Poor Clares: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|Catholic order of convent nuns}} |
{{short description|Catholic order of convent nuns}} |
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{{redirect-distinguish|Damianites|Damianists}} |
{{redirect-distinguish|Damianites|Damianists}} |
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{{about||the Elizabeth Gaskell story|The Poor Clare (short story)|the L. P. Hartley novel|Poor Clare (novel)}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} |
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} |
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[[File:SDamiano-Clara og søstre.jpg|thumb|250px|Fresco of [[Saint Clare of Assisi|Saint Clare]] and nuns of her |
[[File:SDamiano-Clara og søstre.jpg|thumb|250px|Fresco of [[Saint Clare of Assisi|Saint Clare]] and nuns of her order, Chapel of [[San Damiano, Assisi]]]] |
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The '''Poor Clares''', officially the '''Order of Saint Clare''' ({{lang-la|Ordo |
The '''Poor Clares''', officially the '''Order of Saint Clare''' ({{lang-la|Ordo Sanctae Clarae}}), originally referred to as the '''Order of Poor Ladies''', and also known as the '''Clarisses''' or '''Clarissines''', the '''Minoresses''', the '''Franciscan Clarist Order''', and the '''Second Order of Saint Francis''', are members of an [[enclosed religious orders|enclosed order]] of [[nun]]s in the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. The Poor Clares were the second [[Franciscan]] branch of the order to be established. Founded by [[Clare of Assisi]] and [[Francis of Assisi]] on [[Palm Sunday]] in the year 1212, they were organized after the [[Order of Friars Minor]] (the First Order), and before the [[Third Order of Saint Francis|Third Order]]. As of 2011, there were over 20,000 Poor Clare nuns in over 75 countries throughout the world. They follow several different observances and are organized into federations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poorclare.org/|title=Poor Clare Sisters|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> |
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The Poor Clares follow the ''[[Rule of St. Clare]]'', which was approved by Pope [[Innocent IV]] on the day before Clare's death in 1253. The main branch of the |
The Poor Clares follow the ''[[Rule of St. Clare]]'', which was approved by Pope [[Innocent IV]] on the day before Clare's death in 1253. The main branch of the order (OSC) follows the observance of Pope Urban. Other branches established since that time, who operate under their own unique [[Constitutions]], are the [[Colettine Poor Clares]] (PCC) (founded 1410), the [[Capuchin Poor Clares]] (OSCCap) (founded 1538) and the [[Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration]] (PCPA) (founded 1854). |
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[[File:São Francisco dá a Fórmula de Vida a Santa Clara - Valentim de Almeida (Convento do Louriçal) (cropped).png|thumb|Saint Clare receives the ''Formula Vitae'' ("little rule") from [[Francis of Assisi]]. 18th-century [[azulejo]] panel in the [[Igreja do Convento do Louriçal|Convent of Louriçal]], [[Portugal]].]] |
[[File:São Francisco dá a Fórmula de Vida a Santa Clara - Valentim de Almeida (Convento do Louriçal) (cropped).png|thumb|Saint Clare receives the ''Formula Vitae'' ("little rule") from [[Francis of Assisi]]. 18th-century [[azulejo]] panel in the [[Igreja do Convento do Louriçal|Convent of Louriçal]], [[Portugal]].]] |
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The Poor Clares were founded by [[Clare of Assisi]] in 1212. Little is known of Clare's early life, although popular tradition hints that she came from a fairly well-to-do family in [[Assisi]]. At the age of 17, inspired by the preaching of [[Francis of Assisi|Francis]] in the [[Assisi Cathedral|cathedral]], Clare ran away from home to join her community of friars at the [[Porziuncola|Portiuncula]], some distance outside the town.<ref>Michael Walsh (ed.). ''Butler's lives of the Saints'', Burns and Oates (1991) p. 246.</ref> Although, according to tradition, her family wanted to take her back by force, Clare's dedication to holiness and poverty inspired the friars to accept her resolution. She was given the [[religious habit|habit]] of a nun and transferred to [[Benedictine]] monasteries, first at Bastia and then at Sant' Angelo di Panzo, for her monastic formation. |
The Poor Clares were founded by [[Clare of Assisi]] in 1212. Little is known of Clare's early life, although popular tradition hints that she came from a fairly well-to-do family in [[Assisi]]. At the age of 17, inspired by the preaching of [[Francis of Assisi|Francis]] in the [[Assisi Cathedral|cathedral]], Clare ran away from home to join her community of friars at the [[Porziuncola|Portiuncula]], some distance outside the town.<ref>Michael Walsh (ed.). ''Butler's lives of the Saints'', Burns and Oates (1991) p. 246.</ref> Although, according to tradition, her family wanted to take her back by force, Clare's dedication to holiness and poverty inspired the friars to accept her resolution. She was given the [[religious habit|habit]] of a nun and transferred to [[Benedictine]] monasteries, first at Bastia and then at Sant' Angelo di Panzo, for her monastic formation. |
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[[File:SanDamianoAssisiDec132023 02.jpg|thumb|[[San Damiano, Assisi|San Damiano]] in [[Assisi]]]] |
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By 1216, Francis was able to offer Clare and her companions a monastery adjoining the chapel of [[San Damiano, Assisi|San Damiano]] where she became [[abbess]]. Clare's mother, two of her sisters and some other wealthy women from [[Florence]] soon joined her new order. Clare dedicated her order to the strict principles of Francis, setting a rule of extreme poverty far more severe than that of any female order of the time.<ref name="Farmer, David 1997 p. 103">Farmer, David (ed.) ''Oxford Dictionary of Saints'', Oxford University Press (1997), p. 103</ref> Clare's determination that her order not be wealthy or own property, and that the nuns live entirely from alms given by local people, was initially protected by the papal bull ''Privilegium paupertatis'', issued by [[Pope Innocent III]].<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia">{{cite web|url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12251b.htm| title = Poor Clares |publisher = The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent|access-date = 10 November 2009}}</ref> By this time the order had grown to number three monasteries. |
By 1216, Francis was able to offer Clare and her companions a monastery adjoining the chapel of [[San Damiano, Assisi|San Damiano]] where she became [[abbess]]. Clare's mother, two of her sisters and some other wealthy women from [[Florence]] soon joined her new order. Clare dedicated her order to the strict principles of Francis, setting a rule of extreme poverty far more severe than that of any female order of the time.<ref name="Farmer, David 1997 p. 103">Farmer, David (ed.) ''Oxford Dictionary of Saints'', Oxford University Press (1997), p. 103</ref> Clare's determination that her order not be wealthy or own property, and that the nuns live entirely from alms given by local people, was initially protected by the papal bull ''Privilegium paupertatis'', issued by [[Pope Innocent III]].<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia">{{cite web|url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12251b.htm| title = Poor Clares |publisher = The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent|access-date = 10 November 2009}}</ref> By this time the order had grown to number three monasteries. |
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==Spread of the order== |
==Spread of the order== |
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The movement quickly spread, though in a somewhat disorganized fashion, with several monasteries of women devoted to the Franciscan ideal springing up elsewhere in Northern Italy. At this point Ugolino, Cardinal Bishop of [[Ostia Antica (district)|Ostia]] (the future [[Pope Gregory IX]]), was given the task of overseeing all such monasteries and preparing a formal [[monastic Rule|rule]]. Although monasteries at [[Monticello]], [[Perugia]], [[Siena]], Gattajola and elsewhere adopted the new rule – which allowed for property to be held in trust by the papacy for the various communities – it was not adopted by Clare herself or her monastery at San Damiano.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> Ugolino's Rule, originally based on the [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] one, was amended in 1263 by Pope Urban IV to allow for the communal ownership of property, and was adopted by a growing number of monasteries across [[Europe]]. Communities adopting this less rigorous rule came to be known as the Order of Saint Clare ( |
