Phone +1 604-748-2232 | Province British Columbia | |
Address 2359 Calais Rd, Duncan, BC V9L 5V5, Canada Similar All Saints Monastery, Westminster Abbey, Basilica di Santa Chiara, Mission Santa Clara de, Pacific Rim National Park Res | ||
St. Clare's Monastery is a monastery of the Order of St. Clare in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. The nuns of the order also go by the name "Poor Clares". They are a contemplative community of women who live the charism of Saint Clare of Assisi and form the Second Order in the movement started by Saint Francis of Assisi.
History
In 1912, three nuns came to Victoria, British Columbia from New Orleans, Louisiana. They established on December 8, 1912 the first English-speaking monastery of the Primitive Observance of St. Clare in Canada. While the community grew for a time, the climate proved difficult for many members of the community, and most returned to the monastery in New Orleans.
Three of the nuns decided to remain and struggled for years establishing their way of life in the remoteness of Vancouver Island. Eventually they began to receive applicants who preserved in their way of life, and the community took root.
Due to the growing urbanization of the city of Victoria, and the difficulty of maintaining the large monastery which they had built, the community relocated in 1973 to their present location in Duncan. They remain a small community, numbering only eight in A.D. 2010, but the natural beauty of their current setting provides a setting they find more conducive to their way of life.
The community has built a small hermitage on their grounds to allow the sisters periods of solitude. This is also available for the use of people outside the community, with the appropriate arrangements.