Feast of Our Lady of Victories - click to visit Basilica of Our Lady of Victories in Paris

Following St Therese, Carmelites have devotion to Our Lady of Victories. St Therese honoured Our Lady with the beautiful poem, and we may read and reflect on it today. It is a good moment to pray for the conversion of sinners with all confidence and trust in Our Lady unceasing help for those who turn to her with the prayer of Pope Pius XI. The prayer is in its original form and may sound shocking to our post-Vatican II ears, but in all truth and reality this prayer of Pope Pius XI is as much up to date as it was almost 80 years ago when it was composed. We may also visit OLOV Basilica in Paris, and read more about Lisieux Carmel and Our Lady of Victories in the link provided at the end of this post. Our Lady of Victories, pray for us and for all sinners!

To Our Lady of Victories

You who fulfill my hope, 

O Mother, hear the humble song

Of love and gratitude

That comes from the heart of your child...

You have united me forever

With the works of a Missionary,

By the bonds of prayer,

Suffering and love.

He will cross the earth

To preach the name of Jesus.

I will practice humble virtues

In the background and in mystery.

I crave suffering

I love and desire the Cross...

To save one soul,

I would die a thousand times...

Ah! For the Conqueror of souls

I want to sacrifice myself in Carmel,

And through Him to spread the fire 

That Jesus brought down from Heaven

Through Him, what a ravishing mystery,

Even as far as east Szechuan

I shall be able to make loved

The virginal name of my tender Mother!...

In my deep solitude,

Mary....I want to win hearts.

Through your Apostle, I shall convert sinners

As far as the ends of the earth.

Through Him, the holy waters of Baptism

Will make of the tiny newborn babe

The temple where God Himself

Designs to dwell in His love.

I want to fill with little angels 

The brilliant eternal abode...

Through Him hosts of children

Will take flight to heaven!...

Through Him, I'll be able to gather

The palm for which my soul yearns.

Oh what hope! dear Mother 

I shall be the sister of a Martyr!!!

After this life's exile,

On the evening of the glorious fight,

We shall enjoy the fruits of our apostolate

In our Homeland.

For Him, Victory's honour

For me...the reflection of His Glory

For all eternity in the Heavens!...

The little sister of a Missionary. (St Therese) 

PRAYER TO OUR QUEEN OF VICTORIES - COMPOSED BY POPE PIUS XI

O Mary, merciful Refuge of Sinners and Mother of all mankind! Behold how many souls are lost every hour! Behold how countless millions of those who live in India, in China, and in barbarous regions do not yet know Our Lord Jesus Christ! See, too, how many others are far from the bosom of Mother Church which is Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman! O Mary ... life of our hearts ... let not the Precious Blood and fruits of Redemption be lost for so many souls!

Grant that a ray of Heavenly light may shine forth to enlighten those many blinded understandings and to enkindle so many cold hearts. Intercede with thy Divine Son, and obtain grace for all pagans, Jews, heretics, and schismatics in the whole world to receive supernatural light and to enter with joy into the bosom of the true Church. Hear the confident prayer of the Supreme Pontiff that all nations may be united in one faith, that they may know and love Jesus Christ, the blessed fruit of thy womb ... And then all men shall love thee also, thou who art the salvation of the world, arbiter and dispenser of the treasures of God . . . And, glorifying thee, O Queen of Victories, who, by means of thy Rosary, dost trample upon all heresies, they shall acknowledge that thou givest life to all nations, since there must be a fulfillment of the prophecy: "All generations shall call me blessed." Amen.

More about Our Lady of Victories HERE

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Feast of the Transverberation of the Heart of St Teresa

Brethren: the word of God is living and affectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thought and intents of the heart (Hebrew 4).

Amid the other virtues of Teresa, the love of God shone forth with particular lustre. It burned in her heart so strongly that the confessors of Theresa marvelled thereat, and extolled it as the love belonging to the Cherubim rather than to man. Our Lord Jesus Christ increased it, in a wonderful manner, by many visions and revelations, for once he adopted her as His spouse, giving to her His right hand, and holding forth to her a nail. He moreover vouchsafed to speak to her in these words: "Henceforth thou shalt be zealous for my honour like a true Spouse; now I am wholly thine, and thou art wholly mine".
At another time she saw an angel, who pierced her heart with a fiery dart. She herself narrates the vision as follows: "I saw an angel standing at my left hand in bodily shape. He was not large, but small, and most beautiful in form. His countenance was so bright and shining that he seemed to belong to the highest choir of angels, who are all on fire, or, in other words, to those who are called Seraphim. I saw that he carried in his hands a long golden dart, even to my entrails, which he seemed to me to carry away with him when he drew forth the dart, thus leaving me all on fire with the love of God. The pain of the would was so violent that it forced me to break forth into repeated groans; and yet so excellent is the sweetness to which this intense pain gives rise, that one desires not to be freed from it, and naught is pleasing to the soul save God Himself".
In consequence of these heavenly gifts, the flames of divine love burned in her heart so strongly that, under God's guidance, she made a very difficult vow. She bound herself always to do that which she should see to be the more perfect, and that which might tend to the greater glory of God. After her death, moreover, she made known to a certain nun, in a vision, that she had died of the unbearable burning of divine love, and not from the attacks of illness.


