Mission and Charisms

“Apart from you i want nothing on earth, my joy is to remain with you my God”

— Psalm 73

Our mission as Poor Clares

• is to be a visible sign of sisterhood through the contemplative experience of living in a filial relationship with the Father in communion with Jesus in the Holy Spirit.
• By inviting people into this new and original relationship we become a provocative testimony through which the Church is enlightened and salvation brought to the world.

Statement of Mission

Clare and the Poor Sisters were to observe the holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ by living in obedience, without anything of one's own, and in chastity. As family, we will always strive to deepen our understanding of the Gospel and to follow it as our supreme norm.

Pope John Paul II has said, “The life to which you are consecrated is a privileged form of love for God and humankind… .This life is witness that the value of the nun's existence does not consist in what she accomplishes and materially achieves, but in what she is, in the relationship she has with the infinite, eternal Goodness: with the Lord Himself.”

“The Son of god became for us the way which our blessed father francis, his true and ardent lover and imitator, has shown us and taught us by word and example” St Clare Of Assisi.

The daily life of a Poor Clare combines the joy and simplicity of the Franciscan call within the framework of a monastic contemplative community. The call is to intimacy with God and to prayerful support of all people. With this call of love as the beginning, the end, and the backdrop of her whole life, the Poor Clare goes about her tasks of praying, working, and recreating.

• A Eucharistic LifeThe Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and daily Eucharistic Adoration are at the heart of our contemplative life. This spirit of prayer permeates our day, whether we are praying the Liturgy of the Hours, fulfilling our everyday work or enjoying the beauty of God's creation.
• Papal Enclosure: A Choice of LoveWe cherish our vow of enclosure of enclosure as a liberating gift that enables us to love and serve all people by our hidden lives of prayer and penance, silence and solitude. Like our Mother St. Clare, we are co-workers of God and a support for the frail members of the Body of Christ through our union with Him.
• The Grace of WorkingLike St. Clare, we her daughters call work a grace. Through our manual labor, we serve one another in charity and provide for our simple material needs.
• Joyful PenanceThe penances we embrace are one way of returning love for Love. Fasting, bare feet, rarely eating meat and rising at midnight for Matins are some of the sacrifices we undertake with our sisters each day.
• Shared Life and IdealsAs spiritual sisters drawn together by God's own design, we believe that each of us was handpicked by the Lord. We share the humble tasks of everyday living as we foster a joyful and united fraternal life based on charity, prayer, work, patience and a sense of humor. Our holy habit is a particular reminder to us of our shared life and ideals.