Sisters Of Bethlehem In Livingston Manor

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='philosobrat' post='1239511' date='Apr 11 2007, 11:52 PM']Who is the person in black?
[url="http://www.photoshelter.com/img-show/I0000KdKL9EtYGCQ"]http://www.photoshelter.com/img-show/I0000KdKL9EtYGCQ[/url]

These photos are awesome... makes me long to go back to Livingston Manor for a visit.[/quote]

Yep, those in the first stage of formation are in what they call the "School of Life" The Community of St. John also has this - here is one in Princeville, IL - [url="http://pjstar.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?userphoto=0&image=13305588&thispage=1"]http://pjstar.mycapture.com/mycapture/enla...&thispage=1[/url]

Yes, they are like a dark navy blue. Probably this one just appears black. Then the next stage of formation is after one year when they take the habit as a novice (those they may first call it postulant, I'm not sure). Here are [url="http://www.photoshelter.com/gallery-img-show?G_ID=G0000aEDH37LthkM&P_ID=P0000_Q5bGDyrCKY&start=18&pagtotal=19"]some novices.[/url] They have a simple blue veil, without the wimple.

And usually when the Sisters of Bethlehem are not in choir, they have their cowls (hoods) down. I noticed someone commented in the New Liturgical Mov't site on how it's strange they wear the habit/scapular of the Carthusian Monks, instead of dressing more like the nuns. Emile James made a good comment though on how the early desert women also wore cowls like monks, and the Sisters of Bethlehem are quite distinct from the Carthusian Nuns.

I really feel with the Sisters of Bethlehem, at first glance they seem like quite a strange order, so different from what we're used to like the Carmelites. But after I went on that retreat at Les Voirons in France, I got a whole different view of them, and realized how incredibly awesome their spirit is. They truly worship the Father in spirit and in truth! Those are the first words that come to mind.

One of their sort of "mottos" which they sing often at the Office is the words from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, which JPII said in his encyclical [i]Redemptoris Mater[/i], "refers to Mary in a special and exceptional degree...[and] is meant for all people" which is the spirit of their order, to live a life in constant reference to what the Virgin Mary lives now in Heaven in the Presence of the Three Divine Persons ..

"Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and immaculate in His Presence in Love ..." (Eph. 1:3-4)

Edited April 13, 2007 by Margaret Clare

[Chiquitunga]

Quote from EJames here: [url="http://cantate-domino.blogspot.com/2007/04/sisters-of-bethlehem.html"]http://cantate-domino.blogspot.com/2007/04...-bethlehem.html[/url]

[quote]Pope John-Paul II, when he attended their General Chapter..which is quite interesting in and of itself,.. said he expects and hopes that the [b]Communities of Bethlehem be one of the main Bridges and living prayerful dialogues, between Orthodox and Catholic[/b], especially in the Near East[/quote]
Yes, that's what one of the sisters was telling me at the retreat at Les Voirons, regarding how they have both Western and Eastern spirituality and traditions. It's incredible!! And now they're founding a monastery for the sisters in Egypt and have plans for Galilee, also Mexico.

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='Margaret Clare']They profess the 5 vows that Carthusians profess of Poverty, Chastity, Obedience, Stability, and Conversion of Life, as well as some promises unique to their Monastic Family ...[/quote]

Actually, I believe it's 3 vows of Obedience, Stability, and Conversion of Life (poverty and chastity included in those).

[Chiquitunga]

From the Nuns Picture thread,
Mother Superior in Quebec :j

[img]http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1179/quebecee2.jpg[/img]

[Chiquitunga]

[url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=68021"]Statue of St. Bruno[/url] thread

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='EJames' post='1196779' date='Feb 16 2007, 12:00 AM']newly found photos of the Moanstery of Monastic Sisters of Bethlehem and the Assumption...
at the old Chartreuse in La Verne( west of st Tropez,France)..allot!! of tourists come by there to take pictures, but there are few public spaces so.....it has a little museum, and The Sisters take up 70% of the property,for cloister.
[img]http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/sorties/architecture/abbaye/la-verne/images/1.jpg[/img][/quote]

A few more pictures [url="http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/sorties/architecture/abbaye/la-verne/1.shtml"]here[/url] and [url="http://www.pbase.com/omayok/verne"]here[/url] of the old [url="http://la.verne.free.fr/"]Chartreuse de la Verne[/url],
now a monastery of the Monastic Family of Bethlehem

[img]http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/8020/18340400verne107rm6.jpg[/img]

It seems that at all Carthusian monasteries, there is always a beautiful statue of Our Lady like this, in a little niche. The entrance to the grounds of the Sisters of Bethlehem in Livingston Manor has one like this also.


[img]http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3204/18340397verne104wp5.jpg[/img]

The distinctive altar arrangement and Trinity icon in the church of the Monastic Family of Bethlehem

Edited August 3, 2007 by Margaret Clare

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='Emile James' post='1163610' date='Jan 13 2007, 10:43 AM']Glory to Jesus Christ..
i managed to squish this file down to 1/4 of its original to fit on Youtube
peace and goodness...

[b]Monastic Community of Bethlehem, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary,and St Bruno."
[/b]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeaKEsFlGAk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeaKEsFlGAk[/url]
a meditation with sound...[/quote]
The [url="http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=baabc4d27962c7bf26a1"]video EJames made[/url] is now on Godtube

Also his collection here: [url="http://ejvideoplace-catholic.blogspot.com/"]http://ejvideoplace-catholic.blogspot.com/[/url]

[url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=71951&pid=1368509&st=0&#entry1368509"]Monastic Family of Bethlehem links thread[/url]

[url="http://www.betharram.org/francais/NEF/FR%2006-04/mocaiana.htm"]Le Desert de la Madone[/url]

Edited September 3, 2007 by Margaret Clare

[Chiquitunga]

Wow, this site is very resourceful!

