Did you know that in the Province of Spain the major challenges in the years to come to undergo discernment in order to arrive at the necessary decision?
My name is María del Carmen Martín and I have been a Sister Hospitaller since 1977. I was born in a charming and small Castilian town called Agés (Burgos, Spain). A simple place of good, hard-working people, situated along the Jacobean route to Santiago de Compostela, where many pilgrims passed with the typical greeting: Buen camino!
I began my Hospitaller journey at the apostolic school in Pamplona. Later, I trained in Palencia and Ciempozuelos. Early on, I experienced first-hand the unification of the novitiates from Spain and other European countries, namely France and England. After taking my temporary vows, I was given the opportunity to study nursing, specialising in mental health.
In my pilgrimage through the sacred land of hospitality, I have performed many roles, all of which have directly or indirectly enabled me to participate in the core aspect of our mission: caring for the sick and the needy, the “living images of Jesus Christ.” Last November, during the celebration of the I Provincial Chapter of the Province of Spain, I was selected to join the Provincial Government as Vicar and 1st Provincial Councillor to help promote Hospitaller duty.
In this new role, I have met with a good organisation and a very high commitment to work among the sisters and co-workers. Although the initial months have already passed, I find myself in a period of listening, observing, learning, allowing myself to be taught… The Province of Spain is complex, with a large and diverse volume of activity, not to mention the Delegation of Vietnam, which is dependent upon the Province of Spain and which I recently had the opportunity to visit.
