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The story of five biological sisters who became nuns in a period of just 2 years has drawn attention in Spain, their home country. The family includes a total of 7 adult children—six sisters and one brother.
All 5 sisters joined the same Spanish contemplative religious community, Iesu Communio—which was designated an Institute of Pontifical Right in 2010—in Burgos, in the north of the country. The first was Jordán. The following year Francesca and Amada de Jesus entered. Two months later, it was Ruth Maria’s turn; she is the oldest of the five. Lastly, six months later, Nazaret also entered.
Their religious community published a video to share the journey of the five religious sisters. In her testimony, Amada de Jesus says, “It was a great surprise for everyone when our Lord called us five sisters to the institute in a period of two years.”
In fact, they hadn’t even talked to each other about their religious vocation. “We didn’t know about this thirst that the Holy Spirit was arousing in us.” Her sister Nazaret thought, “It can’t be. It can’t be that God is calling all of us, and to the same Institute, but He’s definitely calling me, so somebody’s got to be lying here, and it’s not me!” Amada adds, “God has His plans, and knows the time and place for each person.”
In the video, Sr. Amada de Jesus relates that since childhood she has cultivated “a very simple relationship” with God, but that the call to religious life was not so simple to discern and welcome:
At a certain moment, I knew that He wanted me for Himself, and just thinking about it filled me with joy, but I also thought that the vocation was a renunciation of being a woman, wife, and mother. And I placed myself before Him and asked Him not to call me to renounce that.
She attended meetings that Iesu Communio organized with members of her parish, during which women religious shared experiences of “rescue and healing.” At that time, Amada was studying to be a teacher, with an emphasis in special education, which had repercussions in her personal life. She recounts:
God was in those people with disabilities, getting the best out of me as a person. I would study in the morning and think about what would be good for this or that person. In the end, wholeness is self-giving. We are made to love and be loved, and He is the source of love.
When she noticed that Jesus was calling her to consecrate herself to Him entirely, Amada went to talk to the mother superior of the institute. “I needed to know if this was really Him or if I had somehow invented it,” she says.
Although the video was posted on August 1, it’s been 13 years since the sisters became nuns. Today, Amada de Jesus declares: “The gift of consecration is incomparable. Today I remain here for love of Him, and I feel that He loves me very much. I feel that I am deeply loved by Him.”