Her heart, which was incorrupt and adorned with the marks of the piercing, was placed in the Church of the Most Holy Incarnation, belonging to the nuns of the Order of Barefooted Carmelites in Alba de Tormes, and it has been venerated down to the present day by the large and devout crowds of Christian who flock thither. All these things having been carefully examined, the Sovereign Pontiff Benedict the Thirteenth, in order to recall the remembrance of this great miracle, permitted the celebration of this feast each year in that Order.

The text after Traditional Carmelite Breviary Matins Lessons (1887 edition)

To view the previous post commemorating the Feast please follow the LINK

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Carmelite Saints and Devotion to Mary, Queen, Flower and Beauty of Carmel

Our Lady was helping me to prepare a wedding garment for my soul (S 118)

BEHOLD, YOUR MOTHER (ST JOHN 19:27)

Not being able to bear it any longer, I asked the Blessed Virgin to take my head in her hands and to support it (C 189)

The Blessed Virgin is my mother and little children ordinarily resemble their mama (C 275)

How great favour with which I begged her to be always my protector and to help me realize my dream, hiding me in the shadow of the virginal mantle! (C 277)

It is proper to speak of her prerogatives, but we must not content ourselves with that. We must do all we can to make her beloved of souls. (C 277)

[The Blessed Virgin] loves us truly as Jesus loves us. (C 278)

I feel that the Blessed Virgin was watching over me, that I was her child. Hence I found it necessary to call her "Mama", for this name seemed even more tender than that of my mother. (C 279)

When we ask a grace from the Blessed Virgin, we receive immediate help. have you not experienced this? Well, try it and you will see. (C 279)

The Blessed Virgin never fails to protect me as soon as I invoke her. In my troubles and anxieties I very quickly turn towards her and, like the most tender of mothers, she always takes care of my interest. (C 279)

To ask something of the Blessed Virgin is not the same thing as asking it of the good Lord. She knew very well what to do with my little wishes, whether to transmit them [to God] or not...If, after that, we obtain nothing, it is because what we asked for is not in accordance with God's design. (C 279)

When we have prayed to the Blessed Virgin and she has not given us what we asked for, we should let her do what she pleases, without insisting on our request; and after that let us not worry any more about it. (C 279)

I like to hide my pains fro the good Lord, because i want to give Him the impression that I am always happy; but I hide nothing from the Blessed Virgin; to her I tell everything (C 280)

Mary my Mother made it quite clear to me that it was really she who had smiled on me and cured me. With all my heart I begged her to keep me far from all occasions of sin and to make my dream come true of casting about me her mantle of virginity. (S 86)

The Blessed Virgin is sometimes pictured as if she were unapproachable. We should realize on the contrary that it is possible to imitate her by practicing her hidden virtues. (C 277)

I will never cease to bless the Mother who gave [me] to Jesus. [I] will eternally rejoice to be a flower in her crown; with her [I] will entirely sing the canticle of love and gratitude that is ever new. (S 137)

I think of my soul as a piece of waste ground and ask Our Lady to take away the rubbish of my imperfections and then build a spacious tabernacle there, worthy of Heaven, adorning it with her own loveliness. (S 129)

I can't describe what I experienced at her Shrine. The graces she gave me there were like those of my First Communion, filling me with peace and happiness. (S 86)

The Queen of Heaven was keeping faithful watch over her little lower, smiling down on her from above. She was ready to calm the storm. (S 39)

There was a sun not far away to which the petals of the "little flower" would often turn - the statue of the Queen of Heaven. (S42)

Quotations from "The Story of the soul" (S) and "Complete Spiritual Doctrine of ST Therese of Lisieux" by Fr Francoise Jamart, OCD (C) and "Sermon in a sentence".

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Most Holy Trinity

O Trinity, O Father, O Word, O Spirit, give your light to your creatures, one by one, so that they may understand their malice; and give me the grace to be able to satisfy for them, even by giving my life when this might be necessary. Oh, why can I not give this light to all? Would that we all together could make reparation for the offenses you receive, even though we could not satisfy for them except by your own goodness...O immeasurable goodness, diffuse yourself in the hearts of your elect!

O eternal Word, when you were nailed to the most hard wood of the Cross, you did not aim at anything else but bringing creatures to you....You said: "I thirst", and you showed that you thirsted not only for those souls then present, but also for those that were yet to come. You suffered thirst, O sweet God, you suffered thirst, O good and all-loving God...O how can it be that One Who relieves His thirst with the very blood of the eternal Word does not relieve Him also of the thirst that He has for His creatures.

