My Walk with Our Lady

My walk with Mary began as a child. Being raised Catholic, Mary was a part of our lives, just as much as the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When I was 18, my own Mother died, I turned to Our Lady to be my Mother in a real way.

I entered the convent at 19. I was a Postulant with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tennessee. They are more commonly known as the "Nashville Dominicans." You can check them out here: http://www.nashvilledominican.org/. I was drawn to their Community by their zeal and particularly their devotion to Our Lady. I remember the first time I went for a retreat. I truly thought I had transcended into Heaven. It was actually as though I was looking through a window into Heaven. The sounds of the Sisters chanting the Liturgy of the Hours. I had never

experienced anything like that before. I also remember the reverence, the bowing at the Glory Be. The most special time was spent in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. I didn't even know what that was until then. They also had the Dominican practice of singing Compline and the devotion to Our Lady, by singing the Salve Regina

    

and the O Lumen, to St. Dominic. It was their "goodnight" to Our Lord, Our Lady and the Light in St. Dominic.

I came home and announced that I had found what I thought Our Lord was calling me to. I entered the Convent on the Feast of Our Lady's Crowning as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. I loved my time there. It was like gaining a family. I was not called to be a teacher. It became clear to me, that I needed to leave and return home to care for my beloved father. He had Parkinson's Disease as well as developing Alzheimer's. Believe me, it was more painful to leave than to have entered. I am so thankful for my time there. I knew Christ had called me to be His Own, however, He had other ideas for me. I prayed and discerned that He wanted me to start a Vocation Support Group.