Category Archives: Cloistered life

Cloistered life, Liturgical Year, News, Women's Communities

Top of the Charts

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The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in Gower, Missouri,  have recently released a new CD for Advent which is currently #4 on Billboard’s Classical Traditional Albums chart. According to Vatican Radio, “All of the music was conducted and arranged by the order’s prioress, Mother Cecilia, a professionally-trained musician who performed in the Columbus Symphony Orchestra of Ohio for three years before entering religious life. ”

According to Monica Fitzgibbons , co-founder of De Montfort Music along with her husband Kevin, the nuns “chose all the music, and in doing so they chose these beautiful pieces across the ages from different countries.” There are 16 songs on the album including an original piece composed by the sisters.

A good proportion of the proceeds go to the sisters themselves. It will allow them to pay down the debt of the guesthouse where they live and hopefully garner extra money to assist them on their way towards their goal – the building of a new, permanent monastery.

To order Advent at Ephesus, click here. The CD cost is $20.00 plus $2.00 shipping.

So many have even forgotten what Advent is! More importantly, however, we have seen the hand of God as using us, very poor instruments,
to make Him better known in this increasingly hostile and Godless culture. Please spread the word as best as you can, and better still, please pray for the success of this venture. The greatest benefit for our community will come through orders made directly through our website,
www.benedictinesofmary.org.

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

A Garden Enclosed

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The Catholic Chronicle of the Diocese of Toledo had an interesting article on the Visitation Sisters of Toledo as the Diocese celebrated Pro Orantibus Day (“For Those Who Pray”) on the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Presentation in the Temple. It so happens that this day, November 21, is also the day that all members of the Visitation Order renew their vows.

The Visitation Sisters were founded in 1610 by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal in Annecy, France. The sisters came to Toledo in 1915 to offer their prayers for the diocese, priests, religious and lay people. The Toldeo Visitation consists of 21 women (“22 if you count the dog”), three of whom have made solemn professions in the last year, with three more in formation.

Sister Sharon Elizabeth Gworek, the superior, describes the Monastery, which has the privilege of papal enclosure, as a “trysting place – the place where God and I meet….It’s the garden enclosed where we can be with the Beloved, and be attentive to Him.”

The sisters have some interesting vocation stories. Sr. Kaspar spent some years away from the Church and was briefly married. Later, she broke off an engagement and entered the Toledo Visitation. Sr. Maria Consuelo was in another religious order when she felt in her heart that it was “time just to be with Him.” Sr. Josefa Maria is truly a “late” vocation.  She likes to say that it took her 69 years!

What is the special spirit of the Visitation? I have always judged it to be a spirit of deep humility before God and of great gentleness towards our neighbor —  Saint Francis de Sales

 

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

The Vestition of Sister Nicole, O.P.

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On November 21, the feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, the Dominican Nuns at the Dominican Monastery of St. Jude in Marbury, Alabama, celebrated the vestition (clothing in the habit) of their postulant, Sister Nicole. In a simple ceremony, Sister Nicole received the habit and her religious name: Sister Mary Thomas of the Holy Name of Jesus, O.P.

During the ceremony, Prioress Mother Mary Joseph, O.P., spoke of the symbolism of the Dominican habit. The white represents purity of heart with which the nuns love Christ above all else; the black represents penance that guards this purity. The scapular was given by Our Lady to the Order as a mark of her protection. Finally, the rosary is hung from the belt as the nuns’ powerful weapon of prayer for the salvation of souls.

It is this dual mission of contemplative availability to God and apostolic zeal for souls which drew Sister Mary Thomas to the cloistered Dominican vocation. During her two years as a novice, she will strive to fulfill the words of the concluding prayer: “May you apply yourself assiduously to following our Holy Father St. Dominic so that you may be ready for the day of your espousals to Jesus Christ.”

The Dominican Monastery of St. Jude is an IRL Affiliate community. Their primary mission is to pray for the salvation of souls and for the preaching mission of Dominican friars. Their daily life centers on the Liturgy, sung in English and in their traditional Dominican Latin chant, as well as Eucharistic Adoration and Perpetual Rosary, study and work. To learn more, visit the nuns’ website at www.stjudemonastery.org.

 

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

We Are All Carmelites

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The Discalced Carmelites from Lafayette, LA, recently sent us some brochures which included some fascinating vocational stories. Two that were very interesting were the stories of  Sr. Joseph of the Eucharist and Sr. Camille of Jesus. Both sisters are from the Hue Carmel in Viet Nam and came to the US at the urging of Father Marion Joseph Bui, a Discalced Carmelite Friar who came to the US himself as one of the “boat People” in 1981 in order to become a priest. He was ordained by Bishop Xavier Labayan, OCD, in the Lafayette Monastery Chapel in 1995.