Looking at myself, O God of Love, I would never raise my mind and my will to ask for this Comforter. But looking again at Your Being, which is goodness and love, and mercy, I cannot but long for the coming of Your Holy Spirit. I know, though not as I should, that I am not in any way a vessel suitable to receive You. But considering that you are He Who makes suitable every heart that desires this grace, I yearn for you in my inmost heart; and with the offering of the Blood of the Word....which offering I pray the saints to make for me to the Most Holy Trinity....I take courage to ask and beg for this Holy Spirit.



Wherefore I pray you, all you angelic spirits and saintly souls in heaven, in your act of love and through that same continued act of love that is yours, pray for the Holy Ghost that He may come to dwell in my and all other daughters of Mary. Moreover, in asking for this Holy Spirit, I intend to receive the entire Holy Trinity.

St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

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Novena to the Holy Face of Jesus starts today - click to read and pray

..."Devotion of reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus? It is a devotion that was given by Our Lord to a Carmelite Nun named Sister Mary of St. Peter in France, 1844, and allows us to make reparation for the sins which offend God. Many first class miracles have been associated with this devotion over many years which have been recognized as authentic by the Catholic Church. These miracles attest to the authenticity of the revelations from Our Lord to Sister Mary of St. Peter"....Read more HERE

Holy Face of Jesus DEVOTIONS

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Saturday - Day of Our Lady. Second part of Bl Titus Brandsma lecture - "The Brothers of Our Lady" - click for part one.

Today we continue to meditate on the Beauty of Carmel, Our Lady, ever gracious Protectress of Carmelite Order. Our Lady should be in the heart of every devout Carmelite, she is the example to follow in the Order devotion to her. This truth is often forgotten and neglected nowadays.

In that distress the Saint again had recourse to Mary and his confidence was not betrayed. How could it be otherwise? In the night of the 16th of July, 1251, Mary appeared to the General of the Order, who was in Cambridge at that time.

He was kneeling, as was his wont, far into the night before the statue of Our Lady; from his lips flowed again the devoutly insistent Flos Carmeli. He begged privileges for the Order. In answer to his fervent prayer, Our Lady appeared in the habit of the Order and pointed to it as a pledge of her special protection. Whosoever should die in that habit should not suffer the eternal fire.

This apparition left the Saint enraptured with joy. The Order's habit, hitherto a token of devotion to Mary, now became likewise a pledge of her special protection. The disclosure of this motherly promise in a short time modified the attitude towards the Order. People vied with each other to beg the Order's habit, either to live or to die in it. In receiving the habit of the Order they secured Our Lady's motherly help in those times which were so rich in devotion to Mary. A stronger confirmation of the Marian character of the Order was hardly imaginable and very soon, therefore, it was regarded preeminently as the Marian Order.

It is quite certain that the title became more and more known and recognized, and especially in the Netherlands, where the stock-title of the Order became "Our Lady's Brethren." By that name the Carmelites are usually, nay, nearly always called. This quite outstanding name of Brothers of Our Lady led to a rapid extension of the Order, while at the same time many people living in the world received the habit of the Order to participate in its privileges. In the Order of Carmel, the Scapular supplied the whole habit. Hence, the stamp of Mary was put more and more on the Order.

Our Lady Especially Venerated as Mother of God.

We ought, however, to discuss for a moment the character of the devotion to Mary. This devotion has marks and traits of its own in the Order of Carmel. Whereas in the Order of St. Francis of Assisi Mary's Immaculate Conception is especially regarded, in our own Order attention is focused upon Mary as Mother of God. As such she had already been foreshadowed in the little cloud above Carmel; as such she was honoured on Carmel; and as such she has ever been invoked in our Order. When the first members of the Order looked out from their high mountain towards the country, their looks met first of all Nazareth, and this little town recalled to their minds the coming of the Angel to Mary and the accomplishment of the mystery of the Incarnation in the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost. The contemplation of this mystery has led to a twofold devotion to Mary, which we had better describe as an imitation of Mary, gradually deepening into a closer union with her. We may see the same in the Imitation of Christ in the 14th and 15th centuries, which matured in the 16th century into a close union with Christ. One should not think of the imitation without thinking of the union, nor of the union without the thought of the imitation. Both flow into each other, but in one period the former is more prominent, in another more attention is paid to the latter. One should rather see both trends blended together into one harmonious whole.

Mary Before Us as our Example.
The imitation of Mary, the most elevated of all creatures, set as an example before us by God Himself, shows Mary as the pattern of all virtues. She is the mirror in which we should ever watch ourselves, the Mother whom her children ought to resemble ever more. A remarkable treatise on this has come down to us in the collection of old manuscripts of the first part of our Order's history, collected by the Spanish Carmelite, Philippus Riboti, and printed in the beginning of the 16th century. How old this utterance of devotion towards Mary may be cannot be solved satisfactorily. At any rate, it is older than the end of the 14th century, when it already belonged to old manuscripts. Father Gabriel Wessels ascribes it without any hesitation to the famous English Carmelite, John Baconthorpe, who lived in the early part of the 14th century.

The author gives a brief outline of the Rule of the Order and concludes that the Carmelite, in order to observe this Rule, has only to look at the example of Our Lady. He thinks that our Order is fully entitled to bear the name, Order of Brothers of Our Lady, seeing that Mary already practised before us everything that is prescribed in the Rule. Then he praises her obedience, purity and apostolic poverty. Just as the Order's Rule commanded, she had chosen her places of residence far from the turmoil of the world: in the loneliness of the little house of Nazareth, in the solitary cave of Bethlehem, in the poverty of Egypt. As to the observance of silence, he points out how few words spoken by Mary have been noted down in the Scripture. And thus he goes on with his examples. Sometimes his parallels are somewhat farfetched, but on the whole his explanations are in keeping with the words and intentions of the Rule. All these facts of Mary's life are pictured to the Carmelite in order to show him how he follows Mary's life closely by observing his Rule.


For those interested in Marian Devotion of Discalced Carmelites I invite to read essay on the subject published by General House of Discalced order in Rome and entitled The Virgin Mary in Our Life"

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ANNUAL ROSARY CRUSADE OF REPARATION - THIS SATURDAY OCTOBER 11TH LONDON

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St Therese of Lisieux week

Beautiful poem in honour of Our Lady written by St Therese - Why I Love You, O Mary - will adorn this blog's Saturday posts this month - part 1

Oh! I would like to sing, Mary, why I love you,
Why your sweet name thrills my heart,
And why the thought of your supreme greatness
Could not bring fear to my soul.
If I gazed upon youn in your sublime glory,
Surpassing the splendor of all blessed,
I could not believe that I am your child
O Mary, before you I would lower my eyes!

If a child is to cherish his mother,
She has to cry with him and share his sorrows,
O my dearest Mother, on this foreign shore
How many tears you shed to draw me to you!...
In pondering your life in the holy Gospels,
I dare look at you and come near you.
It's not difficult for me to believe I'm your child,
For I see you human and suffering like me...

When an angel from Heaven bids you be the Mother
Of God who is to reign for all eternity,
I see you prefer, O Mary, what a mystery!
the ineffable treasure of virginity.
O Immaculate Virgin, I understand how your soul
Is dearer to the Lord than his heavenly dwelling.
I understand how your soul, Humble and Sweet Valley,
Can contain Jesus, the Ocean of Love!...

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The English Teresians and their American Sisters - to be continued

Today I commence posting pieces of my little study on the history of Carmel in the post-Reformation era in England and America. It might be helpful to those interested in Carmelite Spirituality, to understand it better in the context of historical development of the Order and its missionary work. These needs arose after suppression of Catholicism in England. The text is based on very informative yet charming in zeal and devotion book compiled from approved sources by anonymous in the Convent of Discalced Carmelites of Boston and Santa Clara and entitled "Carmel - its history, spirit, and saints" (1927) with imprimatur by Archbishops of Boston and San Francisco.

Venerable Mother Ann of the Ascension (Worsley)

