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City of the Lord member joins Carmelites
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
October 18, 2007
TEMPE — Even though Marisa Butler grew up in a Catholic school and covenant community, she never thought her vocation would entail life in a cloistered community.
But the Lord knew all along.
Butler, 25, joined the Carmelite Sisters by the Sea in Carmel, Calif., Oct. 12 as a postulant — the first year of formation leading up to final vows.
“It’s a beautiful life. It’s a beautiful call and people don’t know a lot about it,” she said of religious vocations.
Butler graduated from Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, attended youth groups and later served on core teams. But she didn’t know much about the life of a sister before going on a mission trip three years ago.
She was serving at a summer youth camp run by the Sisters of Charity. Butler was there through a connection with City of the Lord, a Catholic covenant community in Tempe where she grew up.
“She knew she was being called to religious life and she was responding with her whole being,” said Maxine Malini, one of the consecrated women in City of the Lord who helped foster her vocation.
Butler explored different orders and developed an interest in the Sisters of Life because they were young and vibrant. Yet after a year of discernment in that order, she began contemplating the Carmelite spirituality.
“I felt the call to pray,” Butler said. “It’s tough to find a little bit of space to pray. Monasteries provide that space.”
After joining the Carmelites, her daily life will center on prayer. Carmelites are a cloistered, contemplative community of women who pray for priests and souls in need everywhere.
Fr. John Bonavitacola, her family’s pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, called the life of a discalced Carmelite challenging and said few can do it.
Jeanne Butler, Marisa’s mom, said the challenge mainly lies in the lifestyle adjustment. She is confident that her daughter will do well because she knows she is following God’s will.
Tom, Butler’s dad, acknowledged that Marisa’s departure came with joy and sadness. Even though the family will miss her, Butler said, “They know that they’re gaining a family too in the Carmelites.”
The Carmelites are “a radical witness to the Gospel” because they stand apart from culture, Fr. Bonavitacola said.
Their day begins at 5:30 a.m. Activities include private and group prayer, Mass, an hour of spiritual reading, manual work and two hours of recreation.
“The grace of the life is it never gets boring,” Butler said.
She spent three months with the Carmelite sisters over the summer.
“I found them to be the most loving people you could ever meet and the life suited me,” Butler said.
While she’s the oldest of eight in her family, she’ll be the youngest of the 11 sisters at the monastery.
“We’re thrilled that this is where God’s calling her,” her mother said.
“We raised our kids with the consciousness that whatever vocation they choose, that they take that seriously,” Butler’s dad said. “Marisa has led the way.”
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