Sisters Of Mary Morning Star

[Chiquitunga]

new page on them on the parish site where they're at, http://steloicatholicchurch.weebly.com/sisters-of-mary-morning-star.html

[Jennifer]

A lovely Community....thanks for sharing.

[4LoveofJMJ]

 

For five to six years these sisters, and others around the world, have worked toward being approved — and despite opposition from the Vatican, have finally received their own order....

 

Why would there be opposition from the Vatican? Is this normal for any starting order?

[corban711]

Why would there be opposition from the Vatican? Is this normal for any starting order?

 

 

These sisters received opposition due to their interesting history...Short version is that the sisters are a branch off of the Community of St. John family tree.  There was a painful time in the Community of St. John which left them internally divided.

 

 Many left to start this congregation which they believed would be more faithful to the charism they were vowed to live in the Church.  They re-formed as the "Sisters of St. John and of St. Dominic". Due to their origin of being Sisters of St. John and using the name St. John, then Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone shut them down fearing that it could cause an even deeper divide in the family of St. John and he was seeking to protect the order.  

 

Now a few years later, they have received approval under a different name under the new Secretary of State and a new bishop.  

 

 

The opposition of the Vatican was definitely not to the beginning of this beautiful congregation, but out of fear of dividing an already existing congregation.  One of those unfortunate sticky situations   :(

Edited January 4, 2015 by corban711

[Orans]

One year after their official start with the highest Vatican approval, the Sisters of Mary Morning Star have a second house in the USA:

Bishop welcomes new community of Sisters to Portsmouth

by Staff Reporter

posted Tuesday, 28 Jul 2015

The Sisters will participate in various evangelistic activities, according to Bishop Egan

The Sisters of Maria Stella Matutina will be based in the parish of St Joseph’s in Grayshott

A new community of contemplative religious Sisters has arrived in the Diocese of Portsmouth.

The Sisters of Maria Stella Matutina will be based in the parish of St Joseph’s, Grayshott, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth announced on Sunday in a letter to parishes.

In his letter Bishop Egan said: “The Sisters, although contemplative, are not enclosed and therefore will participate in various evangelistic activities both in the parish and in the diocese. The Sisters are supported financially through donations received and also through their manual work including craftwork, pottery, leatherwork, candle-making, carpentry, bee keeping, calligraphy, picture framing, jam making and fruit harvests.”

The community, which is named after “Mary the Morning Star”, was founded in Spain last year and already has 225 Sisters worldwide, representing almost 20 nationalities.

Their primary aim is to pray for the work of the new evangelisation. Their daily routine is mostly dedicated to prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and they spend each weekend recalling the Easter Triduum, beginning with Holy Hour every Thursday evening, meditating on the mystery of the Agony in the Garden.

The lives of the Sisters are based on a balance between solitude and community life. For this reason, they say, they “like to have priories with seven to 15 Sisters, which allows these two dimensions of our contemplative life to develop.”

The Sisters add: “We live in buildings that do not require expensive investments not maintenance expenses that would go beyond our resources, and we often make the necessary repairs ourselves. We incarnate our vow of poverty through our manual work and service.”

They continue: “We live in convents that are uniquely reserved for us. We offer monastic hospitality proper to our contemplative life, which allows us to share with others what is most essential to our life: prayer, the Word of God and the search for truth.”

In his letter to parishes Bishop Egan wrote: “Let us give thanks to God for the presence of this new community in our diocese, especially this year as the Church celebrates the Year of Consecrated Life.”

And here we find a little more information about the Sisters daily life:

 

The Sisters of Mary Morning Star attend parish and diocesan functions and invite the local community of Ghent to the convent to share prayer. (Courtesy of Sisters of Mary Morning Star)

A life of presence, prayer and joy

by Joyce Meyer

Jan. 21, 2015 in

Ghent, Minnesota

My work as international liaison for the Global Sisters Report can take me virtually to several countries in one day. Just the other day I was in Uganda, Zambia, Ukraine and Kansas City – by Skype, of course. The week before, however, I was in Ghent, Minn. Now, what story is the international liaison following in Minnesota? A story about a new contemplative community, Sisters of Mary Morning Star, that I learned about last July when Tom Fox and I facilitated a day on global sisters for the LCWR Region XI in St. Cloud, Minn.

I was curious how a group of 10 women from around the world settled in Ghent, a small town in southeastern Minnesota with a population, according to Google, of 359. I met the sisters on Skype and of course my first question was, why Ghent? Srs. Mary Thomas and Aude told me it was a purely practical decision. They needed a convent, there was one available in Ghent, and Bishop John LeVoir had once hoped for a group of contemplative sisters in his diocese. The situation fit perfectly.

The Sisters of Mary Morning Star is an Association of the Faithful, established in June 2014 in Bergara, Spain. Cardinal Prefect, João Bráz de Aviz, of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life, presented the official founding papers to 105 sisters and Bishop Jose Ignacio Munilla of San Sebastian. The bishop is their official Vatican-named superior. There are about 250 members in 10 countries, and the group remains an association until it has fulfilled all the canonical requirements to become a congregation.

The Ghent community represents six countries, with sisters’ ages ranging from 24 to 50. Five sisters have made final profession of vows and the others are still in formation. The international age range is about the same, except for the foundress who is 82.

