Order of the Holy Paraclete

The Order of The Holy Paraclete (OHP) is an Anglican religious community. The community began in 1915, when it was founded by Margaret Cope (1886–1961) at the Mother House of St. Hilda's Priory, Sneaton Castle, Whitby.

Mother Margaret was a Novice with the Community of St Peter, Horbury, in 1914, when the announcement of the Great War meant that the Sisters decided to close St Hilda's School, the high school for girls which they had been running. While on rest at Rievaulx Abbey, she was inspired by the Holy Spirit to found a new educational Order, to continue the school. In January 1915, St Hilda's School re-opened at Sneaton Castle, Whitby, and the new Order was provisionally named The Society of the Holy Spirit.

The Archbishop of York at the time was Dr Cosmo Gordon Lang, who in July 1915 appointed Dr Walter Frere of the Community of the Resurrection as adviser to the Order. Fr Frere advised that there was already in existence in the USA an Order called The Society of the Holy Spirit, and suggested The Order of the Holy Paraclete.

The Rule and Constitution of the Order were formally accepted by Archbishop Lang by August 1917. The First Professions of the Order took place on 16 October, 1917, followed by the first formal meeting of the Chapter, at which Fr Frere resigned as Spiritual Adviser and at which Mother Margaret was officially elected as the first Prioress of the Order. The installation of Mother Margaret as Prioress took place on the same day.

In 1919, the Order acquired a resident Chaplain, Rev G Healey, allowing for regular services in Chapel. This encouraged the building of a proper Chapel, as the room which was being used for this purpose is found at the top of the South Tower, accessible only by a stone spiral staircase. (The Chapel built at this time is now the refectory in the Sneaton Castle Centre.) This was the first of a number of building projects to extend the available space for both Sisters and pupils.

The Sisters who were in First Vows took their Life Professions on 2 July 1921.

The Rule and Constitution of the Order were finalised and authorised by the ecclesiastical authority of Archbishop William Temple in January 1930. Mother Margaret had sought help from Fr Lucius Carey of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in finalising the legal document of the Constitution.

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