When Paula M. Riley of the Oblates Communications Team was in Annecy, France, she had a chance to visit with Sr. Clare Chantal, VHM. Learn more about Sr. Clare and life in a cloistered monastery:

When Sr. Clare Chantal, VHM, arrived in Annecy, France, in 2024, she thought she was simply coming for a period of discernment. Her Visitation monastery in England had closed, and the Irish-born sister was considering where God might be calling her next.

She certainly did not expect the answer to be France.

A view of Lake Annecy from the Visitation Monastery where Sr. Clare enjoys walks in the garden.

“I don’t speak much French,” she recalled with a laugh. “I just thought I was coming for a visit for discernment. But while I was here, the Lord got me. He said, ‘You’re coming back here!’”

From her first day, Sr. Clare felt surprisingly at home. Today, she is one of two dozen Sisters of the Visitation living in Annecy, the city where St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal founded the Order of the Visitation in 1610. From its first monastery in Annecy, sisters were sent throughout the world, and over 80 Visitation monasteries were established.

The community reflects the international character of the Visitation itself. Sisters come from different countries and monasteries, bringing different languages, cultures, traditions, and experiences. French, Spanish, and English are heard within the monastery. Yet, Sr. Clare believes the sisters share a language more important than any of them:

“The main language that connects us is the language of love.”

That love is expressed in the ordinary rhythms of monastic life: prayer, meals, recreation, study, and work. They participate in Bible study and continued Salesian formation. The sisters enjoy simply being together and sharing their daily experience with the group. “There’s so much laughter when we’re together; it’s really lovely,” Sr. Clare said.

Another aspect of her monastic life that brings Sr. Clare joy is the time spent in nature. High above Annecy Lake, the monastery’s gardens are beautiful places where she helps with the chickens, tends to vegetables, and roams the grounds.

Sr. Clare’s primary ministry is caring for the monastery’s elderly and infirm sisters. Before joining the order, she worked in a retirement home in Ireland. She brings that experience and training to her role at the monastery. Treating the elderly with respect and grace is particularly important in a culture that measures people by productivity, she explained. The Visitation approach offers another vision: every person is a true gift to the community. “There’s so much love and concern for our elderly sisters,” she said. “Everybody matters.”

Prayer remains at the heart of the sisters’ vocation. Visitors regularly bring intentions to the monastery, whether through the shop, at the door or in conversations with the sisters. Those intentions become part of the prayer of the community.

“We keep in our hearts all these individual people,” Sr. Clare explained. “So many people come to us asking for prayers for their families or their loved ones.”

For Sr. Clare, this ministry of prayer is one way the monastery reaches far beyond its walls. People who may have little connection to faith still come seeking prayer, conversation, and consolation. Simply knowing that the sisters are there praying for them provides hope.

Sr. Clare first felt called to religious life as a child, but she never imagined herself entering an enclosed community. She expected that if she became a sister, she would serve in the missions. She had not even heard of the Visitation until a Poor Clare sister suggested she explore the order.

Once she did, she encountered Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, and that was all she needed: “Jane and Francis just drew me,” she said.

Their friendship and humanity particularly appealed to her. Reading their letters helped her discover saints who experienced struggles, questions, and difficult relationships, yet continued to trust God. Their spirituality remains remarkably practical for contemporary life.

That lesson of trust has shaped Sr. Clare’s own vocation, especially as monasteries where she once lived have closed and she has repeatedly been asked to embrace the unknown.

“You really do have to let go and trust God,” she said.

That trust brought her to Annecy at an important moment. Several years ago, the monastery faced declining numbers and an aging community. An invitation went throughout the Visitation worldwide community asking sisters to consider coming to Annecy. Sisters responded, and Sr. Clare now witnesses a renewed life and much hope.

She believes their international community offers a powerful witness to a divided world. Women from different nations, cultures, and languages have learned not simply to coexist, but to form a community rooted in patience, forgiveness, and charity.

For Sr. Clare, Annecy represents something even larger: a new chapter for the Visitation. “I feel as if God has personally handpicked us all to bring us here together at this moment in time,” she said. ”I really do believe this is going to be a new beginning for the (Order of the) Visitation, and once again we will be sending sisters to minister in other places.”

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