Sister Carmel of St John the Baptist
Sister Carmel, one of the three founding sisters, together with Mother Agnes and Sister Claire-Marie, was born on September 15th, 1962 in Lebanon. She is the youngest of seven children. Born in a village of the Bekaa valley, having grown up in the suburbs of Beirut, she lived the Lebanse war, an experience that has deeply marked her. Before becoming a nun she was a midwife.
"During my childhood I experienced great joy and suffering. My joy was to play in
nature, to climb trees, ... Also, since the time of my first communion, I lived in an abyss; I did not understand why and nobody could give me an explanation. I also
lived an inner revolt at that time. During those difficult moments I went to Mass alone to cry. My life took a turn when I was about 19 years old. From then on I started
walking from victory to victory. At that age, I remember, we were praying as a family - everyone was talking about his personal experience with Jesus. At night, in my bed I started
crying, saying, "Jesus, You love everybody, but You do not like me because You never told me so.” That night I had a dream where I saw the Lord approach me, He put his hand on my
shoulder and looked at me with a look full of tenderness, a gaze I will never forget.
I cannot say that there was a specific encounter with him, I was with Him throughout the different storms in my life. Today my heart is at peace, but the Lord allowed these experiences
to purify me. »
St James the Persian