At the solemn profession of the two sisters, Father Marion Joseph said that being a Carmelite means being ready to sacrifice all, including family and country, for the needs of the Carmelites and the world.

In a meditation on “The Priesthood, Mary and the Carmelite Nun” which I am sure that you can order from the Carmel, it says that the Carmelites have a special relationship with priests, in union with the Blessed Virgin Mary whose life was “inseparably interwoven with the priesthood and sacrifice of her Divine Son.” While the priest carries the doctrine, she multiplies sacrifices; he casts the seed, she waters it with her tears. He is an apostle by his words, she is an apostle by her immolation; and both save souls.

Sr. Camille was in the first group to enter the Hue Carmel after the Communists returned the monastery to them. The sisters have a true missionary spirit and have willingly chosen to come here. “For us, it is not a matter of being Vietnamese, Filipino or American. We are all Carmelites.”

 

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Visitation Musings

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Within the last year, the Sisters of the Visitation of Toledo, Ohio, have had many reasons to celebrate. In February, Sr. Josefa Maria made her Solemn Profession and Sister Marie was received into the Novitiate, and in March, Sister Susan pronounced first vows.

And the sisters were able to experience “Hollywood” firsthand! With the permission of their Bishop, Holy Trinity Apostolate came to film some scenes for the movie “Leonie!” The film is based on the life of Leonie Martin, one of the sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Leonie had a difficult childhood and after several attempts was professed a Visitandine at the monastery in Caen, France. The movie still needs a distributor but the sisters were able to see the finished product in July.

The Visitation community around the world encourages everyone to explore on foot or via the internet the Visitandine museum, Musée de la Visitation, in Moulins, France where  chalices, chasubles and silk liturgical items that have been produced and acquired by the Sisters of the Visitation are on display.  A new 5 minute video with music by Vivaldi and English text, gives people a glimpse into these liturgical treasures.

The theme is “Sacred Silk.” Unique in all of France, these artifacts illustrate the genius and creativity of the weavers in the production of silk, interwoven with gold and silver, from the late sixteenth century. Ten thousand objects have been assembled,many of them on loan from Visitation monasteries from 19 countries throughout the world.

On the occasion of the feast of St. Jane de Chantal in 2010, the museum lent His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI jewelry and vestments for the celebration of the Mass.

Cloistered life, Liturgical Year

Pro Orantibus Day

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On November 21, 2012, the Church will celebrate Pro Orantibus Day (“For Those Who Pray”). Catholics around the world are encouraged to honor the cloistered men and women religious who have devoted their whole lives, hidden in the world, to God. Blessed John Paul II established this worldwide day in 1997.

The faithful can honor these faithful servants by attending Mass and offering up special prayers for cloistered religious, by making visits to monasteries and cloistered convents, or by sending cards or letters to contemplative communities.

The IRL has free resources that can be used to prepare and celebrate this day including:

  • Press Release
  • Liturgy Planning Guide
  • Homily Notes
  • Prayer Cards
  • Intercessions
  • A Novena for the Feast of the Presentation of Mary
  • Clip Art
  • Photos
  • Bulletin Announcements

Pope Benedict XVI referred to cloistered, contemplative life as “the heart” which provides blood to the rest of the Body of Christ.  When the heart weakens, we all weaken!

We pray for all the consecrated men and women in convents and cloisters, monasteries and hermitages, that their silent prayer and hidden sacrifices might supply the grace needed to transform our world.

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Cistercian Nuns Plan New Monastery

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The Cistercian nuns of the Valley of  Our Lady Monastery in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, are making plans for a new monastery.

According to a member of the architecutural firm of Cram and Ferguson Architects, it is “the first new traditional ecclesiastical project to draw on the simplicity and balance of Cistercian monastic architecture, and the first ever undertaken in the United States.” The principal of the firm traveled to Le Thoronet, Sénanque, and Silvacane in France to absorb and understand the ancient Cistercian traditions and architecture, and how to make it practical for today.

The sisters have the fortunate problem of outgrowing the space of their present monastery. Plus the noise of the world has grown around them and they are seeking a more contemplative site suitable to their way of life. The site for the proposed monastery is 229 acres in rural Iowa County southwest of Madison, Wisconsin. The new monastery will be able to house 35 sisters, in order to handle the anticipated future growth of the community. They currently number 17.

