Chapter 3

In a very matter of fact voice Mother Superior asked John and Mary if they had brought all of the adoption documents and other forms that needed to be filled out. "Yes," John answered and rising from his chair, leaned over toward the ancient desk and held out a rather thick white business sized envelope to her.

"Thank you," Mother Superior said. "It was a lot to get through. Any questions?"

"Lots," Mary said, "But we filled out all the official documents and had them notarized as requested..."

"And," John continued, "We completed the surveys, along with the personality profile forms and our family histories."

Picking back up the conversation, Mary said, "And our resumes are there too as are our high school and college transcripts. Getting them was not easy."

"Excellent," replied Mother Superior. "I'll review all of the documents with you when I meet with you later this afternoon."

"Now just to review a few details. You will be staying with us for these three days. Two more couples will be joining us. Hopefully you six will become close friends and later your support group as our relationship evolves. You will go through our orientation and training sessions together and take meals together.

"Your first orientation meeting will be held right after lunch when all six of you will meet for the first time. From now and until lunch time, you two will be given thorough physicals by our medical staff and if there is time, a tour of our Campus.

"But first there are one or two things you need to understand about our Order and the way we do things before we move forward.

"Humility is very important to us. Just as is obedience. I and every member of the Order expect you will act at all times in a Reverent manner to everyone you encounter. You can see our Credo and our Pledge on the wall behind me."

There were two brilliantly decorated medieval ceremonial shields on the wall behind Mother Superior. She sat hands folded on top of her desk as John and Mary read the inscriptions. "Honor and Devotion" was below the first one. The other had the inscription "Service to Humanity."

"Now it's time for you learn about our robes," After a few moments Mother Superior continued, "Everyone here, while on the campus, either working, visiting or living here, wears a robe indicating their station and place in our Order. Of course, there are a few exceptions as you must have realized.

"You have already met our Footman, my two Sentries and one of my Pages. Our hospital staff wears scrubs while on duty. Anyone performing other jobs or functions wears appropriate clothing. Maintenance workers of all types including landscapers, gardeners and of course anyone working in the stables all fall into that category.

But each person always wears something appropriate to their station in the Order. That is indicated by a pin, sash or belt they wear on their work clothing or uniform. With Ceremonial clothing or outfits it is usually indicated by a colored adornment or by the decorative colors used on their shield or weapon they carry.

"For example, when it's my turn to clean the stables, I wear work boots and gloves, heavy dungarees and a coarse plaid shirt. But, as I am Mother Superior, I wear a Scarlet sash or belt. I am the only one who wears Scarlet as you might have guessed. Unless of course, Father Superior from our Order's Monastery is visiting. He does visit at least twice a year on sabbatical. He just loves our horses and is an excellent equestrian.

"We do have Brothers from our Order in residence also helping here. By the way, our accountant for example is a Brother of our Order. You'll meet with him sometime over the next three days when we discuss finances. All boys and men living here, Brother or not, wear the Order's light or dark brown tunic. The dark brown one is reserved for Brothers in Service and the lighter brown tunic is worn by everyone else, men and boys that is," Mother Superior added with a smile. "Except that Priests of our Order wear Black. Visiting or resident clergy are excepted from wearing the Order's robes if they choose to wear their own ceremonial robes and adornment."

"As visitors, your tunic or robe if you like, will be Purple. Our Trainees, Novices and Novitiates all wear White. Consecrated Sisters dress in Blue.

"The remaining color, Rose is reserved for all of our young women who are pregnant or part of our lactating staff. We require that after giving birth they remain here and supply breast milk for a period of at least one year as a consideration of our support. Every young girl who comes for help here is welcome to continue on after that requirement is fulfilled.

We encourage each child here to complete their education and lead fruitful lives in the community and form their own family. At any time they can return here for comfort or sanctuary.

All of our orphans and Chosen Ones are welcome to return after completing their education. At that time, I have to admit, most do for a period of time but a few don't. I'm proud to say, many of our volunteers and Sisters In Service arrived here as pregnant teens or were orphans who grew up here and appreciate the values and structure our Order gives them.

"We don't discriminate because of social status or Religious preference. Nor do we coerce or attempt to convert anyone. We do however require everyone to attend two daily reflections as I like to call them. The first is directly after rising in the morning and the second just before our evening meal.

"Believers or Searchers attend Mass in our main Chapel. We also have a Christian Sanctuary for all other branches of Christianity, a Mosque, a Temple and a Reading Room for personal reflection on our Campus too.

"This might sound strange but we've had many orphans pass through our Gates from other religious backgrounds who've decided to stay with us after they became adults and finished their education. While they are not required to completely ascribe to our Religion they do follow its Tenets. We have Father Robert on our Staff, an ordained Roman Catholic Priest. He was was one of our older orphans who was not adopted. He's been here ever since he graduated from divinity school and was ordained. He has been granted a special dispensation from our local Diocese to be with us and help us guide our Roman Catholic Brethren.

We also have a full time Rabbi in residence and believe it or not, one of our Psychologists is an Atheist. Many of the members of our professional staff are former Orphans or 'The Chosen' as I call girls we have rescued from pregnancy. Girls who received The Calling and joined our Order as Novices make up the balance of our Staff.

"Oh," Mother Superior added, "I forgot to mention Yellow tunics are reserved for our orphans. Both Boys and Girls who are residing with us and going to our schools, all have the option of wearing casual clothing for school or a yellow tunic. For physical activities, normal gym clothing or sports specific clothing is worn. You know, for Soccer, Field Hockey, Softball and the like. Our teams frequently place in the top three in all competitions. We have a Hall Of Excellence where our numerous trophies and awards for sports and academic achievement are on display."

Rising from behind her desk Mother Superior moved to the front of it saying, "There is something I must mention about our robes. The men's and women's are slightly different. None of our robes have buttons, zippers or perhaps a strip of Velcro. As we are an ancient Order our tradition dictates all beginners secure their robes with a cloth tie. After five years of service, wooden toggles replace the cloth ties. The same applies to everyone from Visitors to those in Residence here. By medieval tradition, woman's robes are secured on the left side. Men's robes are secured on the right side."