Day to day, the status of religious orders within the Church seems quite fixed. The Benedictines have followed the same Rule for some 1,500 years; the Franciscans have held custody of the Holy Land since the days of the Fourth Crusade; the Carthusians, as their motto, say stat crux dum volvitur orbis; the cross stands still as the world turns. It is comforting, and easy, to think of such communities as existing separate from time, eternal, unmoving.

And yet, reality is much more fluid. As of today, there are approximately 2,500 religious orders and societies in communion with the Church worldwide. Some are as old as the tradition of Christian monasticism itself, while others, like the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, are quite young – in the case of the Friars, they were recognized under pontifical right in 2016. At any given moment, new institutes burgeon forth, while others reach the end of their mission. This latter process is known formally as “conclusion”.

Fr. Michael Carter, SSE, is the campus ministry director at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester; he is, additionally, the youngest priest of one such institute, the Society of Saint Edmund. Founded in France in 1843, the Society relocated to Winooski, Vermont in 1889, as political chaos engulfed the Third Republic and numerous factions in French society stoked anti-Catholic sentiment. “At first, they came to establish more parishes” Fr. Carter explained; “but their main charism was always education.”

To this end, the Society established Saint Michael’s College in 1904. Under the Society’s leadership, the college expanded greatly during the first half of the twentieth century, particularly in the decade following World War II as the GI Bill took effect. While the Edmundite presence on campus today is greatly reduced, their legacy carries on in the mission of the college; the commitment to academic excellence and uniquely Catholic culture survives, even as the Society itself moves away from a direct leadership role.

For Fr. Carter, the current status of the Society poses some unique challenges. “We’re in the process of winding down” he said; “I’m the youngest priest in the Society of Saint Edmund, by a wide margin.” In such a position, Fr. Carter assumes the dual role of continuing the Society’s mission on campus as long as possible, while also serving as the de facto custodian of its legacy. “As long as there’s one member, whoever that is, a society or order is still technically active” he explained. “There are things on a practical level, what missions do we step away from, which we continue…as well as looking towards caring for members of the Society who have served long and faithfully and are now retired.”

Completion, for an order or society, on a fundamental level means ceasing to accept new novices or members. This sets the community on a deliberate, terminal path towards its discontinuation. As the Society of Saint Edmund shrinks, however, the process is not a passive one; “One possibility we’re exploring is the idea of quasi-merging with another order, or someone from another order taking on a supervisory role” Fr. Carter said. Though the Edmundites may no longer be visible in parishes and schools in the diocese, their presence will – in one way or another, perhaps under a different name – continue to be felt.

Having first come to Vermont by way of Canada, the Society of Saint Edmund’s impact is most obvious in the northern part of the state, from Saint Michael’s College to Saint Anne’s Shrine in Isle la Motte; Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Swanton; and other parishes stretching from Essex to Charlotte.

“As for my own future, the future of the Society poses some interesting possibilities” Fr. Carter said. “Perhaps I’ll be the only member at one point…I don’t fully know what that will look like. I haven’t fully grappled emotionally with what my ministry will look like going forward, but I hope whatever I do I can continue to serve the Church as best as I can.” Campus ministry at Saint Michael’s College remains a vital mission, whether performed by a Society priest or a secular one.

The Society of Saint Edmund’s motto reflects its commitment to service: Do the best we can, with what little we have, to serve those most in need. Fr. Carter intends to carry this mission forward, regardless of what the future holds for the Society. “People often have, I think, a healthy desire to grow in their own holiness” he explained. “And that’s beautiful; but if you become a priest thinking ‘This is a good way to develop my own holiness’, there’s a danger, I think, of romanticizing the priesthood; the reality is, you become a priest not for yourself, but for the Church and for others.”

There is, in this final reflection, another truth; as a religious institute moves into the final phase of its life, it is easy to look back with sadness and nostalgia on what once was, to even develop a kind of homesickness for a time we never got to experience. But instead, such a development can be cause for hope; the Society’s charism, to teach and to serve, now releases itself to the wider community. The work the Edmundites started carries on; only now, all are called to take part.