Carmelite sisters to bid JC farewell today

Three sisters have maintained their sacrificial watch of hourly prayers and petitions, despite their rising ages and declining numbers.

This summer, the Carmelite sisters found a resurgence in their zeal, when the Benedictine sisters in Clyde invited them to share their chapel and grounds.

Today, the Jefferson City community has the unusual opportunity to see the faces of these cloistered nuns, before they relocate to their new home Monday.

Bishop John Gaydos will celebrate Mass at 3 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Joseph. Then guests are invited to a receiving line with the sisters and a reception in their honor in the undercroft.

For nearly the life of the Diocese of Jefferson City, the Carmelite presence has brought reassurance to those who drive by the 2201 Main Street monastery, and peace to the many who have sought comfort in their chapel or sharing through a turnstyle.

"A magnetic awareness of the presence of God is tangible," agreed Sister Kathleen Wegman.

Only their physical presence will end, as their intercession for Mid-Missouri will continue in their new home, said Sister Kathleen Wegman, chancellor.

"The monastery is where the sisters are, not the building," she said.

When the sisters returned from a retreat in Clyde earlier this year, "they were on fire with being the best of who they are," Wegman said.

A renewed energy, excitement and potential has filled the Carmelites, observed Wegman, a School Sister of Notre Dame who also serves as diocese Delegate to Religious.

The idea of the Carmelites moving from this location, founded in 1960 by four sisters, including Sister Angelina who will move with them to Clyde, from Santa Fe, N.M., is contrary to their vow of stability, Wegman noted.

But the affirmation from the Benedictines' offer encouraged them to move forward, she said."When you know something is of God, He will never lead you where his grace cannot sustain you," Wegman said. "But it does not lessen the human emotion."

As part of the vow the sisters took to "leave this world," they have asked no photos be taken during Sunday's events.

Yet, because of the relationship built over the decades, the sisters did not want to leave without offering a chance for people to greet them, Wegman said.

"It has been a mutually enriching experience," Wegman said on their behalf. "Their life of prayer has been shaped by requests."

Many in search of prayer have confided intimate and deeply troubling worries and situations with the sisters.

As their prayers will continue for the area, Wegman encouraged lay people to remember them with their prayers and donations.

"This relationship is not severed, only relocated," she said.