Carmelite Nun Urges Youth to Be Fearless in Their Vocation

At 24 years old, Paloma Altonaga—now “My mother had a complicated health problem, and her relationship with my father was also complicated. So she consecrated her baby, me, to the Virgin Mary. The aura of faith always followed me,” she told. Paloma was very active in different apostolates, enthusiastically devoting herself to evangelization. Yet during the COVID-19 quarantine, she realized something was missing. “During quarantine, during that mandatory break, I realized that in that active apostolate I was everywhere, but at the same time, my heart wasn't anywhere. I was happy, but I didn't feel fulfilled. So I decided to enter Carmel, but I wasn't convinced it would be in La Plata,” she explained. With the guidance of a priest, she began discerning religious life while studying philosophy and theology. It was then that she met the Discalced Carmelites of the Monastery of Our Lady of Peace in Luis Guillón, Buenos Aires. “I started getting to know them and later began the aspirancy, …