Monastery of St. Clare Spring 2013 May you totally love Christ who gave Himself totally for your love. -St. Clare Resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene Fresco by Giotto, Italy 14th century Where is our Risen Lord? The Paschal Triduum, the pinnacle of the Church s liturgical year is such a richly human experience touching all our senses bread, wine and incense at the Lord s supper on Holy Thursday; a cross to venerate on Good Friday; the fire, candle procession in the dark, sprinkling of holy water, singing of the Exultet, and of course the fragrance of flowers at the Easter Vigil. Through this sensually alive experience, we are reminded it is in the things of earth and through our humanity where we find God. One of my favorite Easter stories takes place in a garden near the tomb where Jesus had been buried. Mary Magdalene goes to visit the tomb and is grief stricken because she can t find his body and she presumes it has been stolen. So she asks, Where have you taken him? With all the darkness we ve witnessed in our world this past year, we might also find ourselves asking, Where is our Risen Lord? After all, so many people s lives have been devastated and disrupted by natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy, or by senseless violence as in the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT and a movie theater in Aurora, CO among others. It s more sorrow and pain than even we distant bystanders can hardly bear as we watch our sisters and brothers cope with grief and loss that are beyond words. To see people lose their homes and all their material belongings seems too much to take in. Witnessing parents losing a child is the ultimate incomprehensible tragedy. The loss of a sense of safety and innocence touch all of us as we process the unthinkable happening in a small town school. Darkness and evil surely seem to be all around us. So where can we find the Risen Lord amidst all of this human pain? First of all, I believe He is right in the middle of it, crying with those who are weeping, loving them and sorrowing with them as you would with a loved one who has lost so much! But I actually saw the Risen Lord appear! In the innumerable acts of kindness that were done to alleviate people s suffering. NBC s Ann Curry wrote a tweet encouraging everyone to do 26 Acts of Kindness in memory of the 26 lives lost at Sandy Hook and it went viral! And again, how many unsung heroes have gone to the affected areas of New York and New 37 McCauley Road, Travelers Rest, SC 29690 864-834-8015 www.poorclaresc.com Text continued on page 4
A Message from our Abbess Sister Mary Connor, osc Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us? Luke 24:23 Dear Friends, One of the most beautiful passages in the Gospels is the Emmaus Story. After Jesus death, two of his disciples are journeying from Jerusalem to Emmaus when they meet a stranger who joins them. As they share the events of the past few days, it becomes night and they invite their new friend to stay with them. As they gather together for the evening meal, the stranger takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and shares it with them, then vanishes from their sight. Their hearts burned within them as they realized this was the Lord! The Lord is with us also as we journey with you throughout the year. We know his presence when we gather for Eucharist each day as well as those times that you share with us your needs and the desires of your heart. Thank you for also being here for us by your love and prayers as well as through your monetary gifts, and especially for the generous response to our First Annual Appeal; you can see our 2012 Financial Summary on the following page. You are not only assisting us as we continue to pay off our loan and maintain our building, but providing a place where others can also come to meet the Lord! During this Lent, you will especially be in our prayers. We would also like to invite you to join us at the Monastery as we celebrate the Triduum and Easter Vigil Services. Fr. Thomas Hartle, OFM, will be our presider. He is the Religious Assistant for the Poor Clare Nuns as well as a Franciscan itinerant preacher. It is part of our Christian tradition to make pilgrimages to Holy Places. Because of this, we are honored that our Bishop has designated our monastery as one of the pilgrimage sites in our diocese where you can receive a plenary indulgence during this Year of Faith. We hope that you will have the opportunity to visit us either for Eucharist or for a time of prayer. May this year deepen us in our faith and also encourage us to love and care for one another, especially the stranger, the poor, the sick and the most vulnerable among us so we meet the Lord as we continue to journey together! Gratefully, your companion on the Journey, Update on Our Wish List You made all our wishes come true! In our last newsletter we asked for a tutor for Microsoft Office and we found two! We asked for 2 six foot folding tables and we received four! We asked for donations to a kitchen fund to help with the replacement of small appliances and we received 3 electric frying pans, one super wave oven, a deep-fat fryer and $500 for our kitchen fund! Truly our hearts are overflowing with gratitude! You did it again! Page 2
