Cloistered Carmel, Mangalore

On this International Women's Day, I would like to write about some wonderful women who make this beautiful world all the more beautiful with their unceasing prayers. The beauty of these beautiful women is that they make the world beautiful through their prayers by being on the other side of the world - known as cloistered Carmelite nuns, they have taken a vow of encasement to be inside the four walls of the convent/monastery to lead a life of silence and contemplation. They unceasingly pray for us who have been struggling on this side of the world.

And no, they are not the locked-up grumpy sisters you expect them to be! On the contrary, they have the most cheerful disposition and always greet you with an unfaltering smile - they are sure to brighten up your gloominess with their bright smiles.

There are more than a thousand Cloistered Carmels in the world and around 12000 sisters. In India, there are 34 Carmels with around 600 sisters. 

It has been my privilege to meet them from different convents. I have met the sisters in Mumbai three times, the ones in Bangalore for one time and the ones, to whom I dedicate this post, one time in Mangalore. I love them all with equal fervor. They enchant you with their charming disposition. There are around 15 sisters at the Sacred Heart Monastery in Kankanady, Mangalore, which is just opposite Dr. Muller's hospital. This is the first convent that was founded in India by St. Miriam Bouardy. As she was instrumental in founding this convent it preserves her relics like the bed she slept on and the rosary she prayed with. Like the other cloistered convents around the world, it too has a beautiful garden where grapes and dragon fruits are grown painstakingly. 

The Founder and Mother of these convents St. Tesera of Avila did not want her nuns to be dependent on anyone and thus different convents have different vocations. Some are into beekeeping and embroidery, some into making candles and pickles, and some into baking hosts. The sisters in Mangalore make vestments for the priests. 

The 15 of them - right from the approximate age of 30 to 94, have a set routine for themselves. They wake up early at 4:30 am to start their day with prayers, daily Eucharist, and meditation. They have set timetables for everything - to pray, to eat, to sleep, and even for recreation. 

Thus for their recreation, they even go on a picnic! On the day of the picnic, they fill their hampers with all their eatables to sit under the trees of their lovely garden and enjoy a day in the open! 

Though they have left the world to be in the solitude and silence of the convent with their Heavenly Spouse, they do not miss it by any means. They are happy to help the outsiders like us with their precious prayers. And I feel truly blessed to have been asked to write about them - I pray that they increase in number and that the world becomes even more beautiful through their prayers!