Hughson, Shirley Carter

(Feb. 15, 1867-Nov. 16, 1949). Superior of the Order of the Holy Cross, educator, spiritual director, and Anglo-catholic theologian. He was born in Camden, South Carolina. Hughson was educated at the University of South Carolina, Johns Hopkins University, and received his B.D. from the General Theological Seminary in 1896. He was ordained deacon on June 11, 1896, and priest on June 13, 1897. Hughson began his ministry as rector of St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia. He soon became interested in the monastic life. He was life professed in the Order of the Holy Cross on May 3, 1902. He was prior of the community at St. Andrew's, Tennessee from 1906 until 1914. He was also head of the St. Andrew's Industrial and Training School for Boys, which the order took over in Apr. 1906. He was superior of the order, Aug. 6, 1918-Aug. 11, 1921, and Aug. 5, 1930-Aug. 4, 1936. Hughson was novice master of the order, 1903-1906, 1914-1921, 1924-1925, and 1945. He was a chaplain to the Community of St. Mary from 1906 until 1943, and chaplain general from 1908 until 1918. Hughson was a prolific writer. He published more than 25 books. His The Warfare of the Soul, Practical Studies in the Life of Temptation (1910), led him to be recognized as an authority on prayer and spiritual direction. His The Fundamentals of the Religious State (1915) became the basic text on the theology of the religious life. He died at the Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York.