A call to religious life

CLIFTON  When Carol Vargas, received the Sacrament of Confirmation administered by Bishop Serratelli in 2012 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Paterson, it was the start of a constant thirst for Christ in her life. Two years before, Vargas had joined her parish’s Confirmation program, and little did she know that preparing for the sacrament would lead to not only receiving the Holy Spirit but also a call to religious life.

At 19, Vargas moved to Casa Guadalupe, the diocese’s house of healing, discernment and prayer for young women here, which helped her to focus on her vocation. Now the 21-year-old has just entered the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara in Upper Marlboro, Md.

Looking back, Vargas recalls where this religious calling began. “I joined Confirmation classes because one of my friends invited me. That changed it all for me,” said Vargas.

During her time in Confirmation class, she joined the youth group and participated in its many activities from social events to community service projects. It was during a retreat for youth sponsored by Corazon Puro, a pro-life and chastity ministry that Vargas first felt that calling.

“I experienced Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament for the first time and I felt this warmth, this heat as we prayed. I knew it was an encounter with Christ and what I felt there I wanted to have that feeling all the time,” said Vargas.

She considered that moment as a possible calling to religious life and she thought about how scary it was as to how the world, including her parents, would respond.

The Peru native, who moved to the U.S., when she was 6-years-old, admits that while her family is Catholic, they weren’t very religious and her parents didn’t push her to go to church. In fact, when she told her parents she was considering religious life, she said it was very difficult for them to accept at first.

“I sat my parents down to tell them the news and they were both in tears, especially my mom. I prayed they would receive understanding to my vocation. Now, I slowly see them accepting it and returning more to the faith. The Lord was risen in my family,” said Vargas.

With the guidance of other women who lived in Casa Guadalupe and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, who are based at St. Michael’s Friary at her parish, she decided to delve deeper into discernment. She attributes her spiritual adviser, Franciscan Father Leo Fisher, to helping her through her journey.

“I felt like he knew what I was going through and he always seemed to know how I felt. He really encouraged me,” said Vargas.

When she was accepted to live in Casa Guadalupe, Vargas finally had the freedom to focus on religious life. Even with that freedom, Vargas was struck with life-threatening health news. Two months before moving into Casa Guadalupe, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 19-years-old.

“It was scary, because I was just about to discern on the rest of my life and at the same time I was thinking I might not make it to the rest of my life,” said Vargas.

With a tumor the size of a peanut, the doctors decided to freeze the ovarian tumor, a common treatment for young women with ovarian cancer. In February 2016, Vargas learned her tumor was completely gone.

“The doctors literally cried when they told me the tumor went away because freezing the tumor — while it doesn’t make it grow anymore, it doesn’t make it disappear either,” said Vargas. “They were amazed and I told them it was God. Even with my cancer, I was evangelizing.”

Even through her cancer treatment, she visited different religious orders, attended “come and see retreats” and spoke with sisters at various conferences. She chose the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara because that was the order that “always stayed in my heart. “

“I would visit different religious orders and sometimes felt anxiety. When I visited my order, I knew this is where I wanted to be. I didn’t feel any of that anxiety. I was filled with joy. I remember during my last visit when I left, I cried driving home and I knew nothing would be the same. I had found my home,” said Vargas.

As Vargas was preparing to leave the Paterson Diocese, Holly Lawmaster, house director of Casa Guadalupe, said, “We will miss Carol. She brought so much joy to the house. She was our practical jokester but she also had a deep prayer life. She has a heart for the poor. Serving at Casa Guadalupe, I am in a privileged place where I get this beautiful witness to see the conversion of so many women, who look for their vocation and find it.”