Maria Verly, from Holy Redeemer Parish in Marshall, MN, entered a contemplative religious order of Poor Clares at St. Clare’s Monastery in Sauk Rapids, MN in January of this year (see The Prairie Catholic, January, 2004 issue).

Now called Maria Theresa Clare, she writes: "I have had an easy transition into the life, because I am young, so my mind is still quick and I can pick up on and remember things easily, also I have prayed the full Office of Readings before and I have a very contemplative nature. So the silence and sometimes long periods of prayer throughout the day are pleasing to me."

Maria also says that: "The life of a religious is a life consecrated to God! It calls one to love our Lord totally and completely through poverty, chastity, obedience, and enclosure. Poverty is focused on possessing everything that one needs for true happiness, which is unity with the Lord. A life of chastity is not merely one without a family, but it is one lived as a spouse of the perfect groom, completely and unreservedly dedicated to serving the Beloved, Jesus Christ. Obedience does not simply consist in doing what is unpleasant, but it gives true freedom in knowing that all one does is for Christ and to please Christ by bringing souls to Him through a selfless life of penance and prayer. Enclosure is not merely a life that is bound by walls, but it is a life given completely for others. The walls and the grills are a nun’s protection from that which would distract her from her duties, constantly reminding her for whom she is living, her Lord and Bridegroom, Jesus Christ."

The religious order of Poor Clares at St. Clare’s Monastery in Sauk Rapids, MN is a cloistered contemporative order. Their main apostolate is prayer and penance for the church, the bishops and priests and the needs of the whole order.

Clair Roufs, a native of Winsted, MN, was raised in a "good Catholic family" with faithful parents and siblings. From kindergarten through graduation she attended Holy Trinity Catholic Schools in Winsted, but never did she think of religious life. To Claire, religious life seemed to be what people did if they could not find a spouse.

It wasn’t until she pursued a Catholic studies degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and given the opportunity in her junior year to study in Rome, Italy, that she was first exposed to religious brothers and sisters her own age. She took this time in Rome to really discern a call to religious life.

A series of life-altering events put the University of St. Thomas graduate on a circuitous route that included daily prayer, Mass, the Rosary, and the Divine Office, ultimately leading her to discover that God was calling her to be a bride of Christ.

Last year, Clair became a postulant with the Franciscan Sisters of Renewal in the Bronx, New York. Currently, Sr. Mary Francis (a.k.a. Clair Roufs) is a first year novice!

The Community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal was founded in 1988 as a parallel community to the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal which began in 1987. The Sisters’ community was founded by Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR and was formally established as an Association of the Faithful in 1990 by the late John Cardinal O’Connor. Both the friars and the sisters attempt to authentically live out the rule of St. Francis of Assisi in the Capuchin tradition. They live a common life characterized by charity, prayer, and poverty. Both communities serve the spiritual and material needs of the very poor in their neighborhoods and are engaged in an extensive evangelization apostolate.

The Franciscans of the Renewal are committed to actively promote and defend the sanctity of all human life. Their patroness is Our Lady of Guadalupe as she is the patroness of the Americas and of the unborn.