Uplifting road trip to sisters of St. Clare

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Charlotte, North Carolina—My husband and I are currently in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland visiting family especially the grandbabies.

Spring is officially here but the winds are still nippy. My daughter Gg Palmes-Boddison reminded me last Saturday that we would join a group of three Filipino-Britons with Maita Yestes to visit the contemplative nuns of the Order of St. Clare.

Joining us were Carmen Salas Hewett, who was born and raised in Mambajao, Camiguin province and Dalian Dalugdog Sleigh, who is more a native of Butuan City though she spent some time in Davao City.

Maita is known to some who follow my columns and blogs. I consider Maita a relative since she is from my hometown of Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental. I knew her late mama who was only two years older than me.

Everyone in her family are known to me. So as we drove to the monastery I took in the scenery and marveled at all the greenery and other visible signs of spring.

We passed by ponds or parts of the lake and didn't ask about those places as we regaled each other with stories of our lives; funny and lovely life stories that made us yearn all the more to visit the birthplace of William Shakespeare and the Beatles among others.

I didn't know what to expect from our visit to the convent. What I did know was that the group prayed for me the past two years when I was at my lowest point due to my breast cancer.

At that time in my life, among my precious recollections were of Gg sending me photos of her, Maita and other friends with the sisters of the convent.

These memories made me upbeat as we reached the monastery, a ranchhouse of sorts that stood on flat ground and surrounded by flowers and a Statue of the white Virgin Mary at the entrance at Ellesmere, Shrophire.

A woman with a cover on her head opened the wide door that was apparently locked inside and from where I sat in the truck, I can see that she is a nun.

The ladies in our group led by Maria stepped out of the vehicle and ran towards the sisters who were also excited to meet them as they hugged each other. The sisters received the rice, fish and cake from Dalian, cakes from Jacob and many more.

The nun who opened the door was Santa Pedra and she had many keys with her strapped on her waist. She told us she would see us at 1 pm.

With that reminder in mind, we decided to have lunch and left in search of a fish and chips place. 

We found one and Carmen paid for the orders. As we finished our meal, we had dessert of biko or “sticky sweet rice” brought by Dalian.

Dalian told us as we ate that she learned how to make biko from her grandmother during her childhood.

Dalian sold yema (a Filipino sweet custard confection made of condensed milk and eggs) at school and it went so well that she convinced her siblings to sell it too.e o

At 2 pm we were led to a receiving room and waited for the nuns who met us 30 minutes later. They wore the brown habit of St. Claire of Assisi. St. Claire is an Italian saint who was one of the first followers of St. Francis of Assisi,

Our visit was providential as it came on the annual commemoration of the Annunciation of the Lord. The tall nun with a clear face was from Sinabacan town in Misamis Occidental said the Annunciation was a holiday for them.

Since they are contemplative sisters, they stayed inside and pray most of the time. Prayer time consisted of reading psalms and hymns scheduled at 10 to 12 pm everyday.

Upon entering the convent, the nuns made the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and enclosure along with a commitment to serve the Lord all the days of their lives.

I saw pure joy in their faces when we visited them. As we greeted each other, I learned that these nuns all came from various places in the Philippines—Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Sinabacan in Misamis Occidental and Kidapawan, Cotabato.

The Order of St. Clare have monasteries in Cebu City, Kidapawan and in Manila, Philippines. Thus it was no surprise that they were happy to see us “kababayans” from the Philippines.

As we talked, the mere mention of Filipino homegrown treats like siakoy, Goldilocks, biko and suman (sticky sweet rice snack) sent the sisters, who are in their late 30s to early 40s, into fits of giggles.

Which is no surprise as they have no TV, radio and even newspapers. Only one of them has a phone used only for emergencies and they spend most of their time in prayers, gardening, sewing and baking.

In case they get sick, they are brought to doctors and if they pass away, they are in a cemetery within the convent grounds. Sisters Bonaventure, Guiseppe, Divine, Stephanie,and Anne Joseph are headed by Mother Bernadette and Mother Carmel.

Before we left, they invited us and everyone to attend their May 6 anniversary and I promised them to invite those interested to join the observance and to pray for them.

Specific requirements are listed on their website. Before we left we wrote personal petitions for the sisters to pray for us and they did.

They also sang songs for us which touched me to my core and made my grandkid Jacob listen and behave. My husband Ronnie said the songs “were beautiful” and he was fortunate to hear them sing.

Thank you Dalian Dalugdog Sleigh, Carmen Salas Hewett, Maita Cabunoc P. Yestes and daughter Gg Boddison and grandson Jacob for the memorable trip.