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Home > Our People > Nuns (Sisters)
New Foundation
J. M. + J. T.
‘The Girl from Wallis.’
When a girl comes to us expressing her desire to enter Carmel, our
advice is usually: 'Wait a few months and pray'. Then visits are arranged,
certificates requested and the delicate process of discerning her
vocation begins. There was one exception to this custom: Sister Mary
Gabriel of the Eucharist -' the girl from Wallis ' , who' dropped
down from heaven', as we said, in 1978.
We first heard about Meliana Tuipolotaane from a French Marist missionary
here, Father Joseph Allais S.M. He had received letters from
his confrere, Pere Boutin, in Wallis and between the two of them
they
were discerning her vocation to Carmel. She herself had not
written to us. When Father Allais spoke about her good qualities
and suitability,
I explained to him that we would need certificates, references
etc. I added that it was important for her to send a medical certificate,
certifying that she had good physical and
mental health. |
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About three weeks later, Father Allais 'phoned to
say that he had more information about the girl from Wallis. In
his heavy French accent he said emphatically: 'There is nothing
wrong with 'er 'ead! ' He also mentioned that she had a brother
studying at the Pacific Regional Seminary, who intended to write
to us. Luka was too busy to write.
Finally, on the Feast of the Epiphany, our Cardinal 'phoned and
said: 'The girl from Wallis is here. ' Meliana had been following
the star of her call to Carmel and, because she could speak no
English, had had a very "difficult journey. ( In those days
there was no international airport at Faleolo, so passengers had
to land in American Samoa and come across to our island in the
small inter-island 'plane.) A Samoan Little Sister of the Poor
had given her the name of Father Pat Kennedy, who was a missionary
in American Samoa at the time. Meliana showed the piece of paper
with his name to a policeman, who called Father Kennedy. It was
3 a.m., but the response was prompt and welcoming. Despite the
language barrier, Meliana knew she had found a friend who would
help her on her way. Father stayed with her until it was time for
her connecting flight to Apia. On arrival there, she waited for
two or three hours in the sun until Father Maselino came to find
her. He was a person of few words. He said: ' Are you the girl
from Wallis?' She nodded her head in assent and the conversation
ended there.
Finally Meliana arrived at Carmel. As soon as we met in the parlour,
she asked in French: 'Where do you want me to go to learn English?'
There was determination in her voice and expression and one could
see there would be no turning back. And so it proved. Through the
kindness of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary, Meliana
was allowed to stay at their Convent as a boarder and have lessons
in English at the Primary School, as well as private lessons from
Mother Rachel who was French and spoke English perfectly. She visited
us every Sunday and finally entered our Carmel as a postulant on
8th December that same year. Although our Tongan Sisters could
communicate with her, Meliana still had a struggle to speak and
understand English and for this reason her postulancy was prolonged.
Visits from Wallis were rare. Her father died when she was very
young. Her mother came twice, the last visit being for her Final
Profession on Pentecost Sunday, 1984. On this occasion she had
the great joy of having her brother, Father Luka, ordained in 1982,
being among the concelebrants.
Meliana, now Sister Mary Gabriel of the Eucharist, told us that
she had wanted to be a religious Sister when she was quite young.
At the age of thirteen she went to New Caledonia and worked for
the Sisters of St Joseph
of Cluny. One day, while sweeping a corridor, she came across a
book about St Therese with many photos of her inside -perhaps her
Autobiography. That book made her decide to be a Carmelite.
As the years passed, other girls from Wallis joined us and now
we are preparing to found a Carmel in the Diocese of Wallis -Futuna
at the invitation of Bishop Fuahea. In May last year, on the advice
of Father Greg Homeming, three of us went to Wallis for five days
to choose the land offered us by the Bishop and also to have the
joy of welcoming the relics of St Therese. 'The girl from Wallis
' visited her homeland again after twenty-four years and was welcomed
by her brother, Father Luka, who had sent her on her way in 1978.
She will be one of the three Wallisien Sisters w ho will leave
here on 3Oth September to begin the foundation together with three
other Sisters.
Sr Mary Joseph O.C.D.
Carmel de Ste Thérèse, Wallis
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