After the suppression of monastic life in England the first Carmel Community for English ladies was established in the year 1619 in Antwerp (Belgium) thanks to charity and zeal of Lady Lovel. The first Prioress was Mother Ann of the Ascension (Worsley). She was of noble birth, her father went over to Low Countries with King Philip of Spain and followed the King to Spain preferring life of immigrant rather than to remain under the rule of a Protestant Queen in his own country. Over the following years he married a noble Spanish lady of royal blood and became a father to two illustrious for their sanctity daughters, for both of them entered Carmel and became shining lights in the Order. The younger girl, Teresa of Jesus, was the first novice to head the Profession Book in the English convent at Antwerp, of which her older sister was Prioress. The admirable traits which these two noble souls had inherited from their parents naturally fitted them for the the work God called them to do, which was to engraft upon the solidity of the English character the lofty enthusiasm and seraphic love of the glorious daughter of Spain, the incomparable Teresa. The attestation of the work of Mother Ann can be found in the letter preserved in old Chronicle of the Monastery in Antwerp and written in the year 1621 by Br Mathias of St Francis, General of the Discalced Province, who visited English Monastery of St Joseph and have found the nuns 'well disposed' by the grace of God, both spiritual and temporal, most virtuous and observant. The Chronicle relate further significant increase of vocations from among English ladies of the most ancient families who 'in flower of their youth hearkening to the inspirations of the Divine Spirit, became forgetful of the house of their father and, forsaking their friends and native land, came to Israel, which He has shown them, where they lived in such great perfection and union of minds as it might be truly said of them with the primitive Christians, 'This happy multitude had but one heart and one soul'. In all proceedings, great sincerity, alacrity, and peace of mind, zeal of observance, love of poverty, a high esteem of their vocation; and such an obedience as it was sufficient for them to understand the inclinations of their Superiors; a total fortgetfulness and contempt of the world; a continual emulation in the progress of virtue'...'The temporal means at first were small, and necessary expenses many, yet we never wanted, Divine Providence admirably supplying by sending alms when we were in need. Many times pieces of gold were laid in the Turn without the Turn sister knowing how they came there, and one day, wanting bread for dinner, we found in the Turn just as much as was necessary without ever knowing whence it came.'
Before the death of Venerable Mother Ann of the Ascension, the Divine Majesty was pleased to show many signs to the Community. A full choir of voices was heard singing these words of the Office of All Saints, "Vidi turbam magnam", and music was heard that could not come by any natural means. At the very time of her decease, one of the Religious, being absent, was wakened out of her sleep by the sound of music, at which being frightened, for it was about midnight, she came with great speed, conceiving our Mother was dying, as indeed she was, or rather beginning a better life, adorned with celestial graces and merits, she being the first person who brought our Blessed Mother Teresa into the English nation, and maintained the Community from its very infancy , not only in perfect observance, but in a matchless and divine spirit of peace and love. Thus, after many labours and languishing desires after the Beloved of her heart, repeating these words, "Veni Domini, et noli tardare" - "Come, Lord, and tarry not" - she went to enjoy in His Divine Presence the eternal reward of her labours, dying in great fame and opinion of sanctity in the year of our Lord 1644. Our Most Reverend Lord Bishop Gaspar Nemius, out of devotion and affection towards her, sang the mass, preached the funeral sermon and buried her. This illustrious prelate was wont to call this Community "the Children of his heart," which he made appear on all occasions, declaring publicly the interior satisfaction he received from their obervance and union. This he testified under his hand to Pope Innocent IV, of which we yet keep a copy. Similar report was given by the predecessor of Bb Nemius, Lord John Maldernus, where he affirmed that the true Constitutions of our glorious Mother St Teresa were here in vigour and that in his visits and in all the informations which were brought him, he had never found anything that could amount to a venial sin.
There can be found more testimonies of from other Superiors, including Lord Bishop of Antwerp and Lord Bishop Ambrosius Capello who wrote to Archb Mechlin as follows: "I assure your Lordship, that in all my Diocese I have not any Monastery of Nuns in which there is greater regular observance, charity and edifying love, than in these two English houses of Antwerp and Lierre, which may truly serve as patterns to all the Monasteries in the world."
Mother Ann of the Ascension was succeeded in office by great and worthy souls, who continued the work she had begun; the Religious were remarkable for their sanctity and the lives of several have been written, giving accounts of these chosen souls. In the course of one hundred years, seven incorrupt bodies were found in the three Carmelite communities of Antwerp, Musterfeld and Newburg (the latter two being founded from Antwerp). The Chronicles continue: "the heroical actions of leaving friends, country and plentiful fortunes, in young ladies of the prime nobility and some of the blood royal of England, endowed with many others gifts of nature, may give us a sufficient idea of the many celestial graces and favours with which God is often pleased to reward such even in this life.

Sister Mary of St Albert (Trentum)

We read in Chronicles, her practice of virtues, self-denials and mortifications were exemplary and her silence was so exact that she could never accuse herself to have broken it with reflection. She lived in constant awareness of the presence of Almighty God and so great was her internal joy therein, that she was often forced to divert herself to keep it from appearing publicly. After her death her confessor said we might esteem her for her virtues and practices as a second to none.

Sister Mary of Jesus (Morgan)
Was descendant of Herberts family and was heiress to the large and ample possessions of her father, and as well for that as for the perfections and graces of her person, was asked in marriage by the greatest Earls of the Kingdom. Her particular vocation to the Carmelite Order was admirable, for so contrary to her complexion were all our observances, that she knew they must shorten her life, as in reality it proved; but this knowledge she kept to herself, and with an unwearied fervor, constantly persevered in all observances without the least dispensation, till her last sickness, which was but three days before her happy death;..Her obedience was most exemplary, and this obedience she observed not only to her superiors, but to the least subordinate official, with an incomparable sweetness and humility, which was the more admirable in her by reason of the natural greatness of her mind and the habitual sudtom she had to command. Her charity and love to the Community appeared by the entire donation she made to this Monastery of her whole estate, which ahd been sufficient to found in a plentiful manner two other such monasteries, had not the miseries of our distressed country detained ud from our right. Her humility was do great, that she thought herself the most incapable person in the world. She lived only five years (in the convent), yet the examples of her virtues are innumerable and never and never to be forgotten in the Community.

