Camelia soaps and monacal silence

Sister Lourdes, the glasses tarnish because of the mask."It's a can," he confesses while rubbing the crystals and the lenses is repaired.His little gesture shows that not even among the thick stone walls of the Monastery of Armenteira (MEIS) is safe from the changes caused by COVID-19.And having to wear a mask to receive visits or attend the monacal store is the slightest of the problems, it seems almost an anecdote with which it is falling.They know it well in Armenteira."We are in the world, we are part of him and his problems affect us," argues sister Lourdes.And he explains that the dry brake that was the burst of the pandemic reached the small factory in which the Armenteira Cistercian community prepares soaps and natural ointments.Sales have struck.And with its main source of collapsed income, the congregation has had to pull savings.«There are many people who have had to close;We, at least, we are enduring ».

Next to him another sister, Paula, listens and nods.On the faces of both, we dressed in blue, we intuit a smile that escapes them through their eyes.It is a serene smile: the envy of COVID-19 has arrived here, has made a dent in the Congregation Stock Exchange, but it has encountered a completely different way from what we have out of facing the most terrible faces of the crisis:The face of fear, that of uncertainty.There is no noise, nor storms, nor desperate search for guilty."The difficulties are about to strengthen us, to grow," says Paula, who claims the "creative ability to adapt" that the human being has.That also claims the value of love, to bless the good things that happen to us (that there are, even in the darkest of the night), and of that balance that in Armeraira they reach through prayer.«Because prayer is for us, not for God;God does not need prayers, ”they point out.

The Armenteira sisters, experts in seeking the truth in concrete things, pour their way of living in the balms and in the soaps that manufacture and sell.That activity, together with the lodge - which also crosses low hours - are its livelihood: "Our order does not live from begging: we stay and try to help".Fourteen years ago they began to make soaps, following a technique learned in a sister congregation of Norway.Then, with the passage of time, with research and work, they have adapted the processes, modifying them, and creating a way of doing all kinds of natural cosmetics products that they sell in the monastery store and through the website.The second works, although not enough to overcome the crisis.For a year, the first receives visits to droppers.In it a mixture of delicate odors that crosses the mask reigns.On the shelves a huge collection of soap pills in all shapes and colors is displayed: there are glycerin, great for youth acne;of essential oils of Camelia, of Calendula, of Aloe Vera, of washing, lemon and rosemary;of Rosa Mosqueta...There are small bottles of essential oils, lip balm, creams...They are, all, natural products that "appreciate people who have skin problems".

Of all the liniments elaborate by the Cistercian sisters of Armenteira, the most famous is that of Camelia.In the monastery garden the trees that give the flower of the Rías Baixas grow: from them the seeds are collected that, at the Areeiro phytopatholoxic station, they become oil.With him, pieces of delicate fragrance soap are performed.«In Galicia it is an appreciated soap, however it does not have such fame.In addition, as is a little more expensive than the others, less is sold, ”says the sisters.This product, like the others that are made here, has a plus: they have been prepared by hand, with an extra dose of silence and peace.

Ecological cosmetics with effective microorganisms

The Armenteira community has made a lot of effort to make its garden and its garden free spaces of chemicals and pesticides.They have long used "effective microorganisms", "natural balancing" that favor healthy and vigorous growth of all types of plants.Those who want to know more about this issue, just have to ask.Sister Lourdes is willing to share her knowledge.