Mother Claire, Beloved Prioress, Now With Her Beloved

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Mother Claire was Mother Prioress of the Carmel of Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada.  She was elected prioress of the Carmel of St. Joseph in Armstrong many times.  She lost her long battle with cancer March 14, 2013.  As she had a deep devotion to St. Joseph, her funeral was held on his feast day, March 19th.

Mother Claire was one of three nuns who came from the Carmel of St. Joseph in St. Agatha's, Ontario, at the request of the Bishop of Kamloops to found a Carmel in Armstrong.

Mother Claire with the Bishop on the day of her re-election as Prioress a few months ago.

This was the Carmel I was discerning with and will enter and I knew her through my visit and over the years with beautiful, loving, warm and encouraging emails and letters that was an impromptu novitiate class for me as she imparted wise teachings, advice and help to me.  I am still heartbroken over her passing and so hoped to enter under her Priorate and be her daughter and learn from her how to be a holy Carmelite, spouse to Our Lord Jesus Christ.  She gave me much help in person, now she will give me even more in heaven!

Mother Claire on the day of her Jubilee several years ago.

History of the Carmel of St. Joseph, Armstrong

When vocations in eastern Canada increased in the 1980's, the Carmel in St. Agatha had to plan for a new foundation, since twenty-one sisters is the limit for a Carmelite monastery. They looked to the west for various reasons, but especially that they might be more available to western vocations, who were being called to a strict contemplative life.

The west offered them a very wide choice, and the nuns, after much prayer, accepted the invitation of Most Reverend Lawrence Sabatini, Bishop of Kamloops, who was anxious to have the cloistered  contemplative nuns in his Diocese to pray especially for priests; and so, on August 15, 1991,  feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, three nuns from the Carmelite monastery in St Agatha, Ontario, arrived to pioneer the first English- speaking foundation in Western Canada. In time a property was purchased and on May 01, 1992, the foundation house, dedicated to St Joseph, was blessed by His Excellency, Bishop Sabatini, and the first Mass was offered in the small chapel. 

Today, the temporary dwelling having served its purpose, the sisters, trusting in Divine Providence and with the aid of good friends and benefactors, are undertaking the much needed construction of a permanent monastery that will facilitate their proper functioning where prayer can flourish.