Esteban Pittaro | Aleteia | June 27, 2016
Photos circulating on the internet of a dying Carmelite sister are certainly, as they say, worth a thousand words. But the images that have traveled around the world are only part of the story. For those who lived her suffering beside her, the nun’s testimony of joy and peace were just as radiant as her face.
News of her failing health and her reflections spread quickly through social media or WhatsApp. Even Pope Francis was following her situation. And Sister Cecilia Maria, a discalced Carmelite, knew about everyone’s prayer.
Despite her illness, she did not lose her joy, which was sustained by the support of her numerous family members, who remained close by. Joyful nieces and nephews congregated in the gardens outside the hospital where she was admitted for some weeks, sending her messages and helium balloons to distract and entertain her from the window.
Her joy was accompanied — or perhaps explained — by...
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