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By Pam Wegner
Recently I had the opportunity to spend some time with Sister Jane Marie, for
the past five years Abbess of the Monastery of Saint Clare located on Nurrenbern
Road here in Evansville. The order was founded by Saint Clare of Assisi
following in the footsteps of Saint Francis. Clare received the title of Abbess
in the year 1215 and passed on August 11, 1253. At that date, 150 monasteries
were associated with her. During 1255, she was canonized a Saint. Saint Clare
was proclaimed a Patron Saint in 1958 because she was able to follow in a vision
the Christmas Mass celebrated in the Basilica of St. Francis.
The life of a Poor Clare is a life of constant prayer and service to God. Each
Monastery does what they can to support themselves by various works. The
Foundress of the Poor Clares in the United States was Mother Mary Magdalen (Bentivolglio).
Evansville was her third monastery. The first was in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1875
and the second in New Orleans, Louisiana. The last eight years of her life were
spent in Evansville establishing the Monastery on Kentucky Avenue. On May 2,
1905, Mrs. Fendrich told Mother Magdalen that she would have the Monastery
completed. Mrs. Fendrich did this after having her health restored from a near
fatal illness. Mrs. Fendrich attributed her recovery to Mother Magdalen’s
prayers. On August 18, 1905, Mother Magdalen passed away. At that time she was
buried in the Monastery on Kentucky Avenue but was later exhumed and buried at
the St. Joseph Cemetery here in Evansville when the Sisters left the Kentucky
Avenue building and moved to the Nurrenbern Road location. Many cures and favors
have been attributed to her intercession.
You can learn more about the Poor Clares by writing to the Monastery of St.
Clare, 6825 Nurrenbern Road, Evansville IN 47712-8518, calling 812-425-4396 or
visiting the Web site at
www.poorclare.org/usa.html. Some good pictures of both the old Monastery on
Kentucky Avenue and the new one on Nurrenbern Road are at
www.postcards.evansville.net/Catholic/cathlic3.html.
Reference materials included “Clare of Assisi”, publisher
Editions du Signe – 4, 67038 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France and “I Will…God’s Will”,
Copyright 1975 Poor Clare Monastery Press, as well as information from the
Monastery of Saint Clare on Nurrenbern.
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