The movement quickly spread, though in a somewhat disorganized fashion, with several monasteries of women devoted to the Franciscan ideal springing up elsewhere in Northern Italy. At this point Ugolino, Cardinal Bishop of [[Ostia Antica (district)|Ostia]] (the future [[Pope Gregory IX]]), was given the task of overseeing all such monasteries and preparing a formal [[monastic Rule|rule]]. Although monasteries at [[Monticello]], [[Perugia]], [[Siena]], Gattajola and elsewhere adopted the new rule – which allowed for property to be held in trust by the papacy for the various communities – it was not adopted by Clare herself or her monastery at San Damiano.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> Ugolino's Rule, originally based on the [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] one, was amended in 1263 by Pope Urban IV to allow for the communal ownership of property, and was adopted by a growing number of monasteries across [[Europe]]. Communities adopting this less rigorous rule came to be known as the Order of Saint Clare (OSC) or the Urbanist Poor Clares.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica 2007, p. 603">Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, Vol.9. p. 603</ref> |
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Clare herself resisted the Ugolino Rule, since it did not closely enough follow the ideal of complete poverty advocated by Francis. On 9 August 1253, she managed to obtain a [[papal bull]], ''Solet annuere'', establishing a rule of her own, more closely following that of the friars, which [[corporate poverty|forbade the possession of property either individually or as a community]]. Originally applying only to Clare's community at San Damiano, this rule was also adopted by many monasteries.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> Communities that followed this stricter rule were fewer in number than the followers of the rule formulated by Cardinal Ugolino, and became known simply as "Poor Clares" ( |
Clare herself resisted the Ugolino Rule, since it did not closely enough follow the ideal of complete poverty advocated by Francis. On 9 August 1253, she managed to obtain a [[papal bull]], ''Solet annuere'', establishing a rule of her own, more closely following that of the friars, which [[corporate poverty|forbade the possession of property either individually or as a community]]. Originally applying only to Clare's community at San Damiano, this rule was also adopted by many monasteries.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> Communities that followed this stricter rule were fewer in number than the followers of the rule formulated by Cardinal Ugolino, and became known simply as "Poor Clares" (PC) or Primitives. Many sources before 1263 refer to them as Damianites (after San Damiano).<ref>Bert Roest, ''Order and Disorder: The Poor Clares between Foundation and Reform'' (Brill, 2013), p. 2.</ref> |
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The situation was further complicated a century later when [[Colette of Corbie]] restored the primitive rule of strict poverty to 17 French monasteries. Her followers came to be called the [[Colettine Poor Clares]] ( |
The situation was further complicated a century later when [[Colette of Corbie]] restored the primitive rule of strict poverty to 17 French monasteries. Her followers came to be called the [[Colettine Poor Clares]] (PCC). Two further branches, the [[Capuchin Poor Clares]] (OSCCap) and the [[Peter of Alcantara|Alcantarines]], also followed the strict observance.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica 2007, p. 603"/> The later group disappeared as a distinct group when their observance among the friars was ended, with the friars being merged by the [[Holy See]] into the wider observant branch of the First Order. |
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The spread of the order began in 1218 when a monastery was founded in [[Perugia]]; new foundations quickly followed in [[Florence]], [[Venice]], [[Mantua]], and [[Padua]]. [[Agnes of Assisi]], a sister of Clare, introduced the order to [[Spain]], where [[Barcelona]] and [[Burgos]] hosted major communities. The order then expanded to [[Belgium]] and [[France]], where a monastery was founded at [[Reims]] in 1229, followed by [[Montpellier]], [[Cahors]], [[Bordeaux]], [[Metz]], and [[Besançon]]. A monastery at [[Marseilles]] was founded directly from Assisi in 1254.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> The Poor Clares monastery founded by [[Margaret of Provence|Queen Margaret]] in Paris, St. Marcel, was where she died in 1295.<ref name="Robson328">'' Queen Isabella (c.1295/1358) and the Greyfriars: An example of royal patronage based on her accounts for 1357/1358'', Michael Robson, ''Franciscan Studies'', Vol. 65 (2007), 328.</ref> [[Philip IV of France|King Philip IV]] and [[Joan I of Navarre|Queen Joan]] founded a monastery at Moncel in the Beauvais diocese.<ref name="Robson328" /> By A.D. 1300 there were 47 Poor Clare monasteries in Spain alone.<ref name="Farmer, David 1997 p. 103"/> |
The spread of the order began in 1218 when a monastery was founded in [[Perugia]]; new foundations quickly followed in [[Florence]], [[Venice]], [[Mantua]], and [[Padua]]. [[Agnes of Assisi]], a sister of Clare, introduced the order to [[Spain]], where [[Barcelona]] and [[Burgos]] hosted major communities. The order then expanded to [[Belgium]] and [[France]], where a monastery was founded at [[Reims]] in 1229, followed by [[Montpellier]], [[Cahors]], [[Bordeaux]], [[Metz]], and [[Besançon]]. A monastery at [[Marseilles]] was founded directly from Assisi in 1254.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> The Poor Clares monastery founded by [[Margaret of Provence|Queen Margaret]] in Paris, St. Marcel, was where she died in 1295.<ref name="Robson328">'' Queen Isabella (c.1295/1358) and the Greyfriars: An example of royal patronage based on her accounts for 1357/1358'', Michael Robson, ''Franciscan Studies'', Vol. 65 (2007), 328.</ref> [[Philip IV of France|King Philip IV]] and [[Joan I of Navarre|Queen Joan]] founded a monastery at Moncel in the Beauvais diocese.<ref name="Robson328" /> By A.D. 1300 there were 47 Poor Clare monasteries in Spain alone.<ref name="Farmer, David 1997 p. 103"/> |
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After the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] under King [[Henry VIII]], several religious communities formed in [[continental Europe]] for [[English people|English]] Catholics. One such was a [[Poor Clare Convent (Gravelines)|Poor Clare monastery]] founded in 1609 at [[Gravelines]] by [[Mary Ward (nun)|Mary Ward]].<ref name=Hereford/> Later expelled from their monastery by the [[French Revolutionary Army]] in 1795, the community eventually relocated to [[England]]. They settled first in Northumberland, and then in 1857 built a monastery in [[Darlington]],<ref name=Hereford/> which was in existence until 2007. |
After the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] under King [[Henry VIII]], several religious communities formed in [[continental Europe]] for [[English people|English]] Catholics. One such was a [[Poor Clare Convent (Gravelines)|Poor Clare monastery]] founded in 1609 at [[Gravelines]] by [[Mary Ward (nun)|Mary Ward]].<ref name=Hereford/> Later expelled from their monastery by the [[French Revolutionary Army]] in 1795, the community eventually relocated to [[England]]. They settled first in Northumberland, and then in 1857 built a monastery in [[Darlington]],<ref name=Hereford/> which was in existence until 2007. |
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Following [[Catholic emancipation]] in the first half of the 19th century, other Poor Clares came to the [[United Kingdom]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uk-franciscans.org/links.htm|title=Franciscans and Poor Clares(UK) - Links to Franciscans and Poor Clares|first=Paul|last=McKeown|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> eventually establishing communities in, e.g., [[Notting Hill]] (1857, which was forced to relocate by the local council in the 1960s, and settled in the village of [[Arkley]] in 1969),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/movecomm/convents/arkley.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123200549/http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/movecomm/convents/arkley.html|url-status=dead|title=Arkley Poor Clare Monastery|archivedate=23 January 2011}}</ref> [[Convent of Poor Clares, Woodchester|Woodchester]] (1860–2011), [[Much Birch]] (1880), [[Arundel]] (1886), [[Lynton]] (founded from [[Rennes]], France, 1904–2010s), [[Woodford Green]] (1920–1969), [[York]] (1865–2015)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lewis|first=Stephen|date=13 February 2015|title=Convent life on the quiet|url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/11791941.convent-life-on-the-quiet/ |
