World Day of Cloistered Life

Hello sisters,

Praised be Jesus Christ!  I recently learned that November 21st is World Day of Cloistered Life!  How exciting is this?!  It is a special day to remember and pray for all the cloistered religious who do so much for the Church without us even knowing about most of it!  Do you know any cloistered nuns or communities?  Maybe this day would be a good time to stop by and send your letter, prayers, or gift through the turn! 😊  If you aren't near the chapel of any cloistered community, visit your local adoration chapel because all cloistered religious are there in spirit praying with you just on the other side of the tabernacle door.  Most importantly, don't forget to pray for all the cloistered religious around the world who continue to keep the heart of the Church beating.  Their prayers, sacrifices, and good works do so much good for us, the Church and the world.  We will never know the extent of their effects until we reach Heaven.

There are lots of great resources at this link that can help you spread the word about this special day.

2 Year Bloggaversary

Hello sisters!!

I can hardly believe the 2 year anniversary of creating "His Voice is Sweet" passed in September.  Thank you so much for following this little blog and supporting me in my journey.  It's been an interesting two years because they didn't go how I expected they would at all.

When I graduated high school, I was ready to go pursue God's will, I just needed to know exactly what it was!  I waited around like an anxious child.  Each day I thought (consciously or sub consciously,) today, God's going to show me His plan! He just has to!  But, two years passed and I never received a lighting bolt out of the sky and a booming voice.  I can't say that God's told me His will and now I know exactly what I'm doing.

But that's ok.  He has revealed something even more important.  He has revealed Himself.  Not all at once.  Not in clouds and light.  Not in a visible way.  He has made His presence and His love known little by little.  He is guiding me each day, moment by moment, to know Him and to surrender everything to Him.  He does this by using people and experiences.  In these last two years, I've met so many amazing people who constantly remind me of God, His goodness, and His plan!  I am so grateful for the people and circumstances, because without them, I would be lost.  God knows our weaknesses and uses people and things around us to help us!

These last two years, I've had wonderful, grace filled days and I've had hard, lonely days.  I have gone astray from discernment many times over the last two years.  It is so easy to become distracted.  For me, this mostly happens when I fall out of the practice of prayer.  The thing is, God didn't leave me.  He never leaves you.  It is I who turned away from Him to other things.  I focused on lots of other things and didn't put God first.  How exactly can we put Him first?  We put Him first by spending time with Him.

So with these general reflections, I'd like to share the advice that I'd like to give to any young person who is discerning a religious vocation.  Pray!!  Pray without ceasing!  This is so very important.  Don't stop.  If you have fallen out of the practice, I beg you to start again.  I know you may not want to, I didn't a little while ago, but you must.  How can you know what God wants you to do if you don't spend time listening for His instructions!!

Honestly, my soul is so much more at peace when I spend time in prayer.  It doesn't always have to be for long periods.  Morning and night prayers are an excellent way to start.  But don't stop there.  Add evening prayer, daily Mass, the rosary, and adoration.  Make a retreat or make a total consecration to jumpstart your prayer.  These things aren't magic, but they dispose our souls to be open and cleaned.  God uses the sacraments, sacramentals, and prayers to infuse grace into our souls.  This is how He communicates with us.  Most especially, He communicates with us in the Holy Eucharist because that is His true Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity that we receive.  So please, remember that today is a new day and that God's grace is new for you every morning!  Yesterday may have been the worst day, but if we seek God, His grace, and His peace, He will give it to us.  Then He can lead you in the direction He has planned just for you!

The point of discernment is to discover your vocation, your calling in life.  This calling is supposed to help you reach sanctity, Heaven.  But the road to Heaven isn't easy.  It is a battle.  To win a battle, we must struggle, fight, and persevere day after day.  Soldiers do not take a break from fighting a war, even when they retreat.  They regroup, strategize, and replenish supplies so they can win the battle!!  So don't stop fighting the battle for Heaven!  Strive for sanctity and a closer relationship with God every day.  I know it's hard, but it will be so worth it.

