Contemplative Communities profile three - When independent filmmaker and artist Abbie Reese inaugurated her collaboration with the Clare Colettine nuns at the Corpus Christi Monastery in Rockford, Illinois, she had a professional goal: nurturing a collaborative relationship that would serve as a backdrop to a young woman’s transition from secular life into an alternative community. Ten years down the road, Reese admits that the time she has spent with the nuns, who practice a form of strict enclosure relatively rare in contemporary culture, has had an effect on her that goes well beyond scholarly objectivity and curiosity.

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike."

Column - Although the Reformation in Norway was much more gradual and much less bloody than in England, the last Catholic archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson, was forced into exile in 1537, and the country became Lutheran. Monks were not permitted to enter Norway until 1897, and Jesuits were not allowed into the country until 1956. It wasn’t until the 1990s that there was a “boom” of religious orders in Norway: Cistercians, Brigittines, Carmelites, Poor Clares, Missionary Servants of the Holy Trinity, Sisters of the Holy Cross, and Missionaries of Charity joined Dominicans, Augustinians, and Picpus Fathers who were already there.

Sr. Lucía Aurora Herrerías Guerra is president of Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity, a post-Vatican II congregation, and one of the organizers of the Third Encounter of New Forms of Consecrated Life in Rome earlier this year. A distinguishing characteristic of new forms of religious life like Verbum Dei is that they can include sisters, lay members (including married couples) and priests belonging to the same institute of consecrated life. Verbum Dei is one of six new communities recognized by the Vatican; many more are attempting to gain approval.

GSR Today - The Little Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and 11 other congregations in Haiti, along with Medicines for Humanity, are a force for change. The Little Sisters alone manage 17 small clinics and three hospitals scattered throughout the country, bringing health care to an economically poor country that is still recovering from a massive 2010 earthquake.

"Seasons change — but like the morning dew, cling to all that is good and beautiful. Praise God!"

Contemplative Communities profile two - On the north side of Minneapolis, a small but vibrant community of Visitation Sisters practices the discipline of contemplative prayer — and opens their doors to neighbors and visitors who want to do the same. The groundbreaking effort, now just over a quarter-century old, expresses the Visitation mission in an active, practical presence among the vulnerable and marginalized. “Being among these people, the people who come to pray with us, has made such a great difference in the relationships we have with them. We have the privilege of being able to support them in prayer and friendship, sharing our spirituality with them,” said Sr. Katherine Mullin, who moved here 14 years ago.

Column - Although the recent apostolic investigation of sisters focused on active congregations, American bishops have not always been happy to have the non-controversial contemplative congregations located within their dioceses. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, church leaders found themselves in need of religious communities dedicated to active apostolates and willing to establish schools and hospitals in order to meet the material and spiritual needs of the many Catholics who were poor and uneducated. In addition, they worried that contemplative nuns would be forced to depend on contributions from willing Catholics to support themselves, money that could better be spent in other places.