Carmel of Maria Regina

        We're taking a brief break from our exploration of the life of a Carmelite Nun, in order to share with you that  Sister Mary Veronica of the Holy Face, OCD (Frances Anna Doerner), the last founding sister of the Carmel of Maria Regina in Eugene, Oregon, died April 4, 2022, at the age of 93 from heart failure. She died peacefully at the monastery with the sisters (Nuns) caring for her.     Sister Veronica was born October 23, 1928, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Leo Joseph Doerner and Ruth Gertrude Valentine Doerner. Her mother, Ruth, died of tuberculosis when sister Veronica was eight years old, so her Aunt, Anna, helped to raise her. She attended public schools in Los Angeles and Oxnard until senior year of High School, then transferred to Santa Clara High, Oxnard. For two years, she attended classes at Mt. St. Mary’s College for Women in Los Angeles. Then on May 24th, 1949, she entered religious life at the Carmel of S...

“In the beginning, when God crated the heavens and the earth — and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters— Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ Evening came, and morning followed—the first day.” ~Genesis 1:1-5 The Divine Office is cyclical, in the same way that the seasons or the hours of the day are cyclical. The prayers continue ever forward—each day following the next—in a slow, upward spiral of God’s creation, which is ever journeying back to God. With the liturgical calendar, it seemingly goes around and around in circles; Advent to Christmas, Lent to Easter, back to Ordinary Time, and then, back to Advent. Yet each year and each moment is new and alive, continuously being created. Traditionally, in monastic life, Matins (or “Office of Readings...