08/01/2026
THE MONASTERY OF ST. CLARE TOUCHES JESUIT YOUTH MINISTRY THROUGH MAGIS
Emmanuel Haambokoma shares " The Monastery of St. Clare in Lusaka Zambia also introduced Jesuit Youth Ministry Southern Africa through Magis to Rosary Making, Host Making & Other Love & Service Aspects of the Monastery. The Monastery of St. Clare also does Tailoring , Candle Making and much more as part of the Monastery life.
The Sisters of St. Clare live in Monasteries, places of silence, harmony, and peace, where they aim at total union with God in continuous Prayer. In order to reach this union, they have to sacrifice much of what other people enjoy: they renounce unnecessary comforts; they often fast, avoiding dangerous excess; they often pray late in the night, except for medical care or other obvious needs, they do not go out of their Monastery which, besides the church or chapel, always includes gardens, large community rooms, and smaller rooms for individual sisters.
During their years of formation, they are trained to find all their strength, their happiness, and their complete fulfilment in deep relationship with God and in the progressive discovery of his love. They come to know the riches of Christ’s mysteries and of his word, which, like Mary, they want to receive and keep in their hearts. They are helped to live their religious life faithfully and to build a Community where sincere affection grows in mutual trust and forgiveness in complete sharing of spiritual and material resources. The nuns are also ready to share the little they have with the poor around their Monastery and they receive guests for periods of prayer, outside the cloister.
Their life is inspired by the Gospel of Jesus as they try to live like Francis, Clare, and the other Poor Clare saints. While other Congregations follow Jesus in teaching and healing, or in spreading the Good News, the Sisters of St. Clare try, with God’s help, to continue Jesus’ life of prayer on the mountain and of complete union with the Father. Mass, always celebrated with some solemnity, is the center of each monastic day; they pray alone for long periods and unite themselves to Christ’s offering of Himself and to his prayer on the cross.
Though this life of prayer takes most of their time, the Sisters are not always on their knees! Prayer has many different forms: there is praise offered in the name of all creation, often accompanied by songs and dances; there are times for adoration of the Lord in the Eucharist, for silent meditation of God's Word, and for the frequent intercessions during the day and even in the middle of the night.
The church proclaims that the contemplative life is “universally apostolic.” That means that through their prayer and sacrificial self‑giving, the sisters reach all kinds of pain, doubt, sickness, or distress and bring them to God's mercy. This is the way they serve people even if no one sees them busy in schools, slums, hospitals, and parishes. They also have their own labs in the Cloister: they work in their fields or gardens to grow food for themselves and other poor people. They paint pictures or do embroidery; they type or cook, study or make pottery, make candles, bake host, sew vestments for the Mass or clothes. They work in silence with a song in their hearts because they know that God is there with them.
This presence is even more obvious when the sisters get together each day for a short time to relax with one another, to talk, and to exchange news or ideas. Each feast gives a special character to their joy as they celebrate Advent, Christmas, Easter and other feasts. They are liturgical communities who follow the Church’s rhythms even in the details of their daily lives.
A young woman who wants to join these contemplative Sisters should have a great desire to develop a life of prayer and union with God. She must understand the value of complete self‑giving in union with Christ for the Redemption of many. She should also be in good physical and psychological health and have completed at least her secondary education. "
