The Sisters lighting up the world
A community of nuns from Sussex are hitting the charts with a beautiful soundtrack of meditative music – just right for soothing souls and calming minds as we enter a new year
Sweetly soaring voices singing ancient songs and medieval chants… feelings of peace and calm descend as soon as the music fills the room. Light for the World – the Poor Clare Sisters’ charttopping album – is an instant balm for anxiety and disquiet.
“Thank you very much,” Sister Gabriel replies to this comment as she speaks to us from the Poor Clare convent near Arundel in Sussex. “It gives us great joy during this difficult time for so many, to know that our music is helping people to cope with the stress and anxiety of daily life, encouraging them to take time out for thought and reflection.”
Poor Clare nuns live, work and pray according to the form of life drawn up by St Clare of Assisi in the 13th Century. For the most part they are a silent order but singing is very much part of their lives. Indeed, in the course of their daily worship, they sing many different times every day. However, you don’t immediately associate a religious sisterhood with the making of a hit record. Just how did it come about?
“We were approached by composers and music producers James Morgan and Juliette Pochin,” says Sister Gabriel. “The idea was that we would make a CD of ancient chants but with a contemporary feel. Initially, we thought they’d come to the wrong people as we didn’t think we were good enough! But James and Juliette came down to our chapel to hear us and they loved our sound.
“As we are a community, the idea of recording a CD was put to all 23 of us. Every sister agreed it was a lovely idea but not all wanted to take part. Some were simply too frail. Finally, 16 of us ended up recording the hymns and chants in our chapel where the acoustics are wonderful.”
That’s an understatement. Light for the World has a real healing quality to it.
“That is what we were hoping for,” adds Sister Anne Marie, another member of the Arundel Poor Clare community. “Life is so very hard for so many people at the moment – especially those who are older,
‘It gives us great joy during this difficult time to know that our music is helping people to cope with anxiety’
lonely and vulnerable. I think the music does bring feelings of peace and calmness, light and hope. It certainly brings us all a sense of deep joy.”
It is fascinating to find out what life is like for the Poor Clare community. What, for instance, were the deciding factors for Sisters Gabriel and Anne Marie giving their lives to God?
“I was 23 and had been working for a year, having graduated from university,” reveals Gabriel. “I was happy enough but there was this great longing inside me. The feeling that something wasn’t being answered. It felt like a dream
I just had to follow. I told myself that I could always leave if it didn’t work out. It took a bit of getting used to at the beginning, but I just knew it was the right place for me – giving me time to think and be quiet; time to pray and to sing. That made me very happy and still does. Twenty-five years on, I’m still here and have absolutely no regrets.”
Neither does Anne Marie. She was 39 when she joined the sisterhood in 1975.
“I came to it late,” she says. “I’d been teaching history and loved it but I had this consistent niggle. I knew I’d never be satisfied if I didn’t at least try to follow my vocation. I definitely did the right thing and I continue to have a very happy and fulfilled life. Although we focus on Our Lord, a lot of our work is about us reaching out to people and people reaching out to us. We have a guest house where visitors can stay on retreat or seek spiritual aid. However due to the pandemic it isn’t open at the moment.”
Sister Gabriel loves the routine of life in the convent. “Having a routine and living by set rules allows you time and space. It means, that at certain times of the day, you have to stop what you’re doing and concentrate on what is important – which for us means praying and singing God’s praises. Routine gives a rhythm to life. This is a great gift. When you have structure, you create space.”