Is God calling you to a life of Carmel?

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**Is God calling you to a life of Carmel? **

† Do you long for a life hidden in union with Christ, and an apostolate of prayer?
† Have you desired to unite your life sacrificially to Jesus for love of His Church?
† Are you full of zeal for the salvation of souls and the sanctification of priests?

My answer to these following questions is Yes.

God calls faithful women to a life in Carmel. If you have pondered these questions, it may be that He is calling you to Carmel. As in the days of St. Teresa, the Church needs women who wish to spend their lives for the sanctification of souls. Free from all interior and exterior distractions, attachments or disquiet, Discalced Carmelites are totally united with Christ in a spirit of joy and adoration.
Today, women still feel this call of God in their hearts and follow in the footsteps of St. Teresa. Under the protection of the mantle of the Virgin of Carmel, this vocation shines as a means of reform for Holy Mother Church and for the world.

Real Love
Love does not depend upon emotional ups and downs. True love is a complete gift of oneself to the Beloved Christ. It is a free choice to love entirely. If you honestly want to know and do God’s will in your life, if you listen to Him in the Eucharist and in His Word, the Lord Jesus will make His will known to you personally. Then if you set your heart and hand to doing it, you really are loving God. You are uniting your will with His divine will - not only in words but in deeds. This is real love, the foundation stone of every vocation.

**The “Tug of War”**Archbishop Fulton Sheen, whose cause for canonization is underway, said, “A vocation necessarily creates a tension, a crisis, a tug of war in the soul. On the one hand, there is the call of God. On the other hand, a sense of personal unworthiness, or reluctance to give oneself completely to Him.”
When anyone begins to feel this inner battle, it’s good to do as St. Teresa did - think of Christ. Remember His words: “Remain united with Me and I will remain united with you…I have chosen you. Come follow me…find peace of soul in union with Me. Have courage; I have overcome the world.”

Confidence Conquers
The first world to be conquered is the little but mighty world within YOU. Prayer and confidence in Christ are your strongest allies when discerning a vocation. Everyone who is called by God to a religious vocation is given the courage to accept His invitation, even when the sacrifice He asks seems tremendous! Saints are not born; they’re made with the combined action of God’s grace and personal cooperation. You must be honest enough to admit that you are helpless by yourself and wise enough to depend on God alone for strength to succeed. To all He calls, God says, “My grace is sufficient for you…I will be with you always.”

“If I were to advise anybody as to their vocation, I would never counsel anyone to resist good inspirations on account of fear of the difficulty of carrying them through. For I know now by experience that if I resolutely persevere in my purpose…His Majesty rewards it…”
St. Teresa of Avila
 
Life in Carmel can be lived in many ways. It does not always mean a call to the convent or monastery. We have numerous Lay Carmelites who are happy and fulfilled in the vocation they have received from God. The important thing is to respond to whatever and wherever it is God is calling each of us!
 
Dear Sr Helena,
I am currently in contact with you vocation director, thank you for the reply to one of my threads before/ God Bless you.🙂
 
Camelite_love said:
Dear Sr Helena,
I am currently in contact with you vocation director, thank you for the reply to one of my threads before/ God Bless you.🙂
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Wonderful! Are you thinking about becoming a Carmelite Sister for the Aged and Infirm?? I will keep you in my prayers!

From one Carmelite heart to another… 😉
 
If you answered YES to this question, what makes you think so?
 
I answer yes Sister, because in Carmel I can be myself and grow closer to God in prayer and contemplation whelther in a Cloister or in an active apostolate. He has put in my heart a great and immense love to serve Him in Carmel and the Saints attract me very much, especially St Thresesa de Los Andes her life is one in imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Carmel is the Order which has taken on its marian spirit in its special allegiance to the Blessed Virgin, you wear her Scapular and walk in Her way while following the way of life you have been called to within the Carmelite order. You follow Christ to the cross, in praying for priests and offering much self denial in ways unknown only to God alone. I feel Carmel is my heart and will search until He takes me home. I hope everyone who discerns the religious life knows that it is not one full of joys all the time, there will be suffering but this will be your strength in all things and your growth.

As I have loved you, so does my Father.🙂
 
Camelite_love said:
I answer yes Sister, because in Carmel I can be myself and grow closer to God in prayer and contemplation whelther in a Cloister or in an active apostolate. He has put in my heart a great and immense love to serve Him in Carmel and the Saints attract me very much, especially St Thresesa de Los Andes her life is one in imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Carmel is the Order which has taken on its marian spirit in its special allegiance to the Blessed Virgin, you wear her Scapular and walk in Her way while following the way of life you have been called to within the Carmelite order. You follow Christ to the cross, in praying for priests and offering much self denial in ways unknown only to God alone. I feel Carmel is my heart and will search until He takes me home. I hope everyone who discerns the religious life knows that it is not one full of joys all the time, there will be suffering but this will be your strength in all things and your growth.

As I have loved you, so does my Father.🙂
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It might be a good idea to take it a step further, if you haven’t already, and discern in some communities of your choice. Religious discernment is a long but exciting process. You learn a lot in the experience of joys and sorrows. God bless your efforts of remaining open to his will.
 
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