Sr. Isalia Carvalho, MSC

1. What led you to live in community with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart?
While serving as a volunteer in my parish of St. Michael the Archangel in Fall River, Massachusetts, I met a priest who was visiting from Portugal. During our conversation, I expressed my sense of feeling unfulfilled and having the desire to find a more meaningful way to serve God. He invited me to come and see the sisters who were starting a new mission in his parish in Portugal.

Captured by his invitation I decided to accept. I knew immediately how I would spend my three week vacation that summer. Neither Mother Cabrini nor the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart(MSCs) were familiar names to me but I was eager to meet them in hopes that my hunger for “something more” would be satisfied.

From the moment I met the three Missionary Sisters in Portugal I felt at “home” with them. Here I was a stranger and they were so warm and welcoming! The simplicity of their life, the life of prayer, mission to the poor and their openness to a total stranger captured me. Those three weeks left me with the desire to “live that life” and was the beginning of a fascinating adventure.

Filled with joy and enthusiasm I returned to the United States. My vocation was as yet, undefined. It was not clear to me what God was inviting me to do with my life but the one thing that was very clear was a call to do mission. Since I felt a kinship with the MSCs and their spirit, I applied and was accepted into Cabrini Mission Corps (CMC), the lay volunteer organization of the Missionary Sisters. That was ten years ago! Once again, living with sisters and Cabrini Mission Corps missioners gave me more clarity in seeing how I could best live my life. Community life, faith sharing, sharing the joys and sorrows of our ministries, praying together and collaborating in so many ways was life giving. I found fulfillment in living communal life which has led me to follow the deeper desire to commit my life in a more total way.

I can wholeheartedly say it was God who, through the everyday circumstances of my life, gently led me to live in community with the MSCs. I learned from Mother Cabrini it is called “Divine Providence!”

Isalia (center) in prayer with Sr. Lina Colombini, (left) Superior General of the Missionary Sisters.

2. How have your experiences with the MSCs been a help to you regarding your call in life and your personal development?
These years of renewing my commitment gave me the time I needed to grow personally, spiritually and emotionally enlarging my capacity for love and, thus, strengthening my relationship with others and God. My experiences gave me the opportunity to learn the true meaning of unconditional love.

Regarding my call in life I am fascinated to see how God uses our natural inclinations to draw us to the place that will give us the most fulfillment. For example, from the time I was a young child I was drawn to visit the places I was learning about in geography. I had numerous experiences of traveling and learning about other traditions and cultures and it was fairly easy for me to adapt to the various aspects of each culture. My traveling was wonderful, yet, I felt an unrest; I yearned for something more. After having been with the Missionary Sisters for five years I was asked to go to the Philippines to serve on the mission there in a variety of ways.

Surprised, excited and concerned about my elderly parents who had serious ailments I said “yes” while praying for the courage to let go of my concern for my parents' well-being. I had learned that deep trust in the Loving Heart of Jesus was essential to being a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart so, despite my nervousness, I put my trust in Jesus and went willingly to the Philippines. During my time there it became clearer that God was inviting me to become a Missionary Sister. When asked by Sr. Diane, the liaison of the Cabrini Lay Missionaries (CLM), if I was planning to renew my commitment for another year I told Sister Diane that I would not be renewing my commitment as a CLM because God was moving me to make a more permanent commitment. Having spent a good amount of time discerning my future commitment, my heart ached as I answered her because I knew that I would have to leave this community that I loved dearly. Little did I know what God had in store for me.

Isalia enjoying some leisure time with the other novices.

(I had asked to be admitted to the congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus twice before and was told I did not meet the age requirement).* Once again, however, I put my life in God’s hands and trusted that I would be shown the way. As you might imagine, it was a difficult time for me.

* The normal age range for acceptance into the Missionary Sisters is for women aged 20 to 40.

