7/12/14 I was received into Carmel, back then being the Feast of Saint Veronica and the Holy Face, and yesterday, July 12th was the Feast day chosen by the Church for Louis and Zelie Martin parents of St. Therese. Thank you for the roses Little Flower. Thank you my Sister and my Mother, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, for the protection of your beautiful Mantle.

Only now can I see, the religious calling going way back into my childhood. On the road back home to our Lord, we encounter many devious voices which discourage us. Most of which fill us with doubt about our calling. This has been no different from what I have encountered. I never thought I was good enough and had a very skewed idea of what a Religious Calling was. A Nun? Right. They would toss me out quicker than the morning trash. Back in the 90’s, I heard that call again and I had actually looked deeper this time, and contacted a Monastery about what was required of me. Of course, Nuns and Sisters didn’t have biological children, so once again, I thought like the worldly in thinking this was just another voice pushing me to do something that was not the voice of our Lord. But this time, I longed to be one. I longed to be good. I didn’t want to be what I was living, as a very sinful worldly woman. I was in pain and the way I was living, was causing pain to others. On this date in 2001, I became a rape survivor. The spiritual war is real. Every deterrent known in hell, is thrown at a soul seeking our Lord and our Lord overcomes them all.

That seed in my heart, planted by our Lord at baptism, was beginning to sprout. Over the years, that sprout kept growing without much attention by me. Until it became so big, it could no longer be ignored. I heard the call in my heart from our Lord in a voice I became familiar with. And over time, His voice became the only one I could hear and I longed to be with Him always. He is the Light in the darkness.  He lead me to healing, serving, repenting, and loving. Going even so far as to renounce my secular marriage and bring my husband into the Sacrament of Marriage. See HERE 

I looked again at what I thought was a Religious Vocation during that time of deep repentance, and realized almost twenty years later, there is the Third Order of Carmel. As a wife and a mother, the Third Order became the gateway for Living Water, that my soul so deeply longed for to live in. There are no coincidences, as today we celebrate the Sainthood of these beautiful parents, who inspire many, to reach their own children, through “Little Ways”.

I am eternally grateful to our Lord! And the journey has only just begun.

St. Louis and St. Zelie Martin, along with St. Therese, the “Little Flower”, pray for who are parents, in need of healing, in need of growing close to our Lord, so as to bring His peace to us all.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

Thank you Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you Abba Father. Thank you most kind and loving Holy Spirit. I love You too. Have mercy on us all.