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Update (new Pictures!) On The Desert Nuns Website!


Veritas

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+

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

and scroll down :) Plus, they're pictures of the October Discernment Retreat! :)

Blessings,
Julie


* And, they're talking about these nuns and the DSMME right now on LOTR with the VD of Phoenix!

Edited by Veritas
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[quote name='Veritas' post='1124048' date='Nov 19 2006, 11:54 PM']
+

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

and scroll down :) Plus, they're pictures of the October Discernment Retreat! :)

Blessings,
Julie
* And, they're talking about these nuns and the DSMME right now on LOTR with the VD of Phoenix!
[/quote]



This may be a silly question, but...are these Sisters cloistered..?

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[quote name='SisterAli' post='1124055' date='Nov 20 2006, 12:06 AM']
This may be a silly question, but...are these Sisters cloistered..?
[/quote]

+

I thought so... I thought all PCPA were but :idontknow: It sure doesn't look that way on the website...

Edited by Veritas
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AlterDominicus

Well you have to remember they are new, very new so in this case its a bit of an exception for them, I mean there is only 6 and they are still building the monastery, think of it as how Mother Angelica started. Who would ever thought they would see a cloistered nun walking down the road?

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[quote name='AlterDominicus' post='1124201' date='Nov 20 2006, 07:47 AM']
Well you have to remember they are new, very new so in this case its a bit of an exception for them, I mean there is only 6 and they are still building the monastery, think of it as how Mother Angelica started. Who would ever thought they would see a cloistered nun walking down the road?
[/quote]



Exactly lol.....that's why I was wondering..thanks for the information. I just love them, they are so beautiful.

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AlterDominicus

We all love them, but dont get over the head you have to keep the balance. Homework/Studies/Prayer/Family etc...etc...etc...

I learned that from a very wise nun. And happy to say she is right. :)

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The PCPA in Phoenix are not cloistered as they don't have a monastery. Once the new monastery is built, they will be installed officially in that monastery by the bishop. As it was explained to me by Sr M. Fidelis, the nuns will walk through the cloister door, and will then be 'sealed' within. Right now, their home is a house that was previously used for an active community. While a lot of construction was done to make it more of a convent (ie: turning the enclosed porch into an Adoration Chapel), it is still only a temporary home. :) I'm sure it's overwhelming at times. Once during a visit, they mentioned how many requests they got from schools wanting them to give talks. I'm sure they'll be happy to return to their more peaceful horarium.

Pax. . .

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cathoholic_anonymous

Even the PCPA sisters at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery don't seem all that cloistered to me. I don't know why. Perhaps it's because of EWTN and all the publicity surrounding Mother Angelica - it gives the impression that the nuns are in your sitting room.

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HeavenlyCalling

[quote name='Cathoholic Anonymous' post='1124957' date='Nov 21 2006, 06:39 AM']
Even the PCPA sisters at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery don't seem all that cloistered to me. I don't know why. Perhaps it's because of EWTN and all the publicity surrounding Mother Angelica - it gives the impression that the nuns are in your sitting room.
[/quote]
Yeah, it always does seem like they are right there, and I hardly ever see them behind the grill, so maybe it is just a sort of visual thing. But they dont seem as though they are very strickly cloistered. It is so nice to see them though, they are so young and in love, and thier habit is wonderful to see.

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  • 1 month later...

What A beautiful Community and God Bless those dear souls who donated their land for the sisters, that's Wonderful am SO happy for them!! in regards the cloister, maybe mother angelicas nuns are semi-cloistered, where they can go out for EWTN type events as well as doctors etc, anyone know if they take the vow of enclosure?

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[quote name='TeresaAvila' post='1162360' date='Jan 11 2007, 11:58 PM']
What A beautiful Community and God Bless those dear souls who donated their land for the sisters, that's Wonderful am SO happy for them!! in regards the cloister, maybe mother angelicas nuns are semi-cloistered, where they can go out for EWTN type events as well as doctors etc, anyone know if they take the vow of enclosure?
[/quote]

The Phoenix sisters are not yet Canonically erected, and therefore are not papal enclosed at this time. They hope (and long!) to be papal enclosed within the next three years. The three of them who have made vows of papal enclosure are dispensed from the vow for the time being (kind of like it's being put "on hold" for a while) since they are starting a foundation which cannot at this time be papal enclosed. One of them is an Extern, so naturally this vow does not apply to her at any time. Mother Angelica's Nuns [i]are[/i] papal enclosed (as they are canonically erected already, of course). They receive permission from the bishop of Birmingham when they have a pertinent reason to leave the cloister. At the beginning of each year he approves their doctor's appointments, etc. (to which they are taken by extern sisters). For the 25th Anniversary celebration they attended in Birmingham, that was a [i]big[/i] thing, which they did have separate permission from the bishop to attend. Extern sisters perform all of the duties outside of the cloister (i.e., grocery shopping) so that the vow of Enclosure is not compromised by the cloistered Nuns.

Edited by Totus Tuus
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I do not think that they vow enclosure, but they certainly do practice it. This is a new foundation and not bound to the rule of cloister. All nuns can leave the monastery to see doctors, dentists, and to vote. Most do not leave to attend social activities. Different nuns practice the idea of enclosure in different ways. Some do go out to the public areas of the monastery. Not all have grills in the parlors. Some are forced by lack of externs to do the shopoping, pay the bills etc.

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[quote name='HeavenlyCalling' post='1125004' date='Nov 21 2006, 08:45 AM']
Yeah, it always does seem like they are right there, and I hardly ever see them behind the grill, so maybe it is just a sort of visual thing. But they dont seem as though they are very strickly cloistered. It is so nice to see them though, they are so young and in love, and thier habit is wonderful to see.
[/quote]

You may be seeing a lot of footage from before they moved to Hanceville. They are more strictly papal enclosed now. When you see them on the Rosary or at Benediction they are behind a grille, or the reredos- it's the camera men who were allowed [i]inside[/i]. This may make it seem as if they are not within the enclosure. You may also have seen the various televised events attended by several Solemn-professed nuns last year around the country for EWTN's 25th Anniversary. They received special permission from the Bishop for that, as I said before, and do not plan on making that a regular thing. Mother Angelica's Nuns are in no way associated (except through prayer) with the Network. They do not live close to it, own it, help run it, or anything like that. The Rosary is taped every few years with Reverend Mother, and a 30-minute Benediction is televised on Sunday evenings, but besides that there is very little interaction between the sisters and the Network.

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Sr Mary Catharine OP

I didn't know the PCPA made a vow of enclosure like other Poor Clares. Thanks for sharing that.

Papal Enclosure is lived according to the latest document from the Holy See "Verbi Sponsa". You can read it online. You can see that there's much latitude for different ways of expressing the living of enclosure. Some monasteries need to go out more than others for various reasons. That doesn't mean their enclosure is less. Enclosure is not so much about going on but about that sacred space this for God alone. Enclosure also must be an enclosure of the heart.

I'm 99% sure that when the OLAM nuns went out for the special 25th anniversary they couldn't wait to get back into the monastery! I know that when I go out: dentist, airport or train to pick up a friar or aspirant (we don't have externs) I can't WAIT to get back inside the enclosure where I can breath!

Grilles and counters are a sign of the enclosure. They are not enclosure itself. (Nevertheless they are important signs.) Many Benedictine monasteris and certainly monasteries of men do not have grilles and counters and they still practice enclosure. Usually, they have guest parlours or a gate house where they go to visit their families.

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