The Poor Clare Enrichment Program is an outgrowth of the Poor Clare Endowment received by the University in 1992. In 2001, 2002, and 2003 Poor Clare sisters from around the world came to SBU for intensive three-week programs, called “Know Your Vocation,” designed to enrich Poor Clare life.
Each summer, the Sisters participated in one-week modules focusing on their history, the theology of St. Bonaventure, and their own personal spirituality in light of their own vocational experiences. In addition to classroom time, the Sisters participated in campus activities and liturgies, bringing to the Summer Session a special presence that is integral to the Franciscan Family.
In 2005, 2006, and 2007 the Poor Clare Enrichment Program will return for a second cycle of the “Know Your Vocation” program. Each of the weekly modules will have a dedicated focus: “Enfleshing the History,” a single Bonaventure text in theology, and an “Arts and Letters” segment in which the Sisters will study the artistic images of Clare of Assisi, the images from their own monasteries, and the spirituality found in an early “Meditation” addressed to a late fourteenth-century Poor Clare.
The Poor Clares at Mt. Irenaeus