Following [[Catholic emancipation]] in the first half of the 19th century, other Poor Clares came to the [[United Kingdom]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uk-franciscans.org/links.htm|title=Franciscans and Poor Clares(UK) - Links to Franciscans and Poor Clares|first=Paul|last=McKeown|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> eventually establishing communities in, e.g., [[Notting Hill]] (1857, which was forced to relocate by the local council in the 1960s, and settled in the village of [[Arkley]] in 1969),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/movecomm/convents/arkley.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123200549/http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/movecomm/convents/arkley.html|url-status=dead|title=Arkley Poor Clare Monastery|archivedate=23 January 2011}}</ref> [[Convent of Poor Clares, Woodchester|Woodchester]] (1860–2011), [[Levenshulme]] (1863),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://taking-stock.org.uk/building/manchester-levenshulme-st-mary-of-the-angels-and-st-clare/|title=Manchester (Levenshulme) – St Mary of the Angels and St Clare|access-date=26 November 2022}}</ref> [[Much Birch]] (1880), [[Arundel]] (1886), [[Lynton]] (founded from [[Rennes]], France, 1904–2010s), [[Woodford Green]] (1920–1969), [[York]] (1865–2015)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lewis|first=Stephen|date=13 February 2015|title=Convent life on the quiet|url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/11791941.convent-life-on-the-quiet/|access-date=2020-04-21|website=York Press|language=en-GB}}</ref> and [[Nottingham]] (1927–2023).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://poorclaresnottingham.org.uk/|title=Community of Poor Clare Colettines, Bulwell in Nottingham|access-date=26 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zagnat |first=Olimpia |date=2023-05-03 |title='Our loss' as nuns leave city after failing to raise money for new monastery |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/our-loss-nottingham-nuns-leave-8409615 |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=NottinghamshireLive |language=en}}</ref> |
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The community in [[Luton]] was founded in 1976 to meet a shortage of teachers for local Catholic schools. It was originally based at 18 London Road in a large Edwardian house. In 1996, the community refocused on a ministry of social work and prayer, and moved to a smaller, modern home at Abigail Close, Wardown Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Luton |url=http://www.sistersofstclare.com/luton/ |website=Sisters of St Clare}}</ref> |
The community in [[Luton]] was founded in 1976 to meet a shortage of teachers for local Catholic schools. It was originally based at 18 London Road in a large Edwardian house. In 1996, the community refocused on a ministry of social work and prayer, and moved to a smaller, modern home at Abigail Close, Wardown Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Luton |url=http://www.sistersofstclare.com/luton/ |website=Sisters of St Clare}}</ref> |
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Communities of Colettine Poor Clares were founded in England at [[Baddesley Clinton]] (1850–2011),<ref>This community, reduced to four nuns, closed January 2011 and the nuns dispersed to other communities of the order, [http://www.sfachurch.co.uk/PoorClaresConvent.asp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223171613/http://www.sfachurch.co.uk/PoorClaresConvent.asp |date=23 February 2018 }}</ref> [[Ellesmere, Shropshire]].<ref>Supported by a charity, the "[https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1148712&subid=0 Friends of Convent of the Poor Clares, Ellesmere]".</ref> They have communities in [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]], and in [[Bothwell]], [[Scotland]] (1952). In Wales, there was a monastery in [[Hawarden]]. The one that used to be based in Neath moved to Bothwell.{{fact|date=May 2022}} |
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====Ireland==== |
====Ireland==== |
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In [[Ireland]] there are seven monasteries of the Colettine Observance. The community with the oldest historical roots is the monastery on Nuns' Island in [[Galway]], which traces its history back to the monastery in Gravelines. Originally a separate community of [[Irish people|Irish women]] under a common [[:wikt:mother superior|mother superior]] with the English nuns, they moved to [[Dublin]] in 1629, the first monastic community in Ireland for a century. The first Abbess was [[Cecily Dillon]], a daughter of [[Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon]]. War forced the community to move back to Galway in 1642. From that point on, persecution under the [[Penal Laws]] and war led to repeated destruction of their monastery and scattering of the community over two centuries, until 1825, when fifteen nuns were able to re-establish monastic life permanently on the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://poorclares.ie/history.html|title=Poor Clares Galway - Ireland|first=Marek Mazur &|last=Team|access-date=9 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102044547/http://poorclares.ie/history.html|archive-date=2 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
In [[Ireland]] there are seven monasteries of the Colettine Observance. The community with the oldest historical roots is the monastery on Nuns' Island in [[Galway]], which traces its history back to the monastery in Gravelines. The community has a rare book collection which is the most comprehensive single collection of early-modern Clarissan material in English in the world.<ref>Goodrich, Jaime.(2021). “The Rare Books of the Galway Poor Clares.” ''Library'' 22.4:: 498–522.</ref> |
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Originally a separate community of [[Irish people|Irish women]] under a common [[:wikt:mother superior|mother superior]] with the English nuns, they moved to [[Dublin]] in 1629, the first monastic community in Ireland for a century. The first Abbess was [[Cecily Dillon]], a daughter of [[Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon]]. War forced the community to move back to Galway in 1642. From that point on, persecution under the [[Penal Laws against Irish Catholics|Penal Laws]] and war led to repeated destruction of their monastery and scattering of the community over two centuries, until 1825, when fifteen nuns were able to re-establish monastic life permanently on the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://poorclares.ie/history.html|title=Poor Clares Galway - Ireland|first=Marek Mazur &|last=Team|access-date=9 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102044547/http://poorclares.ie/history.html|archive-date=2 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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Later monasteries were founded in 1906 in both [[Carlow]] and [[Dublin]]. From these, foundations were established in [[Cork (city)|Cork]] (1914) and [[Ennis]] (1958). In 1973, an [[enclosed religious orders|enclosed]] community of nuns of the [[Third Order of St. Francis#Third Order Regular|Franciscan Third Order Regular]] in [[Drumshanbo]], founded in England in 1852 and established there in 1864, transferred to the [[Second Order (religious)|Second Order]], under this Observance.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://poor-clares.com/drumshanbo/history |title=Poor Clares of Drumshanbo "History" |access-date=2 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135751/http://poor-clares.com/drumshanbo/history |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
Later monasteries were founded in 1906 in both [[Carlow]] and [[Dublin]]. From these, foundations were established in [[Cork (city)|Cork]] (1914) and [[Ennis]] (1958). In 1973, an [[enclosed religious orders|enclosed]] community of nuns of the [[Third Order of St. Francis#Third Order Regular|Franciscan Third Order Regular]] in [[Drumshanbo]], founded in England in 1852 and established there in 1864, transferred to the [[Second Order (religious)|Second Order]], under this Observance.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://poor-clares.com/drumshanbo/history |title=Poor Clares of Drumshanbo "History" |access-date=2 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135751/http://poor-clares.com/drumshanbo/history |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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There is Poor Clares monastery in [[Faughart]], [[ |
