Memorial for Sr. Mary Magdalen – On February 11, 2025

Sr. Mary Magdalen Fitz-Gerald, 1931 – 2025

Our beloved Sister Mary Magdalen of the Sacred Heart (Julia Marie Rose) was a Poor Clare for 70 years, serving as Vicaress, Directress of Novices, secretary, seamstress, receptionist, cook, and wherever she was needed.
The day before her Jubilee celebration she fell and had to be hospitalized. We were arranging to bring her home when sister entered into God, quietly and peacefully, as she had lived, on February 11th, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, at the age of 94.
Sister Mary Magdalen is the first person to be buried from our new monastery here in Westwood. Following the Mass of Resurrection, sister joined all the deceased sisters of our community at our plot in Mount Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury, MA.

Annual Triduum of St. Clare of Assisi

Annual Triduum of St. Clare of Assisi

As we continue to settle into our beautiful new space here in Westwood, we are grateful for your continued support and patience. We would like to welcome you all to attend the annual Triduum of prayer to our Holy Mother Saint Clare which will take place at morning Mass on August 8, 9, & 10 at 7 a.m. On the feast, August 11th, Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Our present chapel is small but we hope to have a larger chapel in the future. Those who cannot come are encouraged to send in their intentions for the Triduum to be included in our Mass and prayers.

“Why do you not come to me to be healed?”

In an epilogue of the ancient Life of Saint Clare, one of the most endearing miracles in Franciscan History is related. A blind man had a vision in which he heard a beautiful lady saying to him, “Why do you not come to me to be healed?” Upon learning that this lady was the blessed Clare of Assisi, sightless Giacobello eagerly set out to visit her tomb, there to receive what he had so long desired: his vision.

The gracious and gentle Saint Clare is still asking the weak and ill of today, “Why do you not come to me to be healed?” No stranger to suffering, she bore the cross of illness for more than 28 years. This first spiritual daughter of St. Francis still desires to help those who suffer to share as deeply and as fruitfully as she did in the mystery of Christ’s redemptive love.

We Poor Clares continue the great work of our foundress, St. Clare. Every day of our lives we gather into our hearts the needs and hurts of the world. May her powerful intercession obtain for those who suffer the grace to recognize that their sufferings are united with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our model of love and source of peace.

We’re moving!

Our new home:

Monastery of St. Clare

590 Gay Street

Westwood, MA 02090

617-524-1760

617-524-7866

Email: poorclarenunsboston@gmail.com

Our New Home

WESTWOOD HO!

At Last! All negotiations are completed and we are on our way to our new home in Westwood.

The long, tedious, process of locating a building or property suitable for our needs started twenty years ago when we realized we could no longer afford to make the repairs needed in our beautiful, but aging, building. As it continued to deteriorate its value also decreased, so that building a new monastery was no longer an option for us. Existing properties we looked at were either too big or too luxurious for a monastery. Just when all possibilities seemed to have been exhausted the Lord showed us the perfect place: a former house of prayer nestled in a quiet wooded setting in Westwood that we would be able to purchase through the sale of this property. Most wonderful of all, it was not far from all our friends in Jamaica Plain.

It will take about two months to gradually move into our new home at 590 Gay Street. One day we went up with Fr. James Koury who blessed the grounds and every room in each house. The property includes a house for guests separate from our enclosure where we look forward to welcoming you once we are settled there.

“Lord, protect our city”…our country, our world.

For eight centuries, Poor Clare nuns have been living out a solemn mandate given to them by Saint Clare of Assisi. It began in the year 1212 when a ravaging horde of despots was in the act of breaching the walls of the little monastery of San Damiano. A prayerful plea from Clare and her sisters witnessed the attackers swift retreat. Shortly after, when their hometown was under siege, Clare led her sisters in prayer: “Lord, protect this city which nourishes us for love of you.” The invading army quickly dispersed, and Saint Clare was credited with saving Assisi. To this day, the daughters of that courageous woman remain committed to prayer for the protection of the cities that have welcomed them, for their countries, and for their world.

Poor Clares are contemplative nuns whose lives are centered in the praise of God with the apostolate of prayerful intercession for God’s people. Since we need not go anywhere to do our life’s work, we remain in our monasteries in fidelity to our trust. In today’s circumstances, our enclosed form of life gives us a particular relationship with all who are presently cooped up by urgent “stay home” warnings, and social distancing guidelines in light of the Covid 19 virus. We are no stranger to confinement since we make a vow to remain in our monasteries for our entire lives. A quiet place apart, like this, offers the space one needs to grow spiritually free enough to enter more deeply into God’s silence where humanity becomes whole.

The very difficult situations imposed by this Pandemic can provide just such an opportunity for people to experience this sacred silence. Deprived of the usual diversions that ordinarily hold people centered in their ego selves could give them the chance to explore their silent inner space where God lives. It would be a discovery well worth the effort it takes, because as we come to know God’s Presence within, we experience a hidden dimension of ourselves we may not have known before. Our spirit selves grow stronger, so that the Spirit of God becomes the new source of our choices and we become able see as God sees, as things really are. The more we do this, the more the ego that once ruled us has to take a back seat, while the Spirit of God becomes our heart. The Spirit of love teaches us how to better serve the world we love. All humanity has been called to this mystical dimension of life: to be God incarnate on this earth.

As this painful time of an unremitting virus continues to shape our days, and cause so much suffering, loss of jobs, and despair, consider the possibility of portioning out some time each day to taste your oun personal silence. Websites have great ideas to pass the time indoors: games, hobbies, and activities, and these offer good release from boredom. But instead of drowning out the “still, small voice” of God, why not let it breathe new life? Our present catastrophe could turn into a graced opportunity. All it takes to open up to the peace of the Presence of God within you, and around you is to clear away the clutter and take time to just BE. The blessings of healing and peace that are always within us waiting to be discovered, might be just what is needed to bring you through these devastating times with new strength, new faith, and the will to rebuild our world.

Poor Clares have faith in the unlimited capacity of prayer to make things happen. That’s why we love what we do, and have vowed to dedicate our entire lives to sending God’s love to the ends of the earth, as Robert Lax, a confidant of Thomas Merton wrote: “Prayer is a way of doing spontaneous good for all things and in all places. It’s a way of sending out love everywhere at once.” With our Mother Saint Clare we pray: “Lord, protect our city”…our country, and our world.

Diamond Jubilee Celebration

Forty days after Christmas, on February 2nd, 1955, Julie Fitz-Gerald was welcomed into our community as a new candidate, just like Peggy was today.  Sixty-five years later, on this Epiphany of Christ’s entering the Temple as Light of the World, Julie has become Sister Mary Magdalen of the Sacred Heart, and we join her as she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee.  Franciscans believe that anything worth celebrating is worth celebrating well, so we take three days to thank and praise God for sister’s fidelity as a Poor Clare all these years.M Magdalen & F Kalcher

Fr. Gregory Kalscheur, S.J. celebrated the Eucharist and happily joined us for a photo session afterward.  Sister Mary Magdalen stands on his left, with Sister Clare Frances, our Abbess, on her left, and our Vicaress, Sister Mary Veronica, at his right.