Bl Titus Brandsma words on solitude

 

I already feel completely at home in this little cell. I haven’t been bored at all, in fact just the opposite. I am here alone, but never was our Lord so close to me. I could shout for joy that He has again let himself be found by me without me being able to be among people or people with me. He is now my only refuge and I feel safe and happy. I would like to stay here always, If He wills that. I have seldom been so happy and so content.” (Carmelnet)

Bl Titus Brandsma was Dutch Carmelite of Ancient Observance who was martyred in Nazi concentration camp of Dachau, Germany, during WW2. The portrait of him posted today is kept in Carmelite Friary in Kinsale Co Cork, Ireland, and was painted to commemorte his visit there that took place just before he commenced the lecture tour in America. His words on solitude were written during his imprisonment in Dachau years later. He was aware of his uncertain future and coming end but his optimism and love for God brightens his mind and heart and makes him, as he says, more happy and aware of Jesus presence than ever before in his life. Excellent words to meditate on our dependency on God in particular in moments of desolation and aloneness.

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Saint Elijah - Father and Patron of the Carmelite Order, click to read more

Elijah Fed by Ravens by Paolo Fiammingo Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco

Praises to the great Elijah! Let our song to heaven rise. His the grace to hear God's whisper Where all earthly music dies. 

 Clad in skins he made his dwelling On Mount Carmel, finding there That austere and lonely wisdom Hidden in a life of prayer.

  Now we pray our Prophet-father That our lives obtain this grace, An outpouring of the Spirit Over every time and place.

  Praise and honour to the Father, To the Son and Spirit praise Their be all love abd worship Now and for eternal days.
Hymn from the 'Discalced Carmelte Proper Offices'

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St Anne Novena starts 17th July, click for link

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Marian Shrines in Holy Land - for the solemnity of Our Lady of Mt Carmel.

A Visit to Carmel

The monastery of Carmel, Stella Maris, is situated two miles from Haifa. It is four hundred and ninety-five feet above the sea and has all the solidity of a fortress. Its thick walls, its heavily barred windows, its low doors, present a fine specimen of Medieval Monasteries in the Orient, always exposed to attack. On reaching the esplanade you are faced with a bronze pillar set in a granite plinth and crowned by a statue of Immaculate Conception, the gift of Chile. To the right is a guest house, Stella Maris, once a villa built by Abdullah Pasha of Acre in 1821 from the ruins of the monastery. This building also serves as the base of a lighthouse, whose big white light flashes one minute out over the sea and then back over the mountain. It can be seen at a distance of fifteen miles: surely a Star of the Sea. To the right is the monastery within which is enclosed the church. In front of the monastery is a stone pyramid built in 1876, a monument to the two thousand dead of Bonaparte. The main door leads into the church, which makes a profound impression for its sheer beauty. Above the High Altar rises the statue of Our Lady of Carmel. Graceful and lonely the Virgin sits enthroned with the Child Jesus in her left arm, her sceptre in her right hand from which hangs a scapular. The original statue was carved in 1821 by the Genoese Caraventa, but strange to relate it consisted only of head, hands and feet in wood, the rest was arrayed in rich clothing. In 1933, these were attached to a new statue carved from Lebanese cedar by the sculptor Rieda. Beneath the altar is a dim grotto supported by two porphyry pillars. This grotto served on many occasions as the dwelling of St Elias. It was near this grotto that the hermits had built the small chapel, during the lifetime of the Virgin. Within the Grotto an altar hewn in the rock is adorned with a statue of St Elias, his arm raised in a threatening gesture. Beautiful dome above St Elias Grotto Thousands of pilgrims flock to Mt Carmel on July 20, the feast of St Elias. From the terrace of the monastery the view is magnificent. You seem to stand on the neck of a lusty giant resting on ancient and solid foundations, embraced by the waters of the Mediterranean. Two powerful forces, two giants, meet face to face. Between these two imposing elements puny man is ruler of all he surveys - how finite and insignificant he feels. It is difficult to decide which of the two elements encroaches upon the other - whether the land abuts on the sea, or the sea threatens the land. But it is Carmel at least that places the frame for the fascinating picture.

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Saint of the day, St Teresa de Los Andes, click to read more

Who are You, and who am I? I am a creature formed by Your hands, a creature taken from nothingness, formed from clay, but with a soul that is like unto God, a soul that is like unto God, a soul that is intelligent and free, destined to give You the glory of the invisible world. My God, we are so miserable that we rebel against You, our Creator. Pardon me! For instead of loving You, we offend You. There is only one commandment You imposed on us and we do not fulfill that one. What does it profit us to gain the whole world if we lose our soul? What do riches, honours, glory, human affections matter, for they pass away and end? How do they compare with my soul, which is immortal and has been made worthy by the Blood of Jesus Christ, my God? How precious must a soul be since the devil will be watching out to destroy it. Either I am going to save my soul or I am going to condemn it forever. That is why I am resolved to save it. 

St Teresa of the Andes, 'God, the Joy of My Life'

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NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL STARTS TOMORROW! (7.07-15.07)

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL - short version

Most powerful NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL - a longer version HERE

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