Question #1: Are you happy being a nun?

Dear Anne Marie,

You asked: "Are you happy being a Nun?" Your question is a very good one. When a young woman has decided to enter our Carmel and she passes through the enclosure door, she sees a plaque posted over the lintel. It has a quotation from our Foundress, St. Teresa of Jesus, which says, "This Monastery is a paradise for anyone who find her sole happiness in pleasing God."

The only reason a woman becomes a Nun is because she has realized how much God loves her, and that He is calling her to come to Him along the path of the religious life. “Love is repaid by love alone,” and the love in her heart responds to the love in His. This is what it means to please God, and this is why life in a Monastery is truly a paradise, if all you want is to respond to God’s love for you.