May 2002

Padre Pedro de I. Munoz blessing the nuns of the new foundation
of the contemplative order OASIS of Jesus the High Priest, at Verac, France.

May 2002

Our congratulations and the assurance of our prayers go to: Rev. Fr Pedro de la Inmaculada Muñoz Iranzo Founder of the community of the Oasis of Jesus the High Priest near Barcelona in Spain On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of his priestly ordination A Mass of thanksgiving, to which all the community’s friends are invited, will be celebrated at 10.30 am on Saturday, 1 June 2002.

September 2002

Rev. Fr Pedro de la Inmaculada Muñoz celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his priesthood
at the Oasis Convent in Vérac, France, surrounded by priests and religious of various communities.

July 2003

Fr. Michael Mary was able to celebrate a sung Mass at the convent of the Oasis in Spain during the brothers’ recent pilgrimage. Readers will be interested to see the beautiful convent church built by the nuns in honour of Mary Immaculate.

June 2004

The Simplicity of a Life:
The Life of Sister Maria Sherry of the Mother of God

The Simplicity of a Life: The Life of Sister Maria Sherry of the Mother of God
By Rev. Fr Pedro de la Inmaculada Muñoz Iranzo
Argentona, Spain, 2003 (Oasis Publications) ix, 140 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Fr Clement Mary, C.SS.R.

Sherry Lombell Aceves at the age of 16

What I’ve liked most about Oasis is the simplicity of life.” It is not easy to write about a very simple and externally uneventful life, but the spirit of simplicity, the most prominent character trait of Sr Maria Sherry, has been beautifully captured and mirrored in this stirring little book. In the foreword we read:

“My wish is that upon finishing this book you may say: ‘I too can be and wish to be a saint.’” That indeed is the best compliment one could pay to any book, and it can be fairly said that Fr Muñoz, a Spanish priest faithful to Tradition, has achieved his lofty objective.

Anyone with faith who reads The Simplicity of a Life (the English translation of which is now available through the Angelus Press) is bound to catch the infectious, childlike enthusiasm with which Sister embraced her calling to sanctity; who knows what seeds of grace it may not sow in other young hearts? That not only sanctity, but even innocence can still bloom in the midst of a corrupt world is the refreshing lesson that all will take away from this reading.

Early Life and Vocation

Born in Mexico in 1973, Sherry Aceves joined the Oasis monastery in 1992, shortly before her 19^th birthday. Until then her life had been one which might be fairly familiar to many a young traditional Catholic, although her uncommon spiritual depth did attract the attention of friends and family. Not that her piety was ostentatious, but, quite simply, she imperceptibly became the “good odour of Christ” amongst her companions, who felt a special affection and respect for her. Already she was practising the resolution she later formulated in writing in the monastery: “May my humility not be ostentatious; let it not call attention. May my sacrifices always be small (but full of love) and go unnoticed even before my own eyes.”

A very good and practical example of her genuine piety was shown when, as a teenager, she received a television from her father as a birthday present. For months she had it in her room without once turning it on. Her three reasons for this were: self-mortification, the desire not to waste time and most of all the danger to her soul it would bring. Such self-control was quite possibly a turning point in her life. Often the special graces God has prepared for us hinge upon particular crucial moments. The chain of graces of which St Alphonsus speaks is only as strong as its weakest link, and we can never be sure how much we might stand to lose by even our deliberate imperfections. Despite her fervour, however, Sherry’s sights were set no higher than marriage, and Providence had to draw her attention to the thought of a religious vocation by force, as it were.

In 1990 she began to realise Heaven’s designs of love upon her. Later she wrote: “I then began to pray to St Anne every day so that she would grant me three graces: to have a holy spouse, to have many holy children, and to be a holy wife. One day, after saying this prayer to St Anne, I thought I saw the Heart of Jesus opening His arms to me, saying: ‘Is there another holier than I?’ From that moment on, my life changed.”

