Interview with Mother Anne of Des Plaines Carmel - Part 3

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3.) One of your sisters recently celebrated her golden jubilee. Can YR please tell us about “perseverance toast” and any other special customs YR would like to share?

Yes, we celebrated our Sr. John Mary’s Golden Jubilee this May. It was a unique occasion, given the Covid situation, but we had our usual festive Mass and plenty of celebrating on the inside of the monastery. We have a very hallowed Jubilee tradition, The Jubilee Baked Alaska: we open the celebration on the day before with a ceremony of music and prayer, then we have “afternooning,” during which is served the above- mentioned creation, and no variation is allowed…or it’s not a “real” Jubilee. No matter how small the cake and ice cream combination are, the egg white covering it always makes it seem massive, so we think it must be that this kind of substantial confection is meant to offer nourishment on the next leg of the Jubilarian’s journey up Mount Carmel – and of course we are all happy to share in the fortifying treat!

Then there is the famous Perseverance Toast.

Then there is the famous Perseverance Toast. We do not know where it began, but toast in our community is a treat that we usually only get on Holy Innocents, when we can all fix our own breakfast. On most days, breakfast consists of bread and coffee, especially during the fast. We have Perseverance Toast on the mornings of the Sisters’ clothing and profession anniversaries, to mark another year of perseverance – it is not quite like the Elijah’s “scone,” but does provide inspiration, in a way, “lest the journey be too much.”

4.) May I ask how long YR has been in Carmel? Does YR have any advice for younger Carmelites who may have many difficulties ahead of them? Also, what advice would YR give to a first time Prioress?

I entered Carmel in May of 1966, just as the front wing was completed. I celebrated my Golden Jubilee in 2016. When you reach that milestone, you pause and think, where has the time gone? But then again, the time has “gone” straight into the Heart of our Beloved, where every second and minute is precious to Him, because offered with all the love of our poor hearts in praise and thanksgiving for being called to this beautiful vocation in Carmel. The life of a Carmelite nun is a signpost, pointing to the Infinite. It is her life that cries out in testimony to His living presence. She does not preach by words but by deeds, by withdrawing into the solitude that is Carmel, to immolate herself in the hidden simplicity that was Our Lady’s way of accepting the Divine Word. A Carmelite, too, utters a “Fiat” at every moment of her day, in a lifetime of loving intimacy with Jesus. There will be trials, difficulties and obstacles on the way, but this moment-to-moment fidelity is so precious to His Heart and He knows so well how much courage it takes for us to offer all these little things to Him with all the love of which we are capable. We indeed need to look at the “big picture” of the place of Carmel in the Church and in this modern world of disbelief, but it is ultimately our small acts of fidelity done in unalterable faith and relentless love that reach out to allow God’s grace to overflow on all those who are depending upon us, and all of us are capable of offering them.

I think that new prioresses can take great encouragement from Our Holy Mother herself: “If you examine the matter carefully, you will see that the majority of these houses have been founded not so much by man as by the mighty Hand of God, and that if we do not stand in His way, His Majesty loves to further the work He is doing. If then, you beseech God continually to further His work and do not trust in yourselves, He will not deny you His compassion, provided you have confidence in Him and courageous hearts, for His Majesty greatly loves these. Have no fear that He will ever fail you.” I have always loved those wonderful words of hers when she called herself a Mother with the office of Prioress, as our Constitutions point out so well. That really says it all!