During Pandemic, Carmelites Continue Prayers and Sacrifices for Spiritual Good of the World

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Prayers are rising up to heaven these days from all over the world. Prayers of great fear of uncertainty and helplessness, prayers of depression and frustration and disappointment. Prayers with doubt as to how God would allow such evil as the coronavirus to take over the world. Prayers for God’s protection have seemed to dominate all human hearts these days during this holy season of Lent.

Here at this little corner in Holladay, our Carmelite community of cloistered nuns are, day and night, looking up to heaven with tears in our eyes, begging for God’s protection for his children. More than ever before, the intercessory prayer aspect of our vocation is much needed in the eyes of the world. We hear from people all over the world, asking us to pray for them; and to each of them we have promised to off er all our prayers, works and sacrifi ces for their spiritual good. We have added the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet and rosary to our daily schedule and spend more time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to pray for all.

“The Lord is my light and my help, whom should I fear?” (Psalm 27). How many times have we recited that psalm in the quiet hours of meditation? Yet, when facing an incurable disease that has spread over the world and claimed so many lives, we can’t help but fear. As a community we fear for our older sisters: What if they are infected, what if they die alone in the hospital? We ask ourselves, “What if one of us gets it and gives it to others?” We wonder whether we will be able to have our annual fundraiser, the Carmelite Fair, this September. As a daughter, I am worried about my elderly parents at home. As religious, it breaks our hearts when we tell the faithful we no longer have our 7:30 a.m. Mass at the monastery for now.

It’s quite disappointing to see our plans canceled for a beautiful Divine Mercy Sunday celebration and a large public veneration of a fi rst-class relic (bones) of St. Faustina with which we were gifted a few months ago. And yet there are many others who are suff ering a lot more than we are. So many people are sick and die alone, people cannot go to work, etc. This coronavirus has aff ected each and every one of us in diff erent ways. It would be truly depressing for all of us to go through this pandemic without being able to turn to God for help.

But, “Everything is grace.” These simple words of St. Therese of the Child Jesus bring us back on our knees, and put things in a better perspective – in the eyes of faith. As Carmelites we should know by heart that no matter how things are, if we have confi dence in God, there is no more need to worry. We’re grateful for the many hours that we spend with our Lord in prayer and adoration, through which we have gained strength to fi nd peace in God’s will and trust in Him. God never abandons us; he is with us even more now in our fear and struggles. Now is the time when all of us must walk in faith, blind faith it is, to fi x our eyes on God – and all fears will be dispersed to leave room for peace, the true peace only God can give.

Whether we live or die from the coronavirus, we pray even more that we will not die a spiritual death. The coronavirus cannot take away our souls, but mortal sins can. May we live our lives according to God’s holy laws so that our souls remain pure and are not tarnished by sins. Thus, our spirits will never be affected by coronavirus or any other illness that comes our way. So, let us not fear but surrender to God in trust and adoration, to him who loves us and saves us for everlasting life.

Jesus said, “I come so that you may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). We pray for “life” – for the lives of doctors and nurses and fi rst responders who put themselves at risk for the service of others, for those who are infected with coronavirus so that they can recover, and for God’s gift of life itself, beginning with babies in their mothers’ wombs. Let us all live in him. Let our souls rise again with him this Easter season. Let us bow our heads in prayer that our good Lord have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and deliver us from the coronavirus, for the praise of his glory.

Mother Therese Bui is prioress of the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Salt Lake City.