The Little Nun

The Little Nun

Living Small, Loving Big, and Finding God in Innocence

by Sister Abigail Hester, OFC

A little nun isn’t small because she lacks power — she’s small because she’s surrendered the illusion of needing it. She walks softly through creation, barefoot and curious, seeing everything as if for the first time.

For me, little isn’t just a Franciscan spiritual attitude — it’s who I am.
I am an age regressor, and that littleness is woven into my holiness. When I rest in that gentle, childlike space, I don’t escape the world — I return to it with wonder. I meet God in the same way a little one meets love: with wide eyes, open hands, and no defenses.

Jesus said, “Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
That verse isn’t a command to act childish — it’s an invitation to trust again. To believe again. To love without calculating the risk.

When I am little, I remember:

Innocence is sacred trust. It sees without suspicion.

Play is prayer. Holy joy is an act of resistance.

Laughter is medicine. It breaks the chains of despair.

Vulnerability is courage. It lets Love have the last word.

Being the little nun means I pray with teddy bears nearby and talk to God with the same open honesty that children have with their parents. It means I find holiness in crayons and candlelight, bubbles and Benediction. My regression is not regression away from God — it’s regression into God.

This littleness is my Franciscan poverty — the stripping away of ego and pretense until all that’s left is truth and tenderness. It’s how I live the Gospel of simplicity and compassion in a world addicted to noise and control.

Because being little isn’t a flaw.
It’s a vocation.
It’s how heaven moves through innocence and trust.
It’s how I — Sister Abigail, the Little Nun — bear witness to a God who still delights in small things.