the sisterhood of St. John the Divine & THE LINK WITH ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH

Triptych by Dr. Suan-Seh Foo, which hangs above the altar in the Lady Chapel of St. Thomas’s Church. Bishop Roper is depicted in the left panel and Sister Hannah at right.

SSJD and the link to st. thomas’s

By Fr. Brian D. Freeland, February 1993

Our parish has the distinction of having associated with it two people connected with its early life who have been enrolled in the calendar of those men and women that the church desires to be commemorated at its altars: Sarah Hannah Roberta Grier Coome, Mother Foundress of the Sisterhood of St John the Divine and Charles Roper, Vicar of St Thomas's from 1888 through to 1897. Yes, two saints from one parish, but use the word 'from' carefully for it was more a case of these two pioneers giving of their holiness to us than of the parish shaping them.

Mother Hannah was born in 1837 in Prince Edward County, daughter of the rectory, her father being an SPG missionary. After her marriage to Charles Coome, the couple moved to England. Hannah Coome was attracted to the teachings and practices of the Oxford movement, particularly as exemplified by the parish of St John the Divine, Kensington in London. She had her first experience of the religious life through the Sisters of St Mary at Wantage. Her husband was not well and in 1878 he died shortly after their return to North America to settle in Chicago. 

Back in Toronto, in the 1880s a burning desire arose in Hannah to establish a Sisterhood. Concerned women and clergy knew that a church which did not offer its sons and daughters the opportunity to live the vowed life was maimed in its Catholicity. Mrs. Coome’s growing awareness of a calling to the religious life and the Toronto Committee’s aspirations were brought together by the head mistress of Bishop Strachan School; Miss Rose Greer, Hannah’s sister. 

After two years of formal training at the community of St Mary Peekskill, in New York State, Mrs. Coome was professed and returned to Toronto as the mother superior of the new Canadian Sisterhood, that of St John the Divine. Her profession day was September 8, 1884, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That date is observed as the birthday of the Sisterhood and for some 30 years a team of St Thomas acolytes headed north with Father Freeland to serve the Solemn Eucharist that marks the day; a continuing link.

As the new Sisterhood established itself in Toronto Bishop Strachan's foundation, Trinity College was in need of a scholar to take up the position of Keble Professor of Divinity. That lot fell on John Charles Roper. He took up his new position March 10, 1886. In 1888 the Warden of the new Sisterhood, the Reverend O. Ford died. From his death bed Ford sent word to Roper pleading with him, who was sympathetic to the Oxford movement, to take on the task of spiritual shepherd to SSJD. With the death of Reverend Ford, Roper was faced with a difficult decision for the provost of Trinity could not see how his teaching duties and that of chaplain could be reconciled. With a leap of faith, Roper cast his lot with a new Sisterhood. But what would he live on? Providence supplied the answer; St Thomas's needed a priest to take on duties and responsibilities The first Rector of the parish found beyond his capacity.

So the link was established. John Charles Roper would be both chaplain to SSJD and vicar of St Thomas’s. The Sisterhood adopted St Thomas’s as their parish church and thus began decades of their presence in our midst. The Altar Guild would be under their direction. St Agnes’s Guild would be founded. Regular teaching of the children would be undertaken, etc. 

Mother Hannah died in 1921 and (by then) Bishop Roper presided at her burial from St Thomas’s Church. “This beautiful and dignified Service, arranged with such reverent care in her beloved Church of St Thomas, was felt to be a fitting honour paid to our beloved Foundress and was a solace to our sorrowing hearts.” Her body was laid to rest in the Sisters’ plot in St James Cemetery. After Vespers on that day he [Roper] gathered the sisters around him and spoke of the early days.

He said: “... it has been a joy to me dear Sisters coming back thus after a long absence – I was always so closely attached here, so constantly. The memory of each Christmas and Easter Service in your first little chapel, then here in the old Church of St Thomas and then in the new Church is so dear to me. I think looking back without any parish of my own, that the thing I most miss is the great Festivals with you here and in the first days at St Thomas'. My heart goes out in deep thankfulness for the power of the spirit of God who worked so marvellously through the genius, skill and self dedication of her whom we humanely mourn.”

For more than 60 years the Church of St Thomas and the Sisterhood of St John were closely linked. But with the move of the Sisters to a new convent in Willowdale, the bond became more tenuous, the presence more occasional. Many of our parishioners are not even aware of what was once a vital and formative link, though anniversaries such as our 100th can serve to jog our memories and remind us that there were giants here before us.

Reverend Brian D. Freeland (with thanks to sister Thelma Anne, SSJD, for contributing to this effort.)

To see a copy of the original article, published as part of a calendar series in 1993, click here.