In 1973, seven Carmelites from Hong Kong came to Hawaii to found the Carmel of the Holy Trinity. Now only three remain. But on September 10th, Sr. Mary Bernard, a sister from the Carmelite monastery in Quezon City, Philippines, sent an email to Bishop Larry Silva, Diocese of Honolulu, with good news: “Peace! Your dream for Hawaii Carmel is slowly coming true by the grace of God.”
The remaining sisters, Sr. Agnella Iu, Sr. Elizabeth de Jesus (temporary vows) and Sr. Veronica Wilson (novice) were faced with closing their monastery and moving to another Carmel. But soon 5 nuns from the Philippines will be joining them so full-fledged Carmelite life can resume in the “re-founded” monastery.
A delegate of the Carmelite superior general in Rome recommended closing the monastery but said Bishop Silva: “This was not a recommendation the sisters or I wanted to accept, because we know the great value of the Carmel as a quiet source of prayer support to the people of this diocese.” So, the delegate suggested another option – refounding the monastery with sisters recruited from elsewhere.
Since there are many Filipinos in Hawaii, it was natural to look at their homeland because there are 22 active monasteries there and one monastery had already sent sisters to Wales, the United Kingdom, Palestine, Belgium and Mississippi.
After a careful selection and discernment process, the chosen sisters visited other Carmels to become familiar with how other autonomous monasteries function and attended an orientation seminar run by the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries. The sisters will be accompanied on their journey to Hawaii by Sister Mary Bernard and a Carmelite father to ease the transition. As with all families, they are seeking to minimize the sisters’ culture shock like any loving mother and father would do.
“Hopefully, the Lord will give them the grace to persevere to the end, giving their lives to God for the church and the diocese,” said Sr. Mary Bernard. “Let us re-introduce Carmel once again in the diocese for prayer and more vocations. A fire has been enkindled once again.”
Excerpted from the Hawaii Catholic Herald -please see article for the complete story.