A time of hope

Dear friends,

From our Carmelite monastery of the Pater Noster, on the Mount of Olives, the moment has come to break a rather long silence of a few months. For us, as for many, this time has been marked by uncertainty, pain and prayerful waiting.

The night seemed long! But at the very heart of this darkness, hope appeared! Fragile, certainly, but in reality the Lord invites us to believe in what Saint Paul tells us: ‘hope does not disappoint’, because it is rooted in the One who is stronger than death.

In this Jubilee Year of Hope, the Church is really inviting us to live it out in our daily lives. She is calling us to live hope, not as an idea, but as a choice, a path, an inner strength that drives us forward.

In this time of trial, we would like to thank all those who have thought of us, written to us, supported us, visited us, helped us, prayed for and with us, so that peace might return. Your gestures, sometimes so simple, have been like stars in the night for us.

A special thank you to the "Chevaliers du Saint Sépulcre" who recently visited us with kindness and fraternity, and to our dear volunteers who promptly left for the Mount of Olives as soon as a glimmer of hope appeared, faithful to their post! We are particularly grateful to Dominique and Marie Thérèse for their services and their courage in the final trials we shared.

This week until 16 July, next Wednesday, we will be in the great novena of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. With her, Our Lady of Hope, we turn our hearts to the Lord, the God of peace. We invite you to join us in praying for peace for the Holy Land, the land of the Prince of Peace, and throughout the world, in particular for Ukraine and several countries in Africa and other continent as well.

In this time of hope, may the Holy Spirit keep you in peace. May He make all of us witnesses of hope in our prayer, helping us to remember that the amount we receive is always linked to the amount of hope for.

Your sisters of the Carmel of the Pater Noster - Mount of Olives, Jerusalem