Poor Clares

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Anybody else here looking at the Poor Clares? I am corresponding with two separate monasteries. One in my state and one out. (The PCC branch.) Thoughts, stories, experiences, recommendations?

All would be appreciated!
 
mongobongo said:
Anybody else here looking at the Poor Clares? I am corresponding with two separate monasteries. One in my state and one out. (The PCC branch.) Thoughts, stories, experiences, recommendations?

All would be appreciated!
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Join www.phatmass.com. Search for PCC or Collettine in the (good) search engine, look up posts and PM or private message the posters. There is a recent post from a new member regarding this.
 
mongobongo said:
Anybody else here looking at the Poor Clares? I am corresponding with two separate monasteries. One in my state and one out. (The PCC branch.) Thoughts, stories, experiences, recommendations?

All would be appreciated!
Click to expand...
I am currently reading Mother Mary Francis’ book called, “A Right to Be Merry.” She was a Poor Clare Nun in Roswell, NM. She passed away in 2006. The book is all about the new foundation (she originally entered in Chicago), and the life of a Poor Clare. If you are interested in their life, I would definitely recommend reading it. I bought my copy from Amazon. It’s printed by Ignatius Press.

I was thinking about visiting them earlier in my discernment, but I am called to the Carmelites. I am not called to be cloistered though. 🙂 I am thinking about joining the Carmelite Sisters of Divine Heart of Jesus in Milwaukee, WI, but that won’t be for a while.

I would recommend the Roswell, NM Poor Clare Colettines (poorclaresroswell.com/)), the Poor Clares of Belleville, IL (poorclares-belleville.info/) (click “Watch Our Video” for a view of their life; it’s beautiful and had me in tears!), and the Rockford, IL Poor Clares (my friend is looking at this community) (rockfordpoorclares.org/)//)

There is a website with all the monasteries in the United States listed. There’s even other countries listed like Africa, Australia, Belgium, etc., if you feel called to leave the US.

poorclare.org/blog/

God bless you and know that you are in my prayers!
 
CarmeliteGirl25 said:
I am currently reading Mother Mary Francis’ book called, “A Right to Be Merry.” She was a Poor Clare Nun in Roswell, NM. She passed away in 2006. The book is all about the new foundation (she originally entered in Chicago), and the life of a Poor Clare. If you are interested in their life, I would definitely recommend reading it. I bought my copy from Amazon. It’s printed by Ignatius Press.

I was thinking about visiting them earlier in my discernment, but I am called to the Carmelites. I am not called to be cloistered though. 🙂 I am thinking about joining the Carmelite Sisters of Divine Heart of Jesus in Milwaukee, WI, but that won’t be for a while.

I would recommend the Roswell, NM Poor Clare Colettines (poorclaresroswell.com/)), the Poor Clares of Belleville, IL (poorclares-belleville.info/) (click “Watch Our Video” for a view of their life; it’s beautiful and had me in tears!), and the Rockford, IL Poor Clares (my friend is looking at this community) (rockfordpoorclares.org/)//)

There is a website with all the monasteries in the United States listed. There’s even other countries listed like Africa, Australia, Belgium, etc., if you feel called to leave the US.

poorclare.org/blog/

God bless you and know that you are in my prayers!
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Let’s try this:

Poor Clares Roswell:

poorclaresroswell.com/

Poor Clares Rockford:

rockfordpoorclares.org/

HTH.

Blessings,
Cloisters
 
I read the book, too and more. I have also been going to different websites. I’m curious if there are any other “poor clares to be” out here!

Thanks…
 
mongobongo said:
I read the book, too and more. I have also been going to different websites. I’m curious if there are any other “poor clares to be” out here!

Thanks…
Click to expand...
TradMom on phatmass has 2 daughters in cloistered life, one a carmelite. The family, including Trad, did a lot of direct research, including visits, before their daughters entered, and, I believe, has a lot of experience in visiting and researching monasteries and orders. You might PM her as to whether they visited any PCC monasteries.
 
mongobongo said:
I read the book, too and more. I have also been going to different websites. I’m curious if there are any other “poor clares to be” out here!

Thanks…
Click to expand...
There are the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, PCPA, to which Mother Angelica belongs. They have several monasteries in the USA.

What you have to remember about the Poor Clares is that our holy father Francis did not found our nuns as one order. When Clare became the Superior General she made sure that after her death there would never be one single congregation or order of Poor Clares. She wanted each community to be autonomous. So she deleted the central government and central Mother General. Like St. Francis she bound every Poor Clare in history to be obedient to Francis and to her. Each local superior is the direct successor of Clare and Francis.

Every monastery lives by the same rule, but each abbess is the highest authority. The local community decides how to apply the rule to their circumstances and time. Our holy mother Clare was a wise woman. She wanted to protect the Franciscan spirit of our nuns. To do so, she had to give them the freedom that Francis gave the Friars and the Secular Franciscans. So she allowed each house to decide how to live the rule.

