BOLINAO POOR CLARE NUN

Bolinao Poor Clare Nun –  Sister Floribeth Ruiz de San Pedro, O.S.C.                                                                    † The first Community of religious women in the Philippines and Asia †                                                            “It is good to await the salvation of God in silence.                                                                    I shall be satisfied as long as He is glorified.”     –  Mother Jerónima                                                              “Amare et Suffere”  –  “To love and to Suffer”

Foundress:  Venerable Jerónima of the Assumption, P.C.C.  (“Saint of Toledo and Manila”)

Place:  Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines

Year:  1621 A.D.  (*August 15th*)

Her Charism:  This passionate lover of Christ is a prophetic witness of Communion, Joy, and the Gospel.  The Eucharist is the center and most important part of her life.  She hides her body from the tempests of the world and keeps alive the living flame of the spirit of                St. Francis and St. Clare as she “gazes upon the Lord.”  Her joyful embrace of austerity,  poverty, prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, manual work, and penance (severe fasts), spreads a perfume of joy in her soul and over the world.  She rebuilds the Church and helps spread the Kingdom of God by being a mirror and model for those frail members of the Body of Christ living in the world.  Because the favorite theme of her meditation is the Passion of Christ, her heart’s desire is that everyone comes to realize God’s unfathomable love for them, and be able to respond to that love.  This nun’s entire life is rooted in the values for which the world is thirsting.  With one arm she clasps the world to her heart, and with the other embraces Christ, knowing He embraces both her and the world.  The poverty and humility of Jesus and His poor Mother Mary inspires her to dedicate her life to living the perfection of the Gospel.