AMEN ! !

A journey through the dark corridors of the Church awaits the readers of

“Amen”. In a confessional mode, the autobiography of Sr. Jesme recollects her

33 years at the Congregation of Mother of Carmel (CMC). Though her

experiences force Sr. Jesme to leave the congregation (31 August 2008, the

point at which the book begins), a staunch faith in Him pervades the entire book

as well as her being. The pages reveal a daring attempt to expose the duplicity of

the church. The autobiographical mode takes on the note of an honest

confession, tearing off the mask from the face of the church—an eye opener to

many still steeped in blind faith. It seems to say that (ironically, like any other

religion) the Church has its veiled nooks. As an ‘insider’ Sr. Jesme throws open

the hidden recesses. Not written with the intention of slander, the ‘I’ (as an

helpless ‘victim’ Vs the ‘victimizers’) looms large and the work at certain points

becomes a sort of self-justification (for leaving the congregation ??) as the

authorities repeatedly attempt to have her declared insane. At times it does

appear the words of a nun at loggerheads with the church. The experiences

throw open the doors, of a Church filled with jealousy, hegemony, conspiracy,

corruption, materialism (and not renunciation!), unbearable constraints which are

inhuman, ‘repressed’ sexuality, sexual aberrations (of course, hushed up!),

lesbianism, and lots more verging on blasphemy. Her decision to join the church,

life as a novitiate, her passion for literature, cinema and teaching college

students despite the trials and tribulations surrounding her are all recollected.

The narrative begins at the ‘end’ with Sr. Jesme’s break with the church.
Thoughts flow one after another and fill the pages with her deep spiritual

experience of God, the ecstasies of divine contact and feeling of Oneness with

Him. Amen is surely a bold attempt at laying bear the decay that has set into the

religious domain as well as a call for reformation.

Amen

Sr. Jesme

Penguin 2009