CSSS

The conclusion of Fr. Harris' memoir, including the difficult years after Fr. McGarvey and many other Companions were reconciled to the Holy See and personal reminiscences of early Companions. Fr. Harris was the long-time rector of the Church of the Annunciation in Philadelphia and knew several of the original members of the congregation. He served the CSSS as Father Master for eight years.

I remember Winston Churchill at the close of the Second World War speaking of the Royal Air Force of England and how it valiantly saved the realm from the terrible German Blitzkrieg. He said that never in the history of the British Empire had so much been owed to the bravery of so few who comprised the RAF. So it was those few Companions who remained and carried on against all odds and persecution.

Time nor space will permit me to further tell about these brave souls who carried on in spite of every kind of difficulty. Their great contribution was the blessing which the present Companions now enjoy. They were truly the mustard seed of faith.

In the year 1917 on Easter Even I went down to St. Elisabeth's Church to make my Easter confession; it was approximately 8 o'clock in the evening. I entered the church on the Mifflin Street side and found it completely empty. I noticed that Father Ward was in the confessional. Father Ward was a fine confessor, and I was inspired by our conversation. He remained faithful in spite of all the discouraging experiences he encountered. Father Ward was one of the original Companions.

My early years as an altar boy at St. Mary's, Philadelphia saw me trained by a most devout acolyte, Charles Fassett, who in turn was trained by Father Lobdell, one of the original Companions. He was a member of St. Mark's parish and did great work at St. Mary's. He was faithful to the rule.

In my early twenties I became a lay reader and was called to little St. Mary the Virgin Chapel, a storefront affair in Pleasantville, New Jersey. This parish was started in the home of the Pratt Family. Their church home was St. Mary's, Balti more under Mt. Calvary parish where they had been trained in the Church by the Vicar, the Rev. Walter C. Clapp, one of the original Companions and a faithful worker in the Church until his life's end.

One thing to note is that the few who stayed in the Episcopal Church as faithful Companions bore the evidence of the truth of our beloved Church. Our blessed Lord in St. John's Gospel told his Disciples that, "in the world ye shall have tribulations but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." As Companions, we must follow him.

Later, men like Father Shoemaker, my predecessor at Annunciation, was a Companion. He too suffered but never gave up. Father Williamson, Father Folsom, Father Wood, and a few others (all far away) still kept the rule of the Congregation. In short, it became a lonely endeavor to be a Companion.

A book published by Father Haywood and two of the Companions who were a part of the McGarvey secession to Rome gave a very negative report of the Companions and the futility of their rule within the Episcopal Church. An elderly priest, when he heard I was to join the Companions, despaired at this move of mine and said a friend of his lost his mind when the Companions left the Church.

It must be recorded that a number of former Companions who went to Rome returned later. They were not long in the Roman Church when they realized they had made a serious mistake. Father John Rathborn Oliver and Father Snayvice were among this group.

Losses by death included Father Benjamin Wood, Father Little, and Father Frank Williamson (who for years alone kept the rule). They were most faithful Masters. Later, I became Master for about eight years. None of my peers when I joined are now living; in a certain sense I am alone. The present membership consists of all young men, young enough to be my sons.

I know being a Companion must be a way of life. Our past history presents us with a strange panorama of discouragement, disloyalty, loneliness, and (at times) failure mingled with steadfastness, loyalty, love, and longsuffering. Our Divine Master calls us today to view these roots as marks along the path of the Cross where he will lead us into his likeness.