Maria Hall
Reparation: A Spiritual Journey
Haven Pablishing, 2015
Maria Hall is from Auckland, New Zealand. After some time in a Roman Catholic order in the late 1970s, she spent eight years as a nun in the Palmarian Church, a religious group which by that time had its hadquarters in Seville and Palmar de Troya in Spanish Andalusia. It is a very closed group with roots in the Roman Catholic Church, which has its own pope and has developed increasingly different teachings. Maria Hall left the Palmarians in 1990. She tells her life story in her new book Reparation: A Spritual Journey, which is the first longer text, written by a former Palmarian nun.
Having read the book, I wrote a message to her, parts of which I publish here:
“I was deeply moved when reading your book: Reparation, a spiritual journey. It is very interesting to see how life can turn out with or without our active choices.
Reading about your time in the Roman Catholic convent, I, of course, recognize the Catholic culture of silence and secrecy, and how relatively little women religious are valued by church authorities.
—
The life in Palmar, as you describe it, feels so claustrophobic. There seemed to be very little charity within the order and a lot of focus on suffering and reparation. Sleep-deprivation, too much or too little food, very hard work, and the enormous amount of prayers and other pious practices make for a very tough life. I also note the almost total invisibility of Pope Gregory, and that Father Isidoro María really was the puppet master
Thank you for letting me read about your life. I think it’s good to look at one’s life from a distance.”
Maria Hall introduces her book in the following manner:
“A free-spirited university student, Maria’s life stretches before her like a wonderful adventure. It is New Zealand in the mid-seventies and Maria wants to make music, serve the Lord and spread her wings far beyond the safe familiarity of her homeland.
Then, the unthinkable happens: a callous act resulting in an impossible choice that shapes the rest of her life. Heartbroken and in need of a miracle, Maria seeks absolution as a Carmelite nun in the dark, silent cloisters of the Palmarian Catholic Church, one of the world’s most secretive and controversial religious orders.
This is the true story of one woman’s journey from the sweeping coastlines of New Zealand to the barren plains of Southern Spain, from youthful hope to deep despair, and from sin to reparation.”
The book is available both as paperback and as ebook and can be purchased here
See also Maria Hall’s web page
For more information about the Palmarian Church, see my articles, that are found here
There is an ongoing investigation of the Palmarians in Ireland. A number of testimonies and articles can be read here.
