I'm going to take you inside an incredibly sacred spa
One of the few remaining monasteries left in t
country, there are nine sisters who live here and like
many aging Americans, they are contemplating their
future. Moments of quiet contemplation can be found
fairly frequently in places whe faith is at the very
heart of a building's foundation. It's what has calle
the women of the Franciscan Monastery of ST Clair, the
poor Clare nuns to a life of devotion. They pray eac
day at 6:15, again at 11:30, then back for an evening
and night prayer. But for life that to many of us seem
shrouded in solitude. Sister Mary Claire Francis mcavoy
will show you otherwise, the theological concept is
that we're always on journey. We're always going to
something. When Sister Claire Francis mcavoy first
joined the poor Clare nuns in the late 1950 s, these
women were fully cloistered, sheltered and kept away
from the outside world. The grave can be opened, this
can be open, there used to be two of them. So you
couldn't, you, you weren't supposed to touch anybody
today though. Things look much different for the 42,000
nuns in the us. These sisters regularly welcome in th
public for mass on special occasions, There are on
two dozen or so contemplative women's monasteri
in the United States. This one located just outside of
Boston First opened in 1934. You want folks to know
what um that we're very happy and grateful for the gift
we have of our vocation. In the 1950 s, there were 64
sisters living here. So many they were running out of
space today though there are only nine sisters left and
54,000 square feet of living space is just too much.
The roof here is leaking and the building is just not
sustainable. It's not, it just isn't those gigantic
boilers need to be replaced. Asbestos has to be removed
and the brick exterior needs repairs. The poor Clare
nuns were told it would cost millions to bring this
aging building up to code. I knew we had to move. I
knew we didn't have the numbers that we used to have,
but we cannot really live as a community in this large
building. No repairs though could reverse the other
kind of aging these sisters are dealing with on a daily
basis. It must take you all a little longer to move
among the space longer than it used to thank God for
the elevator. The sisters range in age from 60 to 92
stairs are a constant challenge Stairs. I used to run
up from two x 2. So after 84 years, the time has co
to move out in many ways, the decisions these nine
are facing are the same as any other aging American.
Not unlike a conversation, you know, any older American
has. Absolute. Absolute. They l in a big house and
then they're trying to keep it going. They close one
room and off and they close another room shrouded in
kind of revelation of light. The process of letting go
and packing up has begun. You have room so you
accumulate stuff at the beginning of May, the sisters
will leave this sacred space for a much smaller
compound outside of the city. Developers already have
plans to turn the building into a community cente
Unfortunately, it took this lon to do, I would have
done it years ago, but you can't force people to do
something because you see it has to be done as the
there is another religious reality facing this
congregation, like many other monasteries across the
country. It has been years since any new sisters have
joined and you're not growing, we're not growing, not
that people aren't interested. I find it's difficult to
make a commitment to one specific thing, but they
aren't sad about leaving quite the opposite. Sister
Claire. Francis mcevoy sees the move as an opportunity.
What gives you hope about the future The one constant
in life is, is your faith is your faith, that your
faith and it's tested all the time. It has to be tested.
Things have to happen to, to, to bring it into focus
these days while it may be getting harder for the poor
Clare nuns to see their faith is keeping this
congregation's future firmly in focus. In order to
start again. We have to let this go. Conte Scrips News
Boston.