Toward Vast Horizons
On this date, July 2nd, in 1790, the ship “Brothers” landed in New York City, having set sail from the Lowlands on May 1st. Five passengers, four women and a man, alighted and set foot on American soil. All except one were Marylanders, returning to their homeland after some years in Europe. The fifth was an Englishwoman who was making her first visit to the newly established United States of America. Hers would be a long stay and a lifelong commitment, for the four women were Discalced Carmelite Nuns from the English-speaking Carmelite monasteries of Antwerp and Hoogstraet in Belgium. The women were Mother Bernardina Matthews, her two nieces, Sister Eleonora and Sister Aloysia Matthews, from Maryland, and Mother Clare Joseph Dickenson, from England. The man was Fr. Charles Neale, a Jesuit-formed priest born in Maryland. The five were on their way to make the first foundation of women religious in the 13 Colonies. The lively account of their adventures can be found in “The Carmelite Adventure”*, which includes the very enjoyable diary kept by Mother Clare Joseph Dickenson throughout their voyage.
I find it meaningful that the date of our First Mothers’ arrival in our country should come so close to the date of our national celebration of Independence. Carmel and the American spirit have much in common. They are both set in the framework of vast horizons. Carmelites aim for heaven, and there is no vaster horizon than that. People arriving in continental United States for the first time can be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the cities, the landscape, the mountains and rivers. Both Carmelites and Americans are adventurers. We look for happiness, but we realize that happiness will not just fall into our laps. We need to pursue it, and that pursuit can take us far distances and demand many sacrifices. As the song says, “Climb every mountain, Ford every stream, Follow every byway, Every path you know,…Till you find your dream.”
Finally, both Carmelites and the United States of America believe in a common motto: “In God We Trust.” Carmelites probably understand more deeply than most Americans how total that trust needs to be, but like Mother Bernardina, Sr. Eleonora, Sr. Aloysia, Mother Clare Joseph and Fr. Neale, we know in whom we put our trust and we can set out on our journey up Mount Carmel with total confidence in His guidance and providence. With His grace, we show our fellow Americans how far our hopes can lead us toward the vastest horizons.
Sr. Gabriela of the Incarnation, O.C.D.
* “The Carmelite Adventure”, edited by Constance Fitzgerald, OCD, published by Carmelite Sisters, Baltimore, MD, 1990