Yesu Communio
The Iesu Communio religious institute, founded in Burgos in 2010, has its origins in the Poor Clares. They drink from the teachings of Saint Francis and Saint Clare, being part of their spirituality to respond to Christ’s call “I thirst” for the Cross. They carry out apostolic work with young people, having meetings with the people who come to the booths of their convents in Burgos and Valencia. This community of nuns lives from their work, which essentially consists of making sweets, flower decoration, watercolors and even books.
Every year Iesu Communio launches a Christmas special that is for sale on its website. In addition to selling lottery tickets, the Iesu Communio sisters present a wide variety of sweets, such as nougats, roscones de reyes, truffles and chocolates. The products can also be purchased in different lots that vary in size and price. These sweets are a sample of the traditional confectionery that the nuns of Iesu Communio have been preparing for many years, with the legacy they have inherited from the Poor Clares. Christmas products are not reduced only to sweets, but also decoration, from Advent wreaths to centerpieces or even greeting cards made with watercolor.
The lathe
In Seville, the “El Torno” store has been selling craft products from different workshops since 1989, with the aim of helping to support the convents and monasteries of the city.
Among the various sweets that can be found in their online store are Ave Marias, almond hearts, marzipan figurines, polvorones, nougats or alfajores. The purchase of these products can also be done in person by going to the physical store that El Torno has in Plaza del Cabildo, Seville.
decommissioning foundation
The Declausura Foundation is an initiative whose purpose is to help monasteries and convents throughout Spain, providing materials to understand the contemplative life and, of course, selling their products. It was created in 2006 within the “Fundación Summa Humanitate”. Its mission is “to support the contemplative life to satisfy any of its needs by bringing this silent reality closer to society.” On its website you can find a list with the material aid needed by different convents and monasteries in Spain, giving easy access to the user who wishes to collaborate. On the other hand, the foundation carries out reviews of the contracts and energy supplies that the communities have, also training contemplatives in matters that are essential for the maintenance of monasteries and convents.
For Christmas they have sweets for sale such as San José pebbles made by the Discalced Carmelites from Zaragoza, a panettone from the Poor Clare sisters from Ourense or polvorones made by the Benedictine nuns from León. Its entire catalog can be found on the foundation’s website, through which the order can also be placed and managed.
The sweets of my convent
Another web page that facilitates the sale of artisanal products made by contemplatives is “Los dulces de mi convento”. This initiative was born after the COVID 19 pandemic, when many religious communities began to notice the scarcity of means because people could not go to the lathes to buy, so they had no economic income. From that moment on, “los dulces de mi convento” was born as an online store that allowed the purchase of products made by religious. In this project they have collaborated with “Messengers of Peace” and have continued with the work even after the return to normality after the pandemic.
On the web platform you can buy cakes and muffins, jams, donuts, cookies, pasta and even olive oil. They have added a special Christmas section to their website in which there are products such as wine donuts, egg yolks, chestnuts in syrup, marzipan and nougat. In the information of the products appears the convent and monastery in which they have been made and a brief description of the product.
Contemplate Foundation
For its part, the Contemplare Foundation is a project that seeks to bring the contemplative life closer to non-consecrated people. It is directed by a group of lay people who collaborate with more than 120 convents and monasteries.
Many different products can be purchased on the website. They have gourmet items, such as cheeses, wines, beers, liquors, chocolates or nuts. Handicrafts, altarpieces, nativity scenes, images of the Virgin, medals, crucifixes and rosaries are also for sale. You can also find birth gifts, such as layettes, flowers or baby clothes and, in addition, there is a section on natural cosmetics in which there are soaps, creams, essential oils or lip balms.
The sale of products is not only aimed at individuals, but the Contemplare Foundation also works with more than fifty companies, selling personalized products with the brand’s image.
The convent bazaar
The Samaritan Carmelites of the Heart of Jesus, also known as the Samaritan Carmelites of Fuencisla, have a website called “the convent bazaar”. On this platform they put all their products on sale. Among her works are the preparation of sweets, natural care products, cups, aromatic candles, books, liturgical articles (some of them only for sale to priests) and embroidery. Their work is not only found on the internet, but they have opened a physical store next to the Cathedral of Segovia. The objective of this entire project is, as they themselves say, to raise funds for their foundations and projects.
Christmas, being a special time, also implies a different production of articles. For this reason, they sell nougats, marzipan, delicacies, candles with figures of the nativity scene, soaps, tablecloths and books, all of them Christmas-themed.
made with faith
“Hecho con fe” is an initiative that was born to work, initially, only with the monasteries and convents of Seville and its surroundings. Its objective was to give visibility to the products of these communities to help their maintenance. However, soon there was an increase in demand and many other religious wanted to join the project. Currently, they work with convents and monasteries in Seville, Malaga, Badajoz and Córdoba.
Among the products you sell are yolks, almonds, cupcakes, wine donuts, tiles, alfajores or empanadas. Although right now there is no Christmas section on their website, many of the items on sale are appropriate for these dates, such as marzipans, shortbreads and mantecados.
a gift for everyone
During Christmas shopping it is easy to keep in mind collaborating with the religious communities of Spain, helping to maintain them and buying quality artisan products for homes that are a gift for everyone, for those who make the products and for those who receive them.