I discovered the Martin family thanks to a comic strip that a young person from catechism had brought with her. And, after that, Thérèse (how did she come into my life? I don't know, but…) I felt her accompanying me, protecting me, watching me from Heaven…
In high school, a philosophy course made me stop everything. I no longer wanted to believe. It was a desert for me, until college, where I fell seriously ill.
The desire to return to Taizé made me meet missionary sisters who led the student chaplaincy, then I joined the group of young professionals, and there, thanks to the love of these sisters, I felt live again… I gradually rediscovered the love of prayer and the desire to share everything thanks to them.
One evening, while I was in prayer, I felt the love of God enveloping me in His light. And at the end of that moment, I heard in the bottom of my heart: “carmel”.
That's when God and I had fun together. He sowed little clues on my path, always with a reference to Thérèse… and then I started looking. At the end, this clue: a book about her placed in a window, which made me say to myself: “there is something in Lisieux…”.
So I wrote an e-mail to Carmel (without believing it too much, however, because I had read the Story of a Soul with difficulty a year earlier, believing at the time that all that no longer existed, (“ it would be too beautiful" 🙂!) and that the Carmel had died with St Thérèse... and even then, it seemed so virtual to me! In the afternoon, amazement! It was the prioress herself who answered me! She told me to make an appointment with her, and explained the different steps to me (I thought that we entered like that…! ^^ in normal times, all these steps should have scared me but there, surprisingly, I didn't hesitate, and I said: "yes", (telling myself that: "in any case, I have nothing to lose by going there... that it's not all for me, etc. "... So I arrive in Lisieux, direction: the shrine. Where I go to pray in front of the Virgin of the Smile before going to this meeting, then I go to the chapel, where I put my suitcase, and, raising my eyes towards this Christ, I hear in my heart: “it's there” Nowadays, I feel more and more that “it's there”, indeed. I am deeply surprised to see that God knows me much better than myself, and that He guided me where it was necessary. And I am deeply happy, because He is there. And it is He who gives me this happiness. I live more and more from this relationship with Christ, not only because He lives in me but also, thanks to this fraternal love that I experience in community.
my favorite picture : On this gouache, I find that Christ radiates … with this peace, which allows me to distinguish Him among all. Yet he is simple… so humble, so quiet, at peace. And at the same time as He breaks the bread, He seems to be in prayer… It is His whole being that captivates me, interests me.
Biblical phrase:"For nothing is impossible with God", this sentence from the New Testament constitutes for me a summary of the action of God throughout my life, because it is He who has allowed me to get out of all these situations. where I could see that it was impossible on my own. He teaches me everything, gives me confidence. Every day I learn to take a step further in this direction, even if sometimes there are pitfalls… inevitable! confidence is difficult for me, but… I have a very good teacher! 🙂
my greatest desire : that Jesus be known and loved as He truly is, that is to say deeply humble, that's what touches me… and if we only knew how humble God is! And when we really know Him as He is, we can only love Him. He got me!
A Carmelite Sister