3. What have you learned about community, prayer, and mission as a result of your experiences?
What have I learned as a Cabrini Mission Corps Missioner, Cabrini Lay Missioner and as a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC)? Community is a great gift that also has many challenges. Some of the challenges I encountered were similar to those I had within my family. Other difficulties came from the age and developmental differences among those younger members of the formation group. Community is most definitely a gift that has continued to lead me to a deeper self-knowledge and growth in virtue, which is directly related to community prayer and Gospel living. The unique discipline, of going beyond one's self nourishes every aspect of ourselves.

Isalia making her First Profession on December 22, 2006 - a special day for the MSCs - it is the anniversary of the date that Mother Cabrini entered eternal life.

The joy of community comes from sharing in the various rich cultures that make up our community. Different cultures and personalities have enriched my personal life. For example, while serving as a Cabrini Lay Missionary in the Philippines, I shared community life with: Sr. Romualda Molon, MSC, CMC Missioners Ann Plyler and Mindy Madasz, as well as with three young Philippine women. I have been blessed with a spirit of openness, curiosity and interest in other cultures and it has helped me enjoy the companions in the different communities in which I have lived.

Prayer is essential to deepening my relationship with Jesus and essential also in the process of conversion of heart. I have learned that on-going conversion is not possible without the constant flow God’s grace and my openness to this grace. It is not always easy to be faithful to prayer, both personal and communal yet I know it is the source of strength in being able to stay faithful to the commitment of being a consecrated woman.

Our Cabrinian mission is a continuation of the mission of Jesus. Although I was drawn to the missionary works of the Missionary Sisters, this was not the primary reason why I became a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart. Jesus gently drew me to His Heart and I gave myself completely to Him. Jesus became the center of my life, the reason for everything that I do. Mission then, became an expression of my love for Jesus and a sharing in His mission here on earth. Whatever he asks me to do, I will do it - I abandon myself to the will of Jesus. Although this can be difficult at times there are opportunities to discuss the difficulty and enter into a time of mutual discernment with the community leaders. Often when I have let go of my own opinions and wishes I have found greater peace and have discovered new life along the way. Though my original attraction was to the missionary works of the sisters, Jesus drew me to the consecrated life and to His Heart as a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – but my dream took ten long years to be realized.

4. Your desire to join religious life was strong and you were persistent in your search. Do you see any parallels between your search and Mother Cabrini's?
Yes, I have seen many parallels between my search and Mother Cabrini’s. We were both denied entrance into religious life. Mother Cabrini wanted to enter the Daughters of the Sacred Heart and I wanted to enter the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She was denied entrance twice, and so was I. Both her denial and mine were due to an impediment. Mother Cabrini’s impediment was her poor health and mine was age,** and perhaps other reasons of which I was unaware.

Isalia in Codogno Gardens

I had passed the acceptance age for a missionary congregation. Mother Cabrini suffered tremendously for six years in the House of Providence—not really understanding how her dream to be a missionary was going to be fulfilled, but all that suffering purified her and brought her closer to God. My time of purification and suffering was learning to trust in God’s mysterious ways in my life. The words from Isaiah 55: 9 strengthened my resolve to trust God. "As high as the heavens are above the earth so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

During Mother Cabrini’s time devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the First Friday novenas were popular. I, too, was brought up to appreciate this devotion, so, I considered it another sign of God’s loving Providence that I received the call telling me I was accepted as a Candidate to the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I always believed that it was a grace of the Heart of Jesus, that I finally had the desire of my heart come true. In my journey I always felt this inner strength that God was at my side giving me the courage to persevere when the odds seemed against me and the goal too far to reach.

I made my First Profession on December 22, 2006 - a day that is very special for our Congregation since it was on this date that Mother Cabrini entered eternal life.

** The normal age for application to the congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is for women ages 20 – 40. Since Isalia had journeyed with the Missionary Sisters as a Cabrini Mission Corps missioner and as a Cabrini Lay Missionary for many years, she was received into the community.

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Discover more about Cabrini Mission Corps