Our Life & Daily Schedules

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."

— Proverbs 16:3

1. What work do we do?

St. Clare considered working a grace and taught her daughters through her example to work “so that in banishing idleness, the enemy of the soul, they do not extinguish the spirit of prayer and devotion, which all other temporal things must foster.”

What Kind of Work do we do?
A Poor Clare is grateful for the gift of work. Good thing, because there is always lots to do. Poor Clares are of the working class, so all the sisters' skills are used to maintain the monastery. Our work is varied.

• Maintenance can be never-ending.
• We help in the kitchen and refectory (our dining room), laundry and, of course, there is always house cleaning.
• We do secretarial and correspondence work.
• There is the Altar Bread Dept ‐ where we make communion bread (hosts) and distribute, Liturgical Vestment Dept, Sewing Room, where we make our clothing and certain other things like rosaries etc,.
• We do our own kitchen gardening and flowers tending for the altar everyday and sisters take turns according to a schedule for each of the duties assigned.

The Church continues to call us to grow in the knowledge and love of God.

Our Poor Clare Externs (who do not take the vow of papal enclosure) provides around-the-clock care as needed. She has to be available for our busy phone lines. People call to ask for our prayers or to request prayers for various occasions. They answer steady correspondence from all over different places, keep record of our financial situation, preserve our long and graced history, answers queries almost all day long except during mandatory prayer and adoration time and receive unsolicited donations for various purposes.

To a great degree much of what we do depends on the talents our sisters bring us.

2. Daily Schedule of a Poor Clare

What is a Poor Clare's day like?

The first thought of a Poor Clare's day is one of thanksgiving to God as she looks forward to offering her life, once again, to pray blessings upon God's wonderful world. The time of rising to greet the gift of another day is the choice of each sister. Quietly, one by one, the sisters gather in the chapel to begin the day together as a community of sisters gathered in love.

Our Mother Abbess gives the community her blessing.

The Blessed Sacrament is exposed. A Eucharistic hymn is sung as the Abbess opens the tabernacle doors to display the Monstrance containing our Eucharistic Christ. Centered in Christ, another day has begun.

Our Poor Clare Life

“Lord, my God, I trust in your merciful love. Let my heart rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the lord who has been bountiful with me. I will sing psalms to the name of the Lord most high.”

Each has a call within a calling

Each Sister has a period of Eucharistic Adoration daily. We are privileged to have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the day and everyone is welcome to share in it, in our public chapel. This is a very special time for each of us, as not only do we give praise and worship to our God but we are also nourished, strengthened and refreshed by Jesus. There is a study time also in the afternoon—this provides anopportunity to deepen the knowledge of our faith, to learn the spirituality of our Franciscan/Poor Clare vocation, to develop our talents, community skills etc.

Afternoons provide spaces for contemplative prayer, spiritual reading, study, or the development of personal hobbies, rest, and simply enjoying our beautiful natural surroundings, birds and little creatures. Now that's just a little idea of a day in the life of a Poor Clare.

The Daily Schedule given below is what we follow mostly:

Daily Schedule of the Poor Clares 24/7