IN MEMORY OF
MOTHER TERESA OF
JESUS (MAUREEN) FOX
Peacefully at the Carmel
of St. Joseph, Spruce
Grove, Mother Teresa of
Jesus, O.C.D., foundress,
passed into eternal life,
November 24th, 2016,
aged 91, in the 62
nd
year
of her religious life. Born
March 5, 1925 in Cardiff,
South Wales – Great
Britain, to William Joseph
Fox and Mary (O’Farrell),
Maureen was their second child, having
been preceeded by a brother, Fr. Francis
Patrick Joseph, I.C., who became a
Rosminian priest. She received a lively
Catholic Faith from her loving and closely –
knit family in which religion was of first
importance. Maureen entered the
Carmelite Monastery in Bridell, Cardige in
northern Wales on September 15, 1952.
On March 24, 1953 she received the
Carmelite Habit and her religious name of
‘Sister Teresa of Jesus’. She made her
First Profession on March 25, 1954 and
made her Perpetual Profession of Vows on
March 25, 1957. In 1966 she became
Mistress of Novices and she served as
Prioress from 1968 – 1971.
With the closure of Bridell Carmel in
1975, Mother Teresa went temporarily to
Darlington Carmel for Association work.
She was the Secretary of the Association of
British Carmels in its formative stage. In
April 1978 she went to help the Carmel in
Macau and became Novice Mistress in
December, 1978. She was elected
Prioress in January 1985 and has held this
office for 31 consecutive years until her
death in November, 2016. Mother’s
experience in Macau gave her a deep
insight on Communist China and a
profound love for the persecuted Church
there. As the Carmel was situated on the
mainland of China, the nuns were in a
privileged position to receive many
confessors of the Faith in their parlour
(1980 – 1990). These included priests
(mostly Jesuits), Sisters, laypeople who
had all borne heroic witness to their faith by
long years of suffering in prisons and
labour camps before finally being released
at the end of their unjust sentences. Mother
Teresa wrote 3 biographies of Confessors
of the Faith in the Suffering Church in
China. She kept close contact with many
faithful Chinese priests and laity from
around the world; several of whom had
been former prisoners for Christ there. She
worked zealously until the time of her death
to assist them, educate others, and to
promote a greater awareness of the
situation of the underground persecuted
Church in China.
Macau was under Portuguese Church
rule because China had leased Macau to
Portugal for 442 years. This lease was due
to expire in 1999, and Macau was then to
be handed back over to Communist
mainland China. In addition to that
situation, Macau could not viably generate
vocations to perpetuate the existence of
the Carmel, given that only a mere 2% of
its population was Catholic and a cloistered
Carmelite vocation is a unique calling. With
these considerations in mind, Mother
Teresa and her community decided to
relocate abroad. Many permissions of
Church and state were needed for this
tremendous undertaking. Human effort
and interventions of God’s unfailing
providence, which can only be seen as
miraculous, allowed them to leave and on
March 8, 1990, Mother Teresa of Jesus
arrived in Canada with 7 other nuns to
found this Carmelite Monastery of St
Joseph in Spruce Grove, Alberta which
opened May 31, 1993.
Although we deeply feel the great loss
of her physical presence, her spirit remains
very much alive among us as we go
forward blessed by her heroic example of
greatness, fidelity, and indefatigable trust in
God’s loving providence and care.
Archbishop José Rodriguez Carballo,
Secretary of the Congregation for
Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic Life, gave a
conference on the cloistered life and it was
very well done. So I will simply give you a
review of his excellent talk, all of which we
Nuns thoroughly appreciated.
So the cloistered life is to serve the
contemplative life, a life of intense love of
the Divine Spouse. It is an all or nothing
sort of life, radical in the sense that if we
don’t live it fully we don’t live it at all. So
because the Nuns have been called like
Jeremiah who moans that he has been
seduced, that he pants for God, so the Nun
has received a strong experience of being
loved by God, and to whom much is given,
much is demanded. So the Nun wants to
give all her life to respond to this love.
