Tell A Little About Your Visits

[johnnydigit]

What was the building and area like?
-some modern, some gothic, some like a cottage, some like a house, some like an apartment building.
-some dry and desert-like, some like a lush forest, some by the beach, some on a farm, some in the busy inner city.

What were the people like?
-some like regular city people, some extraordinary holy, some outgoing and extroverted, some quiet and introverted.
-some my age, some old.
-some like people from back home, some very foreign.

What was the schedule of each day?
-4:45-5:30am usual wake up
-day varies on community, usually contains some or all: morning prayer, silent prayer/reading, Mass, breakfast, 1-3 hrs work/study/travel/clean, midday prayer, lunch, prayer, work/study/travel/clean, Rosary, Holy Hour, dinner, clean/free time, evening prayer, night prayer.

What was morning prayer like?
-tiring, yet fruitful.

How were the meals?
-some silent, some talking, some reading aloud.
-some meager, many plentiful, some like cafeteria food, some home cooked, usually plenty, plenty of food.

What were some of your discussions?
-anything and everything.
-some of the best conversations ever.
-some the most humorous ever at the dinner table.

What did you do during the day?
-some constant prayer, some gardening, a lot of cleaning, visiting friaries, visiting people, basically living like the friars.

Where did you sleep and what was it like?
-sometimes on the floor, sometimes on a full bed, sometimes on a thin mat.

Did you have a lot of time to spend praying?
-usually tons. some may have little alone/free time, some more.

What was the chapel like?
-some amazingly unique, some familiar, some a plain room, some traditional, some not.

What kinds of ministries and work do the Religious do?
-some cleaning, some feeding the poor, media (computers), evangelizing..

What kind of stuff did you take with you when you went to visit?
-favorite reading, mp3 player, camera.

What was your most moving moment?
-listening to sung chants, peaceful moments in nature, profound moments in prayer.

Did you like or dislike the experience and why?
-love them all. so much growing spiritually, joy, laughter, peace, self-awareness..

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as you can see there are just tons of differences between tons of different communities. there's something for everybody!

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='Thomist-in-Training' post='1820549' date='Mar 30 2009, 06:04 PM']The Poor Clares of the Immaculate.
Pietravairano, Caserta, Italy.

...

What kinds of ministries and work do the Religious do?
They're Poor Clares; they sing and pray. They have sold a few CDs as well, actually.[/quote]

"They're Poor Clares; they sing and pray." -- Good summary!!!!

Thank you for posting this! (And for the PM about your visit, too!)