What Is Life in a Carmelite Cloister? – A Nun’s Joyful Witness to the Daily Rhythm of Prayer and Love

BY

Mother Madonna of the Assumption, O. Carm. (Patricia Ann Morales) 

Where is Home?

I call the heart of Holy Mother the Church my home and the heartbeat is what gives life to the Church. Of this I am an eyewitness, day in and day out, and at the same time I am an integral, vital member, whose heart beats to the sound of music too deep for words on earth, but waits until eternity, when it will give full voice to the words ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what things God has prepared for those who love Him’ (1 Cor 2:9).  

Would anyone believe the joy one can experience from within the cloister walls? 

How can the words of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus apply today in the year 2026, when times have changed and keep changing?  How many pins can exist and how many souls can really be saved by picking up a pin [one of those little acts that St Thérèse loved]? Yes, you are right—no one knows but I can tell you from experience, it surely works and souls are being converted.  What other motive could there be in this life than to go beyond oneself to seek and find what every human being is seeking and yearning for: love or Love.  

Then why not be ‘love in the Heart of Holy Mother the Church’?

Too difficult? Too absurd? Too strange? Too scary?

Absolutely, and yet we answered the call and ‘came to love Love’.  Our hearts beat to and for the One our hearts yearn for, and that yearning is all day, twenty-four hours a day, and that is literally. Our sleeping hours are included because our sleep is offered to Him for the intentions we are not aware of, but He is totally aware of.  

At home in God’s presence: Let your face shed its light upon us

Let us journey together within the cloister walls of Carmel of Mary to experience a bit of ‘heaven on earth’.  Each new day begins before 5:30 a.m. in order to be at Morning Prayer (Lauds) at 5:30 a.m.  Some nuns may need more time to get ready, while others can dress in a ‘jiffy’ and be ready in a few minutes, and others have duties that need to be accomplished before Morning Prayer.  The Prioress gives the traditional morning blessing before we begin Morning Prayer and with that blessing we feel God’s presence blessing us and our whole day. The next words spoken out loud are ‘O Lord, open my lips.’  After the Invitatory we sing a hymn to Our Lord while joining all of Heaven, priests, religious, and those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours.  After chanting the psalms in Gregorian chant, we have one hour of personal prayer in the chapel or in our rooms.  At 7:00 a.m., we have Holy Mass, which is the climax of the day because we have the honor of receiving Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament at Holy Communion. 

After our thanksgiving, a simple breakfast follows with a short period of work and then the joy of returning to the choir for Mid-morning Prayer (Terce) and Office of Readings.  Those in Initial Formation will have class after Office of Readings or in the afternoon depending on the day’s schedule.  A holy hour consisting of the Rosary and Litany to Our Blessed Mother is taken individually by each Sister. 

At the Liturgy of the Hours: To you, O Lord, our praise is due

Spiritual Reading follows and then a short period of monastic tasks.  At 11:15 a.m., we return to the choir to chant the praises of the Lord, Midday Prayer (Sext) followed by the daily examination of conscience and the Angelus prayer.  At 11:45 a.m., we have our noon meal.  During the noon meal, we listen to a reading while we nourish our bodies so both soul and body are nourished at the same time.  After our simple meal, we make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and recite a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s goodness and for all those who provide for all our needs. Without them we would not be able to live this way of life for which all of us are so grateful.  After our little visit and thanksgiving, we return to wash the dishes.  As a side note we wash all our dishes by hand, which gives us the opportunity to unite with those who also do not have a dishwasher or who choose not to use one.  Doing dishes in Community is one of my personal ‘highlights’, because we are all together accomplishing something.  We can see instant results.  For example, a counter can be full of dishes one minute and within a few minutes they are washed, dried and placed in the cupboard.  Now that is indeed ‘Finding Jesus in the midst of the pots and pans!’  And believe it or not, there is rarely a long face in the kitchen because we have found Him right there in our midst.  He dwells in my Sisters and I know and experience it in moments when we are together.  After we put all the dishes in the cupboard, we return to the choir to chant the praises of the Lord, which we call Mid-afternoon Prayer (None).  We begin the Divine Office with ‘O God, come to my assistance.’ Indeed, He does come to our assistance so we can sing beautifully for His glory.  The beauty of the Liturgy of the Hours is the harmony and peace one experiences either by listening or participating.  All of us listen attentively to our neighbour so we can blend our voices with one another and offer something truly beautiful for the Lord. 

