Monastery of Poor Clares

We come here for the 7:30 am mass. The nuns singing just gives us a taste of how much more beautiful the choir of angels could be in heaven. Afterwards we go next door to give them our family’s prayer request. They have interceded for us tremendously in all our prayers which we believe our God has granted us.

My mother would tell me that when she was pregnant with me she had wanted a girl. My father would say that his first born was a girl, followed with three boys, and that he hoped that his last child would be a girl. So my mother went to a little church that was run by nuns and prayed for a little girl and low and behold, they got their wish. (Wait…wait…wait for the moment… awww).
Joking aside, I have a special place in my heart for nuns… well…some nuns… not like Sister Ellen from highschool who you would try to avoid saying hello to, (Yet her penetrating gaze made sure you would look up with a smile… well on second thought, maybe her too)
I needed to go on a sabbatical by myself and I found a lot of peace in this little church. I had to drive far but I had been going through a lot of inner turmoil in my life, I even went to a 730 mass.
What I found charming about this monastery was the simplicity of the place. The nuns were barefooted and their voices were so clear when they sang. Was I intrigued? Yes.
After mass if you have an intention to leave behind, go next door. There’s a door where you can write down your intentions, ring the bell, and a nun will open up the door and take your intentions. They don’t ask for money, they don’t ask for donations. You give what you want. At one point someone gave them a carton of eggs and it was received with thanks.
A month before my visit my sister had visited them. She had written down her name and address. They wrote her a thank you note and that they would pray for her.
Sometimes it’s not the miracles, it’s not the expectations that a higher power will answer, sometimes it’s the simple acknowledgement and comforting words that a stranger could give you that inspires faith.

I hate waking up at 5 in the morning and driving for about an hour to get here from Thousand Oaks.
But once I’m there I’m glad I came.
It’s a simple monastery that seems to be in the middle of a residential area, so there isn’t designated parking.
The Church is small. maybe holds 100 people or less. but the altar is beautiful.
I wasn’t aware that the Poor Clare nuns were the type of nuns that are never seen. so. you hear them singing during Mass. and you hear them reading the readings but you never see them at all. interesting.
Next door is where they reside and you go into a little room where one of the nuns is behind a barred up door… describing it makes it sound so harsh and prison-​like, but I swear to you it isn’t.
It’s always the same nun behind the door, her name escapes me, but my cousin and his family know her by name and they are actually good friends now. she’s a sweet lady and I encourage all that attend Mass there to pay a visit to her and say hi!
I think sacrificing sleeping in and making the drive out is worth the visit. even though it’s sooo hard to wake me up in the morning!