by Sister Timothy Marie, O.C.D.
Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles
Our world needs prayer… It is crying out for love.
Mother Luisita, foundress of the Carmelite Sisters, wrote, “For greater things you were born.” She teaches us how to give God the first place in our lives and how to grow in our union with Him. She calls us back to our dignity as children of God made in His Image and Likeness. She draws us into the Eucharistic presence of Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist, reserved in the tabernacles of Catholic Churches so that we may adore Him and receive Him in Holy Communion. Mother Luisita helps us discover or rediscover that we, too, are tabernacles of the Indwelling Holy Trinity, teaching us how to call to mind this presence during the ordinary duties of daily life. She also shows us how to affirm and respect the dignity and worth of each person by ministering to body and soul through prayer and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The Carmelite Sisters continue that work today.
Associated with the Carmelite friars and cloistered nuns, Mother Luisita’s Carmelites are consecrated religious, following the Carmelite rule according to the specific charism given by God to Mother Luisita who “lived for Christ, taught by example, and offered herself in sacrifice in silence.” As Carmelites, they lead lives of contemplation blended with apostolic works as needed in the Church, and of reparation for the sins against Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. They help others grow in their union with God by means of prayer and by sharing with them the great treasure of Carmelite spirituality, which is based on the Gospel teachings about prayer, pure and simple. In addition, they spiritually support families in their task of preserving and passing on the Faith to their children, especially in times of religious persecution and always, in obedience to the magisterium of the Church.
Why did God want this new Community to be affiliated to the Carmelite Order? Why did He give Mother Luisita this specific charism? Perhaps, although we can never know the mind of God, it was because many of the people in our world are fast forgetting that above everything else, God made us for Himself.
Carmelite spirituality brings us back to this basic truth and helps us, like Elijah the prophet, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross, to come into the presence of the living God.
It shows us how to prepare ourselves to meet Him face-to-Face, for Carmelite spirituality prepares the Bride, the Church, to meet the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, Who is coming soon.
To learn more about the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, read their biography in the left-hand sidebar and visit their website (link provided at the bottom of the bio).
They publish a beautiful print magazine, Spirit of Carmel, and we encourage you to support the work of the sisters with your prayers and through donations and subscriptions to the Spirit of Carmel.
If you are able to help them, please click on the image of their magazine to visit their subscription and donation page.
– ICL Editors
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