Regular attendance at daily Mass and Eucharistic adoration during high school laid the foundation for discerning my vocation. These, along with the witness of my parish priest, sparked a desire for holiness and a deeper relationship with the Lord. Though my desire was still to get married and have a big family,
I felt that I needed to be at least open to religious life. I told God that if He wanted me to become a religious sister, He would have to give me a desire for it and remove the obstacles from my heart. Ever so gently, over the next four years, He did precisely that.

One day, I was the last one in church, praying before our Lord in the Tabernacle, and I realized that my obstacles were gone and that I deeply desired to be a Sister. As a spiritual mother, I would still have the big family of which I had dreamed. I was filled with an overwhelming JOY I could not contain! I had fallen in love, and I desired more than anything to be a Bride of Christ!

Exploring and experiencing various religious communities over the next several years, I discerned that God was calling me to be hidden with Him in a contemplative life.

While at university studying Catholic Studies and Liturgy, I’d been blessed to dive deeper into the rich traditions of the Catholic Church, including the Traditional Latin Mass and a few of Her different spiritualities. Through the witness of college friends and multiple Third Order Secular Carmelites, I became attracted to the spirituality of the Discalced Carmelites: focusing on living a hidden life of prayer and sacrifice for the Church, especially for priests.

The mission of the Carmel of Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph is to follow the Little Way of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face and the example of the Holy Virgin of Mount Carmel, seeking union with the Beloved through prayer and penance, solitude and silence. My deepest desire is to walk the hidden path of love first trodden by my Beloved and His Mother – to be united ever more deeply with the One Whom my soul loves… to be enclosed in the garden of God.