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The Spirit of Prayer

The spirit of holy prayer and devotion, to which all other things of our earthly existence must contribute.

  -  Rule of St. Clare

 The life of a Poor Clare sister revolves around prayer.  Prayer and union with our Lord Jesus Christ is the reason for our existence.  

 

   As a community, we gather each morning for Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, followed by Mass in our chapel.  Visitors and neighbors are always welcome to join us for daily or Sunday Mass.   Then at different times of the day, we gather in choir for Daytime Prayer, Office of Readings, and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours.  We join with the Universal Church in prayer at these times, and unite our prayers with those of our sisters and brothers throughout the world.

   Since the liturgy is our main apostolate, it takes a community effort to prayerfully prepare the day's prayer:

    - The hebdomadary (prayer leader for the week) prepares the Mass and each prayer time, carefully choosing hymns to reflect the Scripture readings, season, and feast days.

    - The organists and guitarists prepare the music for each service.

    - The entire community gathers for choir practice to rehearse the music for the next week's liturgy.

    - The lector prepares the Scripture readings.

    - The sacristans prepare the flowers, candles, and vestments for Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.

    - Each sister contributes to the prayerful celebration by her time of personal prayer and reflection.

 

   Throughout the day, the spirit of prayer flows from the celebration of the Eucharist and enriches every aspect of our daily life, whether we are cooking, cleaning, gardening, packing altar breads, or working at any other task.  Our entire life comes forth from prayer and leads back to prayer.

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