2012 Financial Summary As part of our accountability to you, our benefactors, we know we have a responsibility to use carefully the gifts you share with us. We also want to share with you this annual report. The graph illustrates the sources of our donations. Last year we asked you to consider becoming a monthly donor if you could and as a result, the number of monthly donors has increased this past year. Again, I remind you that this is a great help if you are able to do so! Your response to our 1 st Annual Appeal in September was beyond our expectations! It raised $30,000+ which was a boon especially at a time of year when our income is down and expenses stay the same. So we have one more reason to thank you and be humbled by your care for us. But it s not only the monetary gifts we receive from you that make our life possible. We are nourished in body and in spirit by all your gifts - your time given in volunteering to help us, the wondrous variety of inkind gifts you give us, your presence with us at Sunday Liturgy, our Advent Healing Service or at other times. All the ways you support us are felt, appreciated and humbly received. Our #1 prayer intention, so Monthly Donations 17% Pledge Payments 1% Bequest 21% often mentioned in our chapel, is for you that our gracious God will hear your heart s deepest desire and grant it. NRRO Grant 3% With the grateful hearts of all your Poor Clare Sisters, Sr. Nancy Development Ministry Donations 58% Development Income $373,651 Special Events 2% Newsletters 35% Development Expenses $12,718 Advertising 8% Marketing 14% For tax purposes, our official title is: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare Our Federal Tax ID # is EIN 57-0688060 Supplies & Equipment 18% Correspondence 23% 37 McCauley Road, Travelers Rest, SC 29690 864-834-8015 www.poorclaresc.com Page 3
Days of Grace, My experience in the Hesychia Program Recently I had the extraordinary privilege of participating in the Hesychia School for Spiritual Direction. The word Hesychia is derived from Greek and is best described as "contemplative listening". There was a rich diversity of faith traditions and cultures in our group, but what we held in common was our love of Jesus Christ and our hearts desire to learn to walk a spiritual journey with other persons who are loved by God. For me, I traveled and arrived with a heavy but grateful heart. Still carrying the grief of recently losing my Mom, I had plenty of emotions and feelings to work on and through. I found being in the desert, (for the first time by the way) to be awesome. In the scriptures we read, "I will allure her and lead her to the desert and speak to her heart." That certainly was my reality. There was a holiness in the quiet and ancient beauty. The retreat center has a beautiful chapel and daily Mass, that along with the out of doors, the sun, the mountains, Sr. Kathleen is awarded a certificate at the the desert fauna, the animal life, to be feared close completion of her Spiritual Direction program. up and admired from a distance, all spoke volumes of love. We all learned the "Art of Spiritual Direction", but so much more. I learned and relearned God s bounteous goodness and love. I was comforted, and allured; the words spoken to my heart were "I love you with all my heart, and I am delighted that you are mine". I am deeply grateful to my Poor Clare Community for the Hesychia experience. Sr. Kathleen DeLancey, osc Continued from page 1 Where is our Risen Lord? Jersey from all over the country volunteering their time, talent and money to help rebuild people s homes, people who wouldn t otherwise have the resources to begin again! How many groups collected and distributed toys for children there who were not going to have a Christmas because of being displaced. Other people drove to Newtown to simply offer solace, support, even hugs to the grief stricken. So where is our Risen Lord? He is present wherever the Light of Christ becomes more than a sung acclamation and shines forth from within you, or me, or another person. When we live out of the belief that as disciples we are called to be the incarnational presence of the Risen Christ who promised, I will be with you always - there is our Risen Lord. Page 4 Let your light shine in the darkness. Sr. Nancy Shively, osc
