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Wales: mothers and infants invited for St Colette's Blessing


Pregnant mums, would-be parents, newborns and sick children will be flocking to the Ty Mam Duw Poor Clare Colettines in North Wales next Saturday, 5 February, for a special Mass and Blessing in honour of their founder.

St Colette was a 15th century contemplative nun who is specially remembered as a patron of the unborn, of expectant mothers and couples who long to conceive a child.

Whilst she was still at Besançon, the father of a dead child brought it to Colette and begged her to restore it to life. She took off her veil, wrapped the baby in it and sent the man back to the priest who had refused to baptize it earlier. The infant had revived.

For centuries in France and Belgium, children and expectant mothers were blessed at the Colettine houses on her feast day. The Colettines of Ty Mam Duw revived the custom in the millennium.

Sr Maria explained: "Over the ten years, hundreds of babies have been conceived and born as a result of this blessing - and our sisters also remember the unborn daily. Apart from the Saturday nearest the saint's feastday, people do in fact, come here all round the year. A few days ago a lady of forty who had just conceived for the first time came to ask for prayers and to be blessed with the veil.

She said: "The funniest story still remains 'Tassie' in the USA. She and husband were planning to have a baby by invitro and after the failure of the third attempt she sent us an email saying our prayers were no good, that they were broke and they thought they'd keep a dog instead(!). We persevered and 18 months later we contacted them to see how life was going. We got a short and somewhat embarrassed answer. They were rather busy - ­ a few months earlier they had had triplets by natural means. We never heard from them again!"

The 'veil' used in the Blessing, is two threads of Colette's mantle, mounted under glass amidst embroidery on a Poor Clare veil like that which the sisters ordinarily wear.

Ladies are blessed with it placed over the head and gentlemen and children over the shoulders, after the homily at Mass.

The Blessing takes place next Saturday, 5 February, at 3.30pm at Ty Mam Duw Poor Clare Colettines, Upper Aston Hall Lane Hawarden, North Wales.

Those who cannot come but would like to be remembered in prayer, please email: community@poorclarestmd.org or call: ++44 (0)1244 531029.

For more information see: www.poorclarestmd.org


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