CARMEL
ITSELF RESEMBLES A CASTLE
We
can relate Carmel as an interior castle. It was my first experience in my life
to see a cloistered convent when I came to Malayattoor, Mount Carmel. It was in the Year of Mercy, our loving God gave me the chance to visit this
"Heaven
on earth".
I was little bit terrified when I saw the black curtains but I gathered my
courage and spoke with the sisters. Like Jeremiah in 17:12 "Our
Temple is like a glorious throne,
standing on a high mountain from the
beginning".
It
seems that this house was formed in God’s heart from the beginning. I
experienced that our Carmel is the place which was sanctified by the coming of
St. Thomas the Apostle, was really the glorious throne of heaven on earth.
I
was pleased to remain in my cell like our St. Little flower. I see this house
and my little cell like the heaven on earth. Our life is a pilgrimage from this
heaven on earth to the eternal home. I thank God for planting a soul into this
more fertile soil from the place where I was, to have this heavenly experience
in this life on earth. We are called to be the mother of souls and the gates of
heaven shall be opened for us when we reach there with the many souls, we have
saved for God. I praise God who knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb
and chosen me to live in this house.
God
healed me form the fear of black curtain in the parlour by revealing to me its
significance. As we know that black colour reminds us about death. Yes, it is
those who have the courage to die for Christ who enter here to be dead to the
world, dead to the passion of your body and dead to one's own will. God gives us the
strength to die to the three enemies - the body, world and devil. Only those who
have the desire to be dead to these enemies can enter and live here happily. It
is the extreme love for God which is the way to Carmel. It is that burning love
which has brought us here. When we enter this castle through the gate of love we
can see many mansions in it. We have the tabernacle where we find God in the
Holy Eucharist, besides that each cell is also a place where we find God’s
presence. Hermitage is another beautiful place where the mighty presence of
God prevails. The more you keep the interior silence the more you can experience
God’s presence in these places. My Cell
is the common meeting place of my spouse with me,
there
my soul becomes one with Him, I speak with Him and nothing disturbs me there.
This cell is also an altar, from which the fragrance of prayer spreads to the whole
world. St. Edith Stein says, "from the cell to heaven”! Yes, by living in the
cell which is the soul of Carmel, let us come in union with the Holy Trinity and
continue this heavenly experience now on earth and then in
eternity.
Carmel
Malayattoor
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