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Our Contemplatives (Instruction on the Contemplative Life and on the Enclosure of Nuns, I). |
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| St. Edith Stein Convent | Questions | Discernment | Schedule |
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St. Edith Stein Convent
Photo Gallery St. Edith Stein Monastery was formally opened on December 17, 1998. The convent is located in Brooklyn N.Y. The community is formed by seven sisters who dedicate their entire lives to pray that all men and women may come to the knowledge of the One and True God. Furthermore, as contemplatives, they consecrate their lives for the whole Church, represented in the person of the Holy Father; for the perseverance of all priests, and for the increase and sanctification of vocations. The patroness of the community is St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), a Jewish convert, who died as a Carmelite nun in a concentration camp during World War II. Taking under consideration the principal prayer intention of this convent, St. Edith Stein was chosen the patroness of the community.
One special devotion in the sisters’ life is the devotion to Mary. Every day the Holy Rosary is recited in community and on Saturdays the Litanies in honor to our Blessed Mother are sung. The sisters also have processions and prayer services on the special solemnities dedicated to Mary in the Church calendar. Special care is given to the preparation of Sunday’s Liturgy, the day of the Lord. On Sundays the sisters have more recreation time especially during meals.
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Edith Stein was born in Breslau, Germany, on October 12, 1891,
the youngest of seven children in a prominent Jewish family. Edith
abandoned Judaism as early as 1904, becoming a self-proclaimed atheist.
Arduously seeking truth, she entered the University of Gottingen.
There she earned a doctorate in 1916 and emerged as one of Europe’s
brightest philosophers. One of her primary endeavors was to examine
phenomenology from the perspective of Thomistic thought, part of her
growing interest in the Catholic teachings. Propelled by her reading of
the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, she was baptized on
January 1, 1922. In 1934, she entered the Carmelite Order.
But in 1938 she was moved from her monastery in Germany into another
Carmelite monastery in the Netherlands to escaped mounting Nazi
oppression. She was arrested in 1942 as part of the order by Hitler
to liquidate all non-Aryan Catholics and was taken to Auschwitz, on
August 9 or 10, 1942. There she died in the gas chambers. Pope John
Paul II canonized her on October 11, 1998.
Our Institute of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará,
besides the apostolic branch, also has contemplative sisters.
These sisters are totally dedicated to a life of prayer, silence and
penance in order to support the missionary work of the apostolic sisters
and priests of the Religious Family. Also, every contemplative community of the
Institute has a special prayer intention the sisters pray for. Our contemplative
community here in the United States is named St. Edith Stein.
The most important activity in the sisters’ daily schedule is the
participation in the Holy Mass. Additionally, the sisters have two hours of
Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament and the singing of the Divine Office
spread throughout the day. From Morning Prayer to the Office of Readings,
the sisters spend most of the day in the Chapel singing God’s praises in the name
of the whole Church. Along with the singing of the Divine Office the sisters combine
other different activities: manual labor, housekeeping and gardening. During the
cell time the sisters dedicate 30 minutes to Spiritual Reading, 1 hour to study and
45 minutes to Lectio Divina (Bible Meditation). The sisters also have two hours of
recreation, one in the morning and one in the evening, both after meals.
In order to