Sister Ann of the Angels (Lady Mary Somerset)
She could not be contend till she became poor in the house of Jesus Christ, in which she ever sought the meanest employment, performing them with such delight as was of most exemplary edification. Her friends, considering her physical weakness, thought our Order much too hard for her, but breaking through many difficulties and oppositions to enter amongst us, she truly experienced and showed to the world hos light love makes the heaviest burdens. She was particularly favoured by our Lord in a supernatural way; whereby the Divine Majesty finding her ripe for Heaven, took her to His Celestial Paradise, there to receive the reward of her great virtues.

In the profession list of Antwerp are found the names of seven of the Howard family and several of Wakemans.

Sister Mary of St Joseph (Vaughn) of Courtfield
She was born in 1632 and was professed in 1649 and the age of seventeen. She had been sent as novice on the new foundation to Lierre, which had been began in 1648, and was not completed until the following year. She died at the ripe age of seventy-seven years, in 1709, having during that long religious life never lost her first fervour, but increased every day in continual tendency to religious perfection.

The Vaughns were always staunch Catholics; their record of fine, imprisonment, and double land tax for their fidelity to the old faith, is superb one. Bishop Challoner says of Rev Thomas Vaughn, ordained at Douai, 1622, that though he did not suffer at the common place of execution, he was a martyr for his character and religion, and took his life in his hands, serving the English Missions for many years. he appears to have died at Cardiff after "suffering hard usage", in 1650 just after the Profession of his young relative in Carmel.

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Little gem from St Therese.

To prove that God looks only to the love which inspires our actions, one day Soeur Therese related the following story to us:

"Once there was a great lord who built a church in his realm as a lasting memorial to his liberality. On the day of the grand dedication, this sovereign's name and the name of his family could be clearly seen, carved in bold letters on one of the prominent stones of the building. The next day, hhowever, the only name to be seen on the stone was that of some unknown woman. Needless to say, the original inscription, which had been completely obliterated, was restored at once, but the same phenomenon again took place. After several renewed attempts to by-pass the miracle were similarly frustrated, the orate lord began an investigation. he had at the outset forbidden his subject to contribute, even in a small way, to this project; he was to be the sole donor.. Now he began to suspect that somebody had secretly interfered with his plan. the unknown name was, therefore, duly identified, and the guilty woman summoned to justice. Denying, at first, all responsibility in the matter, she suddenly remembered....During the building operations, she had noticed how difficult it was for the horses to drag along the heavy cartloads of stone, and with her last coin, she had bought a truss of hay for them. 'These dumb animals are, in certain way, participating in this great work,' she had reasoned,'and as I have been deprived of the privilage of contributing directly to this temple, perhaps God will accept the offering I am making through them...' That was the extent of her guilt. The humbled sovereign fully understood...and there was no further interferance with the miraculous inscription."

"This proves," Therese added, "that the most trivial work, the least action when inspired by love, is often of greater merit than the most outstanding achievement. It is not on their face value that God judges our deeds, even when they bear the stamp of apparent holiness, but solely on the measure of love we put into them....And there is no one," she concluded, "who can object that he is incapable of even this much, for such love is within the reach of all men."

from 'A memoir of my sister St Therese'
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It has always been Carmelite devotion to venerate parents of Our Blessed Lady. The picture below shows the moment of Joachim and Anna meeting at the Golden Gate of the Temple (by Hans Fries, dutch Master). In today's reading we have this beautiful fragment of the Book of Sirach to reflect upon how different and mysterious are God's ways:

Sirach 31:8-11.
Blessed is the rich man that is found without blemish: and that hath not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money nor in treasures. Who is he, and we will praise him? for he hath done wonderful things in his life. Who hath been tried thereby, and made perfect, he shall have glory everlasting. He that could have transgressed, and hath not transgressed: and could do evil things, and hath not done them: Therefore are his goods established in the Lord, and all the church of the saints shall declare his alms.

SAINT JOACHIM
Father of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary
(† ca. 7 B.C.)

Joachim, of the tribe of Juda and the family of David, was a shepherd of Nazareth. Stolanus, father of Saint Anne, gave him his pious daughter in marriage. The two spouses lived in the fear of the Lord and the practice of good works. They divided all their wealth into three parts: the first was regularly given to the temple, for its support and that of the ministers of religion; they gave the second part to the poor, while the last and least excellent served for the needs of the family. Nonetheless, happiness had not come to this home — the spouse of Joachim was unable to conceive a child.

For twenty years already they had prayed to God to deliver them from this opprobrium. The holy couple invariably went, according to custom at the Feast of Tabernacles, to the Holy City. There the high priest was immolating the victims when Joachim presented himself in his turn, bearing a lamb; Anne followed him. The high priest had only words of contempt and reproach for them, and in the presence of the people he rejected their offering.

Joachim did not have the heart to return to Nazareth; his grief prompted him to seek solitude and prayer. Anne returned alone to their residence, and he retired to a region near Jerusalem, where shepherds were pasturing their sheep. The silent calm of pastoral life, brought some relief to the wound of his heart. Who has not known how solitude brings one closer to God?