The Valley of Our Lady Monastery is an IRL Affiliate community. They were  founded in 1957 by the nuns of Frauenthal Abbey in Switzerland whose own foundation dates to the 13th century. They are the Cistercian Order’s first and only community of nuns in the English-speaking world. They receive their inspiration from the Sacred Scriptures, desert monastic tradition, the Rule of St. Benedict and the documents of the Church’s magisterium. And of course the Cistercian Fathers of the 12th century, most notably, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. They pray the Divine Office in Latin with Gregorian Chant. 

If you would like to donate to the building project, please visit their website.

The nuns also invite us to join them in praying the Sub Tuum, the oldest known prayer to the Mother of God which daily ends their office of Lauds.

We fly to thy patronage,
O holy Mother of God;

despise not our petitions
in our necessities,

but deliver us always
from all dangers,

O glorious and blessed Virgin.

 

 

Cloistered life, Pro-life, Women's Communities

Shining A Light in the Darkness

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The pro-life movement will have one less person on the front lines when Kathleen Gilbert, LifeSiteNews Bureau Chief, enters the Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Buffalo, New York, on October 14th. Kathleen joined LifeSiteNews just before President Obama was elected to office and she hopes “God willing, I’m going out with him too.”

Kathleen is devoted to giving the unborn a voice in the world. She says, “There are many businesses in our world that exploit others. The business of killing has the advantage that the victims always keep quiet. That’s why the holocaust happened, why the unborn in America suffer another 9/11 every single day, and why Planned Parenthood’s business is booming: the dead don’t speak.” She tried to shine a light where others wanted it dark. And she hopes to keep the mission to protect life going, albeit, she will be doing it in a different way.

The monastery she is entering has an amazing history. In 1914, as as Mother Elias and a companion faced a firing squad in Mexico, Mother prayed: “Little Therese, if you are a saint, as some people say you are, then deliver us, and I promise to found a Monastery in your honor.” The shots rang out, the nuns sank to the ground and when they regained consciousness, their clothes were bloodied but they were unhurt. In 1925, on the day of the canonization of St. Therese, the Little Flower, the Carmelite chapel in Buffalo, NY, was dedicated, the first in the world to have the Little Flower as its titular Saint.

As the nuns state, “Our Rule and Constitutions represent the authentic charism of our Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Avila, who desired that her daughters apply themselves zealously to prayer and manual labor for the benefit of the Church and especially for priests. We humbly and gratefully wear the full Habit of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, observe strict Papal enclosure in order to safeguard the sacredness of the cloister, and cherish many traditional monastic customs such as the use of Latin and Gregorian Chant.”

May God bless Kathleen and all the Carmelites of Buffalo.

 

 

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Carmel of the Holy Family and Saint Therese

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The IRL welcomes the Carmel of the Holy Family and Saint Therese of Georgetown, California, as a new Affiliate Community. There are 12 sisters in the Carmel with one in temporary vows and 2 novices. They joined the Diocese of Sacramento in 1935.

They live the traditional Carmelite life of prayer and penance seeking union with Christ in order to participate in His salvific mission

A second Carmel is also part of the IRL family as a our last Board Meeting: the Carmel of the Assumption in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. They were established in  1961 and have 13 solemnly professed nuns. The land for the monastery was purchased because of its proximity to the Benedictine Archabbey of St. Vincent. The monks have served as chaplains, confessors and spiritual directors to the community from the very beginning.

The Carmel of the Assumption is self-supporting.  The community supplies altar breads to the parishes of the diocese, and supplement their income by rosary making, icon plaques and bee keeping.

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

A Carmel in the Desert

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I once went out of my way to go to Mount Carmel, Utah, thinking that a Carmelite Monastery might be nearby, only to discover that it hosted a three way stop sign and a motel. That was about it. It was beautiful country though.

As it turns out, there is a Carmel in Utah that happens to be in Salt Lake City. This IRL Affiliate Community recently hosted a Fair which provides them with their main source of income for the year. The sisters also make altar breads, carmels, peanut brittle, fudge, toffee, note cards and Carmelite dolls. There are 11 nuns living at the Carmelite Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary which was founded in 1952 as a foundation from the monastery in Alhambra, California. The purpose was to establish a Catholic presence in a state where Catholics were a distinct minority.

The reason for the Carmelite life, its prayer and austerity, its silence and enclosure, is to allow the Carmelite Sister to devote her entire energy to the worship, the contemplation, and love of God.  A Carmelite Sister is dedicated to pray for the needs of the Church, the Pope, Bishop, Priests, religious, laity, and especially for the diocese in which the Carmel is located. She prays for the return of lapsed Catholics to the spirit and practice of the Faith, for the conversion and salvation of all peoples, and recommends to God their needs in all circumstances of life.

 

God gives Himself wholly to the soul

which gives itself wholly to Him.

(St. Teresa of Jesus)