new blog

http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/cloister_outreach_newsticker/

blessings,

gemma

February 2 -- International Day of Prayer for the Cloisters

Please remember the cloisters around the world in prayer on February 2. Thank you.

UK Monastic Updates

Poor Clares:

Neath closed, and the nuns moved to the monastery of Bothwell, Scotland.

Darlington closed. The nuns joined their sisters at Much Birch.

Southampton closed, the nuns moving to the Poor Clare monastery at Dublin, Ireland.

Carmels:

Darlington lost their Discalced Carmelites, also.

The nuns of the Golders Green Carmel moved to that of Preston.

Redemptoristines:

The Liverpool community has unpublished their website. We have not been able to find another webpresence.

Benedictines:

Stanbrook Abbey moved into their new monastery:
http://www.stanbrookabbeyfriends.org/

Visitation:

A new website for the Visitandines:
http://www.visitationmonastery.co.uk/index.html

Thanks to the discerners from our Catholic Vocations UK/Europe group for the above information. They are also helping us with the contents of the website by the same name:
http://cloisters.tripod.com/vocations_UK/

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Coordinator has Returned

Gemma is slowly getting back into the swing of things.

We have discerners on retreat at present. One is on retreat until the end of August with the Redemptoristines of Australia. Another is about to make a three-month live-in with the Benedictine nuns of Shaw Island, Washington.

Not counting the Cloisterite Hermits, we have five emerging Lay Associations of the Faithful. From these, we plan to found new apostolic religious communities. Those founding the communities gain more independence from us as they become more immersed in their work.

http://cloisters.tripod.com/conf/ Please see the "lay associations" page.

The members of the Gilbertines yahoo group are also forming a lay association. On the yahoo group we have priests, religious, and laity from all over the world. One female religious of the Traditional Anglican Church (the group about to be received en masse by Rome) has discerned that she will renew the Gilbertine nuns. Once the lay association is founded, and the nuns are renewed, we will consider Gilbertine spirituality as being renewed. Group member Fr. Carlos has founded the Confraternity of St. Gilbert for men in Brazil.

http://cloisters.tripod.com/gilbertinerenewal/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gilbertines/

Eremitical charisms are emerging, also. The Anchorites of Reparation, nicknamed the "White Caps" due to their future white Capuchin habits, are meant to imitate St. Colette of Corbie in her reclusive life in the anchorhold of her parish church. The White Caps plan to be attached to churches, as well. http://cloisters.tripod.com/anchorites/ They will wear purple cappas and make reparation in particular for the sin of Greed.

The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, formerly of Portsmouth, Ohio, have found a new home in Charlotte, NC. Their website is: http://www.stjosephmonastery.com/

Blessings,
Gemma

Coordinator on Sick Leave

Gemma, Cloister Outreach Coordinator, will be on sick leave until the end of May. She is currently recouperating from surgery.

Cloister Outreach Responds to Hypercriticism

Cloister Outreach is a private association of the faithful with international cooperators. The Coordinator, Gemma, is physically located in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina. Cloister Outreach's main purpose is the support of religious vocations, particularly to the cloister, and to emerging charisms and their founders/promoters. Under canon law, we have a right to exist. Indeed, we are compelled to action by Christian charity, which is actually encouraged under canon law.



We have recently come under fire regarding one of our projects, the Cloisterite Hermits. We stand with the vocations attracted to that charism--which is an entity separate from Cloister Outreach--and are working to correct a situation brought to our attention by our critics. Please see the Reparatrix Anchoresses' blog for an explanation of said situation.

http://reparatrixanchoresses.blogspot.com/

We Must be Doing Something Right

Cloistered vocations steadily on the rise (scroll down to fourth paragraph):

http://www.cloisteredlife.com/

Spanish Monastery has to relocate due to overflowing novitiate (now has 140 nuns):

http://blogs.periodistadigital.com/religiondigital.php/2009/05/24/la-abadesa-del-milagro

Keep praying!

Blessings,
Gemma