You will have to search house by house. Even if they have the same origins, they do not necessarily put all the virtues and practices of a Poor Clare in the same order of priority.

For example, Mother Angelica’s group places adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as their first priority. Other Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration place poverty as their fist priority and approach the Blessed Sacrament as discalced and wearing a very simple habit, unlike that of the Poor Clares on EWTN.

Clare also did not impose a habit on her nuns. So each house has its own version of a Franciscan habit. Clare wore the habit of St. Francis, but not all of her daughters did or do today.

But it is the interior life of the Poor Clare that you are looking for. One thing that they all have in common is that they look to St. Francis of Assisi to be their guide on how to live the Gospel.

To better understand the spirituality of Francis and Clare I would recommend Francis and Clare: the Complete Writings by Regis Armstrong, OFM, Cap.

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
 
mongobongo said:
Anybody else here looking at the Poor Clares? I am corresponding with two separate monasteries. One in my state and one out. (The PCC branch.) Thoughts, stories, experiences, recommendations?
All would be appreciated!*

I am quite close to the Poor Clares in Spokane Washington.
calledbyjoy.com/
I shall try to find some current books on St Clare and her Spirituality. As so many others have posted each monastery is unique.

The best thing is to view all of the foundations and get to know each community as each has their own unique charism.
Other books that may be of interest to you are:
  1. Wrapped in Joy
    Franciscan Poor Clare Sisters Share Special Stories
    Sr. Katherine, O.S.C.
  2. Clare &her Sisters
    Lovers of the Poor Christ
    Madeline Pecora Nugent SFO
[Many many more good books out there I shall try to post more on my next day off for you]
Blessings of Peace and All Good!
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mongobongo said:
I read the book, too and more. I have also been going to different websites. I’m curious if there are any other “poor clares to be” out here!

Thanks…
Click to expand...
Mongo,

Are you interested exclusively in the Poor Clare Collettines?
 
Maybe the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration would be of interest to you? They are the branch, founded by Mother Angelica of EWTN fame.

They are establishing a new monastery in Arizona… “Our Lady of Solitude”. I believe there are currently only 5 sisters. Here is their website. And I will keep you in my prayers. God bless.

desertnuns.com/
 
If you want to find good Franciscan lierature try

stfrancisbookshop.com/

and

franciscanresources.com/

I get many of our books for our fraternity from these sites.

By the way, there is a note that has to be edited. Mother Angelica is not the founder of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration are a French congregation of Poor Clares. Mother Angelica founded the monastery in Irondale, Alabama. Originally she belonged to the monastery in Cleveland, which is the oldest Poor Clare Monastery in the USA. From Irondale they moved to the shrine that was built by the diocese of Burmingham and donations to the Poor Clares.

There are two foundations coming up, one in Texas and the other in Arizona. When they prove that they can get vocations and income so as not to be a financial burden on the Church, they will be legally separated from the foundation in Alabama and become autonomous monasteries. Every Poor Clare Monastery is its own “order”. They are not legally attached once they receive canonical approval. They become dependent on the Diocese and the Holy See.

They remain members of the same congregation, because they follow the spirit of the same founder, such as PCPA, PCC, PC, Cap.PC and OSC. Of course they follow the Rule of St. Clare inspired by the rule that St. Francis originally wrote for them.

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
 
mongobongo said:
I read the book, too and more. I have also been going to different websites. I’m curious if there are any other “poor clares to be” out here!

Thanks…
Click to expand...
*[yes sorry forgot to add as you might surmise from my board name I am looking at the Poor Clares]

my journey leads me to remain on the west coast but is dependant on my paying off my student loans.
blessings and if you have questions perhaps I might help*
 
mongobongo said:
Anybody else here looking at the Poor Clares? I am corresponding with two separate monasteries. One in my state and one out. (The PCC branch.) Thoughts, stories, experiences, recommendations?

All would be appreciated!
Click to expand...
Hello MongoBongo, and welcome to the Vocations Forums!🙂

I am also interested in the Poor Clares. I have done two live in’s with the same community. They are the Poor Clares in Aptos, Ca. They have you wear the Postulant outfit, small, brown veil, and white blouses. Of course, you meet with Mother Clare first.
Thier age limit is to 40 I believe. They are PCC’s, but do not rise at midnite, nor sleep on straw beds. They do go barefoot, have extern sisters, and thier habit is alittle different.

I will be doing a 1-3 month live in, with the Capuchin Poor Clares in Amarillo, Texas., very soon. I am way over thier age limit, but I became interested in them, after visiting them back in 1997. Mother Abbess, remembered me. The sisters can not wait for me to come. I am pretty excited, and nervous. But I feel called to this way of life–cloistered, and a Poor Clare. I am Franciscan, 100%!!

