Capuchin Franciscans - Province of Mid-America | 3613 Wyandot St. Denver, CO 80211
303.477.5436 (tel) | 303.477.6925 (fax) | contact@capuchins.org
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The Capuchin Poor Clares are a cloistered community of contemplative religious sisters
who trace their origins to St. Francis and St. Clare. Following in the 16th century
reform movement of the Capuchin brothers, Venerable Maria Lonrenza Longo began a
movement of renewal within the sisters’ community which led to the foundation of
the Capuchin Poor Clares. The sisters in Denver, Colorado have been living, praying,
and working at Our Lady of Light Monastery since their arrival from Irapuato, Mexico
in 1988. In addition to sewing habits, the sisters provide for the needs of their
community by baking Clarisas’ Cookies, available for sale on this website.
In the U.S., the Capuchin Poor Clares also have monasteries in Wilmington, Amarillo,
Alamo and Pueblo. At Our Lady of Light Monastery in Denver, there are nine professed
sisters. Striving to adore and contemplate God by adhering to the spirit of Francis
and Clare, their ministry of prayer is their service to the Church. They are lovers
of the hidden life of Christ. In union with Jesus and one another, they live poverty
and austerity.
Jesus became intimate with the Father by long hours in silent prayer. Francis and
Clare, desiring the same intimacy with the Father, imitated Christ by living a life
of contemplation. In this same way, the Capuchin Poor Clares let their hearts touch
the heart of God. The final destiny of the Church is to contemplate eternally the
face of the Lord. On its pilgrimage of faith, the Church needs believers who dedicate
themselves to the praise of God. Capuchin Poor Clares want to be such voices before
the Father. Through them, people on earth adore, praise, atone, and cry out to the
Lord, asking for His forgiveness, His grace, His favor. They are dedicated to loving
God by following the poor, humble, and crucified Christ through the witness given
in the consecration of their vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity. Forgetful
of self-interests, they strive to be open to the call of the Church and the needs
of humanity. The sisters spend their time in prayer, in union with God through the
Liturgy of the Hours and contemplation, with the Eucharistic Liturgy as the center
of their day.
In their deep desire to configure themselves with the crucified and risen Christ,
the Capuchin Poor Clares are called to penance, which is a real conversion through
which they strive to live in the image of Christ. As a grace from the Lord, work
is an inseparable condition of life. It is a means of sustenance and an expression
of sisterly service. All their work is offered to Christ through the hands of Mary
for the spiritual and material needs of the people of the world. At Our Lady of Light
Monastery, the sisters bake Clarisas Cookies and sew habits to support themselves.
Following the footsteps of Christ who made Himself poor for us, the Capuchin Poor
Clares serve the Lord in poverty and humility free of the desire for worldly goods.
They strive to trust completely in the providence of God.
