Category Archives: Women’s Communities

Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary of Buffalo Announce Relocation Plans

August 15, 2020

Dear Friends,

This letter is long overdue, as so many of our friends and benefactors have expressed warm concern in hearing of the move of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary from Buffalo. The community has been considering the possibility of a move for the last several years. Our location in the city, the serious maintenance demands of our building and a growing desire for a physical environment where we might live out the fullness of our Dominican contemplative life made it clear that remaining in our Doat Street location was unrealistic. At first it seemed impossible to relocate, in light of our strong ties to the Diocese, the devotion of many friends and benefactors, and our strong Chapter of the Lay Fraternity of St. Dominic. Gradually, however, the community began to feel called by the Holy Spirit to consider a move to a place in the United States lacking a contemplative monastery of nuns, in response to the call of Pope Francis for contemplative religious to recognize the cloistered life as a work of evangelization among the People of God. Since Buffalo has a vibrant community of Discalced Carmelite Nuns, we began to consider a move to another diocese in a different part of the country.

After much prayer and discussion, our community has decided to relocate to the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. The bishop, Most Reverend Robert J. Brennan, has long desired to welcome a community of cloistered religious into the diocese.

Once the decision was made, matters developed rather quickly, particularly with the offer of purchase for our present building and property by the Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School, which plans to open a school at the location. This decision came as a shock to many of you, our dear friends. We must continue to impose on your patience and understanding, as current circumstances make it impossible for us to say a proper goodbye to you in the way we had hoped. We originally intended to celebrate a Thanksgiving Mass for all of you at the monastery on Doat Street, followed by a reception, but even now it is still not possible to arrange anything of this kind. We trust that in the future God will provide for this.

We hope to be fully moved to Columbus by the end of September. Our address will be: Sts. Peter and Paul Retreat Center, 2734 Seminary Rd SE, Newark, OH 43056-9339 and our telephone number is 740-928-4246.

Until early September, we continue to reside in temporary accommodation with the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance & Christian Charity in Stella Niagara, New York. We could not have found kinder and more gracious hosts than the Stella Franciscans, and we thank them for their hospitality and the blessing of the time we had with them.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is with heavy hearts that we will leave Buffalo and our many friends who have known us over the years, even decades. We want you to know that wherever we are, the good people of Buffalo and Western New York will always be in our hearts and prayers. Words cannot express the gratitude we feel for your tremendous support, friendship, and generosity over the years.

With our heartfelt love and prayers,
Mother Mary Dominic and Sisters

An Emerging Franciscan Community in the Beguine Tradition

By Sr. Courney Haase, CoC

The Companions of Clare is an emerging religious community located in Skowhegan, Maine.  As the name implies we follow a modified Franciscan rule of Clare of Assisi.  The Companions are revitalizing the beguine tradition in America following the format and structure.

Let us begin with Beguines?

Without burdening you with too much historical data, I invite you to do a Google search of the beguines in history. They were strong, independent women who loved God but did not wish to enter monasteries, the only available option.  They were autonomous in concept and lifestyle. Many women saints and founders started as beguines.  Numbers among beguines were St. Colette of Corbie, St. Angela Merici, and many others.  They were women who wanted to spend their lives with community support and in prayer. The beguine tradition is currently being studied and there is a revival of their spirit, especially in the lowlands of Europe where they originated. There are some YouTube videos at the end of the Companions website as well as a small list of books that are interesting and pertinent. I hope this cursory overview ignites your curiosity.

Religious life as we know it is changing as is the Church.  Beguines were on the cutting edge of a different style of religious women. The Companions of Clare are following suit.  The new is meeting the old! Both the Church and a new version of the beguines are breathing the Spirit of new life. All of us are looking ahead and occasionally we necessarily review the old. There is value in both and in new birth. Sometimes it is painful but always rewarding.

More about the Companions 

And so enters the Companions of Clare.  The mission of the community is adoration and thanksgiving and is geared to mature women who wish to spend their days with like-minded people. Many times maturity develops an insight or “second sight” to the soul. The community feeds on the liturgy and is dedicated to an intense contemplative prayer lifestyle. It is meant to fill a need for women who wish to reenter religious, life if they have previously left (but is not restricted to that end), or for women who wish to spend the remainder of life in prayer.

Social work is not our goal.  The five priorities of the Franciscan order consist of prayer, formation, evangelization, community and ministry.  The Companions pray without ceasing, are formed in Franciscan ideals and virtues, evangelize by our dress, work to live and grow in a community of spiritual women and encourage silence in our noisy world. The beguineage is considered a sacred space to all who visit. Living here demands mindfulness.  It is not always a piece of cake as you can imagine. But the rewards are by far sweeter.

