Aspirancy

Hello everyone!

Today is the big day! I will be beginning a step called Aspirancy this afternoon, along with two other girls. My wallet is empty, my bank account is closed. I used all the change I had left in my wallet to buy an iced Chai. My younger sister is inheriting my laptop. I have everything I need for Postulancy. 

Marlee, Jodi and I will spend the next month preparing for our official entrance on September 14th, when we will begin Postulancy. I am so ready to jump into this next phase of formation, and trusting that God will continue to lead me each step of the way!

I have had a wonderful time visiting with my family the last few weeks; we did everything that we love to do together, and enjoyed our time. This weekend, my mom and one of my sisters came to Los Angeles to help me with a few last minute details. It is a time of a lot of joy and a lot of sad goodbyes.

My mom will post updates here from time to time. The Sisters also post updates and pictures on their website (carmelitesistersocd.com). There will be pictures after our entrance on September 14th.

I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported me throughout this journey; it has been overwhelming and humbling to hear from people who have reached out to me. 

You can be assured of my prayers!

In His Sacred Heart,

Leah

"I've been captured in the loving nets of the divine fisherman. I wish I could make you understand this happiness." - St. Teresa of the Andes

Draw me, we will run after You...

"The deepest longing of a woman's heart is to give herself lovingly, to belong to another, and to possess this other being completely. Only God can welcome a person's total surrender in such a way that one does not lose one's soul in the process but wins it. And only God can bestow Himself upon a person so that He fulfills this being completely and loses nothing of Himself in so doing. That is why total surrender which is the principle of the religious life is simultaneously the only adequate fulfillment possible for woman's yearning."

Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

I am incredibly blessed beyond belief to be able to say that I am debt free, and that I will be entering postulancy this year. I can't express the joy I feel in knowing that God is calling me to move forward. He has opened the door wide open, and I will run through it.

I have learned so much in my year of Candidacy, and it is humbling to think of everyone that supported me in so many way to enable me to move forward. I'm so very grateful.

Today is wedding day in Carmel - 3 Sister are making their first profession of vows, and 2 Sisters are receiving their religious names as they become novices. It is such a beautiful day and I can't wait to see them!

I will be going home to my family in Colorado next week to spend some time with them and to prepare to enter an entirely new world. I've been getting my feet wet during this past year, but this next step will mean leaving behind many of the things that I've been able to keep over this past year, and I will continue to need many prayers. There will be many preparations to make (both interior and exterior), so I'm very glad to have some time at home with my family to process all that is happening.

In August, I'll return to California and begin a month of Aspirancy, where I'll be preparing to enter. And God willing, I will be entering in September.

I will continue to update as I can during the next month - please keep me in your prayers as I move forward, trusting God to continue to lead me step by step as His will unfolds for me.

With all my love and gratitude

In His Sacred Heart,
Leah

Fundraising Update

Dear Friends,

I have been enormously encouraged by the generosity and support of so many people, may of whom I've never met before, who have sent me notes of encouragement and financial support to help me move closer to my goal of being debt free by this Wednesday, July 16th.  If my student loans are paid off, I will be free to enter Postulancy with the Carmelite Sisters this year (if you're unfamiliar with the stages of formation, you can read more here.)

As of today (Saturday), I still need an additional $6,000 to pay off all of my student loans in full.  Going forward, I will also need about $5,000 to cover the cost of health insurance during the three year novitiate, as well.

I'm so grateful to each person who has helped me come closer and closer to reaching my goal. I have been paying off my student loans since I graduated in 2008, but when I began Candidacy in August I still had around $24,000 left to pay off. To be so close to being debt free is really an incredible feeling.

More than anything, I am filled with gratitude for what God has done in my life. My conversion story was featured by the Coming Home Network this month. It is amazing to see all that He has done to bring me here, and I am so excited to find out what He has in store for me in the future.

If I don't reach my goal by Wednesday, I will have another year in Candidacy to pay off my debt and to continue growing in my faith while living here in Los Angeles with the Sisters. So, whether I enter Postulancy or continue on for one more year in Candidacy, I know that I will be where God wants me, and that is all that matters.

If you are able to help me with a donation, please consider giving - even small gifts add up. And if you are able to give a larger gift, you will be my hero.

May God bless you! I am praying for you all!

In Christ,
Leah

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

J.M. + J. T.

Dear Friends,

Praised be Jesus Christ! Tomorrow we begin our novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in preparation for the biggest Carmelite feast of the year, which falls a week from Wednesday, on July 16th. It is a big day here, and I'm really looking forward to being here with the Sisters on that day. There will be three Sisters making their first profession, and it will be an incredible day of giving thanks to God for his great love.

I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported me with their prayers and financial support as I've been working to pay off my student loans so that I am free to enter postulancy later this summer - I have been able to raise about $5,000 through the generosity of many people in the last few weeks, and it has been an incredible encouragement to me. I still need about $9,000 to pay off my loans completely, and I must have that money by the 16th to enter this year.

I think that of everything I've learned throughout this discernment process (and I've learned so, so much)... the most important thing has been learning how to trust God - to really trust Him. To be able to honestly believe in the very depth of my soul that God is in control and that He will work everything out as He sees fit.  It may not be what I had in mind, or would prefer, but I trust that everything that happens to me comes from out of His inexhaustible mercy and tender love (even suffering and pain, when it is for our ultimate good). Trusting Him has always been hard for me, and I think it's only by taking little steps in faith, without being able to see where our foot will land, that we will learn how trustworthy God is. I wanted to share with you a quote that a Sister shared with me recently that I've been thinking about quite a bit:

The root choice is to trust at all times that God is with you and will give you what you most need... God says to you, "I love you, I am with you, I want to see you come closer to me and experience the joy and peace of my presence. I want to give you a new heart and a new spirit. I want you to speak with my mouth, see with my eyes, hear with my ears, touch with my hands. All that is mine is yours. Just trust me and let me be your God.

Remember, you are held safe. You are loved. You are protected. You are in communion with God and with those whom God has sent you. What is of God will last. It belongs to the eternal life. Choose it, and it will be yours.

- Henri Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love

So I am perfectly at peace, knowing that if I give everything to God, He will do with me whatever he wants. And what could be better than that?

For this novena, I will be praying especially for all of you who have held me in your prayers, and I have held you in mine. Please let me know if you have any special intentions that I can be praying for - I hold you all close to my heart each day before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. 

And if you are able to support me financially (even in a small way), please consider doing so - I'm incredibly grateful.

God bless you!

In His Sacred Heart,

Leah 

One Month

Dear friends,

I'm happy to share some exciting news - I have been officially accepted for Postulancy! That's the next step in formation, and would mean actually entering the Carmelite Sisters community. It's a really big step, and one I feel ready to take (If you're interested in the different stages of formation, you can read about them here).

However, my entrance is conditional -  I must be completely debt free by July 16th - the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

That's one month away.

I still need $14,000 to pay off the rest of my student loans, and $6,000 to cover the cost of health insurance during the 3 year novitiate. So, $20,000 dollars total.

Will you help me? Please consider a donation - even a small donation of $20 would help me towards my goal.

I trust God completely that if it is His will, I will find the money that I need to move forward.

I have more exciting news - my conversion story is going to be featured by the Coming Home Network in their July newsletter, and online. They are a wonderful organization behind "The Journey Home" on EWTN, featuring stories of people who have converted to Catholicism. I'll post a link to the story once it's been posted. I'm really excited to be able to share my story of conversion.  

God bless you all, I keep you always in prayer. Please let me know if you have any special intentions that I can be praying for.

With much gratitude,
Leah

The Fullness of Truth

This spring, a truly wonderful organization called Endow (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women) did a little piece on my story in their newsletter.

I was involved with Endow for the last few years while I was living in Colorado, and they create amazing studies for Catholic women based on different documents of the Church that are especially related to women's issues. I met some truly incredible women through my Endow group that have become great friends of mine.

Endow is doing wonderful work in explaining the beauty and goodness of Catholic teaching, empowering women to grow into the strong, tenderly courageous and boldly feminine saints that God created them to become.

If you'd like to see what they wrote about me, see page 5 in their beautiful newsletter, found here.

You can find out more about Endow by visiting their website at www.endowonline.com.

Update - 5 Months in Carmel

It's almost impossible to put into words the graces and the ways that God has blessed me in the last five months, since I began Candidacy with the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles.  My life has changed so much, and there are still mornings when my alarm goes of at 4:35 and I think, "Wait, I live in a Convent - how did this happen?"

I am so blessed to live with the other Candidates - I learn so much from each of them. Our lives of prayer keep us centered in Christ, and I'm amazing by each of them, in the depth of their love for our Lord and their continual willingness to serve.  During our free nights, when we have recreation together, we will sometimes have praise and worship nights together; I play the cello, Cherilly plays the piano and Martha plays the guitar - and we all gather around and play and sing and worship together. In those moments I can hardly believe the joy that fills my heart.

Last weekend, Sister Pia of the Pierced Heart made her first profession of vows. We were fortunate to attend her Wedding day!  We had front row seats to witness her Total Consecration to Christ in  making vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.  It was beautiful to see her joyful gift of self. 

I feel strongly that God is calling me to give myself to Him entirely. In order to move on in my formation to enter officially as a Postulant, I will need to pay of my Student Loans and be completely debt free in the next few months - that means raising a little over $20,000. 

Please consider supporting me financially, so that I am free to respond to Christ invitation to belong entirely to Him. I am so grateful for those who have already given to help me, and I am very encouraged by the support and prayers I have received!

If you are able to help me, please consider giving. I can receive payments through PayPal through the button on the right side of the page. 

Or, if you would prefer, I can also receive donations through mail here:

Leah DesGeorges

Candidates of the Heart of Mary

819 Buena Vista St.

Duarte, CA 91010

Please know how closely I hold you all in my heart and prayers! My God bless you abundantly!

Resting in His Most Sacred Heart,

Leah