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This convent in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, has the capacity to bake 10,000 altar breads at a time
Finding a convent where nuns make altar breads is really a delightful discovery. That is the daily job of the Poor Clare Sisters of Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
According to Sister Anne Bartol, “Our main work is prayer, but to support this ministry, we make altar breads for different parishes in the area and elsewhere,” she said. “We have machines we use to mix the contents. We mix flour and water, and we bake the wafers, dampen the breads, cut, and package them. These are called ‘Communion breads’ until they are consecrated at Mass and then they become ‘Communion Hosts.’”
“
Usually when we are baking,” she said, “we will bake for several hours, and we bake enough for about 40 bags times 250 wafers, which equals 10,000 breads altogether. We have to produce a good amount, and we would like to do more but we only have a certain number of machines. Baking is a support to our contemplative community. Some days we bake; some days we don’t. And, of course, the baking is special to us as a way to participate in Holy Communion. Many parishes do request breads made by sisters because we have that connection.”
Sister Anne was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and comes from a large family; she has five siblings.
“We attended church regularly,” she said, “and we were really active in the church ministry. I taught CCD and helped with our choir. My family was strong about going to church, and half of us went to Catholic schools. The Church has been a very strong presence in our lives, and I felt part of the parish. I am the only one of the children who became a nun.”
Sister Anne explained that she had the calling from a very young age, and in her Catholic school, she felt comfortable there. The students attended Mass regularly, and the whole backdrop of the teaching was religious.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
Finding a convent where nuns make altar breads is really a delightful discovery. That is the daily job of the Poor Clare Sisters of Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
According to Sister Anne Bartol, “Our main work is prayer, but to support this ministry, we make altar breads for different parishes in the area and elsewhere,” she said. “We have machines we use to mix the contents. We mix flour and water, and we bake the wafers, dampen the breads, cut, and package them. These are called ‘Communion breads’ until they are consecrated at Mass and then they become ‘Communion Hosts.’”
“
Usually when we are baking,” she said, “we will bake for several hours, and we bake enough for about 40 bags times 250 wafers, which equals 10,000 breads altogether. We have to produce a good amount, and we would like to do more but we only have a certain number of machines. Baking is a support to our contemplative community. Some days we bake; some days we don’t. And, of course, the baking is special to us as a way to participate in Holy Communion. Many parishes do request breads made by sisters because we have that connection.”
Sister Anne was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and comes from a large family; she has five siblings.
“We attended church regularly,” she said, “and we were really active in the church ministry. I taught CCD and helped with our choir. My family was strong about going to church, and half of us went to Catholic schools. The Church has been a very strong presence in our lives, and I felt part of the parish. I am the only one of the children who became a nun.”
Sister Anne explained that she had the calling from a very young age, and in her Catholic school, she felt comfortable there. The students attended Mass regularly, and the whole backdrop of the teaching was religious.
Continued below.
Poor Clares of Langhorne: ‘Fruit of the Earth and Work of Human Hands’
This convent in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, has the capacity to bake 10,000 altar breads at a time
