When the little sisters meet each other in the cloister they say: Praised be Jesus Christ! And the sister addressed replies: Now and forever, amen! This puts the encounter of friends in the right context - the praise of the Lord!
So - Praised be Jesus Christ!
and welcome to Clareway our random weblog!
Our St Clare is the Patron Saint of the Media and we ask her to join us.
Today
What will be the most important day of my life? The day I was born? The day I died? It will be the day I looked into the eyes of God’s love and knew it was for me.
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This is a very lazy blog! But we have put a lot of updates on the Website recently!
Some of you have asked for a picture of the sisters. Here is one taken April 2008 with Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds, who came to give us a day of recollection.
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CHRISTMAS 2007
The crib grows every year!
General view
The Baptism of the Lord - John the Baptist on the river Jordon
With Joshua crossing the Jordan on the right and the dancers at the wedding of Cana behind him
Elijah - Old Testament type of John the Baptist, here seen being taken up into heaven on a fiery chariot and leaving his cloak to Elisha .
On the next platform is Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise, with below them the Old Testament Trinity. Below Elijah is Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
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Mair Mam Duw
Mary Mother of God
Waiting under the porch to welcome visitors
November - December
Saturday 1st December 2007 6.30 pm
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Recent Publications
Read Paul
Philippians
Read up for the Year of St Paul!
This is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.
Excerpts from his letter to the Philippians in the Message translation - with cartoon illustrations. Straight of the local press:
Also now available:
Clare the Bright Light Saint
and
Round the Clock with St Colette
£ 1.00 each plus p+p
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Song of Songs
15 August 2007
A community day of recollection on the Song of Song - at the end we sang it! The work of our musicians and artists: all holding residential Labour Certificates, see below!
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St Clare
11th August 2007
Our Annual retreat with Mother Damian and Sr Agatha on the saving meaning of work - at the end we all received this magnificent Certificate of Employment!
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Take one three times a day
28 July 2007
Springs of Water bless the Lord
On our arrival here in Hawarden, we were treated to a conducted tour through the cloister. As the building had been erected in the days when wood was cheap and plentiful, understandably and sensibly the door frames had been constructed out of beautiful pinewood, showing a pale and dark grain in their finish. Imagine our surprise that midway, each door frame sported a rather protruding, sometimes rusty nail. To us, having learned the value of wood it almost seemed like an act of vandalism, which naturally prompted us to ask - why the nail? But before any answer could be offered to us we came to a door which not only had a nail but a Holy Water stoup suspended from it - light began to dawn.
This was the evidence for a beautiful old custom, much cherished, to help the Holy Souls in purgatory by blessing ones self with Holy Water on entering and leaving a room. Probably not many will remember this custom now, but perhaps it would be worth our while to reflect on the meaning of taking Holy Water.
From time immemorial Catholics have taken Holy Water on entering a Church, reminding themselves of their baptism. By making the sign of the cross and calling on the Holy Name of the Blessed Trinity they prepared themselves having been cleansed in this mini-baptism to appear before the Real Presence of the Lord, which just leaves one with the question, should one - or should one not - take Holy Water before leaving the Church?
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15 June or thereabouts
Typical scenes from reorganising the Library
29 June
St Paul (and Peter)
It was announced that the Holy Father, Benedict XVI was going to have a “Year of St Paul”. Well, it figures! As the Lord has had His Great Jubilee, St Paul and all the other Apostles will have their millenniums of birth coming up.
We took the announcement at face value, and artists sketched feverishly to produce a banner of St Paul striding purposely along with scrolls tucked in his belt and an avalanche of flame falling down from heaven. The flames suggest the descent of the Holy Spirit and Paul's well known text our God is a consuming fire. He is wearing the sandals of the Gospel of Peace and the two scrolls next to his heart indicate the old and new testaments
The artists working on this were living like II Corinthians - sleepless and dinnerless - to get it finished for the feast of St Peter and Paul, 29th June. They were still feverishly sewing the lining fifteen minutes before the opening of Vespers.
Our celebration began in that room in our house called Ephesus and we processed to choir, banner unfurled, singing a new St Paul hymn [slightly rap!].
The banner was run up the choir wall to a fanfare of flutes. We were sublimely conscious that at that very moment our father, Benedict XVI, in the Basilica of St Paul-Outside-the-Walls in Rome, was announcing the Year of St Paul.... Well. He was. He announced that it will begin next year, 2008, on this day!
The following Monday we hauled our banner down, amid muffled laughter, and put it away for twelve months!
Take one three times a day
This medication contains a basic teaching of Holy Mother Church, a description thereof and an application.
10th July 2007
The Best Kept Mystery
Many years ago, I was commissioned by my Novice Mistress to impart some useful bits of information to my fellow postulant, newly received into the Church, and in need of instruction. So, convinced of the certainty that this was an easy task, I invited her to sit under the lilac bush and enjoy the fragrant air.
Without any further hesitation I suggested we would talk about the Hail Mary. Her answer was short and terce. “No!” she said rather firmly, “Tell me about the Blessed Trinity.” I heaved a heavy sigh and said “It’s a mystery.” “Yes?” came her rejoinder “And its such a well kept mystery that nobody ever seems to talk about it”. Stung by this rather shrewd observation I launched forth, beginning with the procession from the Father which we call the Son.... or if you like, the Father has an idea of himself.... It was plain to see that my listener was bored. After some prodigious yawning, she looked at me and said, “What does it all mean to you?”
Never, ever have I felt so exposed and challenged! I became aware that I had never given it one thought - that my listener had put a finger on the right spot; which is to say: that a truth never reflected on remains unreal. I tried a few feeble explanations to no avail. We should have stuck to the hail Mary!
And the lesson to be learned: make three times a day, a conscious effort to give glory to the Father, glory to the Son and glory to the Holy Spirit, because praising God is our mission here on earth.