Practise ‘allness’

Q. Can you give us a little background on yourself?

“So, I am a St Joseph of Cluny Sister for the past 54 years” shares Sr Patrice Simmons. “I was born in Princes Town, and therefore of royal stock [laughs]. I attended St Michael’s EC School, the Anglican school, because it was near to where I lived. And after that I went to St Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando. When I did my A’ Levels, I taught at Holy Faith Convent in Couva for two years, after which I entered our novitiate at Arouca. I stayed there for two years, 10 months, and I was professed. They sent me to study for one year at a seminary. And most people in the past would know Sr Diane Jagdeo OP, RIP. She and I were the first two females to enter the hallowed precincts of the seminary. Women didn’t go. After I spent those years there, I was asked to go to The University of the West Indies at St Augustine and I did my degree, majoring in botany and zoology.

I then taught at two of our convent schools, first at St Joseph, and then at San Fernando, where I would have met you, my dear.”

Q. Did you always want to belong to a religious order?

No, girl, not at all. I ran as much as I could! You know, like Occah Seepaul would have said, ‘you could run, but you can’t hide’. That was my situation because I had already seen who I was going to marry.

I really wasn’t interested at that point in time in religious life. But it was the needling, the constant thought that was there and I had no peace, no rest with it. And then I just said, okay. And that okay happened in a kind of angry way. It was the night of my graduation from secondary school. We were actually on the floor, the graduates, and the thought came back. And I got so upset at that point that I said, “okay, Lord, okay”. But it wasn’t in a nice, sweet way: ‘Yes. Jesus, I feel honoured’. No, I was really upset, but then I agreed because I felt that I wouldn’t have peace. And so, I went in, and I stayed.

Q. So you have been at the Emmaus Center for how long and what are your major responsibilities?

I’ve been here now. I came on the 10th, so it’s 14 years. Well, it’s a myriad of things that I have to do because the number of Sisters here is very small. It’s three of us. And it’s been very difficult because I have to do the administrative work per se, plus preparing for retreats, doing the retreats, catering, shopping, all these things that I have to do. Doing up the menus for when the people come. And apart from that, doing a bit of spiritual direction. And one of the things that really gives me great joy is teaching little ones the scriptures. They’re now learning the books of the Bible by name. And I’m so happy and proud of them. From about three and a half, four to 18.

Q. What is your spiritual life like and what is your spiritual practice like in preparation for your day?

In preparation for busyness? I am aware that I could become very busy at times. We go to the parish for Mass, come back and we have breakfast. Right after breakfast I will go to the chapel. And it’s a thing of putting Him first, whether it is for 20 minutes, half an hour or an hour, depending upon what the schedule is.

Like I will go to the chapel, and I will pray. And in the course of the day, like if I am going to the market or grocery, I am praying, And I may pray the rosary, or I just say short prayers that would help me and sustain me. Because I know that I am striving for this ‘allness’. It’s not a word, but I’m making it a word—‘allness’ in terms of how we are to relate to God.

He says, ‘I want you to love me with all your heart’. It is a small word, three letters. But it would consume you with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, with all your strength.

So that’s total giving, you know. And I try to do. I fail. But I try as much as I can. And my thing is put Him first in my day.

Q. What advice would you offer as we are going into Advent, and a new year is nearly upon us, especially given how challenging the times are?

What I think is that we tend to dichotomise our life. So, I go to church now and that’s it till next week, Saturday or Sunday when I go back, and I live my life outside there. But one should flow into the next and have an influence on the other. And for me, my spiritual life should be like the backbone of my physical being. I think in our spiritual world that should be like our backbone. You know that prayer, fasting, all these different activities should help us as we go through our daily living.

I would say prayer would be very important. And during this period, you make it a point to and commit yourself to the daily readings, because the readings are very beautiful. The readings for Advent, as we move into Christmas, there’s a kind of a desire, there is a kind of longing that is there for the Lord and for His presence. And you know, once God’s presence is there, Simone, there is, I shouldn’t say there is no need for other things. But once He’s there with us, we can sustain….What’s the word? Well, let me use sustain for that.

I feel that if we have that connection, it will help us to override most things and be able to deal with most things. If we don’t have it, then there is despair, there is depression. The effects of loneliness can be overwhelming.

Make an attempt to go to church, go to Mass, and to go to Confession. Because the whole thing is a preparation for this person. Just as how we would prepare if somebody’s coming and we love them. We would prepare, make the house clean. We would, you know, do things that would make them happy. So too, with the Lord, He’s coming, and in His coming, then we want to prepare our minds and our hearts.

Another thing would be to declutter. There are so many things in our home and in our space where it could become confusing, and we can’t function the way we should.

Just put it in a box, in a bag, and I myself will come and I will take it to the SVP (Society of St Vincent de Paul) for you. When you think of Jesus’ coming, as Paul says in the letter to the Philippians, chapter two, His state was divine. He had everything, and He left all of that to come to us. When He came, just Mary, Joseph and the animals and some hay. So, declutter, move out so that we can see things more clearly, you know, and be able to operate more effectively and efficiently.

It’s a time of hustle, bustle, get this, buy this, buy that. And we can lose focus on what is important, which is the preparation of our minds and hearts for the coming of the Lord, because He is the reason for the season. So, in the midst of all this distraction, press the pause button, even if it’s for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, and just refocus. And there is a beautiful prayer that Jesus Himself gave to this Italian priest.

And we have it now as a ‘Surrender Prayer’, or ‘The Surrender Novena’, where you bring whatever is burdensome to you, you take it to Jesus and you say, “Lord Jesus, I bring this to You, I place it in Your hands, You take care of everything”. Simone, if He gave that prayer, He will answer it. Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by the thing, see the thing for what it is and take it to Him and tell Him, “Lord, I’m placing this in Your hands. You take care of it.”

But after you say that don’t go now and take it back from His hand and put it back on your shoulders and have a hard walk away. Leave it there and let Him. I surrender, Lord. I surrender. I give it to You. Amen.