The physical work of the Companions is basically maintaining the household and doing handiwork.  There are 3 alpacas which supply the community with fleece for spinning and weaving.  The end result of the work is not judged for selling but rather is used as gifts for benefactors and to enhance the contemplative spirit of the beguinage. The housekeeping, garden and outdoor work as well as handiwork help to free the heart for prayer. If your talent is writing, you may be asked to supply literature for publication. During the formative years some personal funds are reserved, after room and board is paid, as backup for formation members. All things are held in common after profession of vows.

The Prayer Life of the Community

The Divine Office is prayed in full and in common.  The rosary and any other private prayer are at the discretion of the sisters.  Time is set aside for Lectio Divina and, of course, classes for formation are scheduled.  Mass is attended and a Holy Hour for adoration is included in the day.  The Companions have been blessed with the sponsorship of the Franciscan Friars. Those who have asked us to remember their intentions sit with the communion of saints and sisters in the chapel as we pray.

In our prayer we focus on seeking and adoring the Face of God.  Our seeking and eventual spiritual vision is worth any amount of discipline.  Speaking of which, the Companions work hard to maintain a peaceful environment during the trouble times the world is facing.  This is the main source of our discipline.  Living as a group in peace and harmony is an intense discipline. Artificial discipline is not a goal.

The Beguinage (Convent)

The beguinage has room for 7 sisters.  It sits on 7 acres and has a hermitage in the woods for visitors.  Anyone who is interested in coming, even for a “Come and See,”* is required to submit to some screening and vetting.  This is for safety.

As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin so beautifully reminds us: “Above all, trust in the slow work of God.  We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.  We should like to skip the intermediate stages.  We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.  And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you, your ideas mature gradually- let them grow, let them shape themselves without undo haste”…

*During this period of pandemic requests for “Come and See” visits are on hold.  This is regrettable but allows you more time for discernment, personal prayer and a sense of personal solitude.  Definitely, this time for some is a blessing in disguise. Information is still supplied and telephone inquiries are still accepted.

Further information and pictures of the Convent of Peace and Good can be viewed on the website www.companionsofclare.org.  Any other questions? Do not hesitate to call me.

Sr. Courtney Haase, CoC, Guardian
Convent of Peace and Good
627 Middle Rd.
Skowhegan, ME 04976
207-431-2664

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother Amabilis Urszula Debicka, SSCJ, RIP

Hearing the news that Mother Amabilis Urszula Debicka, SSCJ, age 94, entered into eternal life on July 16, 2020, is a reminder to thank all of the religious communities who were the initial founding members of the IRL 46 years ago. We were touched to read in the obituary that Mother was remembered as “one of the first major superiors to belong to the Institute on Religious Life.”

Mother was born in Poland in 1926 and had an amazing life story. She was abducted at the beginning of World War II by the Nazi’s when she was in the eighth grade, enslaved, and sold to an SS family who wished to adopt her. As the war was ending, Mother managed to escape from her captivity and walked back to Poland where she spent time in a sanitarium recovering from tuberculosis.

In 1950, she entered the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and in 1961, came to America to serve in the Congregation’s fledgling foundation in the United States.  In addition to her administrative roles in the community, Mother was an organist, kindergarten teacher, catechist, and sodality director. She will be remembered for her “personal holiness, Franciscan joy, wit, and wonderful personality that drew many to seek her counsel and prayers.”

To read the full obituary, please visit the sisters website:(www.sacredheartsisters.org)

A Remedy for a Plague: Sr. Anne Madeleine Rémusat & Devotion to the Sacred Heart

During the years 1720-1721, an outbreak of the bubonic plague occurred in Marseilles, the largest French city on the Mediterranean Sea.  Sr. Anne Madeleine Rémusat, a Visitation nun and mystic, received a revelation that led to the end of this plague on humanity, sometimes called the Black Death.  Prayer and penance to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on her part and the cooperation of the diocesan Bishop, Henri de Belsunce, resulted in the cessation of this terrible trial.

While in adoration, Christ revealed to Sr. Anne-Madeleine that the plague would lead to the institution of the feast in honor of His Sacred Heart. Just a few days later, He made known to her the conditions. The message was immediately transmitted to Bishop de Belsunce who published an order establishing the Feast of the Sacred Heart in his diocese. On November 1, for the first time in the world, he solemnly consecrated the city and the Diocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In what historians call the appeasement, sufferers began to recover and the mortality rate fell dramatically. The brief outbreak in 1722 was the last appearance of the bubonic plague in Western Europe. However, a side note about that! The plague ceased for good when the bishop AND civil authorities walked in procession with a banner of the Sacred Heart.

Pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during this current worldwide health crisis! Consecrate yourself, your family, your parish, your diocese to Jesus. Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place all our trust in you!

For more information about the Visitation Order, visit their website.

Letter from Cardinal Ouellet to the Poor Clares of Assisi

Letter from Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, to Mother Clare Agnese Acquadro, Abbess of the Protomonastery of the Poor Clares of Assisi.

Dear Mother Agnes, you phoned me about the coronavirus pandemic. It was the time when Pope Francis asked families in involuntary isolation that their hearts go beyond the home. Cor ad cor loquitur. We helped each other to respond in faith and you begged me to write a few words to your nuns.

I do this willingly out of friendship, but above all in the name of Jesus who one day called you to voluntary isolation out of love. Are you not blessed because you walk with Him to the heart of the pilgrim Church, opening your soul more and more to the secrets of His Heart? It is sometimes thought that you have fled the world to rejoice peacefully in God’s friendship. Current events free us from this partial vision. In fact, at a time when, despite the heroism of men and women working in health care, so many families suffer the illness and death of their loved ones in solitude, without being able to accompany them or give them the final farewell, you, contemplatives of the Crucified One, are at their bedside, you to whom the Spirit enlarges the heart to the most hidden frontiers of suffering humanity.

Dear Mother Agnes, the pandemic which confines us in our house is your hour, the hour of contemplative life which brings humanity and the Church back to God, to the essentials of faith, prayer and communion in the Spirit. You, brides of the immolated Lamb, bow maternally over those dying during the day and those struggling with despair during the night, and invoke on every pain and every death the consolation of Hope which does not disappoint. Your discreet and widespread presence, carried by the Breath of the Risen One and the fragrance of His nuptial Love, is a balm of tenderness and peace on the wounds of all brothers and sisters in humanity.

How is this possible? This question is asked by a generation paralyzed by the globalization of indifference and blinded by the cult of Mammon. Yet, in the great test of today, each conscience is questioned by this planetary arrest which resembles a universal Lent. The fear of uncontrollable contagion, the collapse of financial stock exchanges and social paralysis force us to open ourselves to more essential questions. One day, the Virgin of Nazareth, astonished by the Angel’s Annunciation, asked a question that was vital for the whole of humanity: How will this happen, since I know not man? The divine answer, unheard of, came down from heaven: The Holy Spirit will descend upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with his shadow. This response inaugurates the last stage of God’s plan, his marriage to his creature in Jesus Christ, He who raises his created bride to the highest peaks of Love.

This dream was that of divine Wisdom at the origins of creation, when the Spirit hovered over the primordial waters, preparing the Garden of Eden for the happiness of the human family. The Lord created me as the beginning of his activity, before all his work, at the origin. When the abysses did not exist, I was generated (Pr 8:22,24). Wisdom was not at all upset by the madness of humanity, she was able to lead it back from its bewilderment with the madness of Jesus’ Love until death on the Cross. For this reason, God exalted him and gave him the name which is above all names, so that in his Name we too might share in the prerogatives of his creative and redeeming love.

Dear nuns and contemplative souls who guard the hope of our threatened land, the Love of the Redeemer who married you, this Love without frontiers and without limits in the freedom of the Spirit, allows you to fly high and far like messenger doves of Peace and Hope. The Love that has been charged with our sorrows and our errors, that was made sin in our favor (2 Cor 5:21) and that has overcome evil, death and Hell with its obedience, this immolated and victorious Love leads you with it in its race towards the most suffering victims of its mystical body.

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), destined for the hell of Auschwitz, one day expressed it this way: Do you hear the moans of the wounded on the battlefields? Do you hear the rales of dying people’s agony? Do the moaning, thirst and pain of men move your heart? Do you wish to be near them, to help them, to comfort them and to heal their deepest wounds?

Embrace Christ. If you are united to him with the nuptial bond, his blood will flow in your veins, his blood that heals, redeems, sanctifies and saves. Joined to him you will be present in all places of pain and hope”. (Ave Crux, Spes unica, September 14, 1939).

In the days of that horrible tribulation, Etty Hillesum, another sacrificed Jew, in ecstasy by a joy wholly Christian because of a fascinating intimate discovery, tenderly held her God to help Him, because she felt Him wounded by an unspeakable hatred.

