{"id":5911,"date":"2014-03-30T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-30T22:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/religious-sisters-bring-witness-of-prayer-to-bismarck-diocese\/"},"modified":"2014-03-30T22:10:00","modified_gmt":"2014-03-30T22:10:00","slug":"religious-sisters-bring-witness-of-prayer-to-bismarck-diocese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/03\/religious-sisters-bring-witness-of-prayer-to-bismarck-diocese\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious sisters bring witness of prayer to Bismarck diocese"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Bismarck, N.D., Mar 30, 2014 \/ 04:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Two groups of religious sisters new to North Dakota\u2019s Diocese of Bismarck bring the blessings of prayer and their examples of faith and service to the area, an official with the local Church said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cOne of the things you see about both of these groups of sisters is that they live lives of joy,\u201d Matthew Kurtz, communications director for the Bismarck diocese, told CNA March 28.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThey exude joy; that will be one of the most valuable aspects of having their presence in our diocese.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tTwo groups, each of four religious sisters, have moved to the Diocese of Bismarck.<\/p>\n

\tFour sisters from the Congregation of Teresian Carmelites have moved from their home in India\u2019s Kerala state to serve the people of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in south-central North Dakota. The sisters are working through the Bismarck diocese\u2019s Catholic Indian Mission.<\/p>\n

\tThey are the first foundation of the Teresian Carmelites in the Western Hemisphere. They will work as missionaries and help the priests and parishes of Sioux County, while teaching at the St. Bernard Mission School in Fort Yates.<\/p>\n

\tThey will live at St. Bernard\u2019s Carmel Convent in Fort Yates, the property of the renamed Church of St. Peter, and replace the departing School Sisters of Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt\u2019s important to have the presence of holy people who can model what a life of faith should look like,\u201d Kurtz said. \u201cThey\u2019re also very obviously knowledgeable in the Catholic faith and so they can evangelize to the people on the reservation and set a good example that what is valuable to them as they live a life that is for Christ and has meaning and purpose because it is lived for God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAnother group of four religious sisters is new to the diocese as well. Four cloistered Carmelite nuns from Alexandria, South Dakota moved to their new monastery March 19.<\/p>\n

\tTheir monastery, the Carmel of the Holy Face, is a renovated farmhouse near Hague in the state\u2019s south central Emmons County. The nuns described it as \u201cin the middle of nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe value our enclosure because it\u2019s part of our sacrifice for the diocese and the world,\u201d Mother Marie Therese told the Bismarck diocese. \u201cOnce the bishop erects the cloister, he locks us in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe cloistered Carmelites will host a three-day open house April 23-25 to meet with the public before they begin their enclosure. They fast during half of the year, eating only one full meal and two smaller meals each day. They do other forms of penance, including sleeping on a slab of wood with a simple straw mattress. They refrain from all dairy products during Lent, and never eat meat.<\/p>\n

\tKurtz added that the religious sisters have emphasized that they have \u201ca life of joy \u2026 people see all these penances and things that they do as just a burden. It\u2019s absolutely the opposite,\u201d he told CNA.<\/p>\n

\tHe said the power of prayer is \u201cundeniable,\u201d and the diocese will benefit from sisters who are \u201cimmersed in deep prayer every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe cloistered sisters will become self-sufficient through growing their food in gardens and raising goats, chickens, and other animals. They also hope to begin to make items such as scapulars and Chaplets of the Holy Face to sustain their life.<\/p>\n

\tThe cloistered sisters moved to the diocese at the request of Bishop David Kagan, who had repeated the request of his predecessor Bishop Paul Zipfel.<\/p>\n

\tThe Congregation of Teresian Carmelites came at the invitation of Bishop Kagan after an Indian-born priest serving in western North Dakota made the connection between the diocese and their religious congregation, the Bismarck diocese reported.<\/p>\n

\tKurtz said the religious sisters\u2019 presence is another way for people to \u201csee the religious life in action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt\u2019s good for fostering vocations beyond the diocesan priesthood and, always the most important thing, they\u2019re going to be praying for our diocese every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe cited Bishop Kagan\u2019s words: \u201cTo have these prayers and sacrifices offered to God daily for us is the greatest of blessings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Bismarck, N.D., Mar 30, 2014 \/ 04:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Two groups of religious sisters new to North Dakota’s Diocese of Bismarck bring the blessings of prayer and their examples of faith and service to the area, an official with the local Chur…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nReligious sisters bring witness of prayer to Bismarck diocese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bismarck, N.D., Mar 30, 2014 \/ 04:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Two groups of religious sisters new to North Dakota’s Diocese of Bismarck bring the blessings of prayer and their examples of faith and service to the area, an official with the local Chur...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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