hat on earth would possess an ordinary young lady, in the flower of her youth, freely and joyfully to enter upon a life of seclusion from the world, to live a life of prayer and penance? The answer is that nothing of earth has captivated her heart, but Someone has. Most people can understand a person being attracted to a passing love but not to an Eternal One. To the world this is sheer madness – but then, the wisdom of this world is utter foolishness to God. The mysterious gift of a young lady's religious vocation is something that begins in the inner court of her heart and there we must look to find its consummation.

y entering a convent a woman has not renounced loving, she has simply renounced the shadow of human love and turned her capacity for unselfish love from man to God. All earthly love is as nothing in comparison with the love of Jesus Christ, for Jesus is God and God is Love Itself, Infinite and True and Eternal. Preferring nothing to the love of Christ she has relinquished the pursuit of a career, the company of her family and friends, and the right to raise a family of her own, with all its joys and burdens, that with a heart free and undivided, she may devote her entire life to seeking intimate union with God.

erhaps slowly at first but with an ever-increasing clarity of vision, she begins to understand how she is to become one with Jesus in the intimate bond of mystical love. Union with Jesus will be attained not by something she does, but by something she is to become. Not by merely following a certain routine, or by wearing the nun’s veil, or by multiplying her pious devotions, but by an inner spiritual transformation. By making divine union the sole desire of her life, she will begin to seek God earnestly in the depths of her soul by the path of interior recollection, prayer, and self-sacrifice. Yes, sacrifice. For love without sacrifice is not true love. A spouse of the Crucified Christ must deny herself, take up her cross and follow Him to Calvary. The way to intimate union with God will be through an interior crucifixion. But this death to self-love will flood her soul with the only true and lasting peace that can be had here on earth.

erfection is the goal of the Religious but it is not a cold, lifeless, mechanical thing. Perfection is simply union with God by love. Too many think of perfection as a steep mountain to be climbed all by oneself. Little do they realize that God is waiting for us in the valley of humility. Here we must joyfully recognize our spiritual poverty. God’s method of dealing with souls is not to fill them with so much strength to the point of making them self-reliant and independent of Him but to show them their complete dependence on Him. It is not that the nun has no faults and failings but that she daily picks herself up, and with renewed confidence in the loving Mercy of God, continues striving to please Him in all things. For the Mercy of God stoops down to that soul which is helpless and weak as long as she remains in trustful humility. For He is infinitely more loving and merciful than she is weak and sinful. The perfect act of love is the perfect act of confidence. By closing her eyes like a child and throwing herself upon His Mercy with boundless faith and hope in His goodness and willingness to aid her, she will glorify God in all things – even in her failings. “How sweet is the way of Love! True, one may fall, but Love, knowing how to draw profit from all, very quickly consumes whatsoever may displease Jesus, leaving nothing but humble and profound peace in the innermost soul.” (St. Therese)

he faithful nun will begin to see the beauty of her soul as solely the work of God, and that her own role has only been that of accepting and co-operating with His grace. She expects nothing from herself, but everything from God. “If souls weak and imperfect as mine, felt what I feel, not one would despair of reaching the summit of the mountain of Love, since Jesus does not demand from us great deeds, but only self-surrender and gratitude…He has no need of our works but only of our love. (Jesus) did not hesitate to beg of the Samaritan woman a little water…He thirsted!!! But in saying: ‘Give me to drink', it was the love of His poor creature that the Creator of the universe besought. He thirsted for Love! And now, more than ever is Jesus athirst. He meets with none but the ungrateful and the indifferent among the disciples of the world; and amongst His own disciples He finds, alas! very few hearts that surrender themselves without any reserve to the tenderness of His infinite Love...O Jesus! Could I but tell all little souls of Thine ineffable condescension!...I feel that if it were possible to find one more weak than mine Thou wouldst take delight in showering upon her greater favors still, provided that she abandoned herself with entire confidence to Thine Infinite Mercy.” (St. Therese)

esus gives to the nun His Sacred Heart and He demands her heart entirely in return. “Give me thy heart,” is His constant plea. He searches for souls who will love Him in return with all their heart. But why does Jesus want her love? Does God have any needs? Of course not, but He wants her heart because He knows that she cannot be happy except in seeking and loving Him above all things. Her heart, being consecrated to Christ, must be filled with an undivided love for Him. Her one pleasure, her one joy, must be to seek to please her Beloved in all things and not herself. Purity of heart means the complete dedication of her heart and affections to the Divine Bridegroom.

y becoming a nun, the young lady might be tempted to think that it is she who has given a beautiful gift to God. Over time the full meaning of our Lord’s words will dawn on her : “It was I that chose you.” Jesus has chosen her from all eternity. This priceless gift has been freely given her, even though she has done nothing to deserve it. All that she would have had in the world is nothing in comparison with being so chosen. She belongs to Christ and He belongs to her. She may suffer in many and soul-searching ways, however, she has confidence and perfect peace. For she knows that she is loved, cherished, and chosen. In return, she strives to love Jesus

above all things. And this is all He desires.

he love of Jesus will consume the soul of the faithful nun and unite her intimately to God. Human marriages are dissolved by death, but the union of the spouse of Christ with her Beloved will never be dissolved. He has bound her to Himself for eternity on condition that she remains completely His. Death will not separate her from Him but will unite them for ever.