About Our Life The Poor Clares of Memphis have been gathered from many parts of these United States drawn here together by following a very personal and unique call from the Spirit of God to follow the Lord Jesus in poverty, chastity, obedience and intense community life. In order to make this possible the Sisters have embraced a lifestyle that is contained within the Monastery walls. The separation of grates and walls always remains a symbol of the privilege the Church gives to its contemplatives to create a world that best supports their life of prayer. As St. Clare herself teaches us, a sister should not normally leave the enclosure except for a "manifest and reasonable" cause.

Religious communities of every tradition are given the blessing of the Church to embrace their various ways of life. With the blessing of the appropriate authority in the Church each community endeavors on its own to lead a religious life according to its own charism. The charism of the Poor Clares is to be poor. This is our joy and our glory even though at times it can be a heavy burden. This is the external expression of what we are always witnessing to in our local area - our life is an expression of the never failing providence of our Heavenly Father. We choose not to worry about our life, our clothing, our food, and our material needs in order to spend our energy on seeking the reign of God in our midst through our lives of prayer and contemplation and the demands of an intense community life. And we trust that when God is present among us here, all kinds of blessings flow from Him to all around us.

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