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Pro
Orantibus Day
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
If I were a betting man, I would be tempted to place a wager that few of
my readers have any awareness of John Paul II’s initiative Pro
Orantibus Day. Pro Orantibus means “for those who pray.”
The late Holy Father established Pro Orantibus Day as a worldwide
ecclesial event in 1997 and directed that it be observed on the memorial
of Mary’s Presentation, which this year is Wednesday, Nov. 21. The idea
is to honor cloistered men and women. Cloister is derived from the Latin
and means “bolt” or “enclosed place.”
John Paul II had this to say about those who live in cloister:
“By their lives and mission, the members of these institutes imitate
Christ in his prayer on the mountain, bear witness to God’s lordship
over history and anticipate the glory which is to come.
“In solitude and silence, by listening to the word of God, participating
in divine worship, personal asceticism, prayer, mortification and the
communion of fraternal love, they direct the whole of their lives and
all their activities to the contemplation of God. In this way they offer
the ecclesial community a singular testimony of the Church’s love for
her Lord, and they contribute, with hidden apostolic fruitfulness, to
the growth of the People of God.” (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Vita Consecrata, 1996)
Verbi Sponsa, a document issued by the Congregation for
Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life in
1999, is the most recent Vatican document regarding cloistered
contemplative life. It urges cloistered nuns to remain faithful to their
charism of praying and living at the heart of the Church. “Through their
specific call to union with God in contemplation, cloistered nuns are
fully within the communion of the Church, becoming a unique sign of the
entire Christian community’s intimate union with God.” The document
proclaims, “A contemplative monastery is also a gift for the Local
Church to which it belongs. Representing the prayerful face of the
Church, a monastery makes the Church’s presence more complete and
meaningful in the local community.” Verbi Sponsa also instructs,
“It is important that the faithful learn to honor the charism and the
specific role of contemplatives, their discreet but crucial presence,
and their silent witness which constitutes a call to prayer and a
reminder of the truth of God’s existence.”
Our Local Church is privileged to have a cloistered monastery.
The Poor Clare nuns were brought to the diocese by our second Bishop,
John J. Carberry, in 1959. Bishop Carberry was very devoted to the
Blessed Mother. His episcopal motto was Maria Regina Mater
(“Mary, my Queen and my Mother”). When the Poor Clares moved from
temporary quarters on Sycamore Street in Kokomo to a monastery on the
outskirts of that city, it was given the name Maria Regina Mater
Monastery. However, most refer to this special place with its cloistered
nuns as the Poor Clare Monastery.
Cloistered life may be one of the more unknown and misunderstood jewels
of the Catholic Church. Why would women want to lock themselves up for
life? Why don’t they teach, care for the sick or do something useful?
These are not unusual comments when people become aware of the fact that
we have a cloistered monastery. Overlooked, unfortunately, is the
reality that since their arrival, the Poor Clare nuns have been a
prayerful presence, supporting the priests, religious and laity of our
diocese by their hidden lives of sacrifice.
Here is how the Poor Clare nuns themselves explain it. Each religious
order in the Church professes some aspect of the life of Jesus Christ.
Some religious, men as well as women, imitate Christ and his mission of
healing the sick or converting sinners. Others proclaim the Kingdom of
God through their preaching and teaching, while still others devote
their lives to caring for children. Poor Clare nuns, as well as other
cloistered contemplative orders, witness to Christ in contemplation, by
imitating Christ in his prayer on the mountain.
Through their life of prayer, Verbi Sponsa instructs, the “nuns
bear in their hearts the sufferings and anxieties of all those who seek
their help, and indeed of all men and women. Deeply attuned to the
experiences of the Church and of people today, they cooperate
spiritually in building the Kingdom of Christ, so that God may be
everything to everyone.” In other words, their contribution is
spiritual, which makes it no less important than the contribution of
those who teach, nurse or preach.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul tells us that there are
many parts to the Body of Christ. When all the parts of that Body
fulfill their appropriate functions, then the mission of the Church is
realized and the Kingdom of God is furthered.
Verbi Sponsa points out, “Cloistered nuns fulfill that mission by
dwelling at the missionary heart of the Church, by means of constant
prayer, the oblation of self and the offering of the sacrifice of
praise.”
Here’s the prayer recommended for Pro Orantibus Day: “Eternal
Father, we praise and thank you for the gift of the cloistered,
contemplative life. This special vocation — ‘to be with the Lord’ — is
of great importance to the Church’s life and mission.
“As the Church celebrates the Presentation of Mary in the temple, we
honor the holiness and glory of the Blessed Virgin. May she intercede
for many young women and men to give themselves in a special way to
prayer, asceticism and diligent progress in the spiritual life.
“May all of us always be mindful of the need to be in close solidarity
with those in the cloistered life, by our spiritual and material
support.
“We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.”
I invite you to join me in reciting this prayer, especially on Pro
Orantibus Day.
Join me, too, in thanking God for the presence of the Poor Clare nuns in
our own Local Church. Pray that God will bless them with vocations. It
is my prayerful hope that young women will consider answering God’s call
to the cloistered life. To young single women I say: God is full of
surprises. So, don’t say, “Not me!” Rather, ask yourself, could God be
calling me?
The Poor Clares of Kokomo do have a Web site: www.thepoorclares.org. You
can find out more about the life of Poor Clare nuns by visiting that
site. Special prayer intentions may also be sent to the Monastery of the
Poor Clares, 1175 North 300 West, Kokomo, IN 46901.
Knowing that the Poor Clares hold the people of our Local Church up to
the Lord in their daily prayers, it is only fitting that we in return
pray for them and all consecrated men and women in cloisters and
monasteries, that their lives of hidden prayer and silent recollection
may serve to spread the love of God in our broken world. |
