All Saints' Sisters of the Poor
All Saints' Sisters of the Poor is a traditional Anglo
Catholic convent located 10 miles from the center of Baltimore MD, on
88 rolling acres. This group of women have chosen a monastic
lifestyle, profess a vow of poverty, and seek simplicity.
Nihil Habentes, Omnia Possidentes (As Having Nothing,
Yet Possessing All Things) is the motto of the All Saints Sisters of
the Poor. In 1872 three Sisters sailed from England in response to a
request from Baltimore's Mount Calvary Church to come and assist the
parish in its work with the poor of the city. Soon other Sisters
arrived and American women also began to join the Order. In 1917 the
community moved to Catonsville, a suburb of Baltimore. The property
had been a home for children, and the land was given to theSisters
who continued to work with children. By 1991 the community consisted
of 21 Sisters, 2 Novices, and a Benedictine Monk.
Prayer forms the framework of the Religious Life; there are
monents during the day for private as well as community prayer. The
rising bell rings at 5:30 each morning, and the Sisters meditate in
chapel at 6:00 am. In addition to celebrating the Eucharist, the
community gathers a total of six times a day to sing the Daily
Office, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours, a monastic tradition
of marking and sanctifying the hours of the day through reading
scripture and singing the psalms in plain chant, an ancient
nonmetrical chant melody.
The Religious Life has existed in various forms for over 15
centuries and has always included physical work as well as
intellectual and artistic prusuits. All members of the community
share in the various tasks--cooking, laundry, housecleaning, sewing,
gardening, nursing, teaching, and study. Postulants and Novices,
identified by white veils, are women who have entered the convent to
discern if God is calling them to a Religious Life and are trained
under the direction of a Novice Mistress. They receive instruction in
subjects such as Church History, Scripture, the Monastic Tradition,
and Plain Chant and share with the Sisters in the physical work of
the community.
The rooms of the Convent, St. Gabriel's Retreat House, and
Annunciation Monastery are simply furnished and functional. At the
Convent, the Sisters eat their meals in silence in a room called the
Refectory. At St. Gabriel's, the Sisters join guests at meals--some
are in silence while others include conversation. At 8:00 pm every
evening a bell is rung signifying the beginning of the Greater
Silence, which is kept until 9:30 am the next morning. All members of
the community, as well as guests, are expected to keep this period of
silence.
There are breaks in the schedule of the day in which the
Sisters have opportunities for individual and community fellowship
and recreation through activities such as walking, picnics, crafts,
and reading. Several weeks each year Sisters go on "rest time" to
visit families and friends, travel, or go to the beach.
Traditionally, hospitality had been the major ministry of
convents and monasteries long before works of mercy in the outside
world were begun. Throughout monastic history, members of the
Religious Life have always welcomed the stranger, comforted the sick,
and prayed for the living and the dead. The All Saints Sisters' life
of prayer is extended through a variety of ministeries: The Joseph
Richey House, a hospice for the terminally ill; St. Gabriel's Retreat
House which conducts group retreats for men and women; The Guest Wing
of the Convent and Annunciation Monsatery which provide space and
hospitality to individuals seeking rest and spiritual nourishment.
The Scriptorium is another aspect of the minsitry of the Sisters and
a major source of their financial support. The Sisters continue the
long, monastic tradition of calligraphy and illunimation and have
passed these techniques on through the years. Today, the card
ministry is a very important work of the community and reaches all
fifty states and 15 foreign countries.
One of the more noticeable things about the traditional
community is the habit. What is worn today is the ordinary dress of
the Middle Ages. Upper class women all wore wimples and long tunic
dresses in fine fabrics. The nuns dress the same but in plainer
fabrics. Today the clothing has all acquired symbolic meaning. The
Novices and Junior Sisters wear a belt for a girdle. The Life
Professed wear a rope girdle with a cross and a ring. The Habit
stands for the robe of Christ. The Scapular is a symbol of obedience
and the yoke of Christ. The Girdle symbolizes the rope by which
Christ was bound to the whipping, the sign of being bound together in
the Lord. The Veil symoblizes chastity...set apart for the Lord. The
Cross stands for being dead to the world and alive unto Christ. The
Headband symbolizes the cloth that bound Christ's head in the tomb,
and the Wimple symbolizes the white robe or sheet which bound Christ
in the tomb.
The Religious Life is not an occupation in the usual sense of
the word. It is a lifestyle from which one does not retire. As a
Sister becomes too elderly or infirm to perform manual labor, she
enters more fully into a life of prayer. The Sister's life reaches
its fulfillment when the community lovingly commits her body to the
ground and is able to say of her, "She has finished the race, she has
kept the faith."
The Convent may be contacted by writing:
All Saints Convent
P.O. Box 3127
Catonsville MD 21228-0127
or by calling
410/747-4104
All Saints' Convent supports itself with gifts and through its
Scriptorium Card Shop.
Call for a catalogue:
410/747-4104
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