Poor Clare Monastery

Who We Are: The Poor Clares of Bethlehem Monastery

Bethlehem Monastery of the Poor Clares is a cloistered, contemplative community of nuns in the Poor Clare Colettine (PCC) branch of the Order of St. Clare, founded in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. The sisters live 'hidden with Christ in God' on 40 wooded acres known as Mt. St. Francis, on Holly Fork Road in Barhamsville, New Kent County. Their life is built around eight hours of daily liturgical prayer, contemplative silence, manual labor, and Eucharistic adoration, all in service to the whole Church and every human soul.

• Branch: Poor Clare Colettines (PCC)
• Federation: Mary Immaculate
• Rule: of St. Clare (Primitive Observance, as reformed by St. Colette)
• Enclosure: papal enclosure
• Diocese: Richmond, VA
• Worldwide: Order of St. Clare is present in 40+ countries

Our Story: From Warwick to Mt. St. Francis

The community was founded in 1956 by sisters sent from the Poor Clare Colettine monastery in Cleveland, Ohio, the first such foundation in Virginia, originally in Warwick (today part of Newport News). As suburban growth and road-widening crowded the original seven-acre property, the bishop gave permission to relocate, and in 2003 the sisters purchased land from Chesapeake Forestry in Barhamsville, naming the property Mt. St. Francis. The new monastery, Bethlehem ('house of bread'), was nearly finished when Hurricane Isabel struck in late 2003; the sisters sheltered with the Visitation nuns in Rockville, Virginia, and returned to find every window that had only been set — but not yet secured — miraculously still in place. They moved to Bethlehem Monastery in 2004, where they continue to live today.

• 1956 — Founded in Warwick (now Newport News), Virginia
• By the 1990s — community overwhelmed by suburban sprawl and traffic noise
• 2003 — Purchased Barhamsville property from Chesapeake Forestry
• 2003 — Hurricane Isabel; 'little miracle' of the windows
• 2004 — Moved to Bethlehem Monastery at Mt. St. Francis

Monastery & Chapel: Built for a Hidden Life

The monastery was designed in collaboration with an architectural team specifically to support cloistered contemplative life. The chapel is built outside the monastic enclosure, so that the liturgy of Word and Eucharist — where 'our gaze is not on one another, but on the Lord' — remains accessible to visitors without compromising the papal enclosure of the nuns. Surrounded by trees, hills, ravines, and the waters of Goddins Pond, the site offers the solitude St. Francis and St. Clare sought when they told their first followers to 'come away by yourselves to a lonely place.'

• Public chapel outside the enclosure
• Living quarters and workrooms inside the enclosure
• On-site bakery and craft workshops
• Bethlehem Monastery Cemetery for deceased sisters
• Guest quarters for visiting clergy and retreatants

A Day in the Life: The Horarium

The Poor Clares keep a strict horarium that structures their day around the Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist. They rise in the middle of the night for Matins and again before dawn for Lauds, then gather for Terce, Holy Mass, work, Sext, dinner, the Rosary, None, Vespers with Adoration, Compline, and night silence. Roughly eight hours of the day are given over to communal prayer.

• 12:35 a.m. — Rise for Matins
• 5:00 a.m. — Rise for Lauds
• 6:05 a.m. — Coffee
• 6:45–7:30 a.m. — Lectio Divina
• 7:30 a.m. — Terce
• 8:00 a.m. — Holy Mass
• 9:00 a.m. — Morning work
• 11:40 a.m. — Sext
• 12:10 p.m. — Dinner
• 1:45 p.m. — Rosary & None
• 2:30 p.m. — Work
• 4:15 p.m. — Vespers & Adoration
• 5:05 p.m. — Collation
• 6:00 p.m. — Recreation
• 7:00 p.m. — Solitude
• 7:45 p.m. — Compline
• 9:00 p.m. — Retire

Mass & the Sacraments at the Chapel

The chapel is open to the faithful for daily Holy Mass, which is usually celebrated at 8:00 a.m. — the sisters urge visitors to call ahead, as the time can shift to accommodate the celebrant or the community, and chapel seating is limited. The Diocese of Richmond's Bishop Barry C. Knestout regularly presides at major liturgies here, including solemn professions, first professions, and jubilee Masses for sisters marking silver and diamond anniversaries of religious vows.

• Daily Mass — usually 8:00 a.m. (call (757) 566-1684 to confirm)
• Solemn Profession of Vows — poverty, chastity, obedience, enclosure
• First Profession ceremonies for sisters in formation
• Silver and Diamond jubilee Masses
• Solemn Novena & Feast of St. Clare, August 2–11

Vocations: Becoming a Poor Clare

Bethlehem Monastery welcomes women who feel drawn to Poor Clare life, with formal formation structured in stages. Aspirants typically enter between 18 and 30 (exceptions considered), with a high-school education, good mental, emotional, and physical health, and good standing in the Church. Belated vocations are considered on a case-by-case basis, though they are not the norm.

• 1 year Aspirancy
• 1–2 year Postulancy
• 2 year Novitiate
• 5 year Juniorate (each stage may be extended as needed)
• Then Solemn Profession of vows
• Contact: [email protected] or (757) 566-1684

Prayer Requests & Visiting

Because the sisters live in enclosure, the main ways the public shares in their life are prayer, correspondence, and visits to the chapel. Anyone may submit a petition — for a difficult marriage, a wayward child, a medical diagnosis, an exam, a job, peace in the workplace — and the nuns will carry it into their daily intercession. Retreatants and visiting clergy can be hosted in the monastery's guest quarters, including for pre-ordination retreats.

• Mail prayer intentions to: 5500 Holly Fork Rd., Barhamsville, VA 23011
• Call prayer intentions in to: (757) 566-1684
• Email: [email protected]
• Attend daily Mass at 8:00 a.m. (call ahead)
• Host a priest or deacon for retreat in the guest quarters

Getting Here: Directions to Mt. St. Francis

Bethlehem Monastery sits on a two-lane country road bordered by Goddins Pond, a short distance off Route 273 (Farmers' Road) in Barhamsville. Visitors coming from Williamsburg take I-64 or Route 60/30 to Exit 227-N; those coming from Richmond take I-64 to Exit 220 and follow Route 33 (Eltham Road) toward West Point. The monastery is on Holly Fork Road, directly across from Mt. Olive Baptist Church.

• From Williamsburg — I-64 / Rt. 60-30 → Exit 227-N → Rt. 30 → Rt. 273 → Rt. 600 (Holly Fork Rd.)
• From Richmond — I-64 Exit 220 → Rt. 33 (Eltham Rd.) → Rt. 273 → Holly Fork Rd.
• Landmark: across from Mt. Olive Baptist Church, past Goddins Pond, one-lane bridge
• Address for GPS: 5500 Holly Fork Rd., Barhamsville, VA 23011

Contact Information

• Bethlehem Monastery of Poor Clares
• 5500 Holly Fork Road, Barhamsville, VA 23011
• Phone: (757) 566-1684
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.poor-clares.org
• Diocese: Catholic Diocese of Richmond
• Federation: Mary Immaculate (Poor Clare Colettines)