Category Archives: Cloistered life

Cloistered life

Mother Mary Maddalena Bentivoglio, O.S.C. & Liturgical Embroidery

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by Sr. Mary Rose Mormino, O.S.C.

The Order of St. Clare hopes that Servant of God Mother Mary Maddalena, OSC, who brought Poor Clare life to America, will one day be canonized.  Here is an article on her exquisite embroidery skills that were used to support the community and to glorify God.

Mother Mary Maddalena, the foundress of the Poor Clares in America, came from an old Italian family, the Bentivoglio’s of Bologna.  She was born in 1834 and received the name Annetta at baptism. The ladies of the Italian nobility received a genteel education, suitable for their rank in society. Their training included proper deportment and manners, as well as the cultivation of singing and music, such as playing the piano, organ, or other musical instruments. They were often fluent in foreign languages, such as Latin and French. The young women were also known for their fine sewing, needlework and embroidery.  Reading her biography, we learn that Annetta Bentivoglio was proficient in all of these areas.

After her parents died, Annetta joined the Poor Clares of San Lorenzo-in-Panisperna, taking with her the needlework skills she had learned as a girl. She became quite a needlewoman, doing all types of embroidery, as well as ordinary sewing.  There is preserved one of her tunics in which none of the original material remains. In the end, the whole tunic consisted of nothing but a series of patches, all done so skillfully that not a seam is to be seen. Years later, in her monastery in Evansville, Indiana, it is said that even though her sight was failing, she could still sew just by the feel of the thread.

After being sent to America, Mother Maddalena’s needle helped support the little Community of nuns, when they had no other means of sustenance. She was over-joyed when she could do liturgical sewing, and felt that nothing was too good for our Lord.  Gradually young women joined her, and she taught these young nuns how to make the various linens for the altar and for the use at Holy Mass.

Mother Maddalena died in the Evansville Poor Clare monastery in 1905, but some of the nuns who had joined her in Evansville were still alive when our founding Sisters entered there.  Several of them entered within a few years of Mother Maddalena’s death and her memory was very much alive in Evansville. All of our founding Sisters learned the fine, liturgical embroidery that is part of our legacy from Mother Maddalena.  At Evansville, the Sisters also painted exquisite pictures and designs on satin and linen.  We possess some of these palls painted on satin, although we do not know if they were painted at Evansville or by one of our founding Sisters here in St. Louis.

The Evansville Poor Clares founded this monastery in 1959 at the request of Joseph Cardinal Ritter. In his sermon at the dedication of the monastery on August 12, 1959, he observed:

For me, this occasion has a very personal significance. I have been associated with the Poor Clares since my Ordination day in a very special manner, due to my association with the Bishop of Indianapolis, their Monastery being in Evansville, then in the Indianapolis diocese.   Aside from the Community being a source of inspiration to me and of help and prayer for my work as a priest, I have always been impressed with the fact that the Community was a constant source of joy and satisfaction to the Bishops of the Diocese — all of them.

The founding Sisters were truly heroic as they struggled to establish in St. Louis a house dedicated to God. One of the ways they supported themselves was in all types of churchwork, the making of altar linens and vestments. The first members to join in St. Louis all became adept at liturgical work. These in turn have taught some of the younger Sisters.

Although we do not support ourselves any longer by doing liturgical artwork, we still occasionally make altar linens and palls as gifts for newly ordained priests or priest-friends celebrating a Jubilee.  Our main work is the baking of traditional altar breads, which Mother Maddalena also did in her time, and one that we cherish.  All of these are part of our Bentivoglio heritage.

For more information about the Poor Clares of St. Louis, contact:
Monastery of Saint Clare
200 Marycrest Drive
Saint Louis, MO  63129-4813
(314) 846-2618
www.poorclaresstl.org

There is also an Aleteia article on her life.