There is Poor Clares monastery in [[Faughart]], [[County Louth]].<ref>[https://www.independent.ie/regionals/argus/news/life-is-beautiful-for-the-poor-clare-sisters-30417289.html Life is beautiful for the Poor Clare sisters] by Olivia Ryan, The Argus, 9 July 2014.</ref> |
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====Continental Europe==== |
====Continental Europe==== |
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There are notable Clarissine churches in [[Bamberg]], [[Bratislava]], [[Brixen]], and [[Nuremberg]]. There also is a small community in [[Münster]], [[Germany]], and a Capuchin monastery in [[Sigolsheim]], France. |
There are notable Clarissine churches in [[Bamberg]], [[Bratislava]], [[Brixen]], and [[Nuremberg]]. There also is a small community in [[Münster]], [[Germany]], and a Capuchin monastery in [[Sigolsheim]], France. |
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The last six Poor Clare nuns from a convent in Belgium were able to sell their convent and move to the South of France |
The last six Poor Clare nuns from a convent in Belgium were able to sell their convent by selling luxury vehicles, and move to the South of France.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goldsmith|first=Charles|date=6 April 1990|title=The adviser to aging nuns who sold their convent...|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/04/06/The-adviser-to-aging-nuns-who-sold-their-convent/1837639374400/|website=UPI}}</ref> |
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The [[Convento de Santa Clara (Burgos)|Convent of Saint Clare]] is located in Burgos, [[Spain]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Latorre |first1=Matilde |title=Poor Clares bring life back to an abandoned monastery in northern Spain |url=https://aleteia.org/2022/05/15/poor-clares-bring-life-back-to-an-abandoned-monastery-in-northern-spain/ |publisher=Aleteia |access-date=20 May 2024 |language=en |date=15 May 2022}}</ref> |
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====Scandinavia==== |
====Scandinavia==== |
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===Americas=== |
===Americas=== |
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====United States==== |
====United States==== |
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After an abortive attempt to establish the |
After an abortive attempt to establish the order in the United States in the early 1800s by three nuns who were refugees of [[Revolutionary France]], the Poor Clares were not permanently established in the country until the late 1870s. |
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A small group of Colettine nuns arrived from [[Düsseldorf]], Germany, seeking a refuge for the community which had been expelled from their monastery by the government policies of the ''[[Kulturkampf]]''. They found a welcome in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland|Diocese of Cleveland]], and in 1877 established a monastery in that city. At the urging of [[Mother Ignatius Hayes|Mary Ignatius Hayes]] in 1875 [[Pope Pius IX]] had already authorized the sending of nuns to establish a monastery of Poor Clares of the Primitive Observance from San Damiano in Assisi. After the reluctance on the part of many bishops to accept them, due to their reliance upon donations for their maintenance, a community was finally established in [[Omaha]], [[Nebraska]], in 1878.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://omahapoorclare.org|title=Home - Poor Clare Sisters of Omaha|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> |
A small group of Colettine nuns arrived from [[Düsseldorf]], Germany, seeking a refuge for the community which had been expelled from their monastery by the government policies of the ''[[Kulturkampf]]''. They found a welcome in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland|Diocese of Cleveland]], and in 1877 established a monastery in that city. At the urging of [[Mother Ignatius Hayes|Mary Ignatius Hayes]] in 1875 [[Pope Pius IX]] had already authorized the sending of nuns to establish a monastery of Poor Clares of the Primitive Observance from San Damiano in Assisi. After the reluctance on the part of many bishops to accept them, due to their reliance upon donations for their maintenance, a community was finally established in [[Omaha]], [[Nebraska]], in 1878.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://omahapoorclare.org|title=Home - Poor Clare Sisters of Omaha|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> |
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Currently there are also monasteries in (among other places): [[Alexandria, Virginia]] ( |
Currently{{when|date=February 2024}} there are also monasteries in (among other places): [[Alexandria, Virginia]] (PCC);<ref>{{cite web|url=http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/96|title=Poor Clare Monastery of Mary, Mother of the Church|access-date=9 December 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203014003/http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/96|archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref> [[Andover, Massachusetts]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://poorclaresandover.org/index.htm|title=Home|date=2009-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203173314/http://poorclaresandover.org/index.htm|access-date=2020-04-21|archive-date=3 December 2009}}</ref> [[Belleville, Illinois]] (PCC);<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poorclares-belleville.info/Who%20We%20Are/index.htm|title=Poor Clare Nuns Belleville - Who We Are Today|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> [[Bordentown, New Jersey]]; [[Boston, Massachusetts]]; [[Brenham, Texas]]; [[Chicago, Illinois]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagopoorclares.org|title=Poor Clares of Chicago -- Home Page|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> [[Cincinnati, Ohio]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poorclarescincinnati.org|title=Poor Clares Cincinnati|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> [[Cleveland, Ohio]] (OSC, PCC and PCPA); [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]]; [[Evansville, Indiana]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://poorclare.org/evansville/|title=Poor Clare Sisters of Evansville, Indiana, the Second Order of St. Francis|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> [[Kokomo, Indiana]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=Community of Poor Clare Nuns of Kokomo IN, Inc. |url=https://thepoorclares.org/ |access-date=2022-08-22 |website=Community of Poor Clare Nuns of Kokomo IN, Inc. |language=en}}</ref> [[Los Altos Hills, California]]; [[Memphis, Tennessee]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://poorclare.org/memphis/|title=Capuchins,, Memphis|website=poorclare.org|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> [[New Kent County, Virginia|metropolitan Richmond, Virginia]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://poor-clares.org|title=Bethlehem Monastery - Barhamsville, Virginia|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> [[New Orleans]]; [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://poorclarepa.org|title=Poor Clare PA – Langhorne, PA|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> [[Phoenix, Arizona]]; Rockford, Illinois (PCC);<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rockfordpoorclares.org/Poor|title=Clare Colettine Nuns, Rockford, Illinois}}</ref> [[Roswell, New Mexico]] (PCC);<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poorclares-roswell.org|title=Poor Clares of Roswell|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> [[Saginaw, Michigan]]; [[Spokane, Washington]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://calledbyjoy.com|title=Called by Joy - The Poor Clare Sisters of Spokane, Washington|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref>/ [[Travelers Rest, South Carolina]]; [[Washington D.C.]];<ref>{{cite web|title=Welcome|url=http://poorclareswdc.org|access-date=9 December 2016|website=Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, Washington, DC}}</ref> and [[Wappingers Falls, New York]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Dwelling For The Lord|url=http://artyswebdesign.netfirms.com/poorclare|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208175321/http://artyswebdesign.netfirms.com/poorclare/|archive-date=8 December 2013|access-date=11 August 2013|website=Poor Clares of New York}}</ref> Additionally there are monasteries in [[Alabama]] (PCPA), [[California]], [[Florida]], [[Missouri]], [[Montana]] and [[Tennessee]]. Since the 1980s, the nuns of New York City have formed small satellite communities in [[Connecticut]] and [[New Jersey]]. There is one monastery of the Capuchin Observance in [[Denver, Colorado]], founded from Mexico in 1988.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Clare of Assisi: On the Wealth of Poverty'', by Martina Kreidler-Kos and Sr. Ancilla Röttger, OSC {{ISBN|978-2-7468-2569-7}} Published by Editions du Signe, France</ref> |
