Poor Clares Online!

Poor Clares Online!

galway.net , 29 September 2003

The Poor Clares of Nuns Island, Galway recently launched a new website with the two-fold aim of giving people an insight into the Poor Clare way of life and of pointing to some ways of prayer that are helpful and relevant in todays busy world.

The website includes:

• A gallery - a picture essay of daily life in the monastery.

• A comprehensive section of prayer ideas for busy people.

• A short life of Saint Clare.

• Personal testimonies of the sisters.

• The history of the Galway Poor Clares since the early 17th century.

The sisters had desired to be in tune with John Paul II's plea that monasteries would be schools of prayer, and that they would continue to offer to todays world an authentic experience of God.

The beauty of the website is that it enables us to take up this challenge, but in a manner which is compatible with our vocation as enclosed nuns. Sr. Louis, the Abbess said.

Saint Francis and Saint Clare have a fascination for young people and we hope that through this website a new generation may be exposed to their story and be encouraged to reflect more attentively on lifes essentials.

After an initial brainstorming session, it became apparent that many of the sisters had something to offer in the creation of the website. Family members and friends by degrees got involved in helping to provide the technical know-how and the necessary equipment.

One sister came up with a set of cartoons illustrating some of the writings of Saint Clare. Another sister got the loan of a digital camera, so for a couple of weeks it wasnt safe to go anywhere around the monastery. You never knew what corner shed jump out of, but we had great fun! Sr. Louis recalls.

People today lead very stressful lives. We feel that from the richness of our tradition we can share an alternative perspective on life. In a world overshadowed by consumerism, where despair has become prevalent, we want to offer this message of hope.

Ironically, the sisters themselves, in view of their life as enclosed contemplative nuns have chosen not to be connected to the Internet, but they havent seen this as an obstacle to entering the world of cyberspace. They are enthusiastic about the Internet as a powerful medium of communication and they are pleased to be associated with this facility through the website. As well as entrusting the website to the intercession and patronage of their Foundress Saint Clare, patroness of television, the sisters are also including the Archangel Gabriel as a patron of their website because of his role in communicating the message of the Incarnation to the Virgin Mary. They are particularly happy that the launch of the website took place on the Feast of the Archangel Gabriel and during the 750th anniversary year of the death of Saint Clare.

The website address is http://www.poorclares.ie/

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