The Vocation of Sr. Mary Paul

Having attended public schools until I went to college when, for the first time other than CCD classes, I had religious Sisters teaching me, I had little exposure to religious life. My desire was to have a career, eventually to marry and to have a large family. When I attended Mercyhurst College in Erie , PA , I was impressed by the care, interest and personal concern shown to me by the Sisters of Mercy. The life of faith which was strong in my own family was now visible to me in the educational system. I was in an environment where Catholicism was integral to everyday life.

My classes in religion brought me to greater familiarity with the Scriptures, especially the Epistles of St. Paul. However, an active social life in my college years left little time for pondering a religious vocation and I felt no call other than the hope of marrying one day. The opportunity arrived and I was very close to choosing marriage on more than one occasion. However, a certain sense of unfulfullment hovered over me and the life-question, “Where are you going?” haunted me. What the world had to offer seemed meaningless and so limited. I longed for something more radical and spiritually satisfying. Only later did I realize I was searching for God.

Upon graduation from Mercyhurst College with a BA degree in Biology and a Medical Technologist’s certificate, I began working in the laboratory of St. Vincent Hospital where I met two orderlies who had been former Trappist monks. They introduced me to the writings of St. Teresa of Jesus and I began reading, praying and allowing God to break down my resistance to religious life. One day, alone in prayer and struggling, I surrendered to God who was touching me deeply. “You win!” I said and shed tears of relief, repentance and self-giving when God gave me the certainty of what I had to do. My spiritual director guided me to Carmel in Loretto, PA where I was accepted for entrance into the community on October 16, 1955 . I subsequently came on the foundation to open our Carmel in Latrobe in 1961.  God who called me to Carmel continues to fill my days with love, peace and appreciation for this precious contemplative vocation in the Church.