Cloistered life, Men's communities

New IRL Affiliate Community – New Melleray Abbey

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Located southwest of Dubuque in Peosta, Iowa, New Melleray Abbey was founded in 1849 by Cistercian monks of their Order from Mount Melleray Abbey in Ireland. The Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists) treasure the balance Saint Benedict provides in his Rule between communal prayer and private prayer. From pre-dawn to night fall, the brothers, in union with the whole Church, gather seven times each day to sing Psalms together in praise of God. They also gather each day to hear the Word of God and for the breaking of the bread in the celebration of the Mass.

Through their guest house and other forms of monastic hospitality, they offer to their brothers and sisters a place where they may find acceptance, peace, and prayer. With Trappist Caskets they support themselves and supply employment to local men and women by making and selling simple wooden caskets and burial urns of exceptional quality. They also provide free caskets for children’s funerals as a work of mercy. (NewMelleray.org)

 

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Passionist Nuns of Pittsburgh Approved as New IRL Affiliate

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The Passionist Monastery of Our Lady of Sorrows in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1910 by five Passionists nuns from Tarquinia, Italy, the first community of Passionist Nuns in the United States. They are a contemplative cloistered community of religious women called to stand at the foot of the Cross with Mary near the Heart of Christ, ready to receive His love so that they might become love in the Heart of the Church.

St. Paul of the Cross founded the Congregation of the Passion (Passionists) in 1720, desiring to gather around him companions who saw the Passion of Jesus as God’s love-message to them and the world. In 1771, the first monastery of the Passionist Nuns was opened in Tarquinia, Italy.

The nuns bake altar breads to support themselves, supplying them to churches and religious communities. They are grateful for this labor of love which is transformed into the Body of Christ.

As Passionists, we are called to keep alive the Memory of Christ’s Passion. We do not only recall it in our minds, but we render it present in our lives by living His self-emptying love in our daily lives for the salvation of souls. Passionists live intensely the Mystery of Redemption for the benefit of the whole Church and for all people.

Our primary apostolate is prayer. We witness to the primacy of God and to the priority of adoration of God. We remain faithful to St. Paul of the Cross’ original inspiration to have the nuns share their contemplative way of life with others. Our House of Prayer provides a place of solitude for those who wish to enter into prayer.

PassionistNunspgh.org

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Buffalo Carmelites Relocate to Diocese of St. Augustine

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After a century in Buffalo, New York, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns have relocated to the Diocese of St. Augustine.  As the sisters noted in their farewell letter to their friends, their monastery used to be on the outskirts of Buffalo where they could live their contemplative life in silence and solitude.  This is no longer the case.

Here are some words from their newsletter describing their arrival in Florida:

Thanks to the hard work of many kind and generous friends who prepared for our arrival, our new monastery felt like home from the very first moment, already embellished with many of our beautiful statues and holy images. But it truly became “home” when Jesus Himself came to dwell among us in His Eucharistic Presence after the first Mass in our lovely little chapel. We were moved to tears and well understood the sentiments of Our Holy Mother St. Teresa, who considered that a new foundation was truly established when the Blessed Sacrament was permanently reserved in the tabernacle. The difference was palpable – our beloved King is now enthroned and dwells among us!

Before we were enclosed, on our first full day in Florida we had the incredible blessing to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, where our new Bishop, the Most Reverend Erik T. Pohlmeier, welcomed us warmly and offered Holy Mass for us. While there, we were able to tour the “Sacred Acre” where the first parish Mass was offered in what is now the United States on September 8, 1565. Our Lady’s maternal presence is so strongly felt on that site which has such historic significance for the Church in our country!

You can read more about their move here: https://www.carmeljax.org/news

Their monastery in Buffalo was founded by Mother Mary Elias of the Blessed Sacrament, OCD (1879-1943), who as she knelt before a Mexican firing squad (her crime was persevering in her Carmelite vocation), made a promise to St. Therese of Lisieux to found a monastery in her honor if she was spared.  The guns were fired, Mother and her companion fell to the ground, and when they regained consciousness, there was blood on their clothes but they were unharmed.  Mother kept her promise and the monastery of the Little Flower of Jesus was founded in Buffalo.