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====Canada==== |
====Canada==== |
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There are three monasteries of the |
There are three monasteries of the order in Canada: [[St. Clare's Monastery (Duncan)|St. Clare's Monastery]] at [[Duncan, British Columbia]]; and at [[Mission, British Columbia]]; and a [[French language|French-speaking]] community in [[Valleyfield, Quebec]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> |
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====Latin America==== |
====Latin America==== |
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[[File:Madre Jerónima de la Fuente, by Diego Velázquez.jpg|thumb|upright|Mother Jeronima of the Assumption, |
[[File:Madre Jerónima de la Fuente, by Diego Velázquez.jpg|thumb|upright|Mother Jeronima of the Assumption, PCC, by [[Diego Velázquez]] (1620)]] |
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There have been monasteries of the |
There have been monasteries of the order in [[Mexico]] since colonial days. The Capuchin nuns alone number some 1,350 living in 73 different monasteries around the country.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capuchins.org/whoweare.html|title=Capuchin|website=www.capuchins.org|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> |
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A monastery was founded in [[Huehuetenango]], [[Guatemala]], by nuns from the community in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], in November 1981, in the early days of a bloody [[civil war]] which ravaged that country; as of 2011, it consisted of seven nuns; five Guatemalans and two [[El Salvador#Salvadoran people|Salvadorans]].<ref>Hermanas Clarisas "Sobre Nosotras" [http://hermanasclarisas.com/about-us/]{{in lang|es}}</ref> |
A monastery was founded in [[Huehuetenango]], [[Guatemala]], by nuns from the community in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], in November 1981, in the early days of a bloody [[civil war]] which ravaged that country; as of 2011, it consisted of seven nuns; five Guatemalans and two [[El Salvador#Salvadoran people|Salvadorans]].<ref>Hermanas Clarisas "Sobre Nosotras" [http://hermanasclarisas.com/about-us/]{{in lang|es}}</ref> |
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===Asia=== |
===Asia=== |
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[[File:MonasterySaintClaireJerusalemFeb252023 01.jpg|thumb|{{Ill|Monastery Saint Claire (Jerusalem)|lt=Monastery Saint Claire in Jerusalem|he|מנזר סנט קלייר בירושלים}}]] |
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⚫ | The Poor Clares were massacred at [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] during the reconquest of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] after the [[Crusades]]. They returned to [[Poor Clares of Nazareth|Nazareth]] in 1884 and Jerusalem in 1888. [[Charles de Foucauld|St{{nbsp}}Charles de Foucauld]] served both communities between 1897 and 1900. These French Clarissians were expelled from the [[Ottoman Empire]] at the onset of [[World War |
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⚫ | The Poor Clares were massacred at [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] during the reconquest of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] [[Fall of Acre|after]] the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusades]]. They returned to [[Poor Clares of Nazareth|Nazareth]] in 1884 and {{Ill|Monastery Saint Claire (Jerusalem)|lt=Jerusalem|he|מנזר סנט קלייר בירושלים}} in 1888. [[Charles de Foucauld|St{{nbsp}}Charles de Foucauld]] served both communities between 1897 and 1900. These French Clarissians were expelled from the [[Ottoman Empire]] at the onset of [[World War I]]; the communities were subsequently reestablished in 1949 amid the [[creation of Israel]]. |
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⚫ | The Poor Clare in the [[Philippines]] was led by [[Jerónima de la Asunción|Jeronima of the Assumption]] who was authorized by the King of Spain and the [[Minister General]] of the Order of Friars Minor to go there to found a monastery. She was from [[Toledo, Spain]] and left Madrid in April 1620 in her 60s and arrived in [[Manila]] on 5 August 1621 with other 14 sisters. They are the first contemplative nuns who arrived in the Philippine archipelago to support the active works of evangelization of the [[Franciscans]] working in the country through their life of contemplation, penance, poverty, and enclosure. |
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==== Philippines ==== |
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⚫ | The Poor Clare in the [[Philippines]] was led by [[Jerónima de la Asunción|Jeronima of the Assumption]] who was authorized by the King of Spain and the [[Minister General]] of the [[Order of Friars Minor]] to go there to found a monastery. She was from [[Toledo, Spain]] and left Madrid in April 1620 in her 60s and arrived in [[Manila]] on 5 August 1621 with other 14 sisters. They are the first contemplative nuns who arrived in the Philippine archipelago to support the active works of evangelization of the [[Franciscans]] working in the country through their life of contemplation, penance, poverty, and enclosure. |
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Together with the Alcantarine Friars who came to the Philippines in 1578 and strive to live the ideals of [[Francis of Assisi]] in a very rigorous way, the Poor Clare sisters also professed the Rule and life of [[Clare of Assisi]]. They heightened their witnessing of the "privilege of poverty" of Clare by not having a permanent income but rather opened their gates of the Divine Providence through alms and the generosity of the people. |
Together with the Alcantarine Friars who came to the Philippines in 1578 and strive to live the ideals of [[Francis of Assisi]] in a very rigorous way, the Poor Clare sisters also professed the Rule and life of [[Clare of Assisi]]. They heightened their witnessing of the "privilege of poverty" of Clare by not having a permanent income but rather opened their gates of the Divine Providence through alms and the generosity of the people. |
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Their Monastery in [[Intramuros]] was severely devastated by an earthquake. However, through the efforts of the people around, it was rebuilt and has a larger space compared to the former monastery. During the war for independence in the year 1945, the monastery was destroyed again and the sisters were forced to evacuate the place. For the meantime, they were sheltered at the Minor Seminary of the Franciscans in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City for 5 years. The present location of the Monastery is at Aurora Boulevard, C5, Katipunan, Quezon City. Because of the zeal for the contemplative life, the founder's cause is ongoing for beatification. |
Their Monastery in [[Intramuros]] was severely devastated by an earthquake. However, through the efforts of the people around, it was rebuilt and has a larger space compared to the former monastery. During the war for independence in the year 1945, the monastery was destroyed again and the sisters were forced to evacuate the place. For the meantime, they were sheltered at the Minor Seminary of the Franciscans in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City for 5 years. The present location of the Monastery is at Aurora Boulevard, C5, Katipunan, Quezon City. Because of the zeal for the contemplative life, the founder's cause is ongoing for beatification. |
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Apart from the said monastery, it also expand its presence from the different parts of the country. The country |