One day when he was alone in the fields, the Angel Gabriel came and stood before him. Joachim prostrated himself, trembling with fear. “Do not fear,” said the heavenly messenger. “I am the Angel of the Lord, and it is God Himself who sends me. He has heard your prayers; your alms have come before His presence. Anne, your spouse, will bear a daughter whose happiness will be above that of other women; She will be blessed, and named the Mother of eternal blessing. You will name the Child Mary and consecrate Her to God when the time comes. The Holy Spirit, from the time She is in the womb of Her mother, will dwell in Her soul, and He will accomplish in Her great things.” With those words, the Angel disappeared.

The Archangel’s announcement and the Lord’s promise were fulfilled. Joachim in his turn was faithful to the commands of the Lord. His daughter received the name of Mary, and when She was three years old, he and Saint Anne entrusted Her to the pious women who in the temple of Jerusalem brought up young girls consecrated to the Lord. Mary had lived there under the gaze of God for eight years, when Joachim died, laden with merits and virtues. Anne, his spouse, had him buried in the Valley of Josaphat, not far from the Garden of Gethsemane, and one year later rejoined him there.

Sources: La vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l’année, by Abbé Pradier; Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 9.

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This story is said by St Therese' sister, Celine, and refers to the time both sisters shared in the Convent. This particular fragment showing us Therese in the last months of her illness in great suffering but still retaining warm, loving and light-hearted personality.

During the winter 1896-1897, in order to protect Therese's feet from the cold, Mere Marie de Gonzague, our Prioress, gave her an order of obedience to use a foot-warmer. This would enable my little sister who was already in a decline to have a warm pair of alpargates (sandals worn by Carmelites) always at hand. But the Saint never used this dispensation unless the necessity was great - and even then, only because it was Reverend mother's wish. Consequently, except when she was unusually chilled, Therese allowed the foot-warmer to cool off, much to my evident displeasure. "Other souls, at death," she observed in her light-hearted way, "present themselves before the heavenly court weighted down by their instruments of penance, whereas I shall appear there holding up my chaufferette (foot-warmer). Never mind, it is only love and obedience that count..."

taken from "A Memoir of My Sister St Therese", by Sr Genevieve (Celine Martin). Read whole post......

CARMELITE DEVOTIONS

O Queen, who art the beauty of Carmel, pray for us

Primacy of the contemplative spirit.

A direct and intimate experience with God is the basis of Carmel spirituality. Therefore, before any Rule, and in order that the Rule may
be lived when it is formulated, a contemplative spirit and a deep sense of God are required of those who wish to lead the life of Carmel. Of one who understands how to stay before God, no special activity, no special practical disposition is required. While, on the contrary, this sense of God, this thirst to remain in His presence does not belong to that category of realities that a Rule or a technique can call into being. Nor can they be developed in any way ascertainable by the sense. They must exist prior to the realization of a contemplative religious life. God Himself has placed them in the soul's very center and ceaselessly maintains them by means of His grace and His Holy Spirit. This enables us to understand how, although it is not an institution in the western meaning of the term but only a place for the election of a spiritual reality, Carmel has long been able to exist in a free, spontaneous, elementary way and to subsist through the sheer power of its "spirit". This primacy of "spirit", necessary in every religious institute seems even more necessary in Carmel.No exterior activity, whatever be its form, not even fidelity to the Rule, jealously guarded though this must be, can ever take the place of what ought to be the soul of Carmel, we mean the divine current that reaches the depths of man's being and impels the Carmelite to return constantly to his center. This search for God, so essential and so secret, leads of itself to simplicity and spiritual poverty. Instinctively the soul seeking God longs to be disencumbered, to be delivered from all things spiritual and material, in order to think of God alone, to be freed from things of the flesh in order to attain to life in the spirit, and to become altogether spiritual. An idea like this necessarily leads to a spiritual conception of religious life. In fact, nowhere as much as in Carmel must life and observances be vivified by the spirit. That is why a religious as familiar with the origins of Carmel as John of Saint-Samson could write in "De la perfection et decadence de la vie religieuse": "I say that in the days of these first patriarchs and founders, religious life (at Carmel) was a body strongly and excellently animated by spirit, or rather it was all spirit, and all fervent spirit." In fact the ideal of Carmel was always, according to the expression of this same author in "Le vrai esprit du Carmel," "to live in a state of great purity... and to enter into God with all one's strength". It is obvious that John of Saint-Samson here refers to the "Institution des premiers moines," a text highly representative of the spirit of Carmel and of its oldest and purest mystical traditions. In it we read these lines in which the author seeks to describe the life of the first hermits of Carmel. "This life has a double end. The first is ours as the result of our virtuous work and effort, divine grace aiding us. It consists in offering God a holy heart, freed from all stain of actual sin. We attain this end when we are perfect and in Carith (which means ' hidden in charity ')... The second end of this life is communicated to us as God's pure gift. I mean that not only after death but here in this mortal life we can in some way in our hearts taste and experience in spirit the power of the divine presence and the sweetness of heavenly glory. This is called drinking from the torrent of divine pleasure."
At Carmel, purity of heart is never disassociated from delight in things divine. The illusion most to be dreaded has always been to aspire to the highest gifts while disdaining or underestimating the necessary publications. There is another and equally dangerous snare: to try to live a life of high perfection for its own sake and not to aspire to receive the communication of divine life. Carmelite spirituality consists of a supernatural balance which is only possible where there is habitual recourse to the spirit with humility of heart. Although Carmel can see the weakness of its children without astonishment or pessimism, and because it counts on the abundance of divine mercy to remain undisturbed, it has no pity for the slightest shadow that soils the soul. A man who voluntarily harbors some vain attachment in his heart is not a spiritual man. But of what price is purity without spiritual fruitfulness? A detachment in which there is no love? In fact theological primacy makes it impossible for the Carmelite soul to deviate in his pursuit of his double goal. If he aspires to love with the love of God Himself, it is because he is strong in his hope, resolute in his faith, docile in all things to the invitations of the Spirit; it is because he depends on God alone.

