Catholic Elan: "The Fragrance of Fullness"

Oh, the lovely things you come across when you're procrastinating! I was browsing Catholic blogs, and came up with this wonderful account of a visit to a Poor Clares convent (I assume that it's in California?) on the blog Catholic Elan.

You can find the article here. It's a must read for any Poor Clare fan.

Here is a particularly memorable excerpt:

"I wonder: can we cultivate something of that grace, that fullness -of -silence rhythm in our lives? Or is that the gift of the Bridegroom for His brides alone? It seems to me that it is a gift, that it is a certain loveliness reserved for the Brides of Christ. Yet this does not make me unhappy, rather it makes me see that like the peonies, we all have different fragrances; that at the end of St. Paul’s race, at the fullness of our life with Christ, whether we are, like Ven. Anne, eleven- or like Mother Trinitas, eighty: that at this fullness, we give glory to God in the way He assigned to us. The way He made us."

PS: Mother Clare and the Bethlehem Poor Clares....if you're reading this, just wanted to let you know that I love you all!

- Chiara