Solemn profession
Ancient order of cloistered nuns prays for souls, vocations
Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
RARITAN TOWNSHIP — Most people will never meet Sister Maris Stella of Jesus Crucified Discalced Carmelite, but she could still have a have a profound effect on their lives, both here and in the hereafter.
As the newest solemnly-professed member of the order, Sister Maris Stella will serve the church by praying for the salvation of souls, the ministry of priests and other petitions brought to them.
The Carmel of Mary Immaculate and Saint Mary Magdalen is home to 16 sisters, including two novices, who range in age from 27 to 86, Sister Maris Stella said. Carmelites live a regimented lifestyle that also includes daily Mass and manual work as well as time for recreation.
“It is incredibly liberating to live according to God’s plan for you. People think that they have freedom in setting their own plans and goals, but if we are living for ourselves and for the things that are only important to us, that’s the thing that is enslaving,” Sister Maris Stella said.
Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski presided over the liturgy and solemn profession and veiling of Sister Maris Stella at the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and Saint Mary Magdalen June 24.
Dominican Brother Dominic Mary Legge, a friend of Sister Maris Stella’s from Washington, delivered the homily. By her solemn profession of vows, Sister Maris Stella “has given herself in love as a bride to Christ,” Brother Dominic said.
“In doing this you display to us the mystery of the church, who is the spouse of Christ. The church who has given the life of Christ to the salvation of the world so that all of us may share in the love that God has in himself,” he said.
“We can see on your face that you are very joyful today. This tells all of us a great secret about religious life and religious profession. That the world does not turn gray but rather because of your vows and the walls of this enclosed monastery they become a prism for the light of God, which splits into a radiant splendor of brilliant color, more brilliant than any light outside.”
As a Carmelite, “the Lord has placed you at the foot of his cross, in the shadow of his passion,” he said.
Hearing the call
Sister Maris Stella was born Leila Dawn Bate Feb. 1, 1967, in San Bernardino,
Calif., where she attended public schools.
“She was very academic and loved to learn,” said her mother, June Bate, who traveled from her home in Rosehill, Calif., to witness the service.
Sister Maris Stella earned a bachelor of science degree in political science at UCLA and a master’s degree in public policy at Georgetown University, Washington.
While a student at UCLA, she participated in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and was baptized in 1987.
After working in politics and public policy for Congress and various nonprofit organizations in Washington, Sister Maris Stella said she decided to enter religious life because she “felt called to something more.”
“One time I remember sitting in the Cathedral of St. Matthew where I used to attend Mass and I thought, ‘What was the best thing I could do to save lives?’ The best thing was to be a priest and it seemed to me that the second best thing was to pray for priests since we need them so much and to help them spiritually, and win graces for the entire world, for the doctors and the lawyers and the mothers and fathers,” Sister Maris Stella said.
About 1999, at the suggestion of her spiritual director, Sister Maris Stella visited the Carmel in Raritan Township and fell in love with it. She was a postulant for about a year and a novitiate for two years before professing first vows in 2003.
Sister Maris Stella said she experienced peace and joy after professing her final vows. The smile that reflected those feelings also lit up her daughter’s face during her first profession of vows, Bate said.
“I want what she wants. And she will be happy. It stunned me at first, but we adjust and I know she is happy,” Bate said.
Sister Maris Stella said the main challenge is “trying to be faithful to our Lord and make him present in our lives. That is a daily challenge.”
As for her religious name, she chose it because “Our Lady is our guide to heaven. If we look to her, she always leads us to him, and no one loved Jesus the way Mary did.”
A regimented life
The Carmel of Mary Immaculate and Saint Mary Magdalen is one 12 monasteries in the Saint Joseph’s Association, according to Carmelite archives. Participating communities choose to live a traditional interpretation of the rule given to them by St. Teresa of Avila. The sisters’ schedule includes prayers at 6 a.m., followed by morning prayer, Mass, and coffee/spiritual reading at 8 a.m.
After two hours of manual work, mid-morning prayer and examination of conscience precede dinner, which begins at 11:25 a.m.
After an hour of recreation, an hour of manual work is followed by mid-afternoon prayer and supper and recreation at 6:15 p.m.
Evening prayer at 8 p.m. is followed by free time, night prayer and spiritual reading. The nuns retire at 11 p.m.
Despite being cloistered and following a regimented lifestyle, Sister Maris Stella said the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and Saint Mary Magdalen is not a mirthless place to live. St. Teresa of Avila, who helped reform the order in the 16th century, once said, ‘God, deliver me from sullen saints.’
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law