My Personal Poor Clare Connection As newcomers to Greenville seventeen years ago, our outings often found Jim and I traveling North Pleasantburg Drive. We were intrigued when we saw the sign for The Poor Clare Monastery. Recalling what we knew about cloistered communities we continued driving by not realizing the gift we were passing. Jim had the first opportunity to meet the Sisters when he was invited by our friends, Peter and Angie, to attend a Mass to celebrate the successful efforts that allowed the Sisters to build their new home. After his moving experience meeting the Sisters that morning I would like to say we stopped and turned at the sign. Even though we began asking for their prayers, thanking the Sisters for those intercessions and supporting them, we continued driving by for quite a while. As we reflect on how we came to join this community we believe it was the Holy Spirit who helped us finally stop and turn at the sign. Although this time we needed a map, no GPS yet, to locate the new sign and new street in Travelers Rest. After a very difficult time with one of our daughters, in my search for answers, I found myself at the Monastery one morning. I will not forget the feeling of love and peace that enveloped me when Sr. Carolyn introduced herself and gave me a big hug during Mass. Sister s welcome and all of the hugs and prayers that have followed have proven to be the best therapy Jim and I could ever find. Soon after that experience, Jim and I attended a Sunday Liturgy. We were hooked. Since our adoption into this Poor Clare Community and the beautiful Faith Community of their friends we have been privileged to come to know the Franciscan way and mission. We have truly felt the healing power of St. Clare through the Sisters. We believe that because of their prayers and the intercession of Sr. Mary Lucy, our niece has been granted full remission from Leukemia and can now watch her family grow. The past two years have been a journey of hills and valleys with Jim s health. His emphysema has entered the stage where he needs to use oxygen continuously and a spot on his lung was finally diagnosed as cancer. It is because of the loving concern and prayers of our dear Sisters and friends that we have been able to accept this new way of living and that Jim was able to get through the radiation treatments, which have hopefully eliminated the cancer. We offer our prayers of thanksgiving to you, our friends. The joy and peace reflected by the Sisters is contagious. Everyone we have met exudes this same joy and loving concern. We have been so privileged to celebrate the happy times and to share the sad times with our new friends. As the adage goes: Better late than never. We are so glad we finally stopped and turned at the Poor Clare sign. Mary Ellen and Jim Sullivan 37 McCauley Road, Travelers Rest, SC 29690 864-834-8015 www.poorclaresc.com Page 5
Poor Clare Chronicles Top: Left: Nov. 20 St. Mary s School food drive arrives! Sisters Annemarie, Sharon and Bernadette Dec. 9 Our 2nd Annual Advent Healing Service Nov. 22 - Thanksgiving with the Friars Right: Sisters Sharon and Nancy Jan. 10 Christmas party with St. Theresa s Guild Coming Up Mar. 16 Garden Day Volunteers Needed 9:45 a.m. till noon; come prepared to help fertilize and weed If you plan to join us, please call the monastery [834-8015] and leave a message for Sr. Kathy Ann or Sr. Annemarie. Sr. Annemarie rejoicing in our new trees provided by your generosity Mar 22-24 Sr. Nancy will attend Diocesan Vocation Discernment weekend at White Oak Retreat Center June 9-15 Community retreat with Fr. Michael Blastic, OFM Page 6
We Have a Diamond to Celebrate Sr. Joyce s 60 th Jubilee Over the years Sister has worked in the Altar Bread department, been cook for the community and did bursar work. More importantly, Sr. Joyce has been an example to us as a steadfast champion of the underdog and oppressed. She has always exemplified a spirit of forgiveness and overlooking differences, seeing the deeper unity among her sisters and all peoples. Sr. Joyce is one of our founding sisters who came from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts in 1955 as one of the pioneers beginning our foundation in South Carolina. Joyce Munson was 17 years old and her parents only child when she took the train from Long Island to enter the monastery on November 21, 1951. She received the habit and the name Sr. Mary Elizabeth on September 6, 1952 and made 1st profession of vows on February 24, 1954. A year later on March 1, 1955 she arrived to begin a new adventure in Greenville. 1958 Community photo Sr. Joyce front row on the left 2000: Our three remaining Founding Sisters Sr. Joyce, Sr. Joan and Sr. Mary Lucy For the past few years Sister has been living in a skilled nursing facility where her needs can be better met than at the monastery, which has been a difficult sacrifice for her as well as for all of her sisters. She has faced that letting go with the same courage and grace of her first letting go in 1951. She is presently living at Hope, Health, and Rehabilitation in Marietta, just a few miles from the monastery. We will be having a celebration with Sister and some members of her family in the spring. Sister would like us to give thanks with her for God s gracious goodness to her these 60 years. Sr. Joyce designing greeting cards Page 7
Franciscan Monastery of St. Clare 37 McCauley Road Travelers Rest, SC 29690 Non Profit US Postage PAID T. Rest, SC Permit 102 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Ready to make a pilgrimage? The Bishop has designated our Monastery as a place for pilgrimage during this Year of Faith to receive a plenary indulgence. Come and make a visit to our chapel. Holy Thursday 6:00 PM Eucharistic Liturgy Good Friday 8:00 AM Morning Prayer 3:00 PM Liturgy Holy Saturday 8:00 AM Morning Prayer 5:00 PM Evening Prayer Easter Sunday 5:30 AM Vigil Service 9:00 AM Morning Prayer 4:30 PM Evening Prayer