Engaging pots and pans are an essential part of the day

Following Mid-afternoon Prayer, we return to our duties and tasks around the monastery, which might consist of cooking, cleaning, correspondence, bookkeeping, laundry, listening to prayer intentions on the answering machine or reading them in an email.  At 3:00 p.m. we return to the chapel for a prayer to remember Our Lord during His Passion/Divine Mercy.  At 4:30 p.m. we have Evening Prayer, Vespers, which is one of the most beautiful of the Hours because we have the opportunity to chant the Magnificat like Our Lady did during the Visitation to Elizabeth.  (Lk 1:39–56). Each word lifts your mind and heart heavenward; what better way to give yourself to God? After Vespers we have one hour of personal prayer in the choir, our room, or outside in the midst of nature.  At 6:00 p.m. we have supper, which consists of a bowl of soup, a sandwich, vegetables and fruit.  

After we wash the dishes, we have recreation from 7:00–7:45 p.m. and then, we begin Night Prayer/Compline at 7:50 p.m.  We return to our rooms after Compline and prepare for sleep and aim at being in bed by 9:00 p.m. 

Many graces flow and keep flowing from our way of life within the enclosure because every minute and every breath within that minute is offered to Our Lord in union with Our Lady for souls and especially for priests.  St Thérèse at a young age had a special devotion to pray for priests and her desire has grown in the hearts of many Carmelite nuns throughout the world.  It is through the ordained priests that we are able to receive Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, which for us is grace upon grace in overflowing measure. 

The Sisters at recreation

Challenges we encounter come in the form that so many people struggle with in the monastery and outside the monastery, and that form is ‘time’.  It is something we all would like more of and yet if we had more than twenty-four hours in a day what would we do?  I am sure the outcome would not be the best for us because God’s time and timing are perfect.  The ebb and flow of our life gives our bodies and souls the perfect balance for prayer, work and leisure. As the Prioress at Carmel of Mary, I have the joy and privilege of being an eyewitness of the nuns going from prayer to their duties, to some leisure time, back to prayer and their duties and all the while with peace and harmony.  Another joy I experience as the prioress is the joy of journeying with each Sister as the transformation process takes place day by day, year by year.  I can say the women I live with are genuine in their pursuit of holiness, striving every day to practice virtue and to have a pure heart and a stout conscience.  Striving to be a saint is not easy and yet watching the Sisters with whom I live makes it look easy because of their humility.  I myself can only hope and pray to follow their example on a daily basis.  

For all those reading this article, congratulations!  I am by far, as you can tell, not a writer, nor do I desire to be one, but what I do desire is to share with you the LOVE I have found in Holy Mother the Church and therefore the love I desire to give back with every breath I take in order to be love and to give love as the heartbeat of Holy Mother the Church.  If this article touched you in any way, please let us know and we can encourage each other on the journey of transformation as we help one another by our prayers and works of charity.  

He is our beginning and our end

St Thérèse to Léonie, ‘We must not let slip one single occasion of sacrifice, everything has such value in religious life. […] Pick up a pin from a motive of love, and you may thereby convert a soul.’1

St Thérèse said, ‘We are to pray for them while they are preaching to souls through their words and especially their example.’2

St Teresa of Ávila said, ‘Well, come now, my daughters, don’t be sad when obedience draws you to involvement in exterior matters. Know that if it is in the kitchen, the Lord walks among the pots and pans helping you both interiorly and exteriorly.’3

  1. Leonie Martin. A Difficult Life, (Dublin: Veritas Publication,1993), p. 55. ↩︎
  2. St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Story of a Soul. John Clarke, O.C.D., transl. 3rd Edition (Washington D.C.: ICS Publications, 1996), p. 120. ↩︎
  3. St. Teresa of Avila, ‘The Book of Her Foundations’ in The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila. Vol. III. Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D., transls., (Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1985), p. 122. ↩︎

Mother Madonna of the Assumption, O. Carm. (Patricia Ann Morales) was born in Santa Barbara, California, and lived in New Braunfels, Texas, until she was six years old. Her family then moved to Owosso, Michigan, where they lived for eight years. When she was sixteen, the family moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she completed her secondary education. She enlisted in the United States Air Force in May 1984 and began boot camp on 6 January 1985. After military training and finance schooling, she was stationed at a military base near Newbury, England. Her three years in England provided many opportunities for weekend travel and pilgrimages. The first and most impactful was to Aylesford, which left a lifelong impression on her soul. She later visited Walsingham. Her final year of military service was spent at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. In May 1988, while looking through a book of Religious Communities, she discovered Carmel of Mary Monastery in Wahpeton, North Dakota. After completing four years of military service, the call to enter Carmel grew steadily stronger. On the Feast of Saint Simon Stock, 16 May 1989, she entered Carmel of Mary — a day she describes as the best day of her life, when she left everything to give herself entirely to her first Love within the cloister walls of Carmel of Mary, Wahpeton, North Dakota, USA.

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