Begin the Beguines!

I've been reading about the Beguines as part of my preparation for my series in Women and Christianity, and I'm so excited!  I think we are the next wave of Beguines!

The Beguines were groups of women (there were some men, called Beghards, in separate communities) who were primarily based in the Netherlands and Belgium, from the 12th century through the 15th (though I hear there are still one or two houses today).  They lived and prayed together, but they were not enclosed.  They worked in various industries to earn their living, including weaving and teaching.  They did not take life vows, and they were free to leave.  Some were married, but all took vows of celibacy while they were members.  They did not have a distinctive habit, but lived simply.  They did not have a formal written rule - they lived according to their Gospel values.

Often the Beguines lived clustered around monasteries.  Some lived together (an early use of the word "convent"), and eventually many gathered into large compounds called beguinages.  They were not recognized by the institutional church, except as a threat.  Many Beguines were suspected of heresy, and one, Marguerite of Porete, was executed for her "suspect" writings of mystical love.

As I read, I thought: this sounds like the Companions.  When we first began meeting, in fact, one of our earliest collaborators suggested we look at the Beguines, but we never really discussed them.  But now I think she was brilliantly perceptive.  Networks, clustered but loose; women living according to values rather than regulations; women madly in love with God, and not just as a father figure.  Wild women - of the most respectable sort, of course.

I don't know if this is us.  It's early.  But we could do worse.

It seems that every time the Church gets itself stuck, tripping over its own institutional shoelaces, the Holy Spirit sends a breath that can't be taken in through normal channels.  And some people are lucky enough to catch the breeze and float with it.  I pray to be one of those, and I pray that you will be too.

Let's begin the Beguine - again!