April 2015 : Work Moves Outdoors

This post continues a series of posts to share the St. Joseph and Sons work in 2015 at Poor Clares in Rockford and to encourage everyone to attend our event on November 5th, 2015 with Abby Reese to preview her film "Chosen" spotlighting the Poor Clares and their wonderful ministry. Follow this link for additional details about the event.

St. Joseph and Sons and Abby Reese "Choosen" Event - Thursday November 5th, 2015

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March 2015 : Beginnings, Planning, Indoor Trellis Work

This post begins a series of posts to share the St. Joseph and Sons work in 2015 at Poor Clares in Rockford and to encourage everyone to attend our event on November 5th, 2015 with Abby Reese to preview her film "Chosen" spotlighting the Poor Clares and their wonderful ministry. Follow this link for additional details about the event.

St. Joseph and Sons and Abby Reese "Choosen" Event - Thursday November 5th, 2015


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After temporary moving the Blessed Mary statue, measuring, creating a mock-up, and brainstorming- The Joes began their indoor construction of a trellis and copper coated arch to cover the statue and protect from the elements for years to come.


Work on the arch and trellis is coming along nicely indoors in the brisk month of March.

Sanding and cleaning up

The Joes helped take down a hay shed

Requested destruction is less precise work than construction. The Joes specialize in both!

How many times in the photos over the next 6 days can you spot the Poor Clares' loyal dog Corbie?

Measure ______ and cut _______?

A. Twice, Once
B. Once, Twice

Cutting the original statue stand to a new height

Good work Joes!

Poor Clares in Rockford Project 2015

This week on the St. Joseph and Sons Blog (stjosephandsons.com) and on Facebook, we would like to share the story, process, and results of our work at Poor Clares in Rockford. We are honored that we were asked help the Poor Clares renovate and rejuvenate the area around the Blessed Mary statue in their courtyard and to build a trellis that would protect the statue for years to come.

In addition to sharing the story of the Poor Clares Project, we would like to invite the St. Joseph and Sons’ community (YOU!) to an event coming up on Thursday, November 5th, 2015 in relation to the Poor Claire’s ministry and history. Abby Reese, a local filmmaker and storyteller is in the process of putting together a film on the Poor Clares and their amazing ministry titled “Chosen”. She will be previewing portions of the film and sharing the story at 7pm on 11/5 at Field Fastener. All are welcome!

Over the next 6 days, we will be posting the Joes’ renovation process and progress of the now completed Poor Clares trellis and courtyard area, and sharing information about Abby’s project in anticipation for the event on Thursday 11/5.

Come back each day for the next 6 days to our Facebook page and follow the link to our blog for the full photos and updates starting tomorrow. Please also consider coming to Abby and the St. Joseph and Sons’ event on November 5th. 

stjosephandsons.com

Chosen Event Info

chosenthefilm.com

Chosen Event on Thursday, November 5th at 7 pm

During this Year of Consecrated Life, you are invited to an evening hosted by St. Joseph & Sons. Author and filmmaker Abbie Reese will share a collaborative work – a feature-length film-in-progress made with and focused on Rockford’s Poor Clare Colettine nuns.

7 p.m. Thursday, November 5 

Field Fastener | 9883 N. Alpine Road | Machesney Park, IL 61115 

Light refreshments will be served. Video footage will be shown.

Chosen (Custody of the Eyes) will form a portrait, through self-scrutinizing video recordings, of a 28-year-old former blogger and painter confronting what she believes is her calling: Becoming a cloistered contemplative nun in one of the strictest religious orders.

The feature-length documentary focuses on “Heather” as she transitions into a new identity – “Sister Amata” – one of the newest members following the 800-year-old religious rule. (She selected the aliases to reflect the Poor Clare Colettine value of anonymity and hiddenness.)

Abbie Reese arranged to meet Heather in 2005, when Abbie first started working with the Poor Clares in Rockford and Heather was beginning to discern her vocation to religious life. Heather joined the Corpus Christi Monastery in Rockford in 2011. One of the strictest orders, the nuns observe monastic silence and make vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and enclosure. Granted permission to lend the nuns video cameras so that the film would be documented from their perspectives, this collaborative work – a “visual dialogue” – will allow viewers a unique encounter with a remote world.

Abbie is author of Dedicated to God: An Oral History of Cloistered Nuns (published by Oxford University Press in 2014)).

For more information about Chosen, please visit www.chosenthefilm.com

October "Thought of the Month"

Extensive learning or great wealth are not at all necessary for the service of God. On the contrary, they are often a very big obstacle to it.

St. John Vianney

September "Thought of the Month"

It is not necessary to acquire riches, nor to obtain dignities, nor to gain a great name. The only thing necessary is to love God.

St. Alphonsus Liguori