On 8th December 2007 Sr. Therese of the Sacred Heart made her Solemn Profession of Vows at the Carmel of the Annunciation, Thicket Priory York.

Clare Wilkinson was born in Warrington, Lancashire and graduated in Business Studies from Salford University. She first made contact with the Carmelites during her time at university when she accompanied the Chaplain, Fr. Ian Kelly, to pick up some furniture. Contact deepened and she entered Carmel in 2002 aged 24 taking the religious name of Sr. Therese.

Her parents Chris and Arthur and her two brothers Paul and Stephen were joined by a coachload of parishioners and friends who travelled to York for the Profession Mass. Many other friends joined the celebration including Carmelite Friars and representatives of the other religious houses in the York area.

In his homily Fr. Ian noted that the journey which had brought Sr. Therese to this day began when her parents took young Clare for baptism. It is this baptismal commitment to Christ which is deepend in religious profession.

Asked what she asked of God and the Church Sr. Therese made the response:

I ask for God's merciful love,
the poverty of the Order
and the companionship of the sisters
in this Monastery of the Annunciation, Thicket Priory,
of the Discalced Nuns
of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary
of Mount Carmel.

As is this tradition Sr. Therese made her vows into the hands of the Mother Prioress, Sr. Mary of Carmel.

The Monastery currently has 12 nuns in the community aged between 30 and 87.

Sr. Therese's day to day work in the Monastery is to dispatch the altar breads by which the nuns make a living. This involves contact with people all around the world. She is also involved in helping people who are thinking of religious life in the discerment of their vocation.