Monastery Of St. Clare Home To Many Relics
As a final installment in The
Message’s special series on relics in the Diocese of Evansville, this
article explores the immense collection of relics housed at the
Monastery of St. Clare on Evansville’s west side.
Founded
in 1884, the Monastery of St. Clare is the third monastery established
by the Order of St. Clare in the United States. The monastery began
collecting relics they received as gifts from bishops, who obtained them
while on ad limina visits to Rome, and from benefactors.
Today,
the monastery keeps relics in its archives, in the chapel sacristy and
in a cabinet on the wall of the chapel. In the sacristy, first-class
relics of the True Cross, St. Francis of Assisi (St. Clare’s mentor) and
St. Clare stand in golden-colored reliquaries.
On
special feast days, the sisters display the relics, accompanied by a
vigil candle, on a table near the altar. The sisters pray a special
benediction and are given the opportunity to venerate the relics with a
touch or a kiss. Sister Jane Marie is glad that these 3 relics are
not always on display in the chapel, allowing the sisters to remember
their power and sanctity. “It’s like anything else – if they’re out
there all the time, you forget they’re there,” she said. “We choose to
bring them out on special feast days.”
The
chapel is not lacking in relics, however: a cabinet on the chapel wall
permanently houses a collection of 100 relics. Relics from a vast array
of saints, including St. Anne, St. Cecilia, St. Catherine of Siena, many
of the 12 Apostles and others, remain in the cabinet for veneration.
Some of the relics are so old that their handwritten, Latin labels are
no longer legible.
For
Sister Jane Marie, the monastery’s collection of relics is a reminder
that we are all called to sainthood, and that God can sanctify even the
most unsaintly lives. She points to St. Francis, who lived a lewd,
extravagant life before experiencing a powerful conversion. “Many people
believe St. Francis was the most Christ-like person who lived,” she
said. To venerate relics of St. Francis and other holy people, then,
reminds us of our own call to conversion and sainthood. “They present
someone who lived their life very close to God,” Sister Jane Marie
said.
The sisters
of the Monastery of St. Clare invite the public to visit the chapel, but
they advise guests to call beforehand so as not to arrive during a
private prayer period or retreat weekend. The Monastery is located on
Nurrenbern Road in Evansville. Contact the sisters at 812-425-4396.
