Claire of Assisi's Girls

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Hear Bare feet whisper
Quiet across the cool floor -
A walking prayer.
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Close to my home there is a convent of the Poor Claires. Cloistered, behind high stone walls, they live a life of prayer, contemplation and service. I will sometimes attend the 7am mass which is open to the public. The sisters will sing, their soft voices a communal prayer coupled with melody.
The sisters remain behind a grill during the morning ceremony. However, when I sit in the quiet for a bit after the ceremony, one of sisters will come from behind the grill off to the left side of the alter to tidy things up around the alter. She will return items to their resting place. She will blow out candles and close a little wooden gate in front of and below the alter. Her bare feet whisper across the floor. Each time the sister passes near the alter she will bow low. She never rushes this time. It does not feel mechanical but rather a joy filled greeting permeates.

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“Love enfolds
It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.
I am secure in the Lord.
I can look out, now, through the Lord’s eyes.
I can see the world as he created it, in his mercy,
I can see my sisters and brothers with his love,
and I can worship the Father through the eyes of the Son
in the Love of the Holy Spirit.”
🌸 words of Claire of Assisi

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The Santa Barbara sisters’ Daily Schedule
12:30 a.m. Office of Reading (Matins)
retiring 1:00 a.m. – 1:30 a.m.
5:00 a.m. Morning Prayer (Lauds)
Morning coffee with bread
Lectio Divina
7:00 a.m. Holy Mass
Thanksgiving
Midmorning Prayer (Terce)
8:30 a.m. Adoration hours and
morning work period begins
11:10 a.m. Midday Prayer (Sext)
Private examen
Dinner, Angelus
1:30 p.m. Midafternoon Prayer (None)
Adoration hours and
afternoon work period begins
4:00 p.m. Recreation (1 hour)
Evening Prayer (Vespers)
Collation
7:30 p.m. Night Prayer (Compline)
Great Silence begins

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