Meet the Poor Clares’ newest nun

A nurse is to be professed as a Poor Clare nun this Sunday in a ceremony that will be live-streamed for the first time at the monastery.

Sr Clare Marie was a business graduate who worked as a nurse in the dermatology department at University Hospital Galway before joining the enclosed contemplative order based in Nuns Island in the heart of Galway City.

In a video shot to mark the historic occasion, Sr Clare Marie reveals that she discovered her vocation while on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

“I had gone away from my faith, and I was searching, searching for Jesus,” the native of Co Monaghan recalls.

“I really felt that’s where my faith started being rekindled. I hadn’t had a really personal relationship with Jesus before this.

“I remember saying to him, I’ll do anything you want me to do if you help me. And the tears were flowing, all of a sudden, this huge peace filled the room. I just had no doubt whatever that Jesus existed.”

While she was on sick leave from work for a number of months she felt called to religious life.

“I felt drawn to contemplative life. I started going to Mass here in the Poor Clares before going to work. I saw a poster for a cloister day and I felt, yeah, that could be good to do. I had the opportunity to ask questions and meet the sisters.”

Read the full interview with Sr Clare Marie in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.