Sixteen Catholic Sisters have arrived at their new convent in rural Bourbon County from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The name of the compound is the St. Joseph Convent.
“Our convent (the house in which Sisters live) was too small and we were unable to find either an available building or land in the area,” said Mother Maria Regina. ” We desired to live in a more rural setting, and the opportunity to settle (near) Redfield, Kansas, was an answer to our prayers for a good location for a larger convent.”
“Our service to the community will include service to Saint Martin’s Academy and its families, but it will also include the wider Fort Scott community,” she said.
St. Martins is a Catholic boarding school for boys a few miles east of the convent.
The Sister’s way of life is semi-comtemplative.
“That means that we have a strong contemplative element, which includes ample time of prayer every day,” she said. “In addition to Holy Mass, we also pray every day what is called the Divine Office. The Divine Office is composed primarily of the Psalms which we pray for all the needs of people everywhere. We also spend time in silent prayer every day. If anyone would like to send us prayer intentions, we are happy to receive them because it is part of our mission to pray for the needs of people. If someone wishes to send a prayer request, it can be sent to us by regular mail at 1250 Hackberry Road; Redfield, KS 66769 or by e-mail ([email protected]
“Besides prayer, we also do work, which we call ‘apostolate’ (because, like the Apostles, the intention of our work is to bring Jesus to people),” she said. “Our apostolate includes outreach to the people in the area around us. We are visiting the elderly, we are setting up a “Girl’s Guild” with activities for girls of various ages, and we hope and intend to include other ways of serving the people of the area, as well.”
She said the first meeting of the Girl’s Guide is May 10 and it will be for young ladies ages 10-18. “It is three hours of time spent with some conversation, games, meal, prayer, and some catechesis. If someone is interested in coming, the present email is the best way to contact us. “
Even though they are on former farmland, they don’t intend to produce their own food.
“Our apostolic work is more directly with the people,” she said. “We intend to have a garden, probably not this year, though, and we will have a few animals, but they will not be the main thrust of our work.”
The rhythm of the day at the cloister is prayer, work, recreation and for some, classes.
“The typical day begins and ends with prayer in the chapel, and the other parts of the day are also punctuated with times that we return to the chapel for common prayer and also for private prayer,” she said. “Aside from that, we have time in the morning for work (some of the work described above, plus the usual tasks of preparing meals, laundry, housekeeping, etc.). In the afternoon, we have a set time for recreation, during which we enjoy one another’s company and do some handwork or go for a walk together outside or engage in some other enjoyable activity.”
In the convent, there are stages of formation and the younger Sisters have some classes for their formation as religious Sisters in the afternoon, as well. “