Hence her life is a cloistered life of the
Heart. The external cloister is a physical
sign and symbol of this.
Hence the need for silence and solitude in
this life, for the Nun (for that matter I
should add, the monk), searches for God,
this God who has seduced her to give Him
her entire heart. But God is not so easily
found. So the silence of waiting for Him,
living for Him. A silence that is very
positive since lived for Another, even when
it is difficult. Silence is like a lamp of love
held aloft to seek the Beloved. And in that
place of intimacy, of the solitude of the
enclosure, the Nun gives God the affection
of her heart.
So the option for the cloistered life is to
be a total gift for the first and only
Spouse, to renounce even space in order to
remain with the One who contains
everything! It is a cloistered life of the
heart. Hence the cloister calls for an
appropriate response to such a gift.
Of course there is a penitential aspect of
the enclosure. But this makes sense only if
we speak the language of love. So the nun
has to be aware of the danger of looking at
herself, falling into a false solitude. No,
our life is to be prophetic – here lies the
apex of our life of penance – that our life
of contemplative love for God be genuine.
Hence joyous as well, which for us is always
possible, and a responsibility. Joy must be
served in tribulation, and perfected in
suffering.
So the cloister is an oasis in a desert where
flowers grow, where we approach the
source of Life, to God. It is a place of
regeneration. Cloister separates us from,
in order to separate us for! It is a place of
loving intimacy, of listening, a school of
formation; it obliges us to pass from self to
a radical freedom where we can freely and
fully give ourselves to the One who calls for
this love.
Archbishop Carballo told us that our
cloister must not be absent from history.
We take history, the world, all into our
prayers and into the fullness of God. We
follow Jesus, so that we are to form
ourselves into His image, and thus become
an existential narration of God. So that
whoever comes to the Monastery must
become aware of something …ah what to
call it?
Finally Archbishop Carballo called to us,
“Don’t deprive the Church of your cry for
the Transcendent.”
I hope this explanation helps somewhat to
explain enclosure. Maybe I can say that
religious life still remains a mystery. We
love it but it is difficult to explain. Only
living it with love tells the story well.
By a Carmelite Nun
About Us
Discalced Carmelite Nuns, OCD
IN MEMORY OF
MOTHER TERESA OF JESUS (MAUREEN) FOX
Peacefully at the Carmel of St. Joseph, Spruce Grove, Mother Teresa of Jesus, O.C.D., foundress, passed into eternal life, November 24th,
2016, aged 91, in the 62
nd
year of her religious life. Born March 5, 1925 in Cardiff, South Wales – Great Britain, to William
Joseph Fox and Mary (O’Farrell), Maureen was their second child, having been preceeded by a brother, Fr. Francis
Patrick Joseph, I.C., who became a Rosminian priest. She received a lively Catholic Faith from her loving and closely –
knit family in which religion was of first importance. Maureen entered the Carmelite Monastery in Bridell, Cardige in
northern Wales on September 15, 1952. On March 24, 1953 she received the Carmelite Habit and her religious name of
‘Sister Teresa of Jesus’. She made her First Profession on March 25, 1954 and made her Perpetual Profession of Vows
on March 25, 1957. In 1966 she became Mistress of Novices and she served as Prioress from 1968 – 1971.
With the closure of Bridell Carmel in 1975, Mother Teresa went temporarily to Darlington Carmel for Association
work. She was the Secretary of the Association of British Carmels in its formative stage. In April 1978 she went to help
the Carmel in Macau and became Novice Mistress in December, 1978. She was elected Prioress in January 1985 and
has held this office for 31 consecutive years until her death in November, 2016. Mother’s experience in Macau gave her
a deep insight on Communist China and a profound love for the persecuted Church there. As the Carmel was situated on
the mainland of China, the nuns were in a privileged position to receive many confessors of the Faith in their parlour (1980 – 1990). These
included priests (mostly Jesuits), Sisters, laypeople who had all borne heroic witness to their faith by long years of suffering in prisons and
labour camps before finally being released at the end of their unjust sentences. Mother Teresa wrote 3 biographies of Confessors of the
Faith in the Suffering Church in China. She kept close contact with many faithful Chinese priests and laity from around the world; several of
whom had been former prisoners for Christ there. She worked zealously until the time of her death to assist them, educate others, and to
promote a greater awareness of the situation of the underground persecuted Church in China.