Apart from the said monastery, it also expand its presence from the different parts of the country. The country has 27 monasteries in total: [[Sariaya]] Quezon (1957); [[Calbayog]], Samar (1965); Betis and [[Guagua]], Pampanga (1968); [[Cabuyao]], Laguna and Tayud, [[Cebu]] (1975): [[Maria, Siquijor]] and [[Isabela, Basilan]] in (1986); Josefina, Zamboanga del Sur, (1989); [[Kidapawan]], North Cotabato, [[Balanga, Bataan|Balanga]] Bataan, [[Lopez]] (Quezon Province), and Cabid-an, Sorsogon (1990); Guibang, Isabela, [[Mondragon, Northern Samar|Mondragon]], Northern Samar and [[Naval, Biliran]] (1991); Iguig, Tuguegarao (1992); [[Bolinao]], Pangasinan and [[Cantilan]], Surigao del Sur (1993); [[Boac, Marinduque]] and [[Polomolok]], South Cotabato (1998); [[Aritao]], Nueva Vizcaya (1999); Tabon-tabon, [[Albay]] and [[San Jose, Antique]] (2004); [[Borongan]], Eastern Samar and [[Malasiqui]] Pangasinan (2011) and [[Tabuk, Kalinga|Tabuk]], Kalinga (2017). The Poor Clare Monastery in Palawan province is founded by the Monastery from China. |
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Furthermore, their expansion does not only limit in the Philippine archipelago but also helped the aging communities in [[Tahiti]], [[France]], [[Italy]], [[England]], [[Germany]], [[Egypt]], USA. They were able to found new monasteries in abroad such as in [[Malaysia]], [[Papua New Guinea]], [[Taiwan]], [[Hongkong]]. |
Furthermore, their expansion does not only limit in the Philippine archipelago but also helped the aging communities in [[Tahiti]], [[France]], [[Italy]], [[England]], [[Germany]], [[Egypt]], USA. They were able to found new monasteries in abroad such as in [[Malaysia]], [[Papua New Guinea]], [[Taiwan]], [[Hongkong]]. |
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* The [[Eternal Word Television Network]] (EWTN) is operated by the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in [[Alabama]]. It is privately owned. |
* The [[Eternal Word Television Network]] (EWTN) is operated by the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in [[Alabama]]. It is privately owned. |
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* In June and July 2006, [[BBC Two]] broadcast a television series called ''[[The Convent (television series)|The Convent]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poorclaresarundel.org/Pages/CONVENTDefault.aspx|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119063225/http://www.poorclaresarundel.org/Pages/CONVENTDefault.aspx|url-status=dead|title=Poor Clares Arundel|archivedate=19 November 2009|website=www.poorclaresarundel.org}}</ref> in which four women were admitted to a Poor Clare monastery in southern England, for a period of six weeks, to observe the life. |
* In June and July 2006, [[BBC Two]] broadcast a television series called ''[[The Convent (television series)|The Convent]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poorclaresarundel.org/Pages/CONVENTDefault.aspx|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119063225/http://www.poorclaresarundel.org/Pages/CONVENTDefault.aspx|url-status=dead|title=Poor Clares Arundel|archivedate=19 November 2009|website=www.poorclaresarundel.org}}</ref> in which four women were admitted to a Poor Clare monastery in southern England, for a period of six weeks, to observe the life. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Colettine Poor Clares]] |
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*[[Capuchin Poor Clares]] |
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*[[Poor Clares, Unreformed]] |
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*[[Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration]] |
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==Notes and references== |
==Notes and references== |
Revision as of 18:48, 20 May 2024
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/SDamiano-Clara_og_s%C3%B8stre.jpg/250px-SDamiano-Clara_og_s%C3%B8stre.jpg)
The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin: Ordo Sanctae Clarae), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis, are members of an enclosed order of nuns in the Roman Catholic Church. The Poor Clares were the second Franciscan branch of the order to be established. Founded by Clare of Assisi and Francis of Assisi on Palm Sunday in the year 1212, they were organized after the Order of Friars Minor (the First Order), and before the Third Order. As of 2011, there were over 20,000 Poor Clare nuns in over 75 countries throughout the world. They follow several different observances and are organized into federations.[1]
The Poor Clares follow the Rule of St. Clare, which was approved by Pope Innocent IV on the day before Clare's death in 1253. The main branch of the order (OSC) follows the observance of Pope Urban. Other branches established since that time, who operate under their own unique Constitutions, are the Colettine Poor Clares (PCC) (founded 1410), the Capuchin Poor Clares (OSCCap) (founded 1538) and the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration (PCPA) (founded 1854).
Foundation and rule
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/S%C3%A3o_Francisco_d%C3%A1_a_F%C3%B3rmula_de_Vida_a_Santa_Clara_-_Valentim_de_Almeida_%28Convento_do_Louri%C3%A7al%29_%28cropped%29.png/220px-S%C3%A3o_Francisco_d%C3%A1_a_F%C3%B3rmula_de_Vida_a_Santa_Clara_-_Valentim_de_Almeida_%28Convento_do_Louri%C3%A7al%29_%28cropped%29.png)
The Poor Clares were founded by Clare of Assisi in 1212. Little is known of Clare's early life, although popular tradition hints that she came from a fairly well-to-do family in Assisi. At the age of 17, inspired by the preaching of Francis in the cathedral, Clare ran away from home to join her community of friars at the Portiuncula, some distance outside the town.[2] Although, according to tradition, her family wanted to take her back by force, Clare's dedication to holiness and poverty inspired the friars to accept her resolution. She was given the habit of a nun and transferred to Benedictine monasteries, first at Bastia and then at Sant' Angelo di Panzo, for her monastic formation.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/SanDamianoAssisiDec132023_02.jpg/220px-SanDamianoAssisiDec132023_02.jpg)
By 1216, Francis was able to offer Clare and her companions a monastery adjoining the chapel of San Damiano where she became abbess. Clare's mother, two of her sisters and some other wealthy women from Florence soon joined her new order. Clare dedicated her order to the strict principles of Francis, setting a rule of extreme poverty far more severe than that of any female order of the time.[3] Clare's determination that her order not be wealthy or own property, and that the nuns live entirely from alms given by local people, was initially protected by the papal bull Privilegium paupertatis, issued by Pope Innocent III.[4] By this time the order had grown to number three monasteries.
Spread of the order
The movement quickly spread, though in a somewhat disorganized fashion, with several monasteries of women devoted to the Franciscan ideal springing up elsewhere in Northern Italy. At this point Ugolino, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia (the future Pope Gregory IX), was given the task of overseeing all such monasteries and preparing a formal rule. Although monasteries at Monticello, Perugia, Siena, Gattajola and elsewhere adopted the new rule – which allowed for property to be held in trust by the papacy for the various communities – it was not adopted by Clare herself or her monastery at San Damiano.[4] Ugolino's Rule, originally based on the Benedictine one, was amended in 1263 by Pope Urban IV to allow for the communal ownership of property, and was adopted by a growing number of monasteries across Europe. Communities adopting this less rigorous rule came to be known as the Order of Saint Clare (OSC) or the Urbanist Poor Clares.[5]
Clare herself resisted the Ugolino Rule, since it did not closely enough follow the ideal of complete poverty advocated by Francis. On 9 August 1253, she managed to obtain a papal bull, Solet annuere, establishing a rule of her own, more closely following that of the friars, which forbade the possession of property either individually or as a community. Originally applying only to Clare's community at San Damiano, this rule was also adopted by many monasteries.[4] Communities that followed this stricter rule were fewer in number than the followers of the rule formulated by Cardinal Ugolino, and became known simply as "Poor Clares" (PC) or Primitives. Many sources before 1263 refer to them as Damianites (after San Damiano).[6]
The situation was further complicated a century later when Colette of Corbie restored the primitive rule of strict poverty to 17 French monasteries. Her followers came to be called the Colettine Poor Clares (PCC). Two further branches, the Capuchin Poor Clares (OSCCap) and the Alcantarines, also followed the strict observance.[5] The later group disappeared as a distinct group when their observance among the friars was ended, with the friars being merged by the Holy See into the wider observant branch of the First Order.