It is true that we are not all chosen souls, the weight of error weighs down our wings of compassion, but is not our contemplative life wrapped up in Mary’s immaculate offering, indissolubly united to the Easter sacrifice of her divine Son? What is the point, then, of mourning heavily for our sins? Let us forget our misery and have eyes only for this infinitely fruitful Covenant of which we bear joyful witness to the world. Because of the voluntary isolation of our souls hidden in the cracks of the rock, are we not the Church-Bride dedicated to the worship of the Bridegroom God, representing the whole of humanity, ardently awaiting his return like the sentinels of dawn?

Dear contemplatives of the Lord’s Passion, you find in this suffering of Love all humanity and all divinity united in one flesh. You are lovingly present to God and in God to all creation which He carries in His sovereign hand. In love, you move the stars, you move the mountains, you irrigate the earth with subterranean and purifying living waters, you turn the hearts of Angels and men towards peace in history, you embellish the Church with flowers and tasty fruits, in short, you cheer the Heart of the Holy Trinity with your resonant praise to the Glory of his Love.

Since you are in the front line of the Church in all the battles of the Spirit, we, priests and laity grappling with the urgent needs of the field hospital, lift our eyes to the light that shines on the Tabor of your cloisters. We stand in the plain supported by your listening to Jesus and your arms raised to heaven. Your life illuminates our life and makes us more alive from this divine Life to be given to the beggars of this world. Be blessed and thanked by Him whose intimacy fills every desire and even more so. Take care of us in your prayer, together with the Successor of Peter who implores you to assist him always and above all in this hour of the pandemic.

Dear Mother Agnes, in this unprecedented time of Lent and hope, I remain united and grateful to you for your call, glad of this deeper communion which rekindles our hope in the Risen Christ. Glory to God, Thanks be to you, Peace on this Earth in the midst of its tribulation!

 

Passionist Tri-Centennial Jubilee Icon

This beautiful icon was commissioned by the Passionist Fathers as a part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the year their Founder, St. Paul of the Cross, received the charism to found their Congregation.

The figures in the main part of the triptych are Jesus, experiencing His death on the Cross, with the Blessed Virgin Mary on one side and St. Paul of the Cross on the other.  Saint Paul has his hand over his heart, where on the Passionist habit is depicted the beautiful “Passionist Sign” or emblem (pictured above Jesus).   Below the Cross is the devil, about to experience  his final defeat.

Tot he left and right are two angels carrying instruments of the Passion – the spear and the reed of hyssop. The Passionist saints on the left are St.  Gemma Galgani and Bl. Isadore de Loor. On the right are  St. Gabriel Possenti, with the skull, and Bl.  Dominic Barberi, who played such an instrumental role in the conversion of Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman.

For a detailed description and for more information on the Jubilee celebrations, visit the Passionist nuns’ website (PassionistNuns.org)

I pray to a merciful God to console you in the great trials you are presently experiencing. However, don’t stop placing them all in the Most Holy Wounds of Jesus.  This will ease them for you.  Also place them under the mantle of Mary’s Sorrows. She will bathe and soothe your heart with her tears.  —St. Paul of the Cross

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Franciscan Sisters and Cistercian Nuns Offer Lenten Discernment of Spirits Retreat – March 14th

What a marvelous idea –  to have two religious communities host a Come & See Retreat. The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and Cistercian Nuns are offering a silent Discernment of Spirits Retreat on March 14, 2020.  You can experience both active and cloistered  religious life at one event.

Franciscan Sister Jacqueline Spaniola, OSF, leads the retreat day.  St. Ignatius’ inspired and practical discernment process will be introduced and reflective time provided to pray through the material.

The Sisters and the Nuns will be available for conversation and questions about their active and contemplative religious life. Join them for the tranquility of Valley of Our Lady Monastery near Prairie du Sac, WI.


For more information or to register, please click here. Call or text Sister Julie Ann at 920-323-9632.

 

Congregation of Norbertine Sisters – New Affiliate!

The IRL welcomes our newest Affiliate Community—the Congregation of Norbertine Sisters in Wilmington, California. They are the newest branch on the Norbertine Order which lives according to the age-old inspiration of St. Norbert (1080-1134) and the Rule of St. Augustine.

The community was founded by the General House of the Congregation of Norbertine Sisters in Slovakia.  The Congregation was originally established in 1902 in the Czech Republic by Rev. Vojtech Frejka, a Norbertine Father from the Abbey of Strahov in Prague, to renew the Norbertine way of life in the region.

