A century ago a community of Poor Clares settled at Malonne (Namur). On 21 October 1903, expelled from France, some of the nuns took refuge in the “Ferme blanche” (White Farm) of Malonne. Three years later, in 1906, they moved to a more permanent home in the new convent of Tombois, where the community still lives. Their main activity is prayer. But it is no solitary activity: it reaches its greatest depth in the warm welcome that the Sisters hold out to everyone: men and women, young and old, people passing through, people seeking for truth, groups on spiritual retreats. For as the Sisters themselves explain, “poverty and brotherhood are closely linked in the contemplative life of the ‘poor sisters’, according to the definition of their founder Clare of Assisi. Poverty opens the heart to brotherly relations, and the life of prayer transforms this solidarity into joy”. To celebrate the convent’s centenary, which coincides with the 750th anniversary of St. Clare’s death, various prayer meetings, an exhibition in the guest-quarters, and, on 26 October, a eucharistic liturgy celebrated by abbot José Reding are planned.
