Which Might Be The Hardest Vow?

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[quote name='TradMom' post='1666983' date='Sep 30 2008, 03:23 PM']Praised be Jesus Christ!

Obedience......

When Daughter One was discerning, we visited a beautiful, traditional community in California. FULL Habit...apostolic work. One of the wonderful sisters we met had a completely secular name...and let me think of how to illustrate this without giving away who this was....her name was "Sister Cindy". When she told us her name, both of us were SHOCKED. Cindy?! Who ever heard of a saint Cindy?! I said, "Sister, what an unusual name!" She said, "I know." "I wanted to be named Mary Margaret - more than anything, because I had a great devotion to Saint Mary Margaret, and the Sacred Heart, but I got Cindy." And I said, "I never heard of a Saint Cindy, there must be some other meaning for your name, right?" And she said, "Oh, yes. I was named after a Benefactor. She left the community a great deal of money with the stipulation that someone be named after her." We ended up having a conversation about it, and clearly, all these years later (I would say she was in her fifties) she still didn't like her name. But. There she was, doing her work with grace and love, and being honest about her name...I appreciated that she was honest both with how she was named and how she felt about it. But more than anything, I appreciated how she stuck with the community, how she lived her life of prayer, sacrifice and work, and how - even though carrying a name through life that she didn't connect with or even like - she did so out of great humility and obedience. My daughter and I talked about it, and in our hotel room that evening, we laughed about what a fit we would have had - knowing our own tempers would have flared terribly - at the very least as you give your whole life and everything up - one would want a befitting name from one's heart! It was a great lesson for both of us, though certainly more for my daughter, who had a first hand encounter of obedience at that moment. Most likely, "Sister Cindy" was chosen for this special task because she was the one that was most able to handle it. I pray for that Sister daily. I stopped praying that she would be okay with her name and began praying that I would have a better understanding of obedience and grace in my life, with a stoic smile and courage - like her. All of us are called to obedience; religious or not...

TradMom[/quote]

What an absolutely wonderful story! I was given the name of Sister Teresa of Jesus in Carmel, and as much as an honor as that was, I never felt like "Teresa" and really wished that I could have chosen my own name. I never thought about it the way that you presented it however, and that sister truly was surrendered to be able to relate that story in such a way to you. When I enter again somewhere, God willing, I certainly will think about that story when the time for receiving a religious name comes. Surrender to God always requires so much more of us than we can ever comprehend, and yet the benefits are so enormous to us personally when we can do it with at least a semblance of grace. Thank you for sharing that story with us.

[TradMom]

Praised be Jesus Christ!

In error, I said "Saint Mary Margaret" when I should have said "Saint Margaret Mary" which I was corrected on privately. I apologize. My edit button is not showing up so I cannot go back and correct my error. Thank you, Nunsense, for your reply!

God be with all of our Carmelites today!

[johnnydigit]

3. poverty. seems the easiest. harder if the community isn't practicing as much as you would like..

2. chastity. tough one while still living in the world. much easier when in community. much, much easier when cloistered. can be more difficult when active/contemplative.

1. obedience. who knows how long the laundry list for this one is..


all i know is, these will bring you ever closer to the One you love, the One who can make you happiest, the One who will take you to greater and greater heights with no limit.


HEY, you forgot

4. Marian vow! easy peasy? she helps with 3, 2, and 1! great to have her, hard to let her down though..

[johnnydigit]

[quote name='TradMom' post='1666983' date='Sep 30 2008, 12:23 PM']Praised be Jesus Christ!

Obedience......

When Daughter One was discerning, we visited a beautiful, traditional community in California. FULL Habit...apostolic work. One of the wonderful sisters we met had a completely secular name...and let me think of how to illustrate this without giving away who this was....her name was "Sister Cindy". When she told us her name, both of us were SHOCKED. Cindy?! Who ever heard of a saint Cindy?! I said, "Sister, what an unusual name!" She said, "I know." "I wanted to be named Mary Margaret - more than anything, because I had a great devotion to Saint Mary Margaret, and the Sacred Heart, but I got Cindy." And I said, "I never heard of a Saint Cindy, there must be some other meaning for your name, right?" And she said, "Oh, yes. I was named after a Benefactor. She left the community a great deal of money with the stipulation that someone be named after her." We ended up having a conversation about it, and clearly, all these years later (I would say she was in her fifties) she still didn't like her name. But. There she was, doing her work with grace and love, and being honest about her name...I appreciated that she was honest both with how she was named and how she felt about it. But more than anything, I appreciated how she stuck with the community, how she lived her life of prayer, sacrifice and work, and how - even though carrying a name through life that she didn't connect with or even like - she did so out of great humility and obedience. My daughter and I talked about it, and in our hotel room that evening, we laughed about what a fit we would have had - knowing our own tempers would have flared terribly - at the very least as you give your whole life and everything up - one would want a befitting name from one's heart! It was a great lesson for both of us, though certainly more for my daughter, who had a first hand encounter of obedience at that moment. Most likely, "Sister Cindy" was chosen for this special task because she was the one that was most able to handle it. I pray for that Sister daily. I stopped praying that she would be okay with her name and began praying that I would have a better understanding of obedience and grace in my life, with a stoic smile and courage - like her. All of us are called to obedience; religious or not...

TradMom[/quote]

yikes! "brother Clement" would do it for me. ok i guess it's not too bad.. "brother Goliath"! now that would be constant penance. "brother Judas"? lol