In 2006, Rev. Thomas Nelson, O.Praem., from St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County, California, spoke with the Norbertine Sisters’ Superior General, Mother Hermana, about establishing a new community of active Norbertine sisters in the USA.  In 2011, three sisters from Slovakia responded to that invitation and came to Wilmington, California to live in the convent belonging to SS. Peter and Paul Parish.

In 2019, the growing community of 10 (with 2 candidates) expanded to a second convent at St. John the Baptist parish in Costa Mesa. The focus is on the formation of new vocations. With God’s blessing, this “new branch” will bear fruits of love, peace and joy, and will become a home where vocations bloom!

Their life is centered on daily Mass, praying the Divine Office, and Eucharistic Holy Hour.  They strive for unity of mind and heart which overflows into a love that embraces all people.  They humbly implore the Virgin Mary to teach them to be completely devoted to God and to serve His people with total dedication.

As Norbertines, they are not bound to any specific apostolate, but in the spirit of St. Norbert, are “prepared for every good work.”  Currently, they operate the Poverty Program which provides food and clothing for over 700 families, teach religious education to children and adults, staff the parish bookstore, and work in the sacristy.  In the spirit of St. Norbert, the Congregation has sought to maintain a balance between liturgical prayer, zeal for souls, and contemplation.

For more information, visit: https://www.congregationofnorbertinesisters.org/

Email: norbertinesrscm@gmail.com

 

Lovers of the Holy Cross Celebrate 350th Anniversary

The Lovers of the Holy Cross opened a Jubilee Year of celebration on September 14, 2019, with a Mass at Christ Cathedral in Orange, California, commemorating the 350th anniversary of their founding.  Founded in Vietnam in 1670 by Bishop Pierre Marie Lambert de la Motte, a French missionary, the congregation has faithfully endured despite experiencing a turbulent history of persecutions, wars and religious suppression.

On September 9, 1659, Pope Alexander VII signed the edict Super Cathedram establishing two apostolic dioceses in Vietnam, appointing Bishop Lambert to be Apostolic Vicar of South Vietnam.  This event marked the birth of the Vietnamese Catholic Church.   He received the vows of the first two Lovers of the Holy Cross in 1670.

In the ensuring years, the congregation went through a painful history of bloody martyrdom, where convents were destroyed, sisters dispersed and others killed for their faith. Today, they number 30 congregations in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and the U.S., with over six thousand sisters serving the people of God.

The Lovers of the Holy Cross of Los Angeles, one of the autonomous and independent congregations that are part of the family, was established in 1992. Ministering in the Los Angeles area, they have 66 professed sisters, four novices, seven postulants and seven candidates in eight communities.

The spirituality of the Lovers of the Holy Cross is embodied in their love for Jesus Christ Crucified, believing that “in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His body, which is the Church.” (Col 1:24)

“Since the beginning,” said Sr. Grace Duc Le, Superior General, “our spiritual patrimony continues to inspire us to offer ourselves generously in serving the poor and homeless in shelters and on the streets, assisting the sick and lonely, and teaching the youth faith and morals.  May we passionately do everything for the sake of glorifying God and for the salvation of souls!”

For more information, please visit: www.lhcla.org

Carmelites of the Divine Heart of Jesus Open New Residential Home for Women

Last Fall, the Carmelites of the Divine Heart of Jesus opened a new residence  for women with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. This is a new apostolate for the sisters, who previously ran a boys home on the site that began as an orphanage back in 1916. The building can house 15 independent and ambulatory women in beautiful apartments designed to give the women their independence while building community though the common eating area, work assignments and spiritual nourishment.

As parents age, their desire to find a safe and nurturing home for a daughter or son with special needs becomes a worrying issue. They are looking for a place where their loved one will be safe, happy, busy and spiritually nourished. This home addresses that concern and then some with activities, religious education, daily Mass, beautiful accommodations, and a community spirit, all under the watchful and loving care of the sisters whose convent is located on the same grounds.

They also plan on opening a Formation and Enrichment Center in the Fall for men and women with IDD, offering a wide range of programs and activities for adults seeking to grow to their fullest potential. Many thanks to Fr. Al Veik, OFM Cap., Sr. M. Rose Therese, Carmel DCJ, and Teresa for their warm welcome.

Please visit their website for more information or email:  srrosetherese.stjo@gmail.com

The charism of their Foundress, Mother Maria Teresa of St. Joseph, was to put the CONTEMPLATIVE spirit of Carmel into the ACTIVE SERVICE of the direct apostolate, aggregated with the First Order of Discalced Carmelites…. A gift to the Church and the world and a new branch on the Ancient Tree.