Passionist Nuns pray for the Church ahead of World Day of Consecrated Life
Bella Bailey
Multimedia Correspondent
A Mass to celebrate the World Day of Consecrated Life will be celebrated by Bishop John Iffert, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, Feb. 7, 10 a.m. The Mass will be attended by consecrated men and women of the Diocese of Covington to celebrate one another, their ministry and service to their communities. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Within the Diocese of Covington there are 11 communities of consecrated religious. While many of the communities live their mission and vocation in the world, ministering to the poor, administering healthcare and teaching, there are others that live a life of contemplative prayer, cloistered from the distractions of the world. The Passionist Nuns, a worldwide community of cloistered contemplative nuns, live to serve their community in prayer. Five of those Passionist Nuns reside in the Diocese of Covington.
Founded by St. Paul of the Cross, the Passionist Nuns, “were founded to pray for the Church,” said Mother Michelle Mudd, superior of the Erlanger community. “The Church needs prayer. One of the models for cloistered contemplative life, Jesus said, he wants us to dedicate our whole life to prayer.”
Passionist Sister Mary Catherine said, “Contemplatives are kind of the heart of the Church, the heart is hidden. I think of us contemplatives as pumping grace to the rest of the Mystical Body.”
“If you remove contemplatives from the Church, and put us all out in the field, the Church would not survive,” said Mother Michelle.
Their robust prayer life flows through their dedication to the passion of Christ. “Our model is ‘May the passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts,’ and we bear that in our hearts but then we proclaim it,” said Mother Michelle. “…We proclaim it to the world by living here, maintaining the cloister.”
Sister Mary Catherine said, “It’s our favorite meditation, the Passion, what he (Christ) did. So many people are hurting, they come here for prayers and so to be able to let them know you’re not alone, he knows exactly what you want. In fact, it hit him first, everything was on the cross. I think it gives them comfort to know that, even though they may not feel it, God’s presence is deeper than our feelings.”
“If this is your vocation, this is where you want to be, we don’t want to be out there. We’re called to be in solitude with Jesus,” said Sister Mary Catherine.
