TV Programme leads to possible rise in vocations to Co Waterford religious community

We are told that interest in the Catholic Church in Ireland has dropped off in recent years, but that could be set for a change.

At Ireland’s only Female Cistercian Community, Saint Mary’s Abbey in Glencairn near Lismore, the community have had to organise a second Monastic Weekend within a matter of weeks due to popular demand.

The Monastery was the subject of a recent RTE documentary which was aired on Easter Sunday after which the communities planned vocations weekend was fully subscribed to.

Eight women joined the community for a weekend from May 16 to 18, the communities Vocations Director – Sister Sarah reported recently and now similar weekend is planned for the weekend of August 29 to 31 due to interest amongst women who have shown an interest in discerning a vocation.

The Community have aimed the weekend at women between the age of 22 and 40 and over the weekend they will get an experience of monastic life living with the community of sisters with participants living the daily monastic rhythm of prayer and praise, monastic work, Lectio Divina, and service to each other, in the monastery.

The weekend is also a time for personal reflection, an opportunity to talk with a sister individually and to enjoy a quiet walk through the fields to the river Blackwater which flows through the abbey farm.

Vocations Director Sister Sarah in a recent interview with Catholic Ireland.Net News estimated that up to ten people a year attend the monastic weekends or live with the community for a short period to discern if they have a vocation.

She added that most of those that show an interest in joining the community are in their late 30’s but some in their 20’s also express an interest in joining. Currently the community has 36 sisters from all over Ireland and different parts of the world, with a wide range of age groups represented, from the thirties to the nineties.