Renata Steffens
With a monastery in the heart of Dublin, the Redemptoristine nuns are a group of women who try to bring God’s love to each other in community. “We live and pray in community. Community is a very important feature of our lives,” their website reads.
They live an enclosed life, which means they do not leave the grounds of the monastery, but it is not lonely. The community life is centred on prayer, but they also spend time with each other and work together in the production of altar bread and looking after the monastery.
Last Saturday, November 16, the community celebrated the profession of the first vows of Sr Nilima. She is from Mumbai, India and has been in Dublin for three years preparing for this moment. She told The Irish Catholic previous to her first profession she was “excited” and “a little bit nervous”.
“I think that is part of life. I’m coming closer to that big commitment to God… It is a big commitment to me and I’m very happy to say yes to God. In whatever I do, the way I live my life in this religious, contemplative way. I’m very excited and very thankful to God for my location and life.”
Journey
Sr Nilima first came to Ireland in December 2021. She did her postulancy for one year and novitiate for two. But that was not the first time she entered the religious life trying to find the right life path for herself.
When Sr Nilima was deciding what she should do with her life, she was considering studying for a career “like nursing or teaching”, or joining the religious life. “I am afraid of blood and bodies”, the sister explained, so she decided on the second option.
When some religious sisters came to visit her parish, she “was drawn by them, [by] the way they were living their life and preaching…that was the first time I wanted to be a religious, but I was not sure whether it was my call,” or whether she should get a regular job and get married.
One day, telling her aunt about all the doubts she had about her future, the aunt asked if she really wanted to join the religious life, it “suddenly came from my mouth that yes, I would like to join.”
The aunt talked to her own sister, who is a religious, and some sisters came from the convent to meet Sr Nilima and her family. “When they explained about their life and everything, I was drawn,” Sr Nilima said.
She joined that convent in India, but they had an active life, much different from what the sister was looking for, as since childhood she was a quiet person. After three years and a half, she told her superiors “That was not my call, because that was active” and she was looking for silence. “I’m not happy,” she said, “I would like to go back. So she told [me] ‘yeah, no problem if you’re not happy. Your happiness is [what] matters. Wherever you go, you must [be] happy.’”
Sr Nilima went back home but kept wondering about her future. After around five months, a neighbour mentioned a girl she knew from a different parish in her area, who had moved to Ireland and joined the Redemptoristine Nuns.
“They are contemplative. If you would like to join…” the neighbour said. After considering it, Sr Nilima decided to try, and the neighbour went to the girl’s house to ask for her contact number.
“Then I contacted her. She told [me] about the sisters and their charism and their life, how they live. It was something that made me think deeply.”
After talking over the phone, some sisters went to Mumbai to visit and explain about life as a Redemptoristine nun. Sr Nilima then decided that path was the right one for her, however, the challenges to start her religious life were still not over.
She applied for her passport, which was fine. On the other hand, she could not get a visa, as it was mid-pandemic. Sr Nilima waited two years from the moment she decided to join the Redemptoristines until she actually joined them in Ireland.
Destination
“I’m very thankful and grateful to God,” Sr Nilima said, as during those two years of wait she “came to know more about this life. They were talking to me, I was joining sometimes through the webcam in their prayer life.”
When she finally arrived in Ireland, she was drawn by the silence, “and I felt that this is my call. This is my life and my location.”
Sr Nilima is not sure about the future, but after so much wondering and waiting to figure out her path in life, she is certainly happy to finally be able to profess her first vows.