An enclosed order of nuns which has taken vows of chastity, poverty and obedience has launched its own website. The Poor Clares in Galway said yesterday the website would help them to share an alternative perspective on life with the outside world.
The abbess of the Galway monastery at Nuns Island, Sister Louis, said people today led stressful lives. "We feel from the richness of our tradition we can share an alternative perspective on life. In a world overshadowed by consumerism, where despair has become prevalent, we want to offer this message of hope based on Gospel values."
Sister Louis said the Poor Clare sisters were anxious to put into effect Pope John Paul's recent plea for monasteries to be "schools of prayer" in these days when so many people were starved of spirituality. The sisters hope their new website, www.poorclares.ie, will enable them to take up this challenge in a manner which is compatible with their vocation as closed nuns.
The launch of the website coincided with the 750th anniversary year of the death of their founder, St Clare, the patron saint of television.
The nuns have included the Archangel Gabriel as a patron of their website because of his role in communicating the message of the Immaculate Conception to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Sister Louis said they hoped that through the site, a new generation might be encouraged to reflect more attentively on life. Their presence on the Internet would be a "kind of signpost to God".
As well as a picture essay of daily life in the monastery, the website features a history of the Poor Clares in Ireland and personal testimonies.
The site also contains a section on "prayer ideas for busy people" which, said Sister Louis, might help people deepen their relationship with God.
The Poor Clare sisters have had a presence in Galway since 1642. The order began in Gravelines, northern France, where some young Irish women had gone in search of religious life intent on returning to Ireland when persecution abated.
The Poor Clares do not leave the precincts of the monastery without a sufficiently serious reason.
The grille, through which the enclosed nuns speak to visitors, is regarded as a symbol of their wish to live totally for God.
Altar- bread making is the main work of the sisters at Nuns Island.
A novitiate has to go through a six- year formation programme before making her solemn vows for life. There are Poor Clare monasteries in Carlow, Ennis, Leitrim, Dublin, Cork and Belfast.
