By Jessica Able, Record Staff Writer
Two natives of Louisville have professed solemn vows as nuns of the Order of Discalced Carmelite.
Sister Clare of Bethlehem (formerly Elizabeth Clare Heuser) professed her solemn vows at a Mass at the Carmelite Monastery of St. Joseph and St. Anne in Philadelphia Jan. 2.
And, Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity (formerly Jacinta Kenney) made her solemn vows May 10, 2014, at the Carmelite Monastery of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valparaiso, Neb.
Both originally entered the Valparaiso Carmel. Last summer, the Valparaiso community along with the Carmel in Elysburg, Pa., joined Philadelphia’s Carmelite Monastery of St. Joseph and St. Anne, whose numbers had dwindled to three active members, according to a news article published on CatholicPhilly.com Aug. 1, 2017.
Carmelite Sisters observe rules of strict enclosure and only receive visitors from behind a screen.
Both Sister Clare, 24, and Sister Elizabeth, 26, attended St. Louis Bertrand Church and Holy Angels Academy.
Vince Heuser, Sister Clare’s father, said as a child his daughter was “prayerful, responsible, thoughtful, earnest in her studies and obedient.”
Mary Clare Heuser, Sister Clare’s mother, said she remembered her daughter’s desire from a young age to be a “mom, nurse or nun.”
“We of course never discouraged that. I don’t know if we necessarily directly encouraged her but we certainly never discouraged her from her vocation,” she said.
The Heusers said their daughter was drawn to the Carmelites because of the cloistered nature of the order.
“Her ministry focuses on prayer, contemplation. A significant part of it is contemplation even more so than vocal and communal prayer,” Vince Heuser said.
Vince said the family is able to correspond by letter with Sister Clare and visit twice a year. A phone call on her birthday is also permitted.
Sister Clare has five siblings: Matthew, 26; Catherine, 23; Paul, 21; Lydia, 18; John, 16; and Teresa, 13.
Debbie Kenney, Sister Elizabeth’s mother, said her daughter knew she wanted to be a nun at age 8 or 9.
“Always from a young age she discerned it,” she said.
Sister Elizabeth was introduced to the Carmelite order by her brother — Father Joachim Kenney. Father Kenney was ordained a Dominican priest last year.
“She always loved St. Therese. We went to the Carmelite novena every year here on Newburg Road,” Debbie Kenney said. The Carmelite Monastery of Mary Immaculate and St. Joseph in Louisville closed last year.
She said her family attended daily Mass at St. Louis Bertrand before school.
“They were all brought up in the faith well. Her father passed away in 2011. I know he’s up there praying for her now,” she said.
Debbie Kenney added that people often tell her she should be proud that one of her children is a priest and another is a nun.
“I am very proud. But, I’m also proud of my other boys. I just prayed for them to know their vocations, whether that was religious or married, just to do God’s will,” she said.
Sister Elizabeth has four brothers: Father Kenney, 30; Jed, 30; Shawn, 29; and Patrick, 28.
