Young women live out reality of contemplative life as Poor Clares

Published: 2006-01-31

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- It's hard to imagine young women of today choosing a life of enclosure, silence and prayer. But three happy, healthy young women -- all in their 20s -- are now in formation at the Monastery of St. Clare in St. Louis. Each heard God's call and chose to be a Poor Clare. Sister Mary Therese of the Sacred Heart Lavery, 26, entered the Poor Clares in 2001. The former Texas A&M University engineering student learned about the monastic community on a "nun run," in which young women discerning a vocation visit several religious orders in a set period of time. Sister Mary Christiana of Our Eucharistic King Schwent, 20, entered the monastery in September 2004. She learned of the Poor Clares through her youth group; her mother and a young priest also encouraged her vocation. Sister Mary Joseph of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary Rieger, 27, arrived in October 2004. The University of Missouri-Columbia political science graduate, who once worked as an intern on George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, hadn't even known there were Poor Clares in the St. Louis Archdiocese until a close friend led her to them.

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