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Centenary of Spokane Poor Clares July 22 1914-2014
Good Morning Good People,
Yesterday we celebrated the founding of our monastery of Poor Clare Nuns, in Spokane Washington. It was 100 years ago, at 10 pm on July 22 that our
sisters from our Omaha Nebraska monastery actually arrived in Spokane Washington.
During this our Centenary year, we will bring you from time to time snippets of Poor Clare life today as we live it in the Pacific Northwest.
We thought it fitting to reprint a portion of our Abbess’ article from a recent issue of The Way, which shares with you a look at the daily
schedule of the Poor Clares in Spokane.
May the Lord give you peace!
It is very humbling to be part of a group that God has provided for, through his people in Spokane and elsewhere, for 100 years. It is even more
amazing to extend that to the Catholic Church which God has sustained for 2000 years. The depth of his care for all of us is eternal. As Poor
Clare Nuns, we are very excited about living and witnessing to the Gospel life in the 21st century. There is much to celebrate and Pope Francis
is setting a powerful example for the New Evangelization.
May our presence in Spokane continue to be a source of love, faithfulness and hopefulness for not only the local Church, and community, but
also beyond.
What do you do all day long in a monastery?” This question is asked of us on a regular basis both by those discerning a possible religious
vocation and those that are just curious and mystified by our form of life.
Our main purpose for existing is to live the Gospel life in Spokane in poverty and humility according to the rule of our mother St. Clare,
who was St. Francis’ most devoted follower. This plays out in many ways in Washington State which is at least 70% unchurched. A good part
of our ministries are evangelistic.
Our daily schedule is formed around our prayer schedule which is the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. It is as follows:
5:00am Rise
6:00am Adoration
6:30am Office of Readings
7:00am Breakfast
7:40am Morning Prayer
8:30am Mass
Work time
12:30pm Dinner
Midmorning, Midday and Mid-afternoon Prayer are usually prayed in private, but sometimes in common.
Work time
4:30pm Evening Prayer
6:00pm Supper
7:00pm Night Prayer
There is time in the schedule for personal prayer throughout the day.
Many people contact us with prayer intentions throughout the day by phone, mail and also in person at the door. We also receive prayer requests for
all kinds of situations, needs and people via email or other means. Sometimes there are amazing answers to prayer and sometimes we never know what
happens to the person or situation.
Our daily routine includes house chores, answering the phone, mail and door which can be very busy at times, laundry, cooking, yard and garden care, greenhouse, sacristy, liturgy, infirmary, taking care of pets: Shelly the Golden Retriever, Mocha and Salem our cats, Pi the parrot and various fish, office work, computer work, maintenance and running errands. . One might say that most of these are the internal ministries which we do for the other sisters.
By Sr. Colleen Byrne, OSC
We have several outreach ministries which we will share with you during our yearlong celebration.
During our centenary year we will be remembering all of you in our prayers.
Blessing of Peace and Good to All!
The Spokane Poor Clare Sisters
Blessing of Peace and Good to All!
The Poor Clare Sisters of Spokane
Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare
4419 N Hawthorne St
Spokane, WA 99205, USA
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