The Foundations of (Women's) Religious Life

If you're interested in the topic of women religious that was the subject of a recent flurry of posts, here's an interesting-looking book.  It's called The Foundations of Religious Life:  Revisiting the Vision, and consist of a collection of articles by representatives of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious.  It includes contributions from members of the Sisters of Life in New York City, the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, the Nashville Dominican Community of St. Cecilia, the Religious Sisters of Mercy, and the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George.  Here are some excerpts from the book blurb:

While many religious orders are currently facing marked decline in novitiates and the aging of their members, the communities of the CMSWR are experiencing growth on a worldwide scale.

In this collection of foundational articles, the CMSWR articulates how its perspective is in keeping with the vision set forth by Vatican II, suggesting that its commitment to a more visibly countercultural life and ministry is what sustains its orders and attracts young women to the CMSWR communities.

Here's a review of this book from the Denver Catholic Register.  One of the contributors is Sr. Prudence Allen, who has written the remarkable two-volume set on The Concept of Woman that has profoundly influenced my thoughts on Catholic feminism.