The Chicago Poor Clare Colettines

If you happen to be in the Chicagoland area, be sure to visit one of the newest Poor Clare Colettine communities! You might recall from Mother Mary Francis' A Right to be Merry that this is the monastery in Chicago that the Poor Clares left in order to found a new cloister in Roswell, NM. In 2000, Cardinal George of Chicago invited them back to re-found a monastery in the area- and Mother Mary Francis was to be their abbess! In the picture above, can't you just see the joy and serenity abounding from their faces?!

The website is simple in layout, but the text is very poetic and beautifully written. For those of you who think you might be called to the consecrated life, please read these words taken directly off the Chicago Poor Clares website:

"A vocation is a free gift of God. It is offered, not forced. God invites, but He does not compel; and eternity will reveal how many vocations have been lost or disregarded. The rich young man in the Gospel was assuredly called, but he did not respond. He had a vocation, but he chose not to follow it. The Gospel says that "...he went away sad" (Mt 19:22). Doubtless he remained sad for the rest of his life.

God does not choose a young woman because she is good, but because He is so good. The one who thinks herself qualified to be a great success in the cloister is probably the one who will fail, whereas the one who is confused and humbled at the idea that God should look towards such poor material as herself for the fashioning of a contemplative nun is likely to persevere."

The Poor Clare's website can be found here, but if you happen to be in the vicinity, I suggest you pay them a visit as soon as you can find the time!