Until now, the most famous vocation with which St Anne’s name had been bound up was, sadly enough, that of Martin Luther. Now we have another, far more pleasant association.

The Oasis

“What I like and what attracts me the most about the Oasis is its priestly goal: to devote my life to the sanctification of priests and consecrated souls.” That sums up briefly the programme for Sherry’s new life in far-away Spain.

Fr Pedro Muñoz, the author of this book and an old friend of our Redemptorist community, is himself the founder of Oasis. It started as a Pious Union in 1965, approved by the late Bishop Gregorio Modrego, but later became a contemplative Congregation, an oasis of peace and silence in the midst of the world. More specifically the Congregation has, in its own words, “only one purpose, exclusively sacerdotal: to bring as many holy priests as possible to God, by offering one’s life for the sanctification of these consecrated souls according to the spirit of Oasis.” This goal is captured in their motto, taken from Our Lord’s own words:

“For them (pro eis) I sanctify Myself” [Jn XVII, 19].

The spirituality of the community, which now has a house in France as well as the mother house near Barcelona, is drawn largely from St Francis de Sales; great importance is given to the practice of interior virtues such as obedience, silence and humility, without neglecting the value of external mortification. All of this is summed up in the acronym which the word O.A.S.I.S. makes up in Latin:

Such was the life to which Sherry now joyfully submitted herself.

Flower of the Oasis

One day Sister Maria Sherry of the Mother of God (her new name in religion) confessed to Fr Muñoz her desire to offer herself as a victim pro eis - for priests. After a time of reflection and prayer she made her offering to the most Merciful Love of Jesus on 11 October, 1997, Feast of the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She wrote: “In order to live in a perfect act of love, I offer myself as a holocaust Victim to Thy most Merciful Love, beseeching Thee to consume me without end.”

“And without knowing it,” says Fr Muñoz, “she had been chosen by Jesus because of her simplicity, her love and her faithfulness in little things.” At the end of only three months she began to feel sick and after many tests it was discovered that cancer had spread throughout her whole body, affecting her liver, pancreas and stomach.

When informed of this she said, “Really, Father? I’m so happy!” Her happiness was genuine, so genuine that it was apparent to all the hospital staff. “Oh how nice it is”, said one nurse, “to come into this room. She is always smiling.” She asked two special graces of the Blessed Virgin: to receive Holy Communion up until the last day of her life, and to retain consciousness until death - and both were granted. Though the cancer had invaded her stomach and intestines, and she was no longer able to retain even water, she could always swallow the Sacred Host.

Her death was most painful and distressing, but up until the last minute she prayed and invoked the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Thus was consummated the life of the ‘First Flower of the Oasis’, though her story is only now beginning: at the end of the book there are a number of letters telling of favours received through Sister Maria Sherry’s intercession.

Sister Maria Sherry of the Mother of God in her last illness

By Way of an Epitaph

Shortly before her death she wrote a last letter to the members of the St Andrew Society in Mexico to which she had formerly belonged. For all, whether called to the religious life or not, it serves as a suitable epitaph to her short but brave life.

“Very dear members, [...] my illness has made me reflect on the seriousness of venial sin. [...] Like cancer it eats away our supernatural organism little by little, without a sign of alarming symptoms. And suddenly, we find ourselves without virtues, without strength, and, when we least expect it, death overtakes us (mortal sin). I pray to Almighty God, that you may not befriend these destructive bugs.

“How right was our dear St Teresa when she said these or similar words: ‘From committing sin with full knowledge, no matter how little it may be, deliver us, O Lord.’ Dear members, the Catholic Church needs saints, and as long as we are not determined to fight and conquer our little sins and imperfections, we can say goodbye to sanctity.”

Yes, in this hour of its deepest need the Catholic Church needs saints and yet how many faithful Catholics remain content with mediocrity! May all, but especially young people, read and ponder this life and ask, paraphrasing the words of St Augustine: “What she can do, can I not do also?” †

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