Recently, someone left an update in the comments section of that post and I'd like to share it with you:
Post-Easter update, Monastery of the Perpetual Rosary, Dominican nuns, Union City, NJ: I phoned the monastery and spoke with Sr. Carol Marie OP, the sub-prioress, to find out what happens next.
It is resignedly accepted that the Union City foundation must be closed. They received attention within their Order, from a report in MONIALIBUS, the international newsletter of the Second Order of cloistered Dominican nuns (recommended- you can find it online). At the time, the OP promoter of the nuns, fr. Manuel Merten OP, reported on his visitation at Union City. When he visited, Union City had a community of six women. The oldest was over ninety, and had been solemn professed for over sixty years, always at that location. She wanted to remain, die, and be buried in Union City. Other nuns accepted the alternative of moving on and being absorbed into the Dominican nuns of a different monastery somewhere else.
Here is how things stood at Easter this year. Sr. Mary Clare OP, the elderly nun referenced above, died last year and is buried in Union City, so her wish was granted. The oldest of the five surviving nuns is Sr. Mary Gemma OP. Physically too weak to go back and forth through the cloister, she is excused from community events, and confined to her monastery cell. The prioress, Sr. Mary Jordan OP, apparently afflicted with the complications of progressed diabetes, cannot walk. She was graciously admitted to the nursing care facility which the Caldwell NJ congregation of active Dominican sisters reserve for their own elderly and infirm women.
Sr. Mary Charlotte recently hurt herself in a fall. The physicians can no longer be persuaded to visit the enclosure to give first aid to an injured "moniale"/nun. She had to be sent to a hospital and remains there while the nuns wait for the doctor to get the X-rays back from the lab, to determine if Sr. Charlotte has any fractures.
If you are keeping track, we have accounted for four of six women, including the one who went home to her Lord last year.
Sub-Prioress Sr. Carol Marie OP, and Sr. Maria Aquinas OP, at about seventy years of age the youngest in the community, are now the only two able-bodied women in the Union city foundation.
Sr. Carol tells me, that discernment for their community proceeds slowly with many interruptions. Their short list of "next homes" is: Syracuse, NY; Hunts Point, the Bronx, NY; and Lancaster, PA. With each of these Dominican monasteries, one nun from Union City has been dispatched to live with them in the cloister for a period of two weeks, then return to her house and disclose to her sisters what she observed.
Obviously, illness and injury complicate and delay the process by which Union City must be closed, and the surviving nuns absorbed into another monastery of the Second Order of St Dominic's Order of Preachers. Please, keep these nuns in your prayers.
5 comments:
Thank you for posting this. We've been having problems getting updated accurate information.
You have a lovely blog. Please pray for a young woman from Hawaii who is entering our monastery in a few months. As you can imgaine, going from Hawaii to New Jersey is quite a cultural difference! Not to mention the weather!
God bless you!
www.monialesop.blogspot.com
Glad to do it. I will keep her in my prayers. BTW, I came from NJ to Hawaii so I understand completely.
God bless,
Peace be unto you. I am just now reading your "Update on Cloistered Sisters in N.J" and thank you for this information. As of March 2008, only 4 nuns remain. Be assured the nuns will remain in our prayers.
The question is the minds of the faithful who attend mass each morning or purchase religious items from the gift shop is what will become of this monastery.
Some fear that the site will be torn down, or sold off. What will happen to the cemetery where many of the nuns are interred?
Union City suffered a great loss when the Passionist Monastery closed. People tell me the interior has been gutted and it is evident that the exterior has broken or missing pieces of masonry or broken windows.
Please also keep in mind those faithful who have year after year attended Mass in the Chapel of the Monastery. It will be, I predict, a deep,deep loss to the community.
Esther, thank you so much. In as much as you have done it unto these the least of my brethren, you have done it unto Me.
Pax
Thank you so much for posting. I appreciate you sharing this with me/us.
God bless,
The Blue Chapel closed for good late March 2009. I live in Union City, Hudson, New Jersey and have followed the postings about this dominican monastery for some years.
Thank you for the postings and updates regarding cloistered sisters in New Jersey.
I believe Sister Gemma was the lone survivor and last to go. She accepted. Another of the remaining nuns died earlier in the year. Due to the seclusion of the nuns it's was not always easy to get information.
It would be appreciated if a final update with reliable facts can be posted.
Please pray for the neighboring community of residents who lived close to the monastery. They are not now without this sanctuary. After many years the end came and a familiar landmark and the presence of the nuns taken for granted.
People wonder what will happen to the building, unusual and well-maintained. Will it fall victim to vandals or fire or the wrecking ball?
We covet your prayers and pray God's will be done.
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