Last week I had an opportunity to visit our wonderful Carmelite Sisters at their monastery on Holladay Boulevard in eastern Salt Lake City. We are certainly blessed to have their presence in our diocese. Their apostolate of prayer is essential for the vitality of the diocese. As Lord Tennyson said, more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. (Did he end his sentence in a preposition?!) That is why St. Theresa of the Child Jesus is called a patroness of the missions, even though she never left her Carmel. She prayed unceasingly for the missions that the people there would be disposed to listen to the missionaries. This “pre-disposing” grace is very important in furthering the Gospel and the Church credits St. Theresa for her apostolate of prayer, which is every bit as real and effective as the missionaries who actually worked in the mission fields.
If you are ever in the area, please drop by and make a visit in the Sisters’ peaceful chapel. You may even want to drop the Sisters a note, telling them how grateful you are for their ministry in our midst. I hope more young ladies will answer Christ’s call to join their monastery. It is not for everyone but I am certain there are some who are being called to this life of prayer for the Church and the world. If you are interested, please look them up at www.carmelslc.org.
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