mongobongo
Peace and Blessings!
You are very blessed to be in Denver. I have a very special love for the Capuchin tradition. I began as a Capuchin, many years ago. Then the Lord called three of us and two Secular Franciscans to venture out as a new community of Franciscans Brothers of Penance to live a life of atonement for those who destroy life in the womb. Now our local bishop has given us permission to begin the discernment process for another foundation. If it is the will of the Holy Spirit, this will be the Franciscan Brothers of Life whose mission will be to serve the unborn, their parents and to serve the sick and the dying and their families.
Brother JR …You are very blessed to be in Denver. I have a very special love for the Capuchin tradition. I began as a Capuchin, many years ago. Then the Lord called three of us and two Secular Franciscans to venture out as a new community of Franciscans Brothers of Penance to live a life of atonement for those who destroy life in the womb. Now our local bishop has given us permission to begin the discernment process for another foundation. If it is the will of the Holy Spirit, this will be the Franciscan Brothers of Life whose mission will be to serve the unborn, their parents and to serve the sick and the dying and their families.
However, both foundations follow the Capuchin Franciscan tradition of contemplation, absolute obedience to the Church, Francis, and our superiors, literal poverty and brotherhood as it was lived by Francis, Clare and the brothers and sisters of our holy family.
Charlie, as we affectionately call him, and I were stationed at the same friary in the East before the reorganization of the Capuchin Pronvinces in the USA and the erection of the Province of St. Conrad. Sean O’Malley was also at that house. Please pray for the three of us, Sister. God split us up and sent us in different directions to love him in the poor and proclaim the Gospel, just as he did the early friars and nuns of the order.
Any woman who is thinking seriously about becoming a Poor Clare nun, if you are looking for a life that is enclosed, following the Rule of St. Clare as it was followed in the early days of the order and with great austerity, the Capuchin Poor Clares may be for you.
Although the Order of Poor Sisters if one order founded by our holy Father Francis and holy Mother Clare, like the friars, Clare sent her daughters to new foundations and those foundations to other foundations. As each foundation was erected it did two very interesting things. The nuns kept the fidelity to Francis and Clare by retaining the rule and the customs of the order. At the same time, they focussed on the particular virtue of Francis and Clare that was most needed at that time and in the place where they found themselves.
For example, in France, the devotion to the Holy Eucharist was characteristic of the French Catholics. Hence the Poor Clare foundation in France became the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, which we know from EWTN and Mother Angelica. And the same thing happened with other monasteries of the Poor Sisters, now called Poor Clares or Order of St. Clare. Each one took one aspect of Franciscan life and hilighted it for the salvation of the sisters and the souls of those around them who needed to see that particular virute in living form. Thus the Capuchins were orignially a group of Conventual Franciscan Friars and two Observant Franciscan Friars, all sons of St. Francis, with Franciscan succession who saw the need to emphasize the poverty of Francis and Clare at a time when the Church, both lay and religious, was becoming very concerned with the new colonies in the Americas. The focus was on activity. These friars realized that the brothers were becoming very active missionaries and also very clerical (ordaining almost too many priests) in response to the call to the American missions. These friars opened a new house where prayer, obedience and strict poverty were observed. They were soon followed by some Poor Clares. The Capuchin Franciscan Friars and the Capuchin Poor Clares were canonically erected years later.
In the economic environment in which we live, it is important to have these holy men and women remind us that poverty can be accepted as a means to holiness. It doesn’t have to be a cause for anxiety or be seen as an evil hardship. It is a terrible thing, when it is imposed. But when it is embraced as a means of living as Christ died on the cross, naked and poor, it becomes a means to holiness. This is the most important message of the Capuchin Franciscan tradition.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
You’re right about Mother Angelica not being the foundress of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. The original name of the Order when she entered in Cleveland was the "Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament’. I found that in Raymond Arroyo’s biography of Mother.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
If no one else has answered this question, I will:
I didn’t know that they were coming to NC. That’s great news to have them come to the Southeast. Thanks for the news.
As Barb has pointed out, they are all the same order. The interesting note about the Poor Clares is that they go under different names, but they are all members of the Poor Sisters founded by St. Francis and St. Clare. The reason that they can go by different names is because each house eventually becomes autonomous. When Francis and Clare wrote the rule for the nuns they copied the Benedictine custom of making each monastery an autonomous community, unlike the two other orders that St. Francis founded. We’re not autonomous. Every house is connected to a Mother House and all the houses are governed by the same superior. But the Poor Clares did not have that obligation.
Yep-from the looks of the pictures posted on their website, it seems that the move took place not many days ago. Some of the MFVA friars from Irondale helped them pack up, then unpack once they got to Charlotte. Their new ‘temporary’ home is-guess what-a former convent!I didn’t know that they were coming to NC. That’s great news to have them come to the Southeast. Thanks for the news.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
I read your message, and felt in my heart to leave you the website we use: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 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!
Blessings to all on this Divine Mercy Sunday!I think you’re right about them-I remember from Raymond Arroyo’s biography of Mother Angelica that the name was originally ‘Franciscan Nuns of the Blessed Sacrament’. That was at the time of Mother’s entrance at the Monastery in Cleveland in 1944.