Choosing a life of prayer and devotion
Cloistered nuns mark 65 years in region
Sixteen cloistered nuns of the Carmel of St. Joseph monastery in St. Agatha are anticipating the arrival of their newest member.
“It’s like a family that has a new baby coming, it’s very exciting,” said Mother Celeste, who has been at the monastery since 1973.
In about two months, a woman in her 20s from Niagara Falls will join the cloistered nuns to carry out her postulancy — a year-long stay at the monastery to help adjust to a new life. If she chooses to stay on afterwards, she will complete a number of years of training before being able to commit her final vows.
The newest member will be the second woman in her 20s at the Carmel; the youngest is 24 and the oldest is 76.
“The greatest number (of nuns) we’ve had here was 26,” said Mother Celeste, who is 65 years old. “It was crowded.”
It’s rare for the cloistered nuns to speak to the media. But Mother Celeste and two other sisters sat down on Tuesday, to speak about the monastery’s work. This year marks the monastery’s 65th in the region.
Carmel of St. Joseph was founded in Kitchener by four Carmelite sisters who travelled from Cleveland in 1952. They had been invited by Bishop Joseph Ryan and were supported by a committee of local citizens. A dedicated committee of about 20 people from the region still exists today, helping to raise funds to support the nuns. In 1963, the monastery had to move to St. Agatha as they had outgrown their Kitchener home on Lancaster Street East.
Since then, the nuns have lived on a 46-acre property surrounded by forest — some that is off limits to the public.
Unlike nuns who live an “active” life, wearing everyday attire and being able to move around freely, cloistered nuns wear habits and rarely leave the monastery. There are exceptions, explains Mother Celeste, which includes doctor appointments or special meetings related to the Carmel order.
Two of the nuns at the monastery, called extern nuns, are able to leave to carry out functions such as grocery shopping. They are responsible for greeting the public who come to the monastery and they also drive the other nuns to appointments. The sisters who are not externs, including Mother Celeste, typically interact with the public behind a wooden lattice wall in the monastery.
But the majority of their days are spent in prayer.
They rise at 5:15 a.m. and start their day with silent prayer and mass. They have time set aside for their meals — which they take turns preparing — and they also have two hours a day of recreation time. Then, they end their day in prayer at 10:30 p.m. with lights out by 11 p.m.
Sister Sarah, 59, was a nurse in Peterborough and an avid baseball player before she joined the monastery at age 27.
“I really wasn’t thinking of religious life at all … but I broke my leg playing baseball,” she said.
Then, she came for a three-day retreat at the monastery — still not thinking much of it. But when she got home, she couldn’t stop thinking about her time at the Carmel of St. Joseph.
The prayer and silent, contemplative lifestyle at the monastery is what drew her to take her vows.
“It was such as beautiful thought to be united and to be praying for those that would love to pray but maybe because of the situation they can’t,” she said, adding that the nuns get prayer requests from around the world.
“We even got a request just recently from Singapore,” said Mother Celeste. “They sent us a letter saying, ‘please pray for the following intentions,’ and that was it; no name, nothing.”
For the most part, prayer requests are usually regarding the well-being of one’s family, health concerns, or about employment.
“It’s amazing, too, how many of them come back to thank (us) when they’ve received favourable answers,” said Mother Celeste.
Other than prayer, the sisters do enjoy a number of other activities. They are beekeepers who harvest and sell honey. They make a variety of jams from produce they grow; the jam is very popular and hard to keep on the shelves.
The nuns also make maple syrup, toboggan and ski on the property, go skating on the creek when it freezes, and some of them occasionally throw a baseball around.
“We just won’t have a nineperson (to a team) league,” laughed Mother Celeste.
But the most rewarding aspects of life at the Carmel, is twofold, she explained. It’s the act of being friend with the Lord and maintaining a friendship with the sisters.
Living as a nun is a calling and cannot be used as an escape from the world — a misconception Mother Celeste said is common for those who don’t know much about them. “They think we’re here to escape the world; you just don’t escape the world to come here,” she said. “You can’t escape self.”