They are a group of nuns. Yes there is a 3rd order connected to them.
I apologize ahead of time since it is long but I shall copy the article here.
Sancta Clara offers life of prayer
Sunday, February 13, 2005
By LINDSAY GEBHART Repository staff writer
{there is a picture here of the sister and you can click for more pics}
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STILLNESS. Sister Anna is the oldest nun at Sancta Clara Monastery. She was born March 14, 1915, and recently celebrated her 70th anniversary of religious life.
PLAIN TWP. – Just before dawn, Sancta Clara MonasteryÍs nuns stir behind its cold stone walls.
Second-story bedroom lights turn on, then off, as the nuns head
down the stairs, then across the winding hallways that lead to the chapel, where they settle in a half circle for morning prayer.
Sister Anna, the oldest of the 10 nuns at the monastery, closes her eyes, whispering her prayers. The nuns begin to murmur prayers in unison, many clutching worn Bibles with tattered pages.
They then stand and trickle out of the chapel, past stained-glass windows radiating with the rising sun. The only sounds are their soft greetings and the swish of their long habits.
Quiet prayer is the pillar of life at the Sancta Clara Monastery on Market Avenue near 44th Street NE. The monastery, home of the Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration, is marked by a small, faded sign. The order is contemplative, which means the nuns spend most of their time in prayer rather than working with the public. They are also cloistered, which means they stay inside the converted Tudor mansion whenever possible. Exceptions are when they go shopping or to medical appointments.
The Poor Clares at Sancta Clara range in age from 34 to 89. They wear clothing symbolic of their poverty „ brown, shapeless robes and rope belts tied at the waist. Each fully initiated nun wears a thin silver ring symbolizing her marriage to Christ.
The two striking features of the cloister are its silence and its colors „ dull yellows and institutional greens that cover the furniture and hallways.
The nuns have a regular schedule of alternating group prayer and individual activities six days a week; one day a week is unstructured.
Each has a specialized task. In the past Sister Anna sewed and did needlepoint; now her failing eyesight doesnÍt permit those tasks or her favorite pastime „ reading mystery novels.
She grew up in a working-class home in Cleveland with her Yugoslavian immigrant parents, who spoke only Slovak. Anna learned English in school, and never knew how to read, write or speak fluently in her parentsÍ language. She said her parents learned how to speak some English in their late years, but as a child she was timid and accepted what was.
ñI understood the feelings of the words, like if I was being scolded,î Sister Anna said. ñI could answer in broken Slovakian.î
She was very shy. When she drew pictures of herself, it was as a turtle with its head in its shell.
ñI didnÍt fit in. I didnÍt learn how to skate or swim or drive a car,î she recalled.
She decided to join the order after her mother visited an open house at St. PaulÍs Catholic Church in Chardon.
ñShe said, ïThey never go out „ nobody can see them.Í ThatÍs how she explained the cloistered life,î Anna said.
Religious life had never really appealed to her, but cloistered living did because it centered around a quiet life.
ñItÍs in me to be hidden,î she said. A few days later, she told her parents she was going to join the order.
ñMy fatherÍs face lit up „ I knelt next to him and he blessed me. It was one of the best moments of my life,î she said.
Her friends and suitors were surprised.
ñI wasnÍt stone. There was a boy I loved,î she said. ñI still love to dance to polka.î
At 18, Sister Anna left her parentsÍ house on July 2, 1933, and traveled to the Poor ClaresÍ convent on West 40th Street. It was raining hard, and all she brought with her was the black dress she was wearing. She went inside and never saw her parents again.
You are a life-saver! It constantly amazes me how there is always somebody thinking and finding ways to beat the system! Thanks so much for the info!!!
I am very interested in this order and would love to know more about how meetings are run, why you like/dislike it, how it helps you grow in perfect union with Christ. Maybe you might let me know how I should prepare for a very first meeting! Thank you in advance for your kindness in answering my questions! 