"I'LL DIE WHEN I'M 33 - THE SAME AGE AS JESUS"

I was inspired by a comment left by regular reader (and prayer warrior), James Ignatius, to post on Sr Clare Crockett and to revisit the documentary made about her life, All or Nothing. 

Like me, Clare was born in the isle of Ireland, and she was two years my senior. She and I shared the same land mass, but she grew up in the northern rim of Derry during the troubles. The scenes of chaotic unrest that I saw explode on the news were Clare's everyday reality. One day when she was walking home from school, she happened upon a scene where a soldier was blown up in front of her. 

Yet nothing could stop Clare's indomitable spirit. Clare was possessed of an exultant exuberance and dynamic acting talent. She was spotted at a young age as someone who could become a star. But she also went through the usual rites of passage for an Irish teenager; she started drinking when she was 17 and she could party harder than anyone, yet during that same 17th year she found herself on a pilgrimage to Spain where she felt called to be a nun. She didn't look like the typical candidate, she brimmed over with spontaneous ebullience which gave the impression she might never be able to take a vow of obedience, and while she made known her desire to be in a wimple, she puffed frantically on a cigarette.

When she returned home, she was presented with every chance to become a famous actress; the sort of opportunities that others would kill for. So she threw herself into acting in one film and soaked her unease in drinks from the bar. She tore herself away from the life of a thespian, however, and pursued her vocation instead even with her old manager in hot pursuit.

She became a spectacular nun. Even in life in the convent and in the classroom as a teacher, it seemed like the word élan was invented just for her. She had a lingering sense that her own death was not far away, and once she even predicted that she'd die at age 33.  Once when she was talking with one of her sisters as to who would die first, Sister Clare insisted she would die first. 

This month marks 5 years that an earthquake violently shook the land under her convent and caused the slabs of concrete to fall on Sr Clare like a foreshadowing of the end of the world. It was April 2016, and she was 33. 

I believe Clare Crockett is a Saint in Heaven and an intercessor. Please consider watching All or Nothing and let it inspire you to ask the prayers of Sister Clare. 

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Distribution of All or Nothing is free. Please pray for the filmmakers who have been so noble as to distribute the film for free with the intention that as many people as possible may see it. 

Photo credit: Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother.