The Second Monastery of the Visitation celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the consecration of the Mother Superior M. Nieves with all my heart CONGRATULATIONS! By: Ángel Gutiérrez Sanz | Source: Catholic.net
There have always been great souls, worthy of admiration, but they are much more so if they spend their lives in the service of God, locked in the silent cloisters of a convent. Such is the case that we are going to deal with today. This is M. Nieves Dalmau, a nun of The Visitation of St. Mary, who celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of her marriage to Christ. For this reason we want to dedicate a humble tribute to her in the form of a memory of what her life has been like. Yes, because although people do not know it, in this selfish and dehumanized world of ours, there are still generous women who, touched by the hand of God, have decided to spend their days locked behind the walls of a convent, praying and offering their lives. as a holocaust for others.
We would like the succinct profile of this exemplary nun to serve as encouragement. M. Nieves Dalmau was born in the heart of Madrid, on August 5, 1949. Her coming into the world was welcomed with infinite affection by her parents, although the newborn, small and plump, was far from being the angelic creature. that her mother had dreamed, however, that little ball with feet and arms, she wanted to give her mother complete satisfaction and after the first month, not only did she measure up, but she was above the kids her age. When she was four years old we saw her at the School of Daughters of Charity of the Sacred Heart where, given her precocity, she was able to make her first communion at the age of 6. In this same Center she would complete her high school studies and after passing the pre-university course, she would begin her career as a Social Worker, which she would not finish, since of her own volition she embarked on some post office exams, which she won. brightly. Shortly thereafter she went to work at the General Post Office Inspection on Montalbán Street.
Here we have the young M. Nieves, who has everything that a 22-year-old girl can ask for in her life. She was intelligent, physically attractive, had a promising professional future, the affection of her family, a formal boyfriend of good standing who surrendered at her feet… The only thing she lacked were religious concerns; Yes, because at this time M. Nieves was a young woman who had barely set foot in Church and with this everything is said, but without her knowing it, the miracle was going to occur, when she least expected it. A providential event will mark her forever and put an end to a dissolute life, which she herself recognizes with these words: “Like a Saint Paul, the Lord knocked me off my horse, I met the one who later became my director, Well until then I had no one, nor did I confess to anyone.”
What has happened? Well, something very unique to what God has accustomed us to. In the middle of a radiant spring, this happy girl in love with life will feel the inner call that asks her to leave everything for the Kingdom of Heaven and her life will suddenly change overnight.
This was what happened. One day she, along with other of her classmates, went to visit a very dear teacher, who had become a Salesian and was in the First Monastery of the Visitation on C/Sta. Engracia in Madrid. N. 20. To this first meeting with Sister. Ana María followed others, increasingly more confidential. One day Sister Ana María, that was the Sister’s name, suggested the idea of making a retreat and this would be the beginning or the end of everything, depending on how you look at it. Shortly after this, she made a decision. She was ready to leave the world. Such are the things of God. She breaks up with her boyfriend, she says goodbye to her friends and tells her parents, who were very upset in her life.
On February 2 at 5 in the afternoon, in the midst of her father’s tears and her mother’s despair, the young girl M Nieves crossed the threshold of the doors of the historic Monastery of the Visitation of the Street Santa Engracia. where she was to take the habit shortly after, on January 24, 1972, but things were not going well. Her condition as a rebellious young woman and her strong character meant that she did not get along with the Mother, Mistress of the novices. The situation went from bad to worse, to the point of becoming almost unsustainable, so she was forced to present the case to her spiritual director, Father Juan Boudier, who advised her to move to the Second Monastery of the Visitation, of the S. Bernardo street, also in Madrid and this was done on March 25, 1972.
In this Monastery things were going to change like overnight. Her new Mistress of Novices was going to be M. María Amada Aguilar, a true institution in the Order, of which many pages would be needed to trace her human and artistic spiritual profile, not to mention her assistant. , Sister María Elena Covelo, to whom I personally am I am grateful and of which I have the best memories. These two great personalities were the ones in charge of spiritually forging the young novice and I would say that they were also in charge of giving her a comprehensive human formation. During this time, Mother María Amada, consecrated painter, author of most of the precious frescoes that decorate the Church, helped him develop her pictorial skills, with such success that the painting that came out of her hands was already assured of sale to the public.
The long-awaited day of her profession finally arrived, which occurred on March 26, 1974, the same year in which her beloved mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, from which she would die 3 years after her. The professed neophyte would continue painting with more than notable success, while at the same time she was available for any act of service to the community, whatever it might be, although, according to her own testimony, what attracted her most was taking care of the sick nuns.
In 1980 she was sent to Annecy (France) to complete her humanist education, especially with regard to her musical training and improve her knowledge of the French language, which was very useful for her to successfully crown an operation, which cost her several years of work, which was the translation from French to Spanish of the voluminous book by Francis Trochu, which happens to be one of the most successful and complete biographies of St. Francis de Sales. The careful translation that Sister. M. Nieves offers us in the Editorial Fonte (Monte Carmelo), it is from every point of view commendable, although for my personal taste his most meritorious work, of those that I know, is his book “2º Monasterio de La Visitación de Santa María of Madrid (1798-1998), where the author shows herself as a competent, rigorous and orderly historian, who wanted to pay tribute to the convent where she has spent her entire life. More than one will be surprised by this information that I have just given, because the truth is that, out of humility, neither in one book nor in the other does her name appear, hence her anonymity in the field of culture.
For several years M. Nieves was chosen to accompany the M. Superior on her trips, until in 2016 she herself was elected to occupy this position, being re-elected again for this mission, which she always interpreted as an act of service to the Community, its concerns being, on the one hand, to do everything possible so that the monastery does not become extinct and be forced to close its doors and on the other, to take maternal care of each and every one of the nuns, who joyfully and pleased They eagerly await being able to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the religious consecration of their admired and beloved Mother. Time has been passing.
Fifty autumns ago, dear friend Mª Nieves, that memorable date, when carrying a wedding garland on your head, you approached the altar to marry your Well-Beloved, having the Bishop of Portalegre as a witness to the ceremony, Monsr. Agostinhno Joaquín Lópes de Moura. That endearing day, March 26, 1974, so far away in time and so close in memory, remains a point of reference for you and will continue to be so as long as you live. On that day you cast off and your boat began to navigate the paths of freedom, under an immense and clean sky. At that time, you were already aware that the desire for freedom was perfectly compatible with the vow of obedience, as you also knew that Jesus Christ, the most obedient to the Father, was at the same time the freest of men. I imagine that those 50 years that have passed since then have been the subject of intimate and profound reflections, which have led you to the conclusion that your life in the Second Monastery of the Visitation has not been a path strewn with roses, nor has anyone He promised you that it would be like this. The vision that people have of cloistered convents as a haven of peace, where they can enjoy a peaceful and peaceful existence, responds to a romantic idea, which has nothing to do with reality and you know it very well. From your own experience you have been able to verify that life in convents, as well as outside of them, is sometimes monotonous, sometimes tiring, sometimes hard and there are times that it even hurts and hurts, leaving scars on the soul. No one but you and the Divine Confidant knows about your ordeal, your darkness, your dark nights and your martyrdom in installments, which made streams of tears flow from your eyes, in the silence of the night, but you also had the consolation of knowing that whoever goes through a lot, has a lot to offer to the Beloved and this is what counts, since ultimately, as the teachers of the spirit say: “Suffering happens, what will never happen is having suffered for love.”
c but also how many moments of spiritual complacency, how many intimate joys, how many graces and gifts received have been accumulated throughout these 50 years of consecrated life! You gave up being a mother, but you ended up being the mother of many nuns who see you as such. For all this, but above all because you have remained faithful to your religious vocation, those of us who love you, both those below and those in heaven, join you in giving thanks to God and celebrating this joyful event with you. M. Nieves with all my heart CONGRATULATIONS!
Source and photo: Catholic.net – El Segundo Monasterio de la Visitación celebra el cincuentenario de consagración de la Madre Superiora