Beauty That Can’t Be Captured: The Carmelite Monastery

The Carmelite Monastery has a “no photos” sign hung at the entrance. The beauty of this Monastery is stellar; at first site, I wanted to capture the glory of Carmel in snapshots and share that beauty with the world; which is in such desperate need to behold true beauty.

But then I ponder upon the beauty of Carmel; and perhaps the beauty that lies here, is that its beauty cannot be captured. Though unable to be recorded in physical snapshots, the mental images of the Monastery lie etched within the fabric of my soul. The nuns sing from the cloister, as the candles flicker around Our Lady of Fatima adorned in flowers for Her glorious month of May; as the incense rises like our prayers ascending to the Throne of God. The golden-brown hue that emanates from the Monastery signifies Carmel. The beauty of this Carmelite Monastery is that its beauty that cannot be captured. Heavenly beauty transcends earthly beauty into the realm of unutterable beauty.

As Saint Thomas Aquinas was near the end of completing the “Summa Theologica” he had a mystical vision of The Blessed Trinity. This vision was so profound that Saint Thomas Aquinas said to his friend, "Reginald, I cannot continue since all I have written, in comparison to what I have seen, seems but straw to me." This is a poignant example of beauty beyond words, beauty that cannot be captured.

The uncapturable beauty of The Carmelite Monastery is woven within the fabric of The Brown Scapular that hangs around my neck. Our Lady’s transcendent beauty is found in the gracious offering of Her habit to us lowly ones. As a Mother knows her babes needs, how sweet of our Heavenly Mother to give us a token of Herself, for us to be sheltered in. When I wear my Mother’s Habit, I am reminded of the beauty beyond words that I have discovered within The Carmelite Monastery.