Barcelona says goodbye to the Poor Clare nuns of Pedralbes
Collboni is confident that the congregation will return in the future and announces that the tradition of going to the convent for Santa Eulàlia will be maintained
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BarcelonaIn a city unfortunately accustomed to constantly seeing emblematic shops and businesses disappear, Wednesday might have seemed like a normal day. It wasn't. What was happening this Wednesday in Barcelona was the farewell to a 700-year-old tradition: the last reception of the Poor Clare nuns of the Pedralbes monastery to the councillors of the City Council on the occasion of the celebration of Santa Eulàlia. On Saturday the three sisters who are still in the convent will leave the monastery to go to what the congregation has in the Girona town of Vilobí de Onyar.
The occasion is historic, and this is noticeable from early in the morning. The expectation is much higher than in other years. There are dozens of journalists, the mayor Jaume Collboni, a large representation of the councillors of the City Council and even the president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, who appears at the monastery when the most institutional part has already finished. There are also hundreds of neighbours. Some of them, equipped with banners asking the congregation not to leave the monastery. Since it became known that would march, The neighbours have mobilised to demand alternatives, even raising the possibility of Poor Clare nuns from other convents – from the State, but also from abroad – coming to Pedralbes.
After singing the joys in Santa Eulalia, the speeches come. On behalf of the nuns, Sister Inmaculada takes the floor, lamenting that despite the fact that "so many people love the monastery", young girls "have not heard the call to consecrate themselves to God in this community". There is a lack of vocations, she has been repeating for weeks. She ends her speech, her last as a resident of the monastery, with a prayer: "May Saint Eulalia protect Barcelona and the people of Barcelona."
It is the mayor's turn. Collboni admits to being "sad" at the sisters' departure, but quickly puts the farewell into perspective. "It is not a full stop. It is a full stop," he says, and recalls that in the 699 years of history of the monastery founded by Queen Elisenda de Moncada in 1327, the congregation has had to leave for different reasons on up to five occasions, but "they have always returned." "We are convinced that they will return," he adds, and assures that the City Council will have "everything prepared so that the decision to leave can one day be reversible."
In addition, he announces that this will not be the last celebration of Saint Eulalia in the Pedralbes monastery. He guarantees that next year – when the 700th anniversary of its creation will be commemorated – they will return, and that the City Council will invite the sisters to return to Barcelona from Vilobí de Onyar every year on that day to be able to celebrate the event with the councillors. "We think that we must preserve the identity of the city," he says, and also announces that a photographic exhibition will be inaugurated in March. Sister Isaura, the youngest sister and a photography enthusiast.
Masses and offerings of the bride and groom
Sister Immaculada announced on Wednesday that the monastery will maintain its religious activity and that masses will be held thanks to the Capuchin brothers and the leaders of several nearby parishes. One of the most deep-rooted traditions will also be preserved: the offering of eggs made by engaged couples to ask Saint Clare not to rain on their wedding day. According to Collboni, Barcelona residents who wish to do so can continue to bring baskets of eggs to the Pedralbes monastery. But they will have to do so during Sunday mass.
The traditional cottage cheese that the nuns make for Saint Eulàlia will also be preserved. The recipe is saved because the Alícia Foundation extracted it and the Pedralbes Residents' Association patented it. Now that they can no longer make it, a neighbouring bakery is commissioning it. The cottage cheese offered to the councillors and neighbours who have come to the temple also sweetens the end of this Wednesday of farewell that only time will tell if it is definitive.