A BEAUTIFUL GIFT FROM GOD
My vocation as a Carmelite Nun is a wonderful gift, in which God continues to reveal new depths and surprises. You may think a life in an enclosed contemplative Order would be dull and boring, but I can honestly say the last 13 years within the monastery have flown by.
I never imagined I would serve God in a life of prayer. I always thought I would be in an active or missionary Order, as I love helping people. In High School, I knew I wanted to be a religious, but when I shared my desire, I only encountered mockery and discouragement. As a young adult while working as a preschool teacher, I kept praying, waiting and looking. I was very involved in my parish and did courses to deepen my understanding of the Catholic faith.
When the relics of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux came to Australia, I went to pray and received a special grace: a stillness with an overwhelming sense that God was with me, my vocation was not lost, and that St. Thérèse was an important link on my journey. Through this grace I regained confidence in the search for my vocation. I read Saint Thérèse’s book: ‘Story of a Soul’, and I longed to have the same intensity of love for God as she had. I discovered she was a Carmelite. I had never heard of that Order, so I made contact with the Carmelite Sisters.
Over the next three years I went on retreats run by the Carmelite Friars, I joined the Young Carmelite Group and kept in contact with the Carmelite Sisters. Gradually something resonated in my heart and I fell in love with Carmelite spirituality and the Carmelite saints. I discovered that prayer was Apostolic and Missionary, reaching out in love, to help the whole world.
I have been a fully professed Carmelite Sister for six years. As I become more aware of the indwelling presence of God, I encounter a peace and joy the world cannot give. I love the contrast in our life of solitude, silence and prayer, but also time together with the sisters in community. I am privileged to be in a community of supportive, joyful sisters, who strive to be beacons of faith and hope, and “Love in the heart of the Church”.