Where faith and food come together in service
It all begins at 3 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Mother Isabella Carlone (Mother Superior of the Daughters of Divine Zeal, Marikina) steps into the convent’s kitchen, turns on the lights, grabs a coffee, and begins her labor of love for the day—alone, quietly, in her own little corner, making bread.
Watching Mother Isabella at work is like witnessing prayer in motion. Every movement flowed with purpose—precise, measured, and almost rhythmic… attuned it seems, to God’s will.
Devotion to her craft
To devote herself to what is known as Isabella’s Kitchen happened by necessity. While assigned in Silang, where the sisters cared for women and mothers in need, funds were scarce. One day, a pregnant woman needed a C-section. “We had no money,” the sister reveals. “We had coconuts, but how many coconuts did we need to sell to raise what we needed?”
It was then that the sisters thought of other ways to generate income, and the thought of opening a small cafeteria came up.
But back then, Mother Isabella did not know how to cook. She taught herself how through the internet, often calling home to ask how certain dishes were made.
Over time, she perfected a couple of pasta sauces, cookies, and pastries—and even managed to make pasta from scratch. The sisters then christened their eatery: Casetta del Divino Zelo.
A thriving restaurant
Bolognese, tuna, and arrabbiata were among the three pasta dishes on the menu. And soon, God’s generosity was manifested through a family who offered to build them a proper kitchen with a pizza oven from Italy.
The Silang convent, situated along the road to Ilog Maria, naturally drew in travelers, who soon became their first patrons.
For the community, cooking was more than a source of income—it became a path to dignity. The mothers were taught life and cooking skills to move forward with self-respect and hope.
The restaurant continues to thrive to this day, with Mother Isabella still serving as their consultant. During the pandemic, however, she was assigned to Marikina. At that time, the sisters reached out to the needy by providing food. A loaf of bread, they thought, would make a nice addition to their food packages.
This need, once again prodded Mother Isabella to teach herself how to bake bread. “I had no idea how to make it, but I learned,” she recalls. “Now, we never buy bread. We eat our bread—and people buy it, too.”
An act of love and service
For someone who often claims that she was not much of a cook, Mother Isabella still does what she never imagined—baking and cooking, with joy and passion.
The proceeds of her little project continues to aid in the upkeep and the needs of the Marikina convent house, which is four decades old.
The offerings of Isabella’s Kitchen include her mother’s recipes, which brings her back to her native Potenza, in the south of Italy. On their roster are lasagna, spinach and ricotta ravioli, bolognese sauce, pesto sauce, focaccia, French bread, panini, crostata, tiramisu, butter cookies, almond cookies, cantuccini… and the list goes on.
Mother Isabella cooks and dispatches orders only on Saturdays, though orders are received the entire week. As for the rest of the days, she spends them in prayer while attending to her duties as Mother Superior.
When asked how she manages to find the time in her busy schedule to do it all herself, she replies, “I like to do it, and we are in need, so it is easy. I just have to sleep an hour later or get up an hour earlier.”
It takes a village (and a convent)
“Cooking is not about me,” she says about the biggest lesson the kitchen has taught her.
Mother Isabella credited the farmers who raise cows, and those who labor under the sun to grow tomatoes, eggplants, and other crops, for their patience and sacrifice.
“For a dish to be served, thousands of hands have already touched it,” she says. “Even in something as simple as a sauce, my mind goes to all the people who made it possible.”
Let every meal be a celebration—one we partake of with awe, gratitude, and thanksgiving. Let us say, “Lord, thank you for this beautiful food we are enjoying, and for all the people whose labor has brought it to our table.”
Let us also support the work of the Daughters of the Divine Zeal by sending our food orders through their Viber number: (0926) 734 1321.
