Those who perceive in themselves this kind of divine spark which is the artistic vocation—as poet, writer, sculptor, architect, musician, actor and so on—feel at the same time the obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it, in order to put it at the service of their neighbor and of humanity as a whole. —Pope John Paul II, “Letter to Artists” (April 4, 1999)
One of the beautiful Carmelite monasteries listed on our new CloisteredLife.com website is the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Tasmania. The nuns have long been receiving our magazine Religious Life and we are happy to be united with them in spirit across the ocean on our website.
Last Sunday, they hosted an art exhibition at the monastery because they have a wonderful artist-in-residence—Sr. Christina Mary, O.C.D., who entered Carmel in 1999. She comes from a family of artists and her whole upbringing was characterized by art and faith. Sister Christina graduated college with an honors degree in art and wondered if her art would distract her from living fully the Carmelite life. But her superior and novice mistress at the time realized “that God was working in and through my art and so they gave me permission to continue.”
The date chosen for the exhibition recalled St. John Paul II’s “Letter to Artists” issued on April 4, 1999, Easter Sunday, in which he said: “…my hope for all of you who are artists is that you will have an especially intense experience of creative inspiration. May the beauty which you pass on to generations still to come be such that it will stir them to wonder! Faced with the sacredness of life and of the human person, and before the marvels of the universe, wonder is the only appropriate attitude.”
Mother Teresa Benedicta of the Cross said that Sr. Christina Mary’s work continues a centuries-old tradition of nuns and monks involved in creative pursuits. “All the Sisters are encouraged to develop their gifts in creative ways,” she said, “which gives glory to God and is an extension of our prayerful pondering of the Word of God and the mysteries of Christ, and also provides relaxation and human flourishing in manifold ways.”
The Australian Carmel in Launceston was founded in June 1948 and moved to its present location in April 1975. Their life of prayer and sacrifice in solitude, in strict papal enclosure as desired by St. Teresa and given by the Church, is for the sake of the Church and the world, supported by life in community. They wear the habit of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as a sign of our consecration.
Sister Christina Mary accepts commissions for new paintings and relies on photos, her imagination and the sky above to find her inspiration, though they have a great vista down the Tamar Valley in northern Tasmania. Mother Teresa Benedicta says: “Please God, it will draw people to Our Lord through the beauty of her art.”