HomeReal monasterio de santa clara de manila is a contemplative monastery of the Poor Clares (Order of Saint Clare) in Quezon City, within the Diocese of Cubao. Known simply as the Monasterio de Santa Clara, it stands along Katipunan Avenue (C-5) in Barangay Loyola Heights, near the Aurora Boulevard junction, where an enclosed community of sisters continues a life of prayer and seclusion that reaches back four centuries.
History
The community was founded in 1621 by the Spanish abbess Mother Jerónima de la Asunción, who reached the walled city of Intramuros to establish what is remembered as the first monastery of contemplative nuns in Asia. For more than three centuries the Poor Clares lived behind high enclosure walls in the Walled City, and the house became one of the most prominent religious institutions for women in the Spanish Philippines. The royal patronage it received added the title Real to its name. The original Intramuros monastery was destroyed by carpet bombing during the Battle of Manila in 1945, and after the war the sisters relocated, eventually settling at their present Katipunan site.
Devotion and visiting
The monastery is best known for the beloved folk devotion of offering eggs to Saint Clare. Because clara in Spanish evokes both fair weather and the clear white of an egg, devotees bring eggs to the sisters and seek the saint's intercession for good weather on weddings, fiestas, and other special days, along with petitions for many other needs. Saint Clare's feast is celebrated on August 11. Visitors typically come to the public chapel to pray quietly, leave written petitions, and take part in this enduring tradition rather than to tour the strictly enclosed convent.
See the weekly Mass schedule below and get directions to plan your visit.