Capuchin Poor Clares
Latin: Ordo Sanctae Clarae Capuccinarum[1]
AbbreviationO.S.C. Cap.
NicknameCapuchinesses
Formation1538 (1538)[1]
FounderBlessed Mr. Maria Lorenza Longo, O.S.C. Cap.[1]
Founded at
TypeReligious Order of Pontifical Right for Women
Region served
  • Western Europe
  • Central and Eastern Europe
  • Asia and Oceania
  • North America
  • South America
Members
1,692 members as of 2020[1]
Main organ
Pax et Bonum
Parent organization
Catholic Church
Websitecontemplativevocations.org

The Capuchin Poor Clares (Latin: Ordo Sanctae Clarae Capuccinarum) is a Catholic religious order of Pontifical Right for women founded in Naples, Italy, in 1538, by Blessed Maria Lorenza Longo. The order still exists and it now has communities in the United States. Members are referred to as Capuchinesses.[2]

History

Maria Laurenza Longo had built a hospital and house that cared for prostitutes.[3] The first community of nuns was formed in 1538, organised by priests from the Theatine order. (The Theatines had been formed fourteen years earlier.) This new body was soon organised not by the Theatines but by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, usually known as Capuchins. [3] The Capuchin Poor Clares follow the original ideals of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi. The Capuchin Poor Clares are a cloistered community of contemplative religious sisters.[4] Longo wanted to re-establish the original concepts of religious simplicity, selfless poverty and the austerity of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi set by Matteo da Bascio when he founded the order of the Capuchin friars. Longo's new order took the same habit design as the men. Like the friars, the nuns wear a simple brown tunic knotted with a cord at the waist and a short cape. The only addition for nuns was a wimple and a black veil.[5]

Brown habit, black veil, white wimple

A notable member of the order was Saint Veronica Giuliani who joined the order in Città di Castello in Italy in 1677. She rose to be a mystic and abbess, and in 1839 she was canonised by Pope Gregory XVI.[6]

In America

In the United States, the Capuchin Poor Clares have monasteries in Wilmington, Delaware, Amarillo, Texas, Alamo, Texas, Denver, Colorado, and Pueblo, Colorado.

At Our Lady of Light Monastery in Denver there are nine professed sisters. The monastery in Denver was founded by Capuchin Poor Clare sisters from Irapuato in central Mexico in 1988. In addition to sewing habits, the sisters provide for the needs of their community by making and selling cookies.[7]

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Capuchin Poor Clares (O.S.C. Cap.)". GCatholic.
  2. ↑ "Capuchinesses". Catholic Encyclopedia.
  3. 1 2 Pamela Joseph Benson; Victoria Kirkham (2005). Strong Voices, Weak History: Early Women Writers & Canons in England, France, & Italy. University of Michigan Press. pp. 83–. ISBN 0-472-06881-4.
  4. ↑ Poor Clares, Encyclopædia Britannica, Retrieved 3 December 2015
  5. ↑ Capuchine Nun, British Museum, Retrieved 3 December 2015
  6. ↑ Veronica Giuliani, Benedict XVI, Retrieved 3 December 2015
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