Greetings!  

This editorial piece appeared in the October 3rd edition of the Duxbury Clipper and was written by David A. Mittell, Jr., Sr. Editor.  

A right welcome to all

Our first thought was to welcome the Society of St. Margaret to their new Mother House at 30 Harden Hill Road. Since the Episcopal Religious Order has been on Harden Hill every summer since 1903, that might be presumptuous. It is really the sisters who should be welcoming latter-day start-ups like The Clipper to town. But in the spirit of the order, we will conclude that right welcoming is mutual.

The Society of St. Margaret was founded as a nursing order in Sussex, England, in 1855. It honors St. Margaret, a third-century Turkish martyr. The order came to Boston in 1873. Members served as nurses at Children's Hospital. A Haitian mission -- more active than ever today -- was founded in 1927.

From 1883 to 1992, the Mother House and a small hospital were in Louisburg Square on Beacon Hill. Harden Hill was a summer retreat for members of the order and for children -- we can remember, as a very small boy, attending some summer thing with lots of other children in the building on the south side of Harden Hill Road. More is forgotten than remembered now; what remains is a feeling of comfort.

In 1992, the order moved from Louisburg Square to a former nursing home in Roxbury. After 20 years this building was too large to maintain for the 17 resident sisters. The decision was made to move to Duxbury year-round -- as so many summertime families have also done. Practical considerations no doubt dictated the move, but we are going to guess that Duxbury's call to individuals, families and religious orders derives from a commonly-held feeling.

With the sale of the Roxbury property to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, a Catholic order, St. Margaret's could afford to create a new Mother House, filled with light and Haitian art. It is also handicapped-accessible and eco-friendly to the limit of modern science.

Every room, even the utility room, is bathed in natural light. Most building materials are recycled. These materials were gentle to the environment from which they were taken, and are gentle to the environment of the new Mother House into which they have been put. The building was designed by William Saltonstall Architects of Marion, and built by Delphi Construction of Plymouth. Both firms take working with the order to have been a professional privilege.

Brick and mortar, however eco-friendly, are of course only means to a spiritual mission. In addition to the familiar one-story chapel next to the original farmhouse, as seen from Washington Street, an Oratory (chapel) has been created in the new convent. All are welcome to prayers held several times a day. For a schedule of services, visit ssmbos.org.

Ten sisters ages 34 to 96 will soon reside in the new convent. We are confident all who call on them will be made to feel as welcome as one little boy did more than 60 years ago.

  - D.A. Mittell, Jr.