From a reader:
Just a quick question: are there any congregations of religious women in the United States that still bake altar bread? I know many communities will sell altar bread from a large manufacturer, but not sure of any groups that actually bake their own bread? I would love to support this ministry if it exists.
Anyone?
The Cistercian Nuns at the Valley of Our Lady Monastery in Prairie du Sac, Wis., bake altar breads. Wonderful, wonderful group of cloistered nuns (and growing — they just had four nuns profess solemn vows this summer.) http://www.nunocist.org/page60.html
Benedictines – http://altarbreadsbspa.com/
I believe that the Poor Clare nuns of Christ The King Monastery in Delray Beach, Florida still bake altar breads.
The Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Oklahoma still bake bread. Their website is at
http://www.okcarmel.org/
The Passionist Nuns in Erlanger, KY bake altar bread. They have made a short film on the process which is quite charming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dxpcu5Cdl8&list=FLzvwRdUEKjclZIpywnqK5Aw&index=10
http://www.stjosephmonastery.com/aborder.html
The Poor Clares of Perpretual Adoration in Charlotte, NC
The Benedictine Sisters in Clyde, Missouri do. http://benedictinesisters.org/ They also have developed a low gluten host that has been approved by the Vatican.
We get ours from the Passionist Nuns, 2715 Churchview Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15227. Every quarter we get a bill in incredibly small, precise nun-handwriting.
The Carmelites of the Ancient Observance near Allentown, PA. A very small group of cloistered nuns alive in Christ! They still hand make altar bread and supply to the local parishes.
http://www.carmelite-nuns.com/index.htm
http://www.visitmontemaria.com/breads.htm
Benedictine Nuns in Westfield, Vermont. They are a Congregation of Solesmes. http://www.ihmwestfield.com/
The Adoration Sisters in Sioux Falls do. Their hosts are quite fine and very detailed.
http://www.perpetualadorationsisters.com/whoweare.aspx
My apologies, the Poor Clares i mentioned do not make the altar breads, they simply distribute them. I am sorry for my error.
Sisters of the Good Shepherd in D.C. still make altar breads….I think.
I have toured the monastery and the nice and modern bread baking facility of the Valley of Our Lady Monastery Cistercian nuns and we use their altar bread at our church. I have noticed large (priest’s) hosts that we get from them are labeled from Poland but the small hosts I know they make. This monastery is very traditional in their way of life, practice strict cloister and always wear habits, I believe they have the Novus Ordo Mass and they chant the whole office in Latin every day. They don’t actually understand Latin though, I asked a nun what her favorite writing of St Bernard was and she wasn’t sure since they usually read St Bernard in Latin!
The Discalced Carmelite Sisters of New Caney ,Texas.
The Cistercian nuns from Santa Rita Abbey in Sonoita, AZ make altar breads.
http://santaritaabbey.org/content/welcome
Poor Clares Monastery–Memphis, TN
http://poorclare.org/memphis/
The Dominican Sisters of the Monastery of the Angels in Hollywood, CA make a fabulous pumpkin bread.
Kat beat me to it. They were also in the news recently for being disenfranchised during an election.
Isn’t it wonderful? And the more cloistered and traditional the order, the more postulants they seem to receive. The Holy Spirit knows!
The Poor Clares of the Monastery of St. Clare in Langhorne, PA.
http://www.poorclarepa.org/
@MichaelD
Thank you for the link . The film done by the Passionist nuns is indeed charming.
Passionist Nuns in Clarks Summit, PA.
ALL: Don’t even think about imagining that it is a good idea to write in ALL CAPS in my combox! Even if you write under inspiration of the Holy Ghost, I will delete your comment.
Have a nice day!
o{]:¬)
Kat, I went on the website of the Cistercian nuns in Wisconsin. Beautiful Sisters!
I counted at least six or seven young novices and two postulants! So wonderful to see their youthful faces, dressed in traditional habits and veils!
Really enjoyed all of these links, thanks to everyone who posted them.
Especially loved the one from the Passionist nuns of Erlanger, Kentucky! How beautiful for all children to be able to watch. So appreciated the nun’s narration of the prayer that supports their work. What a gift to the Church.
Our parish, Saint Agnes Catholic Church in St. Paul, MN, purchased a new altar bread machine recently so we could continue to provide hosts.
Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St. Joseph
P.S. In Brooklyn, NY :)
ALL: Don’t even think about imagining that it is a good idea to write in ALL CAPS in my combox!
OK?
;)
Wow, may God bless the religious sisters called to serve him in so many ways, including making altar bread. I say this as someone not called to religious service, but who has deep respect and admiration for all religious brothers and sisters devoting their lives to God. Fortunately, there are many ways for lay people to serve God, even if that does not include making altar bread!