In their current temporary location they do not have a public chapel or gift shop for visitors.  They are praying to locate a suitable property and the funds which will allow them to build a permanent monastery which can house their growing community.

Vocation inquiries may be directed to:
 PO Box 1012
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32004, USA
(904) 648-2663

Their physical address is:
8002 James Island Trail, Jacksonville, FL 32256

 

 

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Magdala Apostolate – For Cloistered Women Religious Too!

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By Mother Mary Paschal, PCPA, Abbess

Several years ago, a friend of our community who is an integral member of the Magdala Apostolate venture, encouraged us to take the plunge and join in the classes they offered. A period of discernment ensued since an online forum of classes was so far outside our realm of lived experience in the cloister. Yet the opportunity for ongoing formation offered by Magdala answered a real need that was not being met in our studies and classes. For many an enclosed monastery, bringing in someone to teach the basics of theology or philosophy is a rare feat that is seldom realized.

Thus the Magdala Apostolate offers an ingenious gift to women religious around the world. Under the guidance from proficient clergy, scholars, and professors, the horizons and the heights of our Catholic Faith and Tradition are opened up for apostolic and contemplative religious. The courses on Scripture and the Liturgy have deepened our life of prayer and illuminated the mystery of Christ in which we are immersed every day. Philosophy and Theology classes have opened the door for many of our Sisters to search with greater understanding for the wisdom hidden in Christ. We have benefited greatly from the classes offered on Religious Life itself and have often learned much from the insights and questions asked by fellow Religious Sister-students.

It would be impossible to quantify the gift that Magdala Apostolate has made towards our human and spiritual formation over the past few years. It has struck us deeply how much those who give their time and resources to make this endeavor possible, believe in the importance of building up a solid formation program for women religious. Joining with fellow Sisters and teachers of the Faith each week, we experience the truth of St. Paul’s exhortation through Magdala: that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in love, to have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3).

 Mother Mary Paschal, PCPA, Abbess
Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration
Our Lady of the Angels Monastery
Hanceville, Alabama

The Magdala Apostolate is an outreach project of the Institute of Catholic Culture and is dedicated to providing sound doctrinal formation, both initial and ongoing, for women religious and novices, in accord with the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

Cloistered life

“Contemplative Nuns Speak For Themselves” from Where Peter Is

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On the website Where Peter Is, there is a recent article on the implementation of the guidelines/instructions contained within Vultum Dei Quaerere and Cor Orans.  In the article, called “Contemplative Nuns Speak for Themselves,”  they cite the Institute on Religious Life and the series of articles we have been doing on the same topic. The IRL articles have been written by our National Director, Fr. Thomas Nelson, O.Praem, as well as by the nuns themselves.  So far, we have heard from the Passionists and the Carmelites with the Poor Clares and the Visitation nuns yet to come.  To read the articles: go to the CloisteredLife.com website,  resources page (middle of page), and click on the VDQ CO articles.

As it says in the Where Peter Is article: “At the same time that Fr. Nelson was planning the IRL’s series of articles, a similar, but much smaller, initiative began in the shape of a new website, Seeking the Face of God. This is a website “About Contemplative Nuns By Contemplative Nuns.” It was established by our friend Sr. Gabriela of the Incarnation, OCD, a Carmelite nun and a regular contributor to Where Peter Is.”  This is another resource for VDQ CO information.

More from Where Peter Is:

On May 15, 2018, the Vatican announced the promulgation of Cor Orans, the document containing the directives for communities of contemplative nuns around the world. In the years that followed, few Catholic websites in the United States have given a platform for contemplative communities who want to follow the Vatican’s directives to share their perspectives. Where Peter Is has covered Cor Orans and has provided a window into how some of the subsequent issues and controversies have affected these communities. You can find our series of articles here.

