Unlike most vocation stories, I never ever thought about becoming a religious when I was young… not even in my late teens and in fact I did not even consider Jesus the Son of God but had regarded Him as a prophet.

I was baptized Catholic but did not understand my faith despite CCD and eventually left it until I got sick when I was 25. In the hospital,

I converted to Christianity and promised God that I’d devote my life to Him if He made me well. And He did!

But I had a long way to recover spiritually and I asked the Virgin Mary to help me love her Son. She helped me develop a strong love for Him as I sought to discern the genuiness of my calling to the religious life. I felt a constant ache in my heart for God and I knew that no finite creature could appease it… only the infinite could fulfill my heart. Searching for orders, I knew it had to be Carmel because of my contemplative personality and my devotion to Mother Mary, whom I know will always lead me back to her Son, should I go astray. Now I have a joy no one can take from me…the joy of being totally His.