Earl Grey Soliloquy: The Mystery of Vocation

Hello dear sisters,

Praised be Jesus Christ!  I apologize I haven't been around for a little while.  My life has been busy, and crazy, and fun, and stressful, but God has been with me through all of it.  Now that summer is over, I hope to get back to a better prayer and blogging schedule.  Today, however, I wanted to share this beautiful, short, and sweet post from Maria @ Earl Grey Soliloquy  You can follow the link below to see the full post.  It is a great encouragement!!  Please pray for Maria as she enters into the next chapter of her life!

Earl Grey Soliloquy: The Mystery of Vocation:      It is my last day at home, but somehow it hasn't hit me yet. The monastery I'm entering feels very distant when I'm sitting...

Ad Jesu Per Mariam... Repost

Hello dear sisters!!

Today I begin my preparation to renew my Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary on August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary.  I made my consecration 2 years ago on that date and I'm very excited to read and pray in preparation again.  I thought I would re-share this post I wrote on Maidens for Mary in April of last year.  I hope you find it inspirational.  Have you completed the Consecration before?  If so, on what Marian feast?  If you haven't, I encourage you to join me during this period, or find another upcoming Marian feast to complete your Consecration on!

"The more we honor the Blessed Virgin, the more we honor Jesus Christ, because we honor Mary only that we may the more perfectly honor Jesus, since we go to her only as the way by which we are to find the end we are seeking, which is Jesus." 

~St. Louis De Montfort 

Trust in me, my daughter, that I am your mother.

The Total Consecration to Mary was written by St. Louis Marie de Montfort (1673-1716), a French Roman Catholic priest and confessor.  "The essence of this true devotion is the total offering of one's self and all one's goods both temporal (of this earth) and spiritual to Our Lady-in as much as the duties of one's state in life will allow-and then living as dependent upon her as a slave to a Queen." (Manual for Total Consecration to Mary pg. v)

(Here is a page with more info: https://www.saintbenedict.com/tradition/total-consecration)

Our goal as children of God is to be happy with Him forever in Heaven and this is brought about by a complete and perfect union with Christ and His will.  How better to achieve this than to imitate the only person on this earth who has ever attained this complete union of wills?  Mary was conceived without sin (we call this the Immaculate Conception) so that she could be a pure and sinless means to bring Jesus into the world.  We know this from the words of the Archangel Gabriel, "And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." (Luke 1:28) Since Mary is without sin, her will is in perfect union with God's.  Therefore, we want to imitate this most perfect example of union with God's will.  We ask Mary to help us attain this perfect union with Christ. 

"When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own." (John 19:26-27)

Christ gave us Mary as our mother when He gave her to the apostle St. John.  If Christ is our brother and wants what is best for us, than so too would His mother be our mother and want what her Son wants for us.

Also, this consecration directs us to offer all of our prayers, sufferings, and desires to Jesus, through Mary.  This concept is illustrated by Jesus' first public miracle, "And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." (John 2:3-5)  Mary petitioned the needs of the bride and groom at Cana to Jesus and will do so for us as well.  As we see in this story, Jesus will refuse her nothing.  Therefore, we ask Mary to present our needs to her Son so that He will answer them.

There is a very beautiful and special book that illustrates why we go to Jesus through Mary. Take it to the Queen This original fable explores the events of Jesus' life, and demonstrates the role of the Virgin Mary as the benevolent agent of God's people. Reduced to desolation by a king and prince who feel they have been wronged, the residents of a once-favored village must seek help from the queen, a native of their devastated town.

Have you made your total consecration to Jesus through Mary yet?  If not, here are some things to get you started.

• Visit this link to learn more about the Total Consecration.
• Pick a date to complete your consecration on.  You can pick almost any Marian feast day and there are a ton!  I did mine on August 15th, the feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother.
• Find or order a copy of the Manual for Total Consecration.  You can also get this copy which includes St. Louis de Montfort's other book, True Devotion to Mary, which makes great supplemental reading anytime.
• Begin your total consecration reading and praying 33 days before the date of your consecration.
• Finally, don't worry if you miss a day or fall behind.  Prepare your heart and strive in all you do to imitate Our Blessed Mother in her virtues.

There are also some beautiful products for you to commemorate and help you remember your Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary.  You can find them here. 😊

Remember that Mary is your mother.  She loves you and wants what's best for you.  She will always keep you under her mantle of protection as long as you ask and place your trust completely in her more than capable hands.

"Am I not here who am your Mother?  Are you not under my shadow and protection?  Am I not your fountain of life?  Are you not in the folds of my mantle?  In the crossing of my arms?  Is there anything else you need?"

~Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego

If you have some extra reading time while you are making your consecration or after you have made it, I highly suggest that you read Mary Was Her Life: The Story of Sister Maria Teresa Quevedo.  It is an AMAZING account of the life of a young girl who lived her short life here on Earth entirely through Mary.  I made my consecration in August of 2017, but Ven. Maria Teresa really taught me how to live this consecration in every little aspect of my life.

I haven't perfected my consecration yet, but that's not the point.  Mary will help you.  Ask for the grace to grow in your trust and consecration.  You are all in my prayers.

Let us always go "Ad Jesu per Mariam,"  "To Jesus, through Mary."

In cordibus Jesu et Mariae,

Sarah

Reposted from Maidens for Mary

"Can we keep talking about Jesus?" Repost

I came across this blog post from the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus and I thought it was short and sweet but so true!  I just had to repost it.  It's so very hard in this 21st center to put the phone down and stop checking for notifications every 5 minutes.  But we need to turn off these distractions to hear the quiet voice of God in our lives.  Enjoy this sweet story by Postulant Therese!

"Can We Keep Talking About Jesus?"

Amidst the buzzing of technological distractions today, one might say we have muted Christ’s knocking on our hearts. It was not until giving up my own “beloved” Android Samsung, that I was able to see just how often I was running from silence by checking it all throughout the day. How long, I wondered, has Jesus been waiting to enter the silence of my heart, just for me to turn away and check my phone? With this in mind, I couldn’t help but worry, how will children search for Christ in a world that offers so many distractions? Only a few weeks in our Carmelite Child Development Center proved to me that Christ goes much deeper than the distractions of the world. One encounter I had speaks for them all. While working on an art project, a few children had crowded around my lap and began asking questions about the crucifix around my neck – nothing new. “Why did Jesus want to die for us?” and “How can I be better friends with Jesus?” were only a few of their remarks. All the while, one little girl, “Ruth”, gently held the little cross in her hands, gazing at it intently. Eventually the questions ceased, the children returned to their play, and I refocused my attention to the painting station. Without noticing that Ruth was still hanging on to the crucifix around my neck, I continued directing the project. After a great silence passed Ruth finally looked up, “Sister,” she asked quietly, “Can we keep talking about Jesus? I like it and I really want to know more.” Such sincere words! Suddenly all the children painting had stopped to listen to me, eagerly waiting to hear more about Jesus. How beautiful it is to witness the joy of little ones seeking to know Christ. Is this not the cry of each of our hearts? Lord, help me to desire to befriend you, just like your little ones at Carmelite. 

-Postulant Therese
Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus

2 Quotes on Discernment from St. Teresa of Avila

I've slowly been reading St. Teresa of Avila's The Way of Perfection and came across these two quotes, among many others that seem very helpful to discernment.  Even though this book was written with her community of sisters in mind, I believe anyone can benefit from her lessons on prayer, humility, and charity towards those we live with.  May St. Teresa of Avila intercede for us!

Discerning Your Vocation in High School

Even in my freshman year of high school, people (adults) would ask me what I wanted to do after high school; what college I wanted to got to.  Many people expect you to be thinking seriously about what you want to be even at 13 years of age.  The truth is, you may have an idea of what you want to do as an adult, but that idea will most likely change.  Young teenagers change so much in their 4 years of high school.  And sometimes, graduating seniors still don't know exactly what they're going to do.

So do you really need to discern your vocation in high school?

Well, the answer is half yes, half no.  Yes, we should always be searching for the will of God in our lives and trying to live it out so that we can reach heaven.  But no, we don't have to have everything figured out perfectly to the last detail in high school.  We certainly shouldn't stress or obsess over it.

I used to think my vocational discernment began in high school (and maybe it really did) but I don't think I made any real progress until afterwards because that's when I really started putting time into discernment.  High school keeps most teens super busy and at that time in our lives, we are called to just be good students.  We are called to study, obey our parents and teachers, help around the household, and grow in holiness.  These should come first.

After high school, I took not 1 but 2 gap years and in these years, I had time to spend with Our Lord in serious discernment of a religious vocation.

Now I'm not saying you should leave off discernment completely until graduation, not giving it another thought and just living it up in high school.  No.  I simply mean, please don't stress over figuring out your vocation as soon as possible.  God may tell you right away exactly what you are meant to do but he might not and that's ok.  His timing is perfect and we need to first learn to trust Him.  Instead of worrying, here are some ideas of what to do so you can start pursuing God's will.

Pray!  (hehehe). I know I say this a lot in my posts but it's often the simplest and easiest thing to do.  Maybe starting morning and night prayers??  Here's a post I wrote not too long ago about integrating prayer into your life.

Read books about the Saints and religious life.  I don't necessarily mean specific discernment books but just books on the lives of the Saints and the lives of religious (fiction or non-fiction.)  These can be very helpful in giving you a picture of the religious life and they are fun to read as well.  Here are a few ideas (links to Amazon):

• The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of the Little Flower
• The Springs of Silence by Madeline (Sr. Mary Gilbert) Defrees
• Mary Was Her Life: The Story of Maria Teresa Quevedo
• Stories of Don Bosco by Peter Lappin
• A Soldier Surrenders: The Conversion of Saint Camillus de Lellis  (This is fiction but a great story based on the life of a Saint full of grace and virtue.)

Take advantage of the time you have at Mass and adoration.  You may not be able to (or have time to) drive yourself yet to adoration and daily Mass, but don't stress about it.  Just try to make the most of the times that your family goes to Sunday Mass or adoration.  Spend some extra time just sitting with Jesus after Mass on Sunday.  Quiet your heart and just adore Him.  The more we are "in-tune" with God, the more we will be able to hear His still, small voice throughout our lives.

Grow and develop yourself; body, mind, and soul.  We learn something new everyday and it's often about ourselves.  Maybe we'll discover a hidden talent or maybe a virtue that we need to cultivate.  Take care of yourself and your relationships with other people.  God often uses those around us to guide us, so having meaningful relationships with family and friends is important.  We can all help each other find our vocations and our way to Heaven!!

Don't date.  Jk.  Don't just have a boyfriend because it's the thing to do in high school.  I know what I'm saying isn't the popular thing to say, but it's true.  Dating should be treated as a form of discernment and should be a serious relationship in which two people discern whether they are compatible and want to make a lifelong commitment to each other.  Whether you're dating or discerning, you're trying to figure out your vocation, your calling from God.  Instead of casual dating, try to work on your relationship with God.  This starts with understanding Him which leads to my final piece of advice.

Get to know God and strengthen your relationship with Him.  Remember to turn to Him always when things are difficult.  His love and mercy are always there for you.  Before you can become "the bride of Christ," you have to get to know Him and love Him!!  This is sooo very important and is a step many of us often forget about.  Spend time with Our Lord in prayer and spend time with Him in the people around you; your parents, siblings, friends, etc.  As we get to know Our Lord better we will rely more on Him and our trust will grow so that He can guide us in His perfect and holy Will for our lives!

Know, love, and serve God in this life so that you can be happy with Him in the next.  Remember to take one day at a time and do God's will for today!  That is how He will lead us in our life's vocation for the future!  Please know I'm praying for you that God bless you in your high school journey!  Pray, hope, and don't worry!!


In corde Mariae,

Sarah

Dominican Nuns Living Radical Love

Praised be Jesus Christ!

In my perusing the internet of all things religious life, I came across this beautiful community of Dominican Nuns in Summit, New Jersey.

Photo Credit: Dominican Nuns of Summit, NJ

I came across them in a rather intersting way.  Two secular lifestyle news blogs (that I never would have read otherwise) shared about a photographer who just sort of "happened" upon these nuns.  She was accompanying a writer doing a piece on modern-day monasteries.  After her day there, she was captivated by the nuns and their spirituality.  She ended up coming back over the period of seven years, to complete a project capturing the life of the nuns and specifically, one of the sisters' journey to vows.  The result is a beautiful slideshow of pictures capturing the Dominican life and this community.

View the slideshow here.
Another article with some more pictures.

Photo credit: Toni Greaves

These nuns have also done interviews with Regina Magazine and other popular Catholic blogs.  There is plenty of information about them on the internet and thier website: https://www.summitdominicans.org/

Finally, here is an excerpt from thier website that sums up the life of a Dominican nun prety well.

“The nuns seek God by observing the norms of the purely contemplative life, by maintaining their withdrawal from the world by enclosure and silence, by working diligently, studying the truth eagerly, searching the Scriptures with ardent heart, praying intently, willingly practicing penance, pursuing communion through their manner of government, in purity of conscience and the joy of sisterly concord, “in freedom of spirit.”

                                              — Constitutions of the Nuns of the Order of Preachers

Please keep these holy nuns in your prayers!  God bless you!

Prayerful Discernment

Hello friends,

Recently I shared on Maidens for Mary about having a good prayer schedule and helpful prayers for young women.  I'd like to share similarly here but with a focus on how to grow in prayer while discerning your vocation.

When a young woman is discerning her vocation, it is so very important for her to have a deep prayer life.  I only say this because I know.  I thought I was doing alright by going to weekly Mass on Sundays, saying a couple morning prayers and our family rosary, but this Lent I decided to increase my prayer time and it has opened my eyes and my heart.  There are so many wonderful and beautiful prayers available to young women that we should use frequently and with devotion.

Do you feel stuck or stagnant in your vocation discernment?  I certainly did.  Day after day passed and I wasn't progressing in anything.  I can waste a lot of time on social media.  So for Lent, I decided to give up endless scrolling and try to read more spiritual works.  This was the push my spiritual life needed.  It certainly isn't easy but committing to a time period, such as Lent, surely helps one stay dedicated.  Of course, it is really by the grace of God that we can grow in grace and holiness.

1. I started with reading.  Yes, reading is increasing my prayer life.  How?  Well, I started with Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7 and the the 4th section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  This section of the Catechism is all about prayer.  As you read, you obviously begin to think about, or meditate on, what you're reading and go over your favorite parts.  Highlighting, underlining, or taking notes is a great way to remember your favorite lines even better.  I think reading is a very good way to begin praying more often because it keeps your attention.  At least a good book will.  If you'd like ideas, here are the books I've been reading this Lent:

The Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Life of Christ
An Introduction to the Devout Life
Revelations of St. Bridget: On the Life and Passion of Our Lord and the Life of His Blessed Mother

2. The next step in using these readings for prayer is to contemplate their relevance in your life, and more specifically in your discernment.  Then, speak to Jesus in the silence of your heart about them.  Talk to Him as if He was sitting right in front of you.  Then, sit quietly and listen.  You may think of something or you may not.  Let God do His work.  Ultimately, He is planting a seed in your heart and you may not see it grow and blossom until much later.  God will give you His answers and grace exactly when you need it. I know it's hard to sit and just be quiet. My mind wanders.... a lot. Maybe start with 5 or 10 minutes a day to just be silent with God. We can work up to more time later.

3. So this is how reading became a prayer for me.  Then, I wanted to follow the direction I'd been given by multiple people and say prayers more frequently.  I have one friend at Mass who reminds me, "pray the divine office!"  I finally picked it up to start morning and evening prayers every day.  The hardest part for me was finding the right pages which you have to look up online.  I think this is what kept me from praying them before.  But here's a trick: get a wall calendar or calendar planner book and write out the page numbers from https://divineoffice.org/ for every day for the next week or two weeks.  Then, when it comes time to pray, you won't have to open your laptop or pull out your phone.  Just use your calendar to easily find your place.  Another helpful idea is to move your ribbons to the next day's pages when you're finished.

4. The last way I have grown in discernment prayer is by attending morning Mass and adoration during the week.  The kick-starter for me was the feast of St. Joseph, March 19th.  (Thanks St. Joseph!!)  If you can make a point to go to Mass on special feast days, even if they're not holy-days of obligation, you'll be on your way to attending daily Mass more regularly.  Figure out when your patron Saints' feast days are and go to Mass then.  Also, it's much easier to start getting up for morning Mass if there's an 8:30am Mass (Instead of 8:00am) nearby.  Half-an-hour makes all the difference!  If there's a rosary or divine mercy chaplet before or after Mass, try to stay for these as well.  This way, you can get your daily rosary in and spend time in community prayer.

Ok, now I'm going to go back to meditation for a moment.  I always found it hard to set aside time for meditation and contemplation in my day because it's so much better to do this in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  I find it hard to concentrate on mental prayer at home but I can't make it to the adoration chapel every day.  So instead, I decided to stay after daily Mass in the Eucharistic Adoration chapel.  Since you're already at church, you can get your quiet prayer time in while you're there.  Even staying just 15 minutes after Mass can make a big difference.

So these are just a few suggestions that can help with increasing your prayer time on a daily basis.  Ultimately, we want to make time to hear God's voice so we can discern our vocations.  He will speak to you in the silence with a still, small voice.  Also, if you're discerning a vocation to the religious life where you'll pray a lot, what better way to discern that life than by starting to live it?  (In a small way, step by step, anyway.)

"Seek by reading and you will find by meditating.  Knock by praying, and it will be opened to you in contemplation."
~St. John of the Cross

Finally, here are some beautiful prayers for vocation discernment:

My Vocation In Life

"Behold me at thy feet, O Virgin most kind, seeking to obtain through thee, the most important grace of knowing what I ought to do. I desire nothing but to comply perfectly with the Will of thy Devine Son at every moment of my life. Mother of Good Counsel, let me hear thy voice. It will dispel every doubt that troubles my mind.

I trust in thee, being confident that, since thou art the Mother of my Redeemer, thou wilt also be the Mother of my salvation. If thou, O Mary, wilt not send me a ray of the Divine Sun, what light will enlighten me? Who will direct me if thou refusest, who art the Mother of the uncreated wisdom?

Listen then, to my humble prayers. Let me not be lost in my uncertainty and instability; lead me along the straight road that ends in life everlasting, Thou, who art my only hope, and whose hands are full of the riches of virtue and of life, and who dispensest the fruits of honor and holiness."

Prayer To Know One's Vocation

Lord, my God and my loving Father, you have made me to know you, to love you, to serve you, and thereby to find and to fulfill my deepest longings. I know that you are in all things, and that every path can lead me to you.

But of them all, there is one especially by which you want me to come to you. Since I will do what you want of me, I pray you, send your Holy Spirit to me: into my mind, to show me what you want of me; into my heart, to give me the determination to do it, and to do it with all my love, with all my mind, and with all of my strength right to the end. Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.

Prayer To Know My Vocation

Lord, I want to be happy in this life and spend eternity with You in the life to come.

From the first moment of my existence, You knew my vocation. Please help me discover Your plan for my life.

Help me to know myself. Help me to know my fears. Help me to want what You want. Help me to trust You completely.

Send Your Holy Spirit into my mind and heart so I can see the gifts You have given me, and hear Your call to serve the Church. Increase my desire to bring others to You and to help them reach heaven.

Mary Most Holy, Mother of God, pray for me, that I can discover my vocation and have the courage to respond in faith. Amen

I hope you find these tips helpful and these prayers useful.  What prayers do you use in discernment? I'd love to know!  May God bless you and keep you!

Video: Investiture of a Contemplative Dominican Nun

Hello friends,

I've been looking at many different communities around the internet and their social media pages.  I came across a beautiful little community of cloistered Dominican nuns in Lockport, Louisiana.  There is a small Xanga page with their contact information.  Other than this page, they don't have any social media or info that I can find.

I did, however, find this short news clip that beautifully showcases the investiture of a 19-year-old girl in their community.  This is a rare look inside a traditional Dominican cloister.  I hope you enjoy!

The Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of the Heart of Jesus in Lockport, Louisiana are in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, accepting all Magisterial teachings and directives.

"I Thirst!"

"I thirst."

"There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to her: Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. Then that Samaritan woman saith to him: How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans. Jesus answered, and said to her: If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." (John 4:7-10)

"The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being.  It is He who first seeks us and asks for a drink.  Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God's desire for us.  Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God's thirst with ours.  God thirsts that we may thirst for Him." (CCC 2560)

"If you knew the gift of God!" (John 4:10)

"Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God." (from CCC 2561)

"During Holy Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus nailed upon the Cross amidst great torments.  A soft moan issued from His Heart.  After some time, He said: I thirst.  I thirst for the salvation of souls.  Help Me, My daughter, to save souls.  Join your suffering to My Passion and offer them to the heavenly Father for sinners.  (Diary of St., Faustina, 1032)

“He has so much need of love and He is so thirsty, that He expects from us the drop of water that must refresh Him! Ah! Let us give without counting the cost.”  ~St. Thérèse of Lisieux

A Visit to the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph pray for us!

Hello and Happy New Year!

I wanted to share with you today a few pictures and thoughts on my visit to the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Valparaiso, NE.

In November I flew out to Omaha, Nebraska for a refreshing and thoughtful weekend at the Carmel of JMJ.  I didn’t know quite what to expect as I’ve never been on a vocation retreat or visit before, but God is good and He always provides. A local family very kindly helped me out with transportation.

When we arrived at the Carmel, I was a little nervous.  We entered the turn room and rang the bell.  It was so fun to first hear Sister through the turn. She asked me if I was up for a visit with the mothers and so I was directed down the hall to the “speak room.”  It felt like I was in the St. Therese movie!!

The Turn Room

 I was pretty nervous but as the weekend proceeded, I became more and more at ease.  I was blessed to meet 5 of the Sisters and they were all so gracious and kind.  I had plenty of opportunities to ask questions of the Mothers and sisters and they were all very helpful.  The Carmel itself is absolutely gorgeous!! 😍

My retreat was very simple and I was by myself with Jesus most of the time because these nuns are strictly cloistered.  My favorite part of it all was the silence.  Even if you don’t feel called to cloistered life, I would highly recommend going on a silent retreat because in the silence you are not only able to hear the whisper of God better, but you’re also able to hear yourself better.  In the silence, away from the noises and distractions of the world, you can discover who you truly are more fully.  My time was made up of mental prayer, the Divine Office (using the Carmelite Breviary,) reading, meals, and enjoying the beauty of the Nebraska sunsets.

St. Mary (Mariam) of Jesus Crucified, one of my 2 Confirmation Saints.

I am so glad I was able to visit this Carmel that I've heard quite a bit about.  Both Mothers and the sisters were very kind and hospitable.  It was so nice to spend time in silence with our Lord listening for His call.  I absolutely loved it there.  I am back home living with my family still, but I continue to pray every day to discern God's will.  The sisters advised me, and other discerning girls, to go home and take some time to discern if you're really called there.  So that's what I'm doing.  

It is now 2019!  It is a little hard to believe.  I have no idea what this year holds, but I look forward to it with eager anticipation.  I pray you and your family have a very happy, holy, and blessed new year.