In a little place set high on a hill, surrounded by the mountains and overlooking the Fraser River, the incense of prayer rises twenty-four hours a day, shedding light on the world below. The prayer rises from the open hearts and the empty hands of the Poor Sisters of Saint Clare as they live in the simple joy of their beloved Lord. All because JESUS has become the WAY for us.
Mother Magdalen Bentivoglio and her sister, Mother Constance, came from Rome, Italy, in 1875 to bring the Poor Clare way of life to North America. In 1911 the Poor Clares came to Victoria, BC, and from there our monastery was founded in 1950 in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
As cloistered contemplatives, we are a community of sisters wholly dedicated to praying for the Church and for all God’s people, in particular for the archdiocese of Vancouver. Our story is one of simple joys, hard work and a loving sisterhood. Saint Clare wrote in her “Form of Life” that we are to “live the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” She put special emphasis on poverty, going so far as to call it a privilege, one of radical dependence on God. Poor Clares, then, give themselves to Jesus, vowing to live the Gospel without possessions, in chastity and in obedience, within the silence and solitude of their monastery enclosure.
For more information, contact:
Sr. Sophia Maria Koot, OSC
(604) 826-2818
St. Clare's Monastery
PO Box 3370 Mission, BC V2V 4J5