Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Mercy

300 North 60th Street, Belleville, Illinois U.S.A. 62223-3927

Recent Vocation Visits (Winter 2023)

- As part of their mission to promote vocations in the Church, our diocesan Serra Club brings local Catholic school students to our Poor Clare monastery a few times each year to learn more about our enclosed contemplative vocation.
  
  The young women always begin their visit with prayer in our public chapel, perhaps listening to us chant the Divine Office, praying the Rosary or spending time in quiet adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
- Having viewed our VIDEO before their pilgrimage,
  our young visitors usually have many questions they want to ask the Sisters who greet them briefly in the parlor.
  
  Below are some of their
  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
  about our Poor Clare life:
- HOW MANY SISTERS LIVE HERE?
  ARE YOU ALL DIFFERENT AGES?
  ARE YOU ALL FROM THIS AREA?
  
  Currently, we are a community of eleven Sisters, and we are all different ages. Our eldest two Sisters are both in their eighties, and our youngest two Sisters are both in their twenties. Everyone else is in between! Our Lord has led us here from all over the country – one from the East Coast, three from the Southwest, several from the Midwest, but so far, no one from our own state or diocese.
- WHAT IS YOUR DAILY SCHEDULE LIKE? HOW MANY TIMES A DAY DO YOU PRAY?
  
  Our Poor Clare day is beautifully balanced with spaces for communal and private prayer, study, work, recreation and free time. (Read more about our daily schedule or horarium.) We gather as a community for prayer several times a day – for Holy Mass, for the seven hours of the Divine Office, etc. – but the aim of our contemplative life is really to be praying always. Our daily schedule, our enclosure and our monastic customs (like silence) are all intended to help us fulfill our calling to be the “praying heart of the Church.”
  
  BUT ISN’T IT HARD TO GET UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO PRAY?
  
  Rising for the night Office of Matins is a precious part of our Poor Clare tradition. Both Holy Father Francis and Holy Mother Clare thought the night was too long to go without praising God, so we break our sleep to rise at 12:30 a.m. for prayer. Yes, it is something that your body has to get used to; that is why coming to Matins (the night Office) is something we “grow into” gradually. A newcomer doesn’t come to Matins at first, then she starts coming just one night a week, then two, etc. It doesn’t take long though – and the young Sisters are usually eager to come as often as they can! There is something very special about rising in the dark, silence of the night to go to meet the Bridegroom. Like a mother who rises at night to care for a sick child, we feel an urgency to intercede for all our spiritual children who need our prayers through the night. For many Sisters, Matins becomes their favorite prayer time!
  
  DO YOU MAKE YOUR OWN CLOTHES?
  
  Yes, we do make our own habits. Different Sisters sew all the different parts – the holy habit itself, our head covering, veils, and cords. Some Sisters are more gifted seamstresses than others, but we all learn enough to help in some way.
  
  DO YOU HAVE TO WEAR YOUR HABIT ALL THE TIME?
  
  For us, it is not a matter of HAVING to wear our Poor Clare habit – we WANT to wear it all the time! Our holy habit is a precious sign of our brideship, a reminder that we are spouses of Christ…and we are spouses of Christ all the time, 24/7! Our habits are sacred; they are blessed, and we pray special prayers as we put on each part of the holy habit just like a priest does when he vests for Holy Mass.
  
  We do have different habits that we wear – our very best one is just for Holy Mass and Sundays. Then, we have a work habit that we wear during the day. We also have a night habit that we wear when we sleep (with a shorter veil), and an old habit that we wear when we work out in the garden.
  
  HOW DO YOU BECOME A POOR CLARE NUN? HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
  
  Holy Mother Church is very wise in giving young women a long space of time to truly discern if this is their vocation. The process of initial formation has several stages (aspirancy, postulancy, noviceship and juniorate) and lasts around nine years. (Read more about the stages of formation.)
- HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A POOR CLARE?
  
  Our Lord said in the Gospel, “It is not you who have chosen Me, but I who have chosen you.” That is really true! Becoming a Poor Clare (or embracing any vocation) is not a matter of our deciding; it is a matter of being chosen by our Lord, and then responding in faith to His call. Many people probably ask you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” But the more important question is the one that you ask God in prayer: “Lord, what do YOU want me to be?”
  
  Every Sister’s vocation story is unique. Some Sisters knew at a very early age that God was calling them to be a religious Sister – our first abbess, Mother Thérèse (photographed here) knew at age 4! (Read more about her vocation story) For others, our Lord’s call comes as more of a surprise. One of our Sisters was not even a Catholic when she felt God calling her to become a nun during her first year in college. Another had been a missionary in Africa for almost 25 years before our Lord led her to become a missionary to the whole world from the cloister. We are hoping to share some of our Sisters' vocation stories on our website in the future.