Presence to God and zeal for souls.

No one will be surprised that in such a climate a connatural form of activity will spontaneously come into being, we mean prayer understood not so much as an exercise but as being present to God. This is altogether objective and interior, silent and sustained, detached and spiritual.To prayer, as it is understood at Carmel, there are no limits; just as there are no limits to the quality of interior silence that it realizes and the links it fashions between man and his God. According to the measure of the soul's generosity and divine grace, the living God possesses and vivifies this solitude.The exercise of prayer at Carmel is accompanied by a minimum of material conditions. Prayer involves no rigorously prescribed methods. For its development it requires the liberty and fidelity of a soul constantly visited and vivified by the spirit. The Rule faithfully preserves this conception of life with God. The central obligation there laid down is "to meditate night and day on the Law of the Lord". But the example of Elias, as well as an inner exigency, urges the hermits to realize within themselves and without, a spirit of silence and solitude eminently favorable to prayer and of which the desert is the most perfect expression. The desert calls out to the spirit and the spirit calls out to the desert. Between the spirit of Carmel and the desert there is a living relation. Carmel's prayer is the desert in which the spirit dwells. But the desert also induces thirst, and prayer slakes the soul's thirst only to create new capacities for the infinite. "They that drink me shall yet thirst" (Eccl. 24: 29). If it is not without meaning that the word of God was heard in a desert, it is equally significant that the possession of the Promised Land was conditioned by an exodus through that same desert. The soul, too, arrives at a meeting with God, in prayer, only at the price of an exodus painful to sense and spirit. This search for God in silence and solitude, this absence of imposed forms of prayer, a colloquy that is free and truly heart-to-heart in "the place of the espousals"--this is what the desert means, this is what has characterized Carmel from the beginning. Life of God and desert: these timeless realities are never separated in the Old Testament or in the New. The desert of the soul is the very place of God's communication. "The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily" (Is. 35: 1). The depth in which the intuitions of the Carmelite soul are rooted may make them seem obscure. They are, nevertheless, astonishingly living and active. Consciously or not, the soul unceasingly returns there, to strive to live them fully and directly. If no one is more convinced than the Carmelite of the riches and benefits of tradition, it is also true that no one is more faithfully and lovingly attached to it, yet no one else is more fully persuaded that it is necessary to live personally and to experience in direct contact the mystery of God. Tradition may indeed explain and give a love for the divine realities tasted in prayer: it cannot confer that supreme and incommunicable knowledge which is a fruit of divine wisdom. This comes only to him who suffers God in his soul and in his life.

To remain living and active, the revelation of the divine transcendence and mercy ought to be renewed in each one of us. But as soon as the divine revelation crosses the threshold of our inner dwelling, there is a dawn and centuries vanish. The soul brought back to an absolute beginning watches the flowering of an eternal spring in his own soul. Is not "the verdant one" the meaning of Elias' name? God Himself is there and speaks to the soul. And the soul making her own the words of the prophet, murmurs: "He liveth. He before whom I am".--"As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth. . . " (3 Kgs. 1 7: 1, 4 Kgs. 2: 6). The spirit of Carmel is none other than this power and life which spring from the divine word and seek to enter the soul; none other than this divine presence which is waiting to be received and communicated in a reciprocal gift. Today, no more than in the first days, can this word wait for tomorrows in which it will be accomplished. If the impossible were to take place and the past were suddenly obliterated and tradition no longer existed, and the call of the living God were to sound for the first time in a soul, this call would carry with it the spirit of Carmel in all its freshness, its newness, its eternal richness. Because it is of God and is pure reference to God, this spirit