Even though a new foundation, this community belongs to an ancient cenobitic form of religious practice, where members live a combination of solitary and communal life. Their uniqueness is the combining of Carmelite, Carthusian and Dominican spiritualities, but without enclosure to isolate the sisters from people of the community. The sisters’ life of presence, prayer and joy witnesses to God at work in the world. They attend parish and diocesan functions and also invite the local community into the convent to share prayer. At times they lead Holy Hours or other prayer experiences for children in local parishes.

 

The community in Ghent, Minn., of 10 Sisters of Mary Morning Star. (Courtesy of Sisters of Mary Morning Star)

Each day is a similar routine of silence, solitude and communal activities. Together, the sisters pray the morning, noon, evening and sometimes night prayers of the Divine Office and engage in a half an hour of silent prayer after the Eucharistic liturgy. Two more hours of silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament are also in common. The rest of the day is spent in quiet solitude as they carry out household tasks, an hour or two of study/reflection on the Scriptures or theology texts, and private prayer. Conversations are limited to study groups among themselves several times a week and a weekly meal together. Ordinarily they eat their meals alone, usually in their rooms. Exercise is also an important part of the daily routine.

The Ghent parish has welcomed the sisters and donates the convent rent- and utility-free. The parish is also helping them renovate the convent and school building to accommodate more sisters. To fulfill the traditional requirement of financial independence for daily expenses, the sisters produce crafts and leather goods that they sell online.

How does one get to know the sisters and, if attracted, join them? Women from the United States must have college or work experience, but in the Global South a high school diploma is needed. Sr. Mary Thomas entered while attending Notre Dame University’s Great Books program and has lived in the U.S., France and India. Sr. Aude, born in France, met the sisters in her childhood parish. She lived in Senegal, France, the U.S. and India. It was their love for prayer, solitude and desire to witness to God’s presence in the world that attracted them to this community. Formation consisted of a “School of Life” and two years of novitiate, one each in her own country and one in Spain. Learning French is required because the original history and documents were written in France.

During my online visit the lively energy of these young women was palpable as they shared their experience of a global vision of religious life, something we religious, young and old, share. The community’s ancient charism is leading them into the unknown just as each of ours is, although in different ways. They are experiencing as we are the adventure of being part of something “new,” and the insecurity this brings. We are all being held together in God’s Providence.

Sisters of Mary Morning Star make leather goods, such as custom sandals, to support their community based in Ghent. (Courtesy of Sisters of Mary Morning Star)

[Joyce Meyer, PBVM, is international liaison for Global Sisters Report.]

Some pictures of these Sisters:

 

 

 

[puellapaschalis]

The Diocese of Portsmouth mentioned is in the UK, not the US.

[:o)Katherine:o)]

I saw that they have a facebook page for their leather crafts. Does anyone know if they have a website? I did a google search and did not find one.

[Orans]

The Diocese of Portsmouth mentioned is in the UK, not the US.

Thanks for setting this straight!

I saw that they have a facebook page for their leather crafts. Does anyone know if they have a website? I did a google search and did not find one.

I don't think they have a web page yet.

PLEASE HELP! I

I don't know why I get all my replies together in one post.

I made 3 separate post for the Sisters and they came up in one post.

Now I'm responding an clicking "submit reply" separately to different posts, and everything comes up together.

What am I doing wrong???

Thank you!

[truthfinder]

Thanks for setting this straight!

I don't think they have a web page yet.

PLEASE HELP! I

I don't know why I get all my replies together in one post.

I made 3 separate post for the Sisters and they came up in one post.

Now I'm responding an clicking "submit reply" separately to different posts, and everything comes up together.

What am I doing wrong???

Thank you!

You're not doing anything wrong; it's just a new function and we have to live with it. Unless @dUSt has a way around this. Fwiw, it keeps the post count down. 

[marigold]

If you wait a while between posts, it won't merge.

[Sister Leticia]

The Diocese of Portsmouth mentioned is in the UK, not the US.

Hee, hee, as a Brit, I knew this was Portsmouth in the South of England, UK... but when I saw their main community was in Ghent, I naturally assumed it meant the city in Flanders, Belgium!

[beatitude]

It's wonderful that the UK has been welcoming so many new religious communities in recent years - now we have two Ordinariate communities, composed of former Anglican sisters, the CFRs, the RSMs, and these Sisters of Mary. I pray that this is a sign of revival in the wider UK Church. Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us!

P.S. I really like the new feature. I used to find it a bit annoying when there were six posts in a row from the same person. Having your thoughts all in one post doesn't mean you won't be read! 

[Feankie]

When I read the article I thought it might be the old St. Joseph Monastery in Portsmouth, Ohio that the PCPA's moved out of a few years ago.

 

[Orans]

You're not doing anything wrong; it's just a new function and we have to live with it. Unless @dUSt has a way around this. Fwiw, it keeps the post count down. 

If you wait a while between posts, it won't merge.

Thanks to both of you! 

[beatitude]

It's wonderful that the UK has been welcoming so many new religious communities in recent years - now we have two Ordinariate communities, composed of former Anglican sisters, the CFRs, the RSMs, and these Sisters of Mary. I pray that this is a sign of revival in the wider UK Church. Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us!

...and I have just read that the Cistercian nuns at Holy Cross Abbey in Whitland (in Wales) have decided not to host any more Come and See weekends until 2016 because three women have entered their novitiate already this year.

I don't know what's going on, but I like it.