Ideal Location/setting For Monastery And Or Convent

[nikita92]

As I visit various religious communities websites, I always enjoy viewing and take notice of the actual buildings,kind of property they are situated on, if it is in a town/city or in the country etc. what are your observations, likes/dislikes preferences,experiences?etc. Has consideration of location played a part in the discernment of a community? Or does it matter? I personally notice if a convent (for example) is actually a ordinary house or was specifically built for the purpose.

[FutureCarmeliteClaire]

All the convents/Monasteries I've been to are deep in the woods. Except for the Missionaries of Charity, they were in the inner city, which I thought was appropriate for the work they do.

[Sister Marie]

I know, from experience, that a rural  and more secluded setting is so much more conducive to prayer for religious but at the same time I am so grateful for the presence of contemplative religious in the city in which I now live in a convent.  As an apostolic sister, it is so nice for me to be able to tell my students that there are sisters, in our city, who never leave their convents, and pray for them all day, every day. 

 

This isn't an opinion either way - just a statement of gratitude for the presence of contemplatives in the places in the world that need them the most, the places that are furthest from God.  Of course, location matters little for God, but it is comforting to know that our sisters live with us in these places.     

[AccountDeleted]

I loved Kirk Edge with its 12 acres on a hill in the middle of nowhere because it was quiet and peaceful. But I also love Wolverhampton which is in the middle of a suburb (on 3 acres) because it is part of a community. There are people who come regularly to daily Mass as well as a lot to Sunday Mass, Vespers and Benediction. And many people stop by the convent to ask for prayers or to leave donations of food or other things. We are definitely part of the local community. Some people also come to Sunday Mass at our chapel but leave their offering envelopes for the local parish church in our basket, and we pass that on to the parish church. It is a real extended family within the Church. I can see advantages to both the isolated monasteries and the more central ones.

[maximillion]

We seem to delight in having our contemplatives slap bang in the middle of big cities and towns in the uk.

 

Tyburn Benedictines.

Notting Hill Carmelites

 

as well as many many more.

 

I am aware that for many they did start out as either on the edge of the urban area or outside it and have been encroached upon by urban sprawl, but even so.........

[TheresaThoma]

I think it is great to have a mix of both. For example the Abbey of St Walburga in CO is pretty much isolated which is great for the farming and retreat work they do. But for communities like the Little Sisters of the Poor they need to be in a city. Its just not practical to have a nursing home 45 minutes from the nearest town.

I have found though that no matter where the Sisters are they manage to carve out a little bit of "separate" space. Even in the middle of a busy retreat house!

[nikita92]

New orders just forming (For instance) are housed in what ever is available, until they acquire the funds needed to start building. Often times property is donated by benefactor(s).. So idea locations etc is not a choice...take what you can get or have been givenI understand active orders need to be where their missionary work is. Monasteries complexes need the land and remoteness.

[OnlySunshine]

At one point, I was in contact with two different Carmelite monasteries at the same time.  One was in Buffalo, NY and the other in Denmark, WI.  The one in Buffalo was right smack in the middle of the neighborhood.  I was told by a friend who entered there for a while that it was very noisy and the nuns often had to endure noise from passing cars (i.e. loud rap music).  The one in Denmark, WI is a completely different setting.  They are located in a rural area so there is nothing around for miles.  The website shows more of their location and I was very interested in this particular monastery until I realized I was not called to Carmelite spirituality. 

 

Carmel in Buffalo, NY

 

Carmel in Denmark, WI

[nikita92]

Mater- May I commend you on your vast knowledge of different communities and their websites and Internet presence!! ;) I checked out both you had provided links to and WOW!! The building, land, and even the website of Carmel in Denmark, Wisconsin is wonderful!! Buffalo's is just the one page with a picture of their Monastery. It looks very traditional. I do feel for the nuns/sisters that are assaulted by all the noise that comes with the territory so to speak.

[Chiquitunga]

Buffalo's is just the one page with a picture of their Monastery. It looks very traditional.

I personally love it when community's websites (or page in this case) are as simple as theirs :love: Not at all meaning to put down those with more extensive sites though. I just really love the simple ones and/or simply a listing on the IRL site as their foundation in Alexandria, SD has - http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/166

 

Alexandria is btw in the process/hoping to acquire land in a more rural location to build a new monastery (although their current location in a small town I have heard is quiet, but it's totally full and was just a house built onto) I think that's pretty sweet :like:

Edited December 28, 2012 by Chiquitunga

[EmilyAnn]

The community I discerned with was in a town, along a small residential road. There is a beach down the hillside and if you walk along the far edge of the abbey you can hear people down on the beach. The abbey was originally a country house that was extended, because the nuns were in exile they couldn't really be too picky!

 

Quite a funny thing, there is a cafe/restaurant on the beach that on a certain night plays very, very loud reggae music. It was definitely an odd feeling, walking around during evening recreation and hearing that. :hehe: 

[OnlySunshine]

Mater- May I commend you on your vast knowledge of different communities and their websites and Internet presence!! ;) I checked out both you had provided links to and WOW!! The building, land, and even the website of Carmel in Denmark, Wisconsin is wonderful!! Buffalo's is just the one page with a picture of their Monastery. It looks very traditional. I do feel for the nuns/sisters that are assaulted by all the noise that comes with the territory so to speak.

 

Buffalo is a part of the St. Joseph's Association and they don't keep their own website.  However, they give discerners a beautiful large booklet about the history of the monastery and it is very interesting to read.  It's about the foundress -- Mother Elias of the Blessed Sacrament.  Her story is absolutely amazing because she escaped Mexico during the Revolution.  At one point, she was caught and brought in front of a firing range with her companion.  She begged St. Therese to intercede and spare her life and she would build a monastery in her name.  Mother Elias heard the guns go off and she sunk to the ground, but she and her companion were not injured.  They were able to escape.  At the time, St. Therese was not a saint yet so she had to wait until the canonization process went through.  It finally did in May 1925.  The monastery was opened and dedicated on the very same day St. Therese was canonized.  The nuns claimed they smelled roses and felt St. Therese's presence in the monastery.  :)

 

More can be read about Mother Elias here:

 

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

Mother Miriam is the prioress of Buffalo and I talked to her many times in 2009 but never visited.  She is very helpful and I recommend the monastery to anyone who is interested and feels a calling to Carmel.  My friend, who is now a novice in the Elysburg Carmel, was a postulant there for a few months before discerning out. 

Edited December 28, 2012 by MaterMisericordiae