Five of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters in front of their beloved image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Left to right are Mother Superior Maria de los Angeles, Sister Lucía Trejo, Sister María de los Nieves, Sister Beatriz Hernández and Sister Dulce María.

Mother Superior Maria de los Angeles Estrada described their coming to the U.S. as a desire to “expand our order...We came to the United States because we wanted to.”

At the invitation of Arch-bishop Peter L. Gerety in 1979 to join the Archdiocese of Newark, particularly to establish a presence in the midst of the growing Hispanic population, the contemplative semi-cloistered community at Our Lady of the Consolation in Mexico City began to organize efforts to send a group.

Finally, in 1985, ten nuns (Sisters Clemencia Morales, María del Rayo, Beatriz Aguirre, María de los Nieves, Josefina María, María de los Angeles, Inés María, Dulce María, Lucía Trejo and Beatriz Hernández), ranging in age from early-20s to mid-60s, arrived at the convent located on the grounds of the Monastery of St. Cloud in West Orange, headquarters for the Archdiocese’s community of Augustinian Recollect priests and brothers of the Province of St. Augustine. It was the first, and remains the only, order of Augustinian Recollect Nuns to be formed in the U. S. and is the first of its order in Mexico to be instituted outside of the country since its founding there in 1688.

The Sisters spent nine years in West Orange, three of which were a probationary period, until they were declared independent of their community in Mexico and officially welcomed into the Archdiocese in August 1989.

When the Brothers in West Orange needed more space, the Provincial found the convent at St. Leo’s Parish in Irvington, soon to be vacated for the Sisters.

The only problem was that St. Leo’s needed “active” nuns to teach at the grammar school. “But that’s not our life,” stressed Mother Superior Maria de los Angeles. The parish invited them to live there anyway, and they were “well received,” she noted.

Being of a contemplative order, the Sisters dedicate themselves to prayer and meditation. “Our main responsibility is prayer. Sometimes people call with special intentions; sometimes they ask for a Mass, and we ask the priests to say a Mass for them. But we always pray for all people—all intentions,” indicated Mother Superior Maria de los Angeles.

However, the Sisters also have to work to earn the money they need to maintain their community. “We are not supported financially by the Archdiocese. We support ourselves through the earnings we make. What we earn is for cost of living.

“To sustain ourselves, we make ornaments and bake cookies and cakes,” she continued, adding that more often now, they buy crafts and ceramic figures wholesale and resell them to religious and the public. “We used to make them by hand, but they didn’t sell well, and it was a lot of work and not enough earned in return. Now we buy them at a good price and sell what we can.”

The Sisters also sew, making and selling things such as vestments for priests and baptismal gowns for babies and adults.

Their most lucrative activity, however, is preparing food for neo-catechumenal retreats that are held at the convent.

“People who come to the retreats say, ‘We like to come here; they attend to us very well; they feed us well,’ ” emphasized Mother Superior Maria de los Angeles. “But we can’t accommodate a large group because we don’t have enough room.”

For this reason, the Sisters are looking for a bigger residence, so they can provide for greater crowds and earn money to sustain their community. This has been a major effort of theirs recently. “God willing, we will find a place,” Mother Superior Maria de los Angeles asserted.

The convent has been their home for nine years. Two rooms are set aside for their crafts: one that displays the ceramic figures, and the other with the vestments and a mirror for trying garmensts on. In the kitchen are several bird cages with canaries that sing all day, and there is a chapel upstairs with a large image of the Virgin of Guadalupe painted by two of the Sisters, María del Rayo and Beatriz Aguirre. The atmosphere is quiet and peaceful, which is exactly what they need for their way of life. But necessity mandates, and they realize that they have outgrown the convent.

Because they are semi-cloistered, the Augustinian Recollect Nuns do not interact with the people on retreat; they simply prepare the food and leave it out for them. They have also taken a vow of poverty. This disallows them from personally owning anything. “In the case of a personal gift, I must offer it to all the Sisters, for the community. If they say I can keep it, then I can have it for myself, but otherwise it must be for everyone,” explained Mother Superior Maria de los Angeles.

When asked if this lifestyle is difficult, she answered, “With God’s help it’s not so difficult; one can do anything.”

And though communication with individuals outside their community is limited, the Sisters are able to have visits from family members or fellow Augustinian Recollect Brothers (who also take a vow of poverty but are active religious) who celebrate major holidays with them.

Regarding the future of their community, the Sisters remain hopeful. Although two of the elderly Sisters are ill (and two others spend most of their time caring for them), they trust that God will help them. “We want vocations, but people can’t join if they don’t know about us...There are no vocations; but we hope that God will send us some,” asserted Mother Superior Maria de los Angeles.

To contact the Sisters for prayers, to place orders for items or to arrange for a retreat at the convent, call (973) 374-6397. Donations are also accepted.

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