Volunteering at the Cloister Shoppe
Tina Lesher, who is one of our volunteers at the monastery giftshop, recently wrote an article about her experience volunteering here which was published in the local Summit Times. The text of the article is found below. At the bottom of the page, you can find a link to read the article in the Summit Times, which includes a picture of Tina volunteering at the Shoppe. Interested in becoming a volunteer? Contact us at info@summitdominicans.org
THE DOMINICAN NUNS CLOISTER SHOPPE
For Westfielder Pat Colbert, volunteering at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit “brings me peace no matter how my day is going.”
She began volunteering at the Cloister Shoppe more than four years ago after another Westfield resident, Marge Roeck, told her about it.
The well-stocked gift shop is operated by the Dominican nuns who reside on the Rosary Shrine grounds that include a large chapel that is open to the public. Several years ago, the cloistered nuns began making a number of products to sell, including candles, soaps, face and foot crème, etc. Those items are available, along with a host of religious goods, at the gift shop and online at cloistershoppe.com. Proceeds provide funds needed to support the 20 nuns who live at the monastery.
Many people come to the shop to secure perpetual enrollments that provide prayers for individuals.
“These are beautiful cards that people usually buy to give to families of recently deceased individuals or for any living person who might need prayers,” says Tina Lesher, of Westfield, who along with her husband, John, volunteers at the shop. “We print out these lovely enrollments and include a special holy card.”
Morris Township resident Kathy Sette has been a dedicated volunteer for 20 years.
“We’re more blessed being here,” says Sette. “There’s just a feeling about it.”
Her feelings are echoed by decades-long volunteer Dorothy Shanahan of Summit. “Curiosity led me as a young woman to investigate that big church on the hill…Simply put, God’s grace and love began a lifelong association with the monastery…this journey has been a very special privilege and gift to my life and my family.”
Many of the volunteers are members of the Rosary Guild, an auxiliary that assists the nuns in such undertakings as raising funds, driving the nuns to appointments, shopping with the sisters, etc. The current president is Joan Brinkerhoff of Summit. She argues that working in the shop “can give me and all the volunteers an Evangelizing ministry---a time to care for others emotionally in a loving, Christian way. We reach out to our shoppers to help them find a special gift for a new grandchild, a sick friend or help them with a loss of a friend, child, parent or even a life-altering illness…we are the lay hands and voices of the nuns.”
While handling the shop duties, volunteers (above) Volunteer Tina Lesher from Westfield also answer calls coming into the Rosary Shrine and relay the messages to the nuns.
“Many of the callers are seeking the nuns’ prayers for a variety of reasons, often because of illness or loneliness or depression. As I listen to the pleas, I feel so lucky,” says Tina Lesher.
The Summit monastery was founded in 1919 when a group of sisters from a Union City monastery moved to the current site. As contemplatives, the nuns use prayer and penance to spread the Kingdom of God. The average age of the current 20 sisters in Summit is in the 50s.
The monastery chapel houses the only copy of the Shroud of Turin. The 400-year-old shroud copy can be viewed during the open chapel hours from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Mass for the public is celebrated daily at 7:30 a.m and Sundays at 8 a.m. The Cloister Shoppe is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Monastery is located at the corner of Springfield and Morris Avenues in Summit.
You can read the original article including a picture at the link here, on page 4:
https://rennamedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SummitMar2024.pdf