The spread of the order began in 1218 when a monastery was founded in Perugia; new foundations quickly followed in Florence, Venice, Mantua, and Padua. Agnes of Assisi, a sister of Clare, introduced the order to Spain, where Barcelona and Burgos hosted major communities. The order then expanded to Belgium and France, where a monastery was founded at Reims in 1229, followed by Montpellier, Cahors, Bordeaux, Metz, and Besançon. A monastery at Marseilles was founded directly from Assisi in 1254.[4] The Poor Clares monastery founded by Queen Margaret in Paris, St. Marcel, was where she died in 1295.[7] King Philip IV and Queen Joan founded a monastery at Moncel in the Beauvais diocese.[7] By A.D. 1300 there were 47 Poor Clare monasteries in Spain alone.[3]
Europe
United Kingdom
The first Poor Clare monastery in England was founded in 1286 in Newcastle upon Tyne.[8] In medieval England, where the nuns were known as "minoresses", their principal monastery was located near Aldgate, known as the Abbey of the Order of St Clare. The order gave its name to the still-extant street known as Minories on the eastern boundary of the City of London.
After the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII, several religious communities formed in continental Europe for English Catholics. One such was a Poor Clare monastery founded in 1609 at Gravelines by Mary Ward.[8] Later expelled from their monastery by the French Revolutionary Army in 1795, the community eventually relocated to England. They settled first in Northumberland, and then in 1857 built a monastery in Darlington,[8] which was in existence until 2007.
Following Catholic emancipation in the first half of the 19th century, other Poor Clares came to the United Kingdom,[9] eventually establishing communities in, e.g., Notting Hill (1857, which was forced to relocate by the local council in the 1960s, and settled in the village of Arkley in 1969),[10] Woodchester (1860–2011), Levenshulme (1863),[11] Much Birch (1880), Arundel (1886), Lynton (founded from Rennes, France, 1904–2010s), Woodford Green (1920–1969), York (1865–2015)[12] and Nottingham (1927–2023).[13][14]
The community in Luton was founded in 1976 to meet a shortage of teachers for local Catholic schools. It was originally based at 18 London Road in a large Edwardian house. In 1996, the community refocused on a ministry of social work and prayer, and moved to a smaller, modern home at Abigail Close, Wardown Park.[15]
Ireland
In Ireland there are seven monasteries of the Colettine Observance. The community with the oldest historical roots is the monastery on Nuns' Island in Galway, which traces its history back to the monastery in Gravelines. The community has a rare book collection which is the most comprehensive single collection of early-modern Clarissan material in English in the world.[16]
Originally a separate community of Irish women under a common mother superior with the English nuns, they moved to Dublin in 1629, the first monastic community in Ireland for a century. The first Abbess was Cecily Dillon, a daughter of Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon. War forced the community to move back to Galway in 1642. From that point on, persecution under the Penal Laws and war led to repeated destruction of their monastery and scattering of the community over two centuries, until 1825, when fifteen nuns were able to re-establish monastic life permanently on the site.[17]
Later monasteries were founded in 1906 in both Carlow and Dublin. From these, foundations were established in Cork (1914) and Ennis (1958). In 1973, an enclosed community of nuns of the Franciscan Third Order Regular in Drumshanbo, founded in England in 1852 and established there in 1864, transferred to the Second Order, under this Observance.[18]
There is Poor Clares monastery in Faughart, County Louth.[19]
Continental Europe
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Klarenaltar1.jpg/250px-Klarenaltar1.jpg)
Currently there are communities of Colettine Poor Clares in Bruges, Belgium, as well as in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and in Larvik, Norway. There are several monasteries in Hungary, Lithuania and Poland of the Urbanist and Capuchin Observances.
There are notable Clarissine churches in Bamberg, Bratislava, Brixen, and Nuremberg. There also is a small community in Münster, Germany, and a Capuchin monastery in Sigolsheim, France.
The last six Poor Clare nuns from a convent in Belgium were able to sell their convent by selling luxury vehicles, and move to the South of France.[20]
The Convent of Saint Clare is located in Burgos, Spain.[21]
Scandinavia
Americas
United States
After an abortive attempt to establish the order in the United States in the early 1800s by three nuns who were refugees of Revolutionary France, the Poor Clares were not permanently established in the country until the late 1870s.
A small group of Colettine nuns arrived from Düsseldorf, Germany, seeking a refuge for the community which had been expelled from their monastery by the government policies of the Kulturkampf. They found a welcome in the Diocese of Cleveland, and in 1877 established a monastery in that city. At the urging of Mary Ignatius Hayes in 1875 Pope Pius IX had already authorized the sending of nuns to establish a monastery of Poor Clares of the Primitive Observance from San Damiano in Assisi. After the reluctance on the part of many bishops to accept them, due to their reliance upon donations for their maintenance, a community was finally established in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1878.[22]
Currently[when?] there are also monasteries in (among other places): Alexandria, Virginia (PCC);[23] Andover, Massachusetts;[24] Belleville, Illinois (PCC);[25] Bordentown, New Jersey; Boston, Massachusetts; Brenham, Texas; Chicago, Illinois;[26] Cincinnati, Ohio;[27] Cleveland, Ohio (OSC, PCC and PCPA); Fort Wayne, Indiana; Evansville, Indiana;[28] Kokomo, Indiana;[29] Los Altos Hills, California; Memphis, Tennessee;[30] metropolitan Richmond, Virginia;[31] New Orleans; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;[32] Phoenix, Arizona; Rockford, Illinois (PCC);[33] Roswell, New Mexico (PCC);[34] Saginaw, Michigan; Spokane, Washington;[35]/ Travelers Rest, South Carolina; Washington D.C.;[36] and Wappingers Falls, New York.[37] Additionally there are monasteries in Alabama (PCPA), California, Florida, Missouri, Montana and Tennessee. Since the 1980s, the nuns of New York City have formed small satellite communities in Connecticut and New Jersey. There is one monastery of the Capuchin Observance in Denver, Colorado, founded from Mexico in 1988.[38]
Canada
There are three monasteries of the order in Canada: St. Clare's Monastery at Duncan, British Columbia; and at Mission, British Columbia; and a French-speaking community in Valleyfield, Quebec.[38]
Latin America
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There have been monasteries of the order in Mexico since colonial days. The Capuchin nuns alone number some 1,350 living in 73 different monasteries around the country.[39]
A monastery was founded in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, by nuns from the community in Memphis, Tennessee, in November 1981, in the early days of a bloody civil war which ravaged that country; as of 2011, it consisted of seven nuns; five Guatemalans and two Salvadorans.[40]
Asia
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The Poor Clares were massacred at Acre during the reconquest of Palestine after the Crusades. They returned to Nazareth in 1884 and Jerusalem in 1888. St Charles de Foucauld served both communities between 1897 and 1900. These French Clarissians were expelled from the Ottoman Empire at the onset of World War I; the communities were subsequently reestablished in 1949 amid the creation of Israel.