I hope this helps you some. Not all PCC’s sleep on straw beds, nor rise at midnite to say Matins. Thier is another one near me also, and I keep in correspondence with them. Thier age limit is 18-30.

Clare Therese
 
mongobongo said:
Anybody else here looking at the Poor Clares? I am corresponding with two separate monasteries. One in my state and one out. (The PCC branch.) Thoughts, stories, experiences, recommendations?

All would be appreciated!
Click to expand...
I expect that a Poor Clare convent in Ireland is ever so slightly out of your way!, but you may be interested in looking at the website of their Galway monastery - www.poorclares.ie . There are plenty of stories, FAQ’s, and photographs concerning everyday life in the monastery. It is interesting - in Ireland at least - when the number of people responding to a vocation to religious life are very few, the Poor Clares are doing relatively well. On the other hand, certain orders such as the Sisters of Mercy who for many years had such a strong presence in Irish society - owning neumerous schools and hospitals - seem to be just fading away. My theory on this is that many of the religious orders have, in the past three decades or so, lost their identity in a sense - the Mercy sisters, for example, have slowly given up control of their schools and hospitals and their former roles have apparently not been replaced by new objectives. The Poor Clares, on the other hand, have stayed true to the simple ideal of St Clare of “being with the Lord always”, and as long as they do this there will be vocations in abundance. I wish you the very best for your journey.
 
NPC said:
I expect that a Poor Clare convent in Ireland is ever so slightly out of your way!, but you may be interested in looking at the website of their Galway monastery - www.poorclares.ie . There are plenty of stories, FAQ’s, and photographs concerning everyday life in the monastery. It is interesting - in Ireland at least - when the number of people responding to a vocation to religious life are very few, the Poor Clares are doing relatively well. On the other hand, certain orders such as the Sisters of Mercy who for many years had such a strong presence in Irish society - owning neumerous schools and hospitals - seem to be just fading away. My theory on this is that many of the religious orders have, in the past three decades or so, lost their identity in a sense - the Mercy sisters, for example, have slowly given up control of their schools and hospitals and their former roles have apparently not been replaced by new objectives. The Poor Clares, on the other hand, have stayed true to the simple ideal of St Clare of “being with the Lord always”, and as long as they do this there will be vocations in abundance. I wish you the very best for your journey.
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Also one has to factor in that there are cultural changes and that many religious congregations did not respond to the the spiritual needs of the young. Mos of us know that the young live very comfortably. They are going to be attracted to more ascetical communities.

We also know that family life is often very disfunctional and the young are going to be attracted to religious communities with a strong family bond. Unfortunately, many religious congregations sacrificed their family ties with each other to respond to apostolic needs. To a certain level, religious who did social ministry (just an example) but did not deliver on the strong community and ascetical life began to die by atrition. As Mother Teresa once said, “We are not social workers. We are Sisters.”

Cloistered communities have the advantage of preserving their strong community bond and even when they mitigate their ascetical practices, the very fact of living one’s life enclosed within four walls with the same group of women requires a spirit of asceticism. A cloistered religious can’t just ask for a transfer because he or she can’t get along with certain personalities in the community. Those kinds of transfers rarely happen. They live with great sacrifices, even though they may be of the invisible kind.

In addition, the Franciscan family has suddently picked up a great many vocations after some years of confusion after Vatican II. There are almost 500,000 friars around the world. I don’t know how many thousands of Poor Clares there are, but they do number in the thousands. The Secular Franciscans have now passed the 600,000 member mark. We’re speaking about a family that has increased its membership past the one million member mark. Francis and Clare still remain very attractive. Their simplicity and the simplicity of their rules allows for many variations on the same theme without losing the Franciscan identity. This is also happening with the Dominicans, especially among women religious. There are new female Dominican communities growing and being born as we speak. There is something to be said about a simple way of life that has flexibility coupled with ascetisism, and strong internal family bonds.

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
 
Thanks for all the answers. I was told by the Abbess of the Monastery that I had written to and visited that they don’t allow live-ins! I am so excited to know that Aptos allows live-ins. That must be great, to actually experience the life before you make a committment.

Yes, I am pretty much interested in the PCC’s. I went to Italy last summer and visited Assisi. Also, I read M. Mary Francis’ book, A Right to be Merry, so I just felt that was it for me.

I also want to wear the full habit and I know that probably sounds vain but I do.

Thanks for the suggestion to contact TradMom. She is great!
 
I remember with great gratitude, while I was visiting Ireland, the Poor Clares in Cork. I had already bought a ticket to Ireland when my father’s surgery was scheduled. I hesitated to travel, but he insisted that I go. I was worried, so I stopped at the monastery (they are nuns, not Sisters, so their houses are monasteries) behind University College, Cork, and asked for prayers for him. I called home the next day, and he had come through surgery with flying colours. Over the next few years, while teaching summer school on the grounds of UCC, I visited the chapel, which has the Blessed Sacrament exposed, from time to time. They are a blessing.
 