 

 

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Carmelite Monastery in San Rafael Officially Closes on March 1st

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On March 1, 2021, the Carmelite Monastery of the Mother of God in San Rafael, California, officially closed its doors after 55 years in Marin County.  The four remaining nuns were informed in May after a decree of closure was issued to the archdiocese by the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life. The sisters range in age from 59-98, the oldest being Mother Dolores Sullivan, OCD, 98, one of the founding sisters of the monastery, founded from the Carmelite monastery in Carmel, California.

The monastery resides on 45 acres studded with 400 redwood trees worth millions of dollars, all planted by Sister Vanni, the last Prioress. But when you have so few sisters, she said, “you really have to look at your vitality.”

The monastery has a distinctive “eastern” look about and for good reason, the sisters were entrusted with a very special mission – to pray for Russia. Here is how this came about:

We have a special call from (Jesus Christ) and from Mary, His Mother, to pray for our own Archdiocese and also for Russia. We were founded in 1965 in answer to a summons from Our Lady of Fatima, received by our Foundress, Mother Miriam of the Trinity. Our Lady has asked for prayers for the conversion of Russia. Mother Miriam responded to that call as though addressed specifically to her, and for those who would join her in founding his Carmel.

After the fall of Communism, two of our Sisters went to Russia to found a small “Carmel” in Moscow. However, it was eventually discerned that our vocation is to pray for Russia within our Carmel here in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Our former home in Moscow has since become the nucleus of a thriving Catholic parish, under the direction of the Divine Word Fathers. St. Olga’s Parish began there and now has expanded into a larger building nearby. There are already 350 parishioners who attend Catholic services there regularly.

It is obviously a very difficult and sad time for them and for the community who have loved and supported them. Two nuns will go to the Carmel of Mary Monastery in Wahpeton, North Dakota, and the remaining two will go the Carmelite Monastery of St. Therese in Clinton Township, Michigan.

We pray for the people of Marin County who are losing their beloved sisters, and we pray that the sisters will be blessed in and be a blessing to their new communities.

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Dominican Nuns Launch First International Website

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Today, October 7th, the Nuns of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominican Nuns, launched their first international website: www.monialesop.org, in order to make their mission of prayer within the heart of the Order of Preachers better known.

St. Dominic de Guzman founded the Nuns of the Order in 1206, ten years before the friars were founded in 1216,  when nine women who were Catholic converts from the Cathar sect, gathered together at the Monastery of Notre Dame de Prouilhe in southern France. From the very beginning St. Dominic associated the contemplative nuns with the mission of the Order to preach the Gospel for the salvation of souls through their lives of prayer and penance.

Although each Dominican monastery is autonomous, the Dominican nuns are bound together by a common Rule and Constitutions and their profession of obedience to the Master of the Order of Preachers, which is unique among the contemplative orders of nuns.

The new website www.monialesop.org is in the three official languages of the Order of Preachers: English, French and Spanish. Readers can learn about the different elements that make up the contemplative life of the Nuns and the particular way the contemplative nuns participate in the preaching mission of the Order.

There is an interactive map where one can locate any monastery in the world. Links to individual monastery websites as well as contact information can easily be found.

There is a resource page featuring various articles about the nuns’ charism as well as back issues of Monialibus, the international bulletin of the nuns.

Although the Nuns of the Order were always listed on the main website of the Order of Preachers, the information was very difficult to find. Sr. Lioba Hill, OP, of the Monastery of Our Lady of Prouilhe, France, representative of the French monasteries on the International Commission of Nuns, proposed the idea of a website totally dedicated to the nuns.

Sr. Mary Magdalene, OP, Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary, Summit, NJ, was commissioned to create the website. Despite the challenges of language, nuns from all over the world collaborated with Sr. Mary Magdalene making the website a fruit of sisterly communion on an international level.

There are approximately 2500 nuns in 190 monasteries in five continents of the world.

Contact: Sr. Mary Catharine Perry, OP
smc@summitdominicans.org

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary of Buffalo Announce Relocation Plans

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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

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

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

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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.