My name is Sr, Thérèse of the Holy Face (a reference to the face of Christ for the uninitiated). I am a French national from Guadeloupe (West Indies). I have been a member of the Community for 20 years. Jesus came and plucked me from university in Paris where I was studying mathematics.
From early childhood I received a basic religious education. When I left my island for mainland France I entered, at every level, into a phase of autonomy to which my faith was not imune: what sort of a Christian was I? Who was Christ for me? What importance did the Eucharist have in my life? Was it simply a tradition I had to carry on with?
With all these questions going through my mind, I came across a prayer group which became the channel of a significant spiritual experience. I discovered a living God not at all distant from my life. I can share two elements of that experience: in front of Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament I tasted God’s infinite love for me, I had met Someone who loved me in a unique way. Furthermore, when a few members of the prayer group prayed for me, I saw my whole life in an instant and was made aware of God’s faithfulness at various moments of my life. I had touched something of God, something great and beautiful that nothing and nobody could rob me of. Not only was I convinced of God’s existence but I knew from within that He was in me and with me.
Faced with such Love a calling to religious life (first experienced at about 12 years of age) resurfaced in my heart: a desire to give my whole life to God in order to love Him and make His Love known.
During the time of discernment that followed I providentially met a person at the Faculty who was going on a retreat with the Community. I decided to go on that same retreat as well to find out God’s will for me. I have not been disappointed!
I was struck by the liturgy, the fervent praise expressed in this community, the quality of fraternal life, the beauty of God emanating from the very simple quality of life, as well as its evangelisation outreach. I, therefore, chose the Community because it was apparent to me that my great desire to give myself to God could find its full expression in a life where contemplation and mission intermingled so strongly.
Religious life for me is a means to love to the full. It is a way that shows that God exists and that it is worthwhile to consecrate one’s whole life to Him. Every day I learn to surrender and let myself be enlightened by God and to become ever more available and ready to make Him known and loved. “The wind blows where it will. You hear the sound it makes but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes. So it is with everyone begotten of the Spirit (Jn 3,8). To follow Christ is an adventure : letting God constantly surprise us and remaining open to renewal in the Spirit…
Sr Thérèse of the Holy Face
