Sr. Marie Antoinette, PCPA, was a professional violinist before she entered the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in 1984, one of the early sisters who joined Mother Angelica’s new community in Birmingham, Alabama.
Now she is using her talents to raise money for the restoration of the Monastere Notre Dame des Anges, their cradle monastery, in Troyes, France. Their foundress, Mother Marie of St. Claire Bouillevaux, is buried in the monastery garden.
The chapel was renovated and reopened in 2007. In order to raise funds to repair the roof, Sister Marie Antoinette has recorded a CD of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and a Sonata by Veracini. The sisters hope to sell hundreds of the CDs to pay for part of the expenses. As Sister said, “You could say I was ‘fiddling’ for the roof!”
Read the complete article in the National Catholic Register (2/26/12). To order the CD, visit the EWTN website or call (800)854-6316.
Uh, no-Sister Marie Antoinette was NOT one of the ‘original founding Sisters’ of Mother Angelica’s community in Alabama, so that info is wrong.
Here are the names of the founding Sisters: Sisters M. Joseph, M. Raphael, M. Assumpta. I think Sister Assumpta went back to the Sancta Clara monastery in Canton. And both Sisters Joseph and Raphael are dead. So the only one of the original founding Sisters in Alabama who is still alive is, of course, Mother Angelica.
I don’t know when Sister Antoinette entered; she is mentioned once or twice in Raymond Arroyo’s biography of Mother Angelica, but there is no mention of an entrance date for her.
The first vocation from a native Alabaman was Sister M. Regina, who is still alive. Then I think the next one was Sister M. Catherine, who came from Louisiana. Does anyone know what happened to her after she took a sabbatical leave?
Barb, you are right, though Sister describes herself as “among the original founding sisters.” She entered when EWTN was three years old.