A Life of Prayer

The life of a Poor Clare is pre-eminently one of prayer. It is one of adoration and praise of God in his Eucharistic Presence, simple because His is God. It is also one of petition for the whole human family. our contemplative life finds its source and summit in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours around which our entire day revolves. Our day also includes periods  of work, meals and recreation which gives balance to our monastic living.

A Peace Prayer
Lord
make me an instrument of YOUR PEACE.
Where there is hatred let me sow LOVE,
Where there is injury, PARDON,
Where there is doubt, FAITH,
Where there is despair, HOPE,
Where there is darkness, LIGHT,
Where there is sadness, JOY.

O DIVINE MASTER,
Grant that I may not so much seek,
to be consoled as to CONSOLE,
To be understood as to UNDERSTAND,
To be loved as to LOVE,
For it is in giving that we RECEIVE,
It is in pardoning that we are PARDONED,
And it is in dying that we are born to ETERNAL LIFE.

St. Francis Prayer for Guidance

St. Francis Prayer for Guidance

O Great and Glorious God, grand me
true faith, firm hope and perfect love
May I come to know you so well
that in all things I may act in your light
and in accordance with your holy will

First Letter to the Christians at Corinth

Love knows no limit to its endurance,
No end to its trust,
It can outlast anything…
It is, in fact the one thing
that still stands when all else has fallen

Ours is a Eucharist Life

Adoration of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is at the heart of our contemplative/Franciscan life. The spirit of prayer permeates our day, whether we are participating at Mass, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, fulfilling our daily work or enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.

“We are called to wear God’s smile”

Since we are witnesses of a communion beyond our vision and our limits, we are called to wear God’s smile. Community is the first and most believable gospel that we can preach. Pope Francis

Prayer and Worship

A large part of each day is spent in worship for which we come together in our choir/chapel. In addition , each sister spends time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament daily. This prayers may be ; petition for ourselves or others, meditation on Scripture, wordless contemplation, but whatever form our prayer takes we are seeking though it to deepen our relationship with God. There are times and places set apart for prayer, but it permeates the whole of our life.

Whatever we do that isn’t prayer either makes prayer possible for flows from it. Each sister’s prayer is unique and personal, but the community as a whole is influenced by St. Francis and St. Clare and the Franciscan Tradition.

Our Vows

Religious profession is an act of adoration of God, impelling us to lose our life that we may find it. (Poor Clare Constitutions)

Our Poor Clare day revolves around the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours – Divine Office – through which we embrace the whole world with its joys and sorrows, its many problems and fears.