Ok, here comes lots of PCC links! I have much more but decided to not make this a humongous post!

I have been writing to the PCCs in Cleveland, OH - the first PCC monastery in the US and all the other PCCs came either directly or indirectly from them. I also visited them twice for a week each time and I LOVE them!

Website: poorclarecolettines-cleveland.org/

Additional pictures taken of them: cmykstudios.com/poorclares/index.htm

Article on them: dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2007/01/05/20070105-C3-00.html

Pics of them in Cardinal Sean’s blog: cardinalseansblog.org/2007/06/ - 1st pic of the cloistered nuns and the 3rd one down is of their externs who were so sweet and kind to me during my stay (picked me up at the airport, brought me back, fed me, etc.!)

The Minooka, IL, PCCs do live-ins for serious discerners - poorclaresjoliet.org/poorclare_vocations.php

I am also writing the PCCs of Carlow Ireland:

new website: poorclarescarlow.ie/
old website: poorclares.homestead.com/index.html

Also the Dublin, Ireland PCCs: pccdamians.ie/index.htm

As for the PCCs in Galway, Ireland (poorclares.ie/page3.html)), I posted links on them on Phatmass months back and a PMer put this video on to the PM Vocation Staion Video blog and on Love to Be Catholic video site at lovetobecatholic.com/video_2145_Poor_Clares__Ireland.html - wonderful vocation 10 min video on these PCCs

Also a shorter video on them at this site when they launched their website - rte.ie/news/2004/0107/6news.html - scroll down to the heading about nuns and a new website.

Here’s a lovely letter written by a father of a PCC: wf-f.org/03-2-PoorClares.html

A 20/20 TV report on a few women who visited/retreated/lived-in with a few monasteries and Diane Sawyer went and visited and talked with Mother Mary Francis, PCC at the Roswell PCC monastery poorclaresroswell.com)). Posted on YouTube but the picture isn’t the greatest. Please excuse Diane Sawyer’s idiotic questions and statements/comments she made! She is SO clueless about nuns, the religious life and God! But it is worth watching to see the Roswell PCCs and Mother Mary Francis:

Part One: youtube.com/watch?v=Tm_8MUct7VA
Part Two: youtube.com/watch?v=yQRMHkMzOO0&feature=related

There is also lovely PCC community in Bendigo, Australia - no website but these 2 pages and they are almost the same:

rc.net/australia/aprel/APRELcoll.htm and catholicozvocations.org.au/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=85&sobi2Id=128&Itemid=134

Then the PCCs of Eindhoven - web.inter.nl.net/users/clarissenklooster/engadven.html - founded by Mother Mary Francis from Roswell - in her book “Forth and Abroad - Still Merry” - something like that. I have read the book and have it but the exact title is eluding me at the moment!

The Los Altos Hills, CA PCCs - a story of one of their nuns from a postulant to professed nun: chcweb.com/catalog/files/photostorypc.pdf and their website poor-clares.org/losaltos/losaltosl.html

PCCs of Aptos, CA: poorclaresofaptos.org/index.html

PCCs of Santa Barbara, CA: poorclaressantabarbara.org/

PCCs of St. Louis, MO: IRL page - religiouslife.com/w_pcstlouis01.html and page on diocese: archstl.org/requestaprayer/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=23&Itemid=206 - scroll down to them (have other orders on same page)

article on them: ww.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=18534 and stlouisreview.com/article.php?id=16286

Belleville PCCs: poorclares-belleville.info/

Palos Park, IL PCCs: chicagopoorclares.org/

Rockville, PCCs: rockfordpoorclares.org/

PCCs Barhamsville, VA: poor-clares.org/

Then the Capuchin PCs: [capuch(name removed by moderator)oorclares.org/](http://www.capuch(name removed by moderator)oorclares.org/) and
[capuch(name removed by moderator)oorclares.org/sisterfrancis.html](http://www.capuch(name removed by moderator)oorclares.org/sisterfrancis.html) and their blog 2008remodel.wordpress.com/ and capuchins.org/cookies/index.html

This site has the 4 volume supplement of Office of Proper of Franciscan saints and blesseds for $9.00 each - which I bought and LOVE as I can now say the full 7 offices for St. Francis, Clare, Colette, etc! and goes with my 4 volume Divine Office books - at stfrancisonline.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SFB&Category_Code=FLIT
 
Dera TeresaBenedicta,
What a great post! Do you know which monastery Mother Angelica had been part of before she moved to Alabama? I love her Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration (EWTN).
Loved all yr sites. God bless!
Kathgirl
 
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