[url="http://www.religiousministries.com"]http://www.religiousministries.com[/url]

They even have the Monastic Family of Bethlehem listed! Says there's 15 sisters currently in the US.

[Guest Michele Claire]

Hello Everyone,

Great to read your messages filled with links and thoughts! I enjoyed reading them all.

I am new on this forum. My name is Michele Claire and like many of you I have been at the Monastery of Bethlehem.

I know the Monastery of N.D. de la Gloire-Dieu in Les Montsvoirons, France. I stayed there for a solitary retreat a long time ago. How some of you have mentioned this monastery was the first one to be founded and that was in 1967. The CharterHouse though is in Curriere-en-Chartreuse which is near Grenoble in Savoie. The former monastery is a place I absolutely love located in such a beautiful area overlooking the Alps on one side and the lake of Geneva on the other. In the forest near by there is the chapel where Francois de Sales used to go and he lived there as a hermit before being called to Annecy.

I have also been to the Monastery of Bethlehem in Livingston Manor, NY many, many times. The sisters are very nice and I always feel very welcome. The area, it goes without saying, is gorgeous and is located in the Catskill mountains in NY. Maybe I have met or seen some of you, retreating there... Who knows, it's a small world!

Hope you continue to write on this thread.

[Chiquitunga]

Hi, Michele Claire! Welcome to phatmass!

Thanks for sharing your experience!! That's so great how you made a retreat at Les Montsvoirons! Yeah, isn't it the old chapel far up the mountain with the black Madonna statue where St. Francis de Sales used to pray? I went up their by myself one day at the suggestion of a sister, and it was beautiful and so peaceful there!

Ah, here it is!! [url="http://lleclezio.blogspot.com/2007/01/fte-de-saint-franois-de-sales.html"]http://lleclezio.blogspot.com/2007/01/fte-...s-de-sales.html[/url]

Yes, and then their Motherhouse is at Curriere-en-Chartreuse, a former Carthusian monastery - one of them at least, either of the Brothers or the Sisters - which are a distance apart. That's so neat how you went there! I just went to Les Montsvoirons myself.

Yeah, Livingston Manor is beautiful! Thanks again for sharing your experience! God bless you!

[Guest Perpetualove]

Margaret Clare,
Thanks so much for all of the amazing links you have sent! Fantastic!!!!
Perpetualove

[julielizabet]

I've just been reading this thread and following the many links. Wonderful order, I love it. While I myself am married, I love reading about religious charisms and this one would've been on my short list if I was discerning! Are any of you adding this group to your short list? Or do any of you know you're going to apply to enter with the Sisters of Bethlehem?

[Guest Michele Claire]

[quote name='Margaret Clare' post='1400267' date='Oct 9 2007, 11:47 PM']Hi, Michele Claire! Welcome to phatmass!

Thanks for sharing your experience!! That's so great how you made a retreat at Les Montsvoirons! Yeah, isn't it the old chapel far up the mountain with the black Madonna statue where St. Francis de Sales used to pray? I went up their by myself one day at the suggestion of a sister, and it was beautiful and so peaceful there!

Ah, here it is!! [url="http://lleclezio.blogspot.com/2007/01/fte-de-saint-franois-de-sales.html"]http://lleclezio.blogspot.com/2007/01/fte-...s-de-sales.html[/url]

Yes, and then their Motherhouse is at Curriere-en-Chartreuse, a former Carthusian monastery - one of them at least, either of the Brothers or the Sisters - which are a distance apart. That's so neat how you went there! I just went to Les Montsvoirons myself.

Yeah, Livingston Manor is beautiful! Thanks again for sharing your experience! God bless you![/quote]

Thanks for your welcome and links of the chapel. It's a beautiful place, isn't? In Boege, which is a little town in the valley, about 10 miles from the monastery of les Monts-Voirons, there is the Black Madonna in the Catholic Church of this village/town. Very known place! People come from far to see it.

Michele Claire

[EJames2]

[quote name='julielizabet' post='1400680' date='Oct 10 2007, 10:46 PM']I've just been reading this thread and following the many links. Wonderful order, I love it. While I myself am married, I love reading about religious charisms and this one would've been on my short list if I was discerning! Are any of you adding this group to your short list? Or do any of you know you're going to apply to enter with the Sisters of Bethlehem?[/quote]
Benedicite!
i had a friend who was with the Sister for 7 years, and eventually left to join a even more penitential/eremetic Order.

i am in the waiting period of a process to possibly live close to the Sisters in Canada, in hermitage, and assist on the grounds, then late next year return to France for a longer observation with the Brothers..(im a guy..duh).
Pax
[img]http://i21.tinypic.com/33y3ztd.jpg[/img][img]http://i23.tinypic.com/mw4e1l.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i21.tinypic.com/2whpn3p.jpg[/img][img]http://i23.tinypic.com/oa6t6f.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.umilta.net/finbar2.jpg[/img]

Edited October 13, 2007 by EJames2

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='julielizabet' post='1400680' date='Oct 10 2007, 10:46 PM']I've just been reading this thread and following the many links. Wonderful order, I love it. While I myself am married, I love reading about religious charisms and this one would've been on my short list if I was discerning! Are any of you adding this group to your short list? Or do any of you know you're going to apply to enter with the Sisters of Bethlehem?[/quote]
I am currently torn between them and Carmel - whatever is truly God's Will. I had been hoping to go to Les Montsvoirons again this year for the retreat in August, but because of present circumstances it did not work out. I am going away soon for a few weeks retreat, so if you could keep me in prayer, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much!! God bless you!