Covington Carmel News
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- May Crowning
On
Mother's Day, we had the May Procession and Crowning of Our Blessed
Mother. This is a yearly tradition in our monastery. We make a
procession in our gardens, praying the rosary and singing Marian hymns.
This year, at the end of the procession, our newest postulant, Myriam
Saint-Vilus, did the honor
of crowning Our Blessed Mother.
- We thank Sister Grace and all of our Sisters in
formation for planning and doing all the necessary
preparations to make the event a wonderful occasion honoring Our Blessed
Mother and praying for all mothers.
- New Roads Youth Group
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Several young women, members of the Youth Group at St. Mary's Parish in
New Roads, Louisiana, came to our monastery on May 9. Most of them met
Sister Edith and Sister Grace during the Youth Festival at St.
Benedict Abbey earlier this spring. A few of them are discerning
vocations to the religious life and all of them wanted to know more
about Carmel and the contemplative life.
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The visit started with an opening prayer by our Prioress, Sister Joan.
This was followed by an exchange of introductions between the Youth
Group and some members of our community. Some of our Sisters and our two Postulants shared
their vocation stories and answered a few
questions from the group. Around noon, the group had a brown bag lunch by the pond.
Afterwards, the young women recited Mid-Afternoon prayer led by Sister Edith
in our Chapel and concluding
with a final prayer and blessing
by Fr. Bonaventure Sauer, OCD.
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Thanks to Emily Froeba, their Youth Director, arrangements for the
trip were made possible and the group was able to "come and see" where
we live and pray. A few of these prayerful young women have expressed a desire to
return to our monastery and further discern a Carmelite vocation. Let us
keep all of them in our prayers that they may receive God's guidance to
discern their vocations well.
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- New Vocations
- We are happy to introduce to you our new postulants, Lidia Martinez
(Left) and Myriam Saint-Vilus (Right).
- Lidia had spent several months with us previously and returned to
our community last January, entering as a postulant.
- With a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial
Engineering, Lidia has held various senior management positions within
the banking industry in the areas of Technology and Operations
Improvement. Most recently, she worked as Director of Quality and
Process Improvement with an international health care management
firm in Miami.
- While discerning her vocation to the religious life, Lidia taught
Religious Education at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Macclenny,
Florida and was involved in Parish Prison Ministry. She also served as a Eucharistic minister in her parish and, since 1999, was
a Secular Discalced Carmelite.
- Born in Cuba of Spanish parentage, Lidia grew up in Spain and in
Miami. She is fluent in Spanish and English.
- Myriam entered as a Postulant at the beginning of May. She was living in Tallahassee,
Florida when she started discerning a religious vocation. Actively involved in her parish before her entrance, Myriam was a
Co-Spiritual Director for the Christ Renews His Parish Program
at Blessed Sacrament Church in Tallahassee.
- Her
undergraduate studies was in the area of Computer Science and
Information Technology but she later earned a Masters Degree in Health
Services Administration. Myriam worked as a Human Services Program
Specialist for Home Care for Disabled Adults and
Community Care for Disabled Adults with the Florida Department of Children and
Families.
- Although Myriam and her family moved to Florida many years ago, she
was born and raised in Haiti. Thus, she is fluent in French and English.
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