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God’s ‘housewife’

Colombian native becomes first Miamian to enter cloistered order of Discalced Carmelites.

ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC MIAMI BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 12.21.07

Sister Anita prays during the Mass that accompanied her profession of temporary vows to the Discalced Carmelite Sisters, a contemplative order.
ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

HIALEAH | At a time when vocations to the religious life are rare, Ana Carolina Bernal felt called to the rarest — to become a cloistered nun.

From now on, she will be known as Sister Anita del Corazón Misericordioso (Sister Anita of the Merciful Heart).

She will live with eight other Discalced Carmelite Sisters in the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity on the grounds of Immaculate Conception Parish in Hialeah.

She will spend all of her days in prayer, leaving the convent only on rare occasions, and greeting visitors, including her family, through a grille.

“It is a life with God. It is a total surrender,” said the 28-year-old Colombia native, who is the first local vocation for the order.

NEXT : A RARE VOCATION

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