We are a community of Poor Clares called Capuchins. As Poor Clares we were founded in 1212 by SS. Clare and Francis of Assisi.

As Capuchins we began in Naples, Italy, in 1538, when the Ven. Maria Laurentia Longo and other women professed the rule of St. Clare and embraced the then-new Capuchin reform movement started among our male counterparts, the Friars Minor, so as to return to the original ideals of the Saints from Assisi.

Since then the Church has singled out several of our Sisters for their sanctity. These are intermingled with the friars on the Capuchin Saints and Blessed page.

We Capuchin Poor Clares in Denver came here in 1988 from Mexico, where the Capuchin branch of the Order has about 1,350 sisters in some 73 monasteries. In the U.S., we also have monasteries in Wilmington, Amarillo and Pueblo whose addresses are below.

At Our Lady of Light Monastery in Denver, we have nine professed sisters, a novice, and a postulant.

We strive to adore and contemplate God by adhering to the spirit of Francis and Clare. This ministry of prayer is our service to the Church. We are lovers of the hidden life of Christ. In union with one another, we live poverty and austerity.

Come experience the joy we have found, as we tell you the main components of our life.

Our mission as Capuchin Poor Clares is Living the Gospel, adhering faithfully to the spirit of Francis and Clare of Assisi.

Jesus became intimate with the Father by long hours in silent prayer. Francis and Clare, desiring the same intimacy with the Father, imitated Christ by living a life of contemplation. In this same way, we Capuchin Poor Clares let our hearts touch the heart of God.

The final destiny of the Church is to contemplate eternally the face of the Lord. On its pilgrimage of faith, the Church needs believers who dedicate themselves to the praise of God. We Capuchin Poor Clares want to be such voices before the Father. Through us, people on earth adore, praise, atone, and cry out to the Lord, asking for His forgiveness, His grace, His favor.

We are dedicated to loving God by following the poor, humble, and crucified Christ through the witness given in the consecration of our vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity. Forgetful of our own self-interests, we strive to be open to the call of the Church and the needs of humanity.

We spend our time in prayer, in union with God through the Liturgy of the Hours and contemplation, with the Eucharistic Liturgy as the center of our day.

In our deep desire to configure ourselves with the crucified and risen Christ, we Capuchin Poor Clare are called to penance, which is a real conversion through which we strive to live in the image of Christ. http://www.capuchinpoorclares.org/denver/index.html

As a grace from the Lord, work is an inseparable condition of life. It is a means of sustenance and an expression of sisterly service. All our work is offered to Christ through the hands of Mary for the spiritual and material needs of the people of the world. At Our Lady of Light Monastery, we bake Clarisas Cookies and sew habits to support ourselves.

Following the footsteps of Christ who made Himself poor for us, we Capuchin Poor Clares serve the Lord in poverty and humility free of the desire for worldly goods. We strive to trust completely in the providence of God.

Francis said, "I desire all to show themselves as sons (and daughters) of the same mother." Accordingly, it is in community that we Capuchin Poor Clares experience the close bond that makes us each love one another as true sisters enjoying the presence of one another.

Finally, after the example of St. Clare, we have chosen to live in enclosure so that we can dedicate ourselves to the Lord with a spirit that is free.

Here is what a day looks like at Our Lady of Light Monastery:

AM
12:30 - Office Readings (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday only)
4:45 - Rising
5:30 - Morning Prayer and Meditation
7:00 - Mass
8:00 - Breakfast
9:00 - Midmorning Prayer / Manual Work (baking & sewing, etc.)

PM
12:30 - Midday Prayer, Rosary
1:00 - Main Meal / Recreation (conversation / relaxation)
2:30 - Silence (quiet time for rest, reading or prayer)
3:30 - Midafternoon Prayer
4:00 - Study, Formation for candidates
6:00 - Evening Prayer & Meditation
7:30 - Light meal / Free time
8:30 - Night Prayer

Every day we have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and on Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.


Anyone who would join us must be a baptized and practicing Catholic woman, single and without dependent children, between 20 and 35 years of age, with a high school or G.E.D. diploma, in good physical and mental health, and free of debt.

Beyond these things, however, she must experience a call from the Lord, have a deep desire for God and of growing in friendship with Jesus Christ. She also must want to live the Gospel in the spirit of St. Francis and St. Clare, be able to live the vows of poverty, obedience and chastity, to live in community and have the skills needed for the cloistered contemplative life, namely serenity, affective maturity, openness to healthy relationships among the sisters, and the generosity to pray and sacrifice for the Church and the whole world.

If you feel that such a style of living could be for you, contact us, and we will be happy to send more information about our way of life.

Please contact:

Mother Maria de Jesus Crucificado Armadillo, O.S.C.Cap., abbess
Our Lady of Light Monastery
3325 Pecos St.
Denver CO 80211-3520
(303) 458-6339, fax (303) 477-6925
http://www.capuchinpoorclares.org/denver/index.html


The period of formation to our Way of Life is six years minimum: one year of postulancy, two of novitiate, and at least three of temporary vows before perpetual profession.

To reach our other U.S. communities, write or call:

St. Veronica Giuliani Monastery
816 Jefferson Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
(302) 654-8727, fax (302) 652-3929
www.capuchinpoorclares.org/wilmington/index.html

Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament
4201 N.E. 18th Avenue
Amarillo, TX 79107
(806) 383-9877, fax (806) 383-9877 (call first)
www.capuchinpoorclares.org./amarillo/index.html

Monastery of Our Heavenly Father
806 E. B St.
Pueblo CO 81003
(719) 295-2236
www.capuchinpoorclares.org/pueblo/index.html

In addition to establishing the Friars Minor, the First Order, St. Francis also established the Second Order, the Order of Poor Clares. Desiring to follow Francis in his radical form of Gospel living, Clare de Favorone fled from the wealthy estate of her parents late one night in order to give herself totally to this new form of life. Clare and her sisters thus began what was later to be called the Poor Clares.

When the friars broke with the Observants in 1536 and began the Capuchin reform, they were soon followed by a group of women led by Maria Lorenza Longo who wished to share in their return to the earliest traditions of the Order. These sisters came to be called the Capuchin Poor Clares.

You can learn much more about our history and spirituality at our website.

We currently live at Our Lady of Light Monastery in Denver, CO.