Liturgical embroidery practice connects Poor Clares to U.S. foundress
One hundred and fifty years after the founding of the first Poor Clares monastery in the United States, the Poor Clares in St. Louis are celebrating with needles and thread.
Servant of God Mother Mary Maddalena Bentivoglio, OSC, foundress of the Poor Clares in the U.S., came from a family of Italian nobility. She received a cultured education that included art, music, languages, sewing and embroidery — which she was particularly skilled in.
In the early days of the Poor Clares communities in Omaha, Nebraska, and Evansville, Indiana, Mother Maddalena and the other sisters helped sustain themselves by taking in sewing and mending, and then, beautiful liturgical sewing and embroidery of altar linens and vestments.
To mark the special anniversary, Sister Mary Rose, OSC, obtained from another monastery one of Mother Maddalena’s hand-drawn embroidery patterns for a pall, a cloth that sits on top of the chalice during the Mass. The design includes a tau-rho with alpha and omega symbols on either side, surrounded by an intricate crown of thorns.
Sister Mary Rose had been hard at work on the project since January, preparing to use the pall for the first time at an Aug. 18 Mass, the anniversary date of Mother Maddalena’s death in 1905.
“I didn’t think I would ever find anything like that (pattern). So often with monasteries, things are more oral traditions,” Sister Mary Rose said. “…You can say, well, this is the type of embroidery that Mother Maddalena would have done, and that’s really quite thrilling. But to hold it in your hands, that she designed it?”
These days, the Poor Clares in St. Louis don’t sustain themselves through sewing or embroidery — making altar bread is their main work — but the tradition has still made its way into their cloistered life. Local superior Mother Mary Elizabeth, OSC, pulled out a scrap of linen cloth with several small symbols cross-stitched in red by Mother Maddalena. Each sister is assigned one of the symbols at the same time they receive their religious name, and the symbol is stitched into their habits as an identifier.
The skill of embroidery has been passed down, too. Mother Maddalena taught the craft to her fellow sisters in Omaha and Evansville; those sisters taught it to the younger sisters, and in 1959, Poor Clares from Evansville established the monastery in St. Louis.
All of the St. Louis sisters have learned how to do at least a little bit of cross-stitch, Mother Mary Elizabeth said. “Certain people have talent and some don’t,” she said with a laugh. “I’m not one of the ones that has that talent.”
Sister Mary Catherine, OSC, has been helping Sister Mary Rose with the pall. “I’m a basketball player, so to do something contemplative (like embroidery) was interesting to me — a switch of character, you know?” Sister Mary Catherine said. “But I love it.”
Sister Mary Rose knew how to embroider before entering the convent, but she takes extra care when creating something that will be used in a liturgical setting. She uses one strand of white thread at a time, making the process more time-consuming but allowing for more precise stitching as she creates contrast through texture.
“Knowing that it will be used on the altar, it’s just a beautiful thought,” she said. “It’s something I enjoy doing very much, and there’s nothing too good for the Lord. You try to make it as nice as you can, because it will be used in the eucharistic sacrifice.”
Being able to create something that will be so close to Jesus’ body is awe-inspiring, Mother Mary Elizabeth said. It’s similar in a way to when a sister serves as sacristan.
“We wash the linens, we do all those sorts of things, and the joy is that it’s for Him,” she said. “…What makes our life together that much more special is that we do things for one another. Well, the Lord’s the same way — here’s my little two bits, Lord, but you’re going to be the one to make it that much more special.”
Mother Mary Maddalena Bentivoglio
As the sisters mark the 150th anniversary of the Poor Clares in the United States, they continue to pray for Mother Maddalena’s beatification cause. The St. Louis sisters have been in touch with Diocese of Evansville, where she is buried, about the cause and have heard of some potential miracles being considered, Mother Mary Elizabeth said. They also commissioned a special holy card for the anniversary, depicting Mother Maddalena with embroidery in hand.
Mother Maddalena’s influence continues to inspire the sisters in more ways than stitching. It’s “her love of the Church, her love of the breviary,” Sister Mary Rose said. “She used to give conferences to the sisters on the Sunday Gospel and stuff like that. She was well ahead of her time in wanting to focus on the Mass and pay attention.”
“She was very eucharistic,” Sister Mary Catherine added. “She said, ‘speak heart to heart when you’re at Mass, don’t just do your beads.’”
Following in Mother Maddalena’s footsteps, the Poor Clares choose to offer their lives in cloistered contemplation to pray for the world, Mother Mary Elizabeth said.
“I think what’s inspiring for me is her desire to always do what God wills to do,” she said. “God’s will is what we’re here for, so we need to be listening, to be conscious of it, to hear it at every moment of the day; every time you’re turning around, you’re trying to do God’s will.”
To learn more about Mother Mary Maddalena Bentivoglio, foundress of the Poor Clares in the United States, visit poorclaresstl.org/mother-madalena-history.