Philippines
The Poor Clare in the Philippines was led by Jeronima of the Assumption who was authorized by the King of Spain and the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor to go there to found a monastery. She was from Toledo, Spain and left Madrid in April 1620 in her 60s and arrived in Manila on 5 August 1621 with other 14 sisters. They are the first contemplative nuns who arrived in the Philippine archipelago to support the active works of evangelization of the Franciscans working in the country through their life of contemplation, penance, poverty, and enclosure.
Together with the Alcantarine Friars who came to the Philippines in 1578 and strive to live the ideals of Francis of Assisi in a very rigorous way, the Poor Clare sisters also professed the Rule and life of Clare of Assisi. They heightened their witnessing of the "privilege of poverty" of Clare by not having a permanent income but rather opened their gates of the Divine Providence through alms and the generosity of the people.
Their Monastery in Intramuros was severely devastated by an earthquake. However, through the efforts of the people around, it was rebuilt and has a larger space compared to the former monastery. During the war for independence in the year 1945, the monastery was destroyed again and the sisters were forced to evacuate the place. For the meantime, they were sheltered at the Minor Seminary of the Franciscans in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City for 5 years. The present location of the Monastery is at Aurora Boulevard, C5, Katipunan, Quezon City. Because of the zeal for the contemplative life, the founder's cause is ongoing for beatification.
Apart from the said monastery, it also expand its presence from the different parts of the country. The country has 27 monasteries in total: Sariaya Quezon (1957); Calbayog, Samar (1965); Betis and Guagua, Pampanga (1968); Cabuyao, Laguna and Tayud, Cebu (1975): Maria, Siquijor and Isabela, Basilan in (1986); Josefina, Zamboanga del Sur, (1989); Kidapawan, North Cotabato, Balanga Bataan, Lopez (Quezon Province), and Cabid-an, Sorsogon (1990); Guibang, Isabela, Mondragon, Northern Samar and Naval, Biliran (1991); Iguig, Tuguegarao (1992); Bolinao, Pangasinan and Cantilan, Surigao del Sur (1993); Boac, Marinduque and Polomolok, South Cotabato (1998); Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya (1999); Tabon-tabon, Albay and San Jose, Antique (2004); Borongan, Eastern Samar and Malasiqui Pangasinan (2011) and Tabuk, Kalinga (2017). The Poor Clare Monastery in Palawan province is founded by the Monastery from China.
Furthermore, their expansion does not only limit in the Philippine archipelago but also helped the aging communities in Tahiti, France, Italy, England, Germany, Egypt, USA. They were able to found new monasteries in abroad such as in Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Hongkong.
There are also monastery from Kiryū, Gunma, Japan, which was founded from the monastery in Boston in 1965.[41]
Connections with television
- In 1958, Saint Clare was declared the patron saint of television by the Catholic Church.
- The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is operated by the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in Alabama. It is privately owned.
- In June and July 2006, BBC Two broadcast a television series called The Convent,[42] in which four women were admitted to a Poor Clare monastery in southern England, for a period of six weeks, to observe the life.
See also
- Colettine Poor Clares
- Capuchin Poor Clares
- Poor Clares, Unreformed
- Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration
Notes and references
- ^ "Poor Clare Sisters". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ Michael Walsh (ed.). Butler's lives of the Saints, Burns and Oates (1991) p. 246.
- ^ a b Farmer, David (ed.) Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford University Press (1997), p. 103
- ^ a b c d "Poor Clares". The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, Vol.9. p. 603
- ^ Bert Roest, Order and Disorder: The Poor Clares between Foundation and Reform (Brill, 2013), p. 2.
- ^ a b Queen Isabella (c.1295/1358) and the Greyfriars: An example of royal patronage based on her accounts for 1357/1358, Michael Robson, Franciscan Studies, Vol. 65 (2007), 328.
- ^ a b c "History of the Poor Clare Order in Britain - The Poor Clare Monastery, Hereford". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ McKeown, Paul. "Franciscans and Poor Clares(UK) - Links to Franciscans and Poor Clares". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Arkley Poor Clare Monastery". Archived from the original on 23 January 2011.
- ^ "Manchester (Levenshulme) – St Mary of the Angels and St Clare". Retrieved 26 November 2022.
- ^ Lewis, Stephen (13 February 2015). "Convent life on the quiet". York Press. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ "Community of Poor Clare Colettines, Bulwell in Nottingham". Retrieved 26 November 2022.
- ^ Zagnat, Olimpia (3 May 2023). "'Our loss' as nuns leave city after failing to raise money for new monastery". NottinghamshireLive. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Luton". Sisters of St Clare.
- ^ Goodrich, Jaime.(2021). “The Rare Books of the Galway Poor Clares.” Library 22.4:: 498–522.
- ^ Team, Marek Mazur &. "Poor Clares Galway - Ireland". Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Poor Clares of Drumshanbo "History"". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ^ Life is beautiful for the Poor Clare sisters by Olivia Ryan, The Argus, 9 July 2014.
- ^ Goldsmith, Charles (6 April 1990). "The adviser to aging nuns who sold their convent..." UPI.
- ^ Latorre, Matilde (15 May 2022). "Poor Clares bring life back to an abandoned monastery in northern Spain". Aleteia. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Home - Poor Clare Sisters of Omaha". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Poor Clare Monastery of Mary, Mother of the Church". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Home". 3 December 2009. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ "Poor Clare Nuns Belleville - Who We Are Today". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Poor Clares of Chicago -- Home Page". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Poor Clares Cincinnati". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Poor Clare Sisters of Evansville, Indiana, the Second Order of St. Francis". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Community of Poor Clare Nuns of Kokomo IN, Inc". Community of Poor Clare Nuns of Kokomo IN, Inc. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ "Capuchins,, Memphis". poorclare.org. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ "Bethlehem Monastery - Barhamsville, Virginia". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Poor Clare PA – Langhorne, PA". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Clare Colettine Nuns, Rockford, Illinois".
- ^ "Poor Clares of Roswell". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Called by Joy - The Poor Clare Sisters of Spokane, Washington". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Welcome". Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, Washington, DC. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Dwelling For The Lord". Poor Clares of New York. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ a b Clare of Assisi: On the Wealth of Poverty, by Martina Kreidler-Kos and Sr. Ancilla Röttger, OSC ISBN 978-2-7468-2569-7 Published by Editions du Signe, France
- ^ "Capuchin". www.capuchins.org. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ Hermanas Clarisas "Sobre Nosotras" [1](in Spanish)
- ^ "Poor Clares, Japan". poorclare.org. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ "Poor Clares Arundel". www.poorclaresarundel.org. Archived from the original on 19 November 2009.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Poor Clares Official U.S. website
- The Catholic Encyclopedia: The Poor Clares
- Prayer for Poor Clare and Franciscan Vocations
- The Convent television series
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .