Viriditas2: Soul Greening
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
There is a line written about our Blessed Mother that has always touched me: “It was as if all purity had breathed a crystal air for her to come in; sweetest virtue, sweetest prayer, to keep awareness of a presence there.”
This is what the Carmelite life is for me: a life attuned to presence.
I know I am called to be a pray-er and a lover in Carmel. Within the quiet of the cloister, the Living God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — reveals himself gently, slowly, deeply. Here, he forms my heart to love him and, through him, to love all of humanity.
The cell: Each time I step into my cell, our room, mine and Jesus’, I enter what I call my “heaven on earth.” Though faith tells me that God dwells within my soul always, there is something secret and sacred about that small space. There, my “Divine Three” waits for me. It is where I rest, work, pray and simply be in love.
The choir: Before the Blessed Sacrament, we pray the Liturgy of the Hours and celebrate the Eucharist. Even when my mind wanders, I hope to join the heavenly court of angels and saints in praising our triune God. To pray is to breathe with the whole church.
Penance and sacrifice: Carmel teaches me the spiritual practice of the “fast of the heart.” This entails the small, hidden gestures of self-denial and self-giving. Asceticism and mysticism walk together here in Carmel. Every sacrifice whispers: “Father, thy will be done.”
Silence and solitude: These are the heart of our life. Silence is where God speaks his one eternal Word. Solitude is where two who love dwell together. St. John of the Cross expresses it so beautifully: “She lived in solitude … and in solitude he guides her, he alone, who bears the wound of love.” In time, you discover that it is God who draws you into this silence and fills it with his secret. What begins as discipline becomes communion.
Spiritual reading and community: Through Scripture and the teachings of the saints, I listen to God. Monthly “lectio divina” (“divine reading”) with my sisters and our daily recreation are times of shared light. We laugh, we encourage one another and we learn to love. A former prioress once told us, “If you can make your sisters laugh during recreation, you will have God’s special blessing.” I believe this is true.
Work and apostolic love: Our work of performing simple daily tasks participates in God’s ongoing creation and redemption. We offer our labor, joys and sufferings for the world. We love quietly, but the love is real, wide and deep. Our apostolate is prayer. Our mission is love.
And so I pray:
Jesus living in Mary, come and live in me.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, I am yours.
If your heart is stirred, join us. Come and see. Taste the sweetness of God’s presence. He desires to transform the soul, and through her, the whole world.
Above: Out of devotion to their contemplative way of life, the Carmelite nuns do not share their names or photographs publicly. Their vocation calls them to remain quietly in God’s presence, praying for the needs of the world.