Spiritual Snippet - The Ear of the Heart

  

During Lent, I have been reading the wonderful autobiography "The Ear of the Heart: An Actress' Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows" co-written by Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B and her longtime friend Richard DeNeut.  It's a beautiful story of conversion, changing from a life of stardom to a life of contemplative, monastic seclusion.  Mother Dolores' testimony is very compelling and worth the read.  I'm amazed by the level of detail and the richness of her words.  The book is written in narrative/interview format making it a very interesting back and forth dialog. I think any young woman who is discerning a vocation to the monastic life should read this book.   

Mother Dolores was actually a convert to Catholicism!  She attended Catholic schools but didn't decide to become Catholic until 10-11 years old.  She beautifully writes:

 "In becoming a Catholic, I thought of myself as part of a colorful new cast of characters in an exciting new story.  I was a member of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Saints, the Kingdom of Angels."

She gives words of wisdom in regards to a religious vocation:

"To enter the contemplative life truly, you have to go through a narrow, lonely place in your being, where you face all your fears and selfish patterns, even when you don't know what these are.  I thought I was very grown up, very mature.  You don't realize what a child you are until God tests your heart and you go through that deep place all of us have to go through."

I love this quote from Mother Dolores about true love and giving:

"True love is completely open and free of self.  It has only to give, even if the price is pain.  How does one express the desire to give?  I think that one gives completely when he can totally accept all that another person is, by basking in the incredible uniqueness of God's love expressed in His creation of another human being.  We just have to accept Him and be grateful for the love He plants deep within our hearts.  Accept it, live on its fruits, and share it."

Mother Dolores is truly an inspiration for all of us!

-J.