"I left my life as a dentist to embrace the world with prayer."

“Why don’t you stay in the world, where you can use your knowledge and help lots of people?” “You worked so hard to become a dentist, how can you leave to become a cloistered nun?”

My answer is: There are many more talented and skilled people who can do this work in the world, but not many are called to be contemplatives. As a matter of fact, it takes much courage to respond to this call. I was very happy in my life and loved the people I worked with and the patients I served. But,deep inside of me there was an emptiness, a thirst I cannot explain. I felt incomplete. The satisfaction I gained from my job was only transitory.

I suppose my journey into contemplative life began when I was a very young girl. I grew up in the church, it was where my mother worked, and it was like a second home, until I left for college.

When I was away at school, I treasured my independence very much. I went to parties and enjoyed going with my friends on road trips, got involved in choir and other activities, and studied long nights. I even began dating and became involved in a relationship during this busy time. I travelled to Barcelona, Sweden, Denmark and Norway! At the same time the question about a possible religious vocation was intensified. But I started to get discouraged and looked in another direction: maybe I am called to be a missionary after all, and even to have a family. Meanwhile, I continued with my studies and enrolled in dental school.

After passing the dental boards I found three part-time jobs, then decided to look for job opportunities in the Continental US. I moved from my native Puerto Rico to the mountains of North Carolina and became a travelling dentist. We had a mobile unit and provided care to children who did not have access to a private dentist. I loved going to Head Start, working with the little ones..all kind of bites and crying …. but you get a lot of smiles, too. It was a large tractor trailer, three dental chairs, with a laboratory in the back. I still keep in touch with my former boss. He is a very fervent Lutheran. It took me two years to finally decide that religious life was what God wanted of me. The questions were where and how fast can I pay off my student loans?

I looked at many different active congregations, which I thought at first would be good, because I could use my professional skills. Nothing appealed to me, so I looked on the internet. And then, there it was: Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters....I thought: “Adoration, that is something I like.” I clicked and the first thing I saw was: Pink!!! “Is this approved by the Church?”

After visiting their web stie, I could not stop thinking about the Pink Sisters, so I went to Philadelphia and met with Sister Superior....when I prayed in their Chapel, I knew the Lord wanted me here.

There is this song, “Pescador de Hombres”, known in English as “Lord, you have Come to the Seashore”. This song, it made me cry. I was reading the last chapter of John, the disciples on the beach. The Lord says, “Come follow me.” At this moment I look up at the monstrance on the altar and I see the host, and I notice the triangle surrounding it. I couldn’t believe it was the dental symbol. I suddenly knew....this is where the Lord wants me!