Nuns in the Franciscan Order of St. Clare live in isolation at a Belleville monastery, spending most of their time in prayer, never leaving to visit family, go shopping or even walk in the ...

The Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Mercy in Belleville was constructed in 1989, four years after St. Henry’s Preparatory Seminary closed, near Frank Scott Parkway West and West Main Street.

Known as the Poor Clares, they don’t have TV sets, radios or internet. Private telephone use is prohibited, except in emergencies. But the monastery has electricity, and rising power bills have ...