An American Little Flower by GinaMarie Tennant

Author:GinaMarie Tennant [AUTHOR, FIRST]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Spirituality & Religion
ISBN: 9781642291988
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Published: 2023-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

8

TREAT AND HER MANY FRIENDS

CHARLES AND TERESA hurried to the trolley stop. At that early hour on a Sunday morning, the street was practically deserted, and the trolley was nearly empty. Brother and sister, both home for the summer, had already gone to the earliest Mass at Saint Vincent’s in order to catch a train to Philadelphia.

Arriving at the station, Teresa said, “It just dawned on me that I have never been to Pennsylvania.”

“Yep,” Charles said. “Didn’t I once say that you had not experienced enough of the world?”

Teresa nodded. Words could not express how grateful she was that Charles was taking her to visit a Carmelite monastery. Would she find there the place God was calling her to be?

A few hours later, they were standing outside Broad Street Station. The huge Gothic building dominated the center of bustling Philadelphia. Charles looked at the address scribbled on a small piece of paper by the pastor of Saint Vincent’s. “I can barely make this out,” he said. “I wish Father Dolan wrote more legibly.”

“He doesn’t see well,” said Teresa.

Charles nodded and asked a policeman for directions. He had never heard of the Carmelites of Philadelphia, but he gladly told them the way to the address, which was several blocks away.

The heat made Teresa tired. She dragged her feet after her brother. Her heart sank when they arrived in front of a Kosher meat shop.

“Maybe this is an eight rather than a six,” Charles said, looking again at Father Dolan’s scrawl.

“It must be,” Teresa agreed.

They walked two more blocks. This time an Episcopal church greeted them.

“Maybe this number is a seven?” Teresa offered hopefully.

A half a block farther, they stood in front of a flower shop.

“I’m trying to see this as a sign that we are getting warmer,” Teresa said.

“Let’s go to a Catholic rectory,” Charles said. “Any Catholic priest should know where the Carmel is.”

They walked back to where they had seen a Catholic church, and Charles knocked on the rectory door.

“How can I help you?” asked the young priest who greeted them.

“Hello, Father,” Charles began. “Would you please tell us where we can find the Carmelite monastery?”

“The Carmelite monastery?”

Charles handed the priest the address.

“There must be some mistake,” said the priest. “There is no Carmelite monastery in Philadelphia.”

On the trip home, exhausted and disappointed Teresa rested her head on her brother’s shoulder and fell asleep.

The next morning, Father Dolan realized his mistake: that monastery was in Missouri! He found a Carmel in New York City, and this time he confirmed the address. He even wrote Teresa a letter of introduction to the mother superior.

Charles and Teresa easily found the New York Carmelites. Teresa met with the mother superior, who told her to wait a little longer, at least until she was twenty-one, before applying to the monastery.

“Don’t feel bad,” Charles remarked on the way home, “Sister Thérèse was not able to enter Carmel as soon as she wanted either. God knew that she needed more time at home first.”

“In my case, I guess I need more college.

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