intervals

Being an associate does not involve taking on any extra work but continuing to work for the spread of God’s Kingdom in one’s own situation. The purpose of the Association is to give people the opportunity to share in the wealth of spirituality of the Daughters of the Cross.

The first meeting to which twenty interested people came, was held in St Joseph’s convent. There was a prayer service focussing on the spirituality of St Ignatius Loyola and how our foundress, Blessed Marie Therese drew inspiration from this spirituality. The Sisters spoke about three of the feasts  which are important to us, occurring on the 8th September – The Nativity of Our Lady and the foundation day of the Daughters of the Cross, the 14th September – the Exaltation of the Cross, and the 15th September – Our Lady of Sorrows. It was possible to invite people to join the Sisters for the celebration of the Eucharist in the convent chapel on the 8th and 15th of September. The Mass on the 8th of September 2008 was also a celebration of 175 years since the foundation of the Daughters of the Cross in Liege, Belgium.

We have invited guest speakers to most meetings, often a Sister, and topics have included: What it means to be an Associate of the Daughters of the Cross, Mary, and Blessed Marie Therese, Introduction to the breviary, St Joseph, Finding Sanctuary, Spirituality of the Sacred Heart and various talks about our different works here and abroad, to name but a few.

Carshalton Associates

Very recently a small group of Associates has been formed at St Philomena’s, Carshalton. They too will have guest speakers covering various topics and will eventually make their formal commitment as Associates of the Daughters of the Cross.