Catholic Explorer

Located on the Kankakee River, the St. Clare House of Prayer is slated to close  in the near future.

KANKAKEE—The leaders of the Joliet-based Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate have decided to close the order’s rustic St. Clare House of Prayer overlooking the Kankakee River. The official announcement was made Feb. 12.

Located a few miles west of Kankakee on 7.5 acres of land amid the forest landscape, the out-of-the-way farmhouse is equipped with a kitchen, meeting rooms, bedrooms for retreat participants and a chapel, among other amenities. The facility is currently staffed by six sisters of the order who also reside at the house. Lay employees and volunteers assist the sisters.

The house of prayer serves as a sanctuary for believers interested in escaping the hustle and bustle of modern life, said Franciscan Sister Rosemary Fonck, president of the religious order. “It’s so beautiful out there,” she told the Catholic Explorer during a telephone conversation.

The decision to close the facility came after two years of study, discussion and prayerful discernment among members of the congregation, according to Sister Fonck. The sisters, however, have not decided when the prayer house will actually close its doors, she added.

The property is owned by the Diocese of Joliet and leased by the order. The congregation assumes the cost of the upkeep for the land and the house and has been responsible for financing numerous renovations on the property, said Sister Fonck.

While the financial burden of keeping the center in operation has been a concern of the sisters for many years, the dwindling number of congregation members served as the driving force behind the decision to close it, Sister Fonck acknowledged. When the house opened in 1969, the congregation had about 700 sisters. Now it has about 200 ministering in the Joliet Diocese and beyond, she explained.

Nevertheless, the prayer ministry of the sisters of St. Clare House of Prayer “has been invaluable” to the order as well as the people who have found spiritual refuge at the complex, said Sister Fonck. The sisters have served countless pilgrims and retreatants of various denominations. Over the years, they have also distributed clothing and food to those in need across Kankakee County, she added.

Upon the closing of the prayer compound in Kankakee, the plan is for the sisters at the house to continue their contemplative prayer ministry at a new, smaller facility in Will County, noted Sister Fonck. “We want the transition to be as smooth as possible,” she added. The location and date of the new center’s opening will be announced once details are solidified among diocesan leaders and the sisters, she added.