From the lights of a theater to the flashes of TV studio lights, and finally, to the gates of heaven itself. The journey of Sister Clare Crockett, a former “wild child” actress who left behind a life of partying to become a nun, continues to inspire people as she’s now being considered for sainthood.

“Never in a million years did we think she was going to be a nun, never mind make her way to sainthood,” her sister, Shauna, told the BBC.

Crockett, who died during an earthquake in Ecuador in 2016, officially started her posthumous beatification journey with a special ceremony held in the Cathedral of Alcala de Henares in Madrid, Spain, last Sunday (January 12).

The ceremony marks the final stage of a long process that began in 2020, when The Irish Catholic reported some of her followers in her hometown of Derry, Northern Ireland, calling for her to become a saint.

A nun who abandoned a life of excess as an actress is now being considered for sainthood—nine years after her passing

Image credits: Brian Lawless/Getty Images

Clare Crockett was born in Derry in November 1982. She’s been described as an energetic child who was passionate about literature and theatre and enjoyed making her classmates laugh.

Her talents led her to enroll at an acting agency when she was 14 years old, and she landed her first gig just one year later. She went on to work as a TV presenter for Great Britain’s Channel 4 and was so good at it that Nickelodeon offered her a position, but she turned it down.

Image credits: Home of the Mother

Years later, she landed a part in the film Sunday, which aired in 2002—a television drama that reenacted the events of January 30, 1972, when British soldiers violently repressed a manifestation by shooting 26 unarmed civilians.

By that point, Crockett already had her first “religious experience” while visiting Spain in 2000, feeling called to lead a religious life, and her part in the movie broke her in half.

Image credits: Sister Clare and Companions

As her own website explains, “When she went back to Ireland, she participated as a secondary actress in a film. She got caught up again in the whirlwind of superficiality and sin that the world of cinema offered her.”

Before becoming a nun, Crockett admitted to drinking and using drugs but left it all behind to travel the world helping children

Image credits: HM Television (English)

Seeking answers, she traveled to Rome, Italy for World Youth Day in August of that same year, where a priest told her surprising details about her childhood.

Only one year later, in the summer of 2001, Crockett chose to enlist in the convent of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, and she took the name Sister Clare Maria of the Trinity and the Heart of Mary.

Image credits: Sister Clare and Companions

“I lived very badly; I lived in mortal sin. I drank a lot, I smoked a lot, and I began to smoke drugs. I continued with my friends, with my boyfriend. I continued in the same way,” Claire said before becoming a nun. 

“I didn’t have the strength to break with all these things because I didn’t ask the Lord to help me.”

Image credits: Sister Clare and Companions

Her new life took her to many corners of the world, including Spain, the United States, and Ecuador. She helped hospitals, taught music at schools in vulnerable communities, and worked as a missionary.

Sister Claire reportedly started performing miracles posthumously after followers began praying for her intercession at her grave

Image credits: Sister Clare and Companions

Crockett’s tragic passing occurred while she was playing the guitar and singing with her religious companions in Ecuador on April 16, 2016. 

According to her biography, Sister Claire knew something was about to happen that day and told her aspirants: “Why should I be afraid of death if I’m going to go with the One I have longed to be with my whole life?”

The country was hit by a massive 7.8 earthquake that caused the house she was staying in to collapse, killing everyone inside. Her body was found lifeless under the rubble hours later and flown back to her hometown of Derry.

Image credits: Sister Clare and Companions

The news of her passing was a heavy hit for her community, which had grown to admire and idolize Crockett for the love she’d shown for years, using her talents to soothe the spirits of children around the world.

Her followers started visiting her grave in the City Cemetery on Lone Moor Road, and many reported healings and fertility miracles after they prayed for her intercession. In January 2021, her order started taking the first steps toward her beautification.

In 2024, the Catholic Church declared Sister Clare Crockett to be a Servant of God, a title that officially recognizes that a religious figure is on the path to becoming a saint.

While most netizens were happy to hear about Sister Clare potentially becoming a saint, others wondered what miracles allowed her to be considered as such

Image credits: Home of the Mother

“Exactly what miracles are associated with her that have propelled her toward canonization into sainthood?” one reader asked.

According to her biography and other sources, Sister Clare’s intercession is said to have helped several couples struggling with fertility, who were then able to conceive after praying to the nun.

A young boy on life support in the United States, whose identity has not been disclosed, is also said to have recovered after a priest invoked Sister Claire’s intercession.

Clare’s sister, Shauna, on the other hand, addressed the conversation about her relative by saying, “Our Clare would have loved all of this attention and the drama about her, but she would have liked to be in the background – I don’t think she would like all the limelight.”

“A great saint for the modern age.” Christian netizens celebrated Sister Clare’s path to sainthood, while others questioned the veracity of her miracles

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