Macau was under Portuguese Church rule because China had leased Macau to Portugal for 442 years. This lease was due to expire
in 1999, and Macau was then to be handed back over to Communist mainland China. In addition to that situation, Macau could not viably
generate vocations to perpetuate the existence of the Carmel, given that only a mere 2% of its population was Catholic and a cloistered
Carmelite vocation is a unique calling. With these considerations in mind, Mother Teresa and her community decided to relocate abroad.
Many permissions of Church and state were needed for this tremendous undertaking. Human effort and interventions of God’s unfailing
providence, which can only be seen as miraculous, allowed them to leave and on March 8, 1990, Mother Teresa of Jesus arrived in Canada
with 7 other nuns to found this Carmelite Monastery of St Joseph in Spruce Grove, Alberta which opened May 31, 1993.
Although we deeply feel the great loss of her physical presence, her spirit remains very much alive among us as we go forward blessed
by her heroic example of greatness, fidelity, and indefatigable trust in God’s loving providence and care.
Archbishop José Rodriguez Carballo, Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic
Life, gave a conference on the cloistered life and it was very well done. So I will simply give you a review of his excellent talk, all of
which we Nuns thoroughly appreciated.
So the cloistered life is to serve the contemplative life, a life of intense love of the Divine Spouse. It is an all or nothing sort of
life, radical in the sense that if we don’t live it fully we don’t live it at all. So because the Nuns have been called like Jeremiah who
moans that he has been seduced, that he pants for God, so the Nun has received a strong experience of being loved by God, and to
whom much is given, much is demanded. So the Nun wants to give all her life to respond to this love. Hence her life is a cloistered
life of the Heart. The external cloister is a physical sign and symbol of this.
Hence the need for silence and solitude in this life, for the Nun (for that matter I should add, the monk), searches for God, this
God who has seduced her to give Him her entire heart. But God is not so easily found. So the silence of waiting for Him, living for
Him. A silence that is very positive since lived for Another, even when it is difficult. Silence is like a lamp of love held aloft to seek
the Beloved. And in that place of intimacy, of the solitude of the enclosure, the Nun gives God the affection of her heart.
So the option for the cloistered life is to be a total gift for the first and only Spouse, to renounce even space in order to remain
with the One who contains everything! It is a cloistered life of the heart. Hence the cloister calls for an appropriate response to
such a gift.
Of course there is a penitential aspect of the enclosure. But this makes sense only if we speak the language of love. So the nun has
to be aware of the danger of looking at herself, falling into a false solitude. No, our life is to be prophetic – here lies the apex of
our life of penance – that our life of contemplative love for God be genuine. Hence joyous as well, which for us is always possible,
and a responsibility. Joy must be served in tribulation, and perfected in suffering.
So the cloister is an oasis in a desert where flowers grow, where we approach the source of Life, to God. It is a place of
regeneration. Cloister separates us from, in order to separate us for! It is a place of loving intimacy, of listening, a school of
formation; it obliges us to pass from self to a radical freedom where we can freely and fully give ourselves to the One who calls for
this love.
Archbishop Carballo told us that our cloister must not be absent from history. We take history, the world, all into our prayers and
into the fullness of God. We follow Jesus, so that we are to form ourselves into His image, and thus become an existential narration
of God. So that whoever comes to the Monastery must become aware of something …ah what to call it?
Finally Archbishop Carballo called to us, “Don’t deprive the Church of your cry for the Transcendent.”
I hope this explanation helps somewhat to explain enclosure. Maybe I can say that religious life still remains a mystery. We love it
but it is difficult to explain. Only living it with love tells the story well.
By a Carmelite Nun
About Us
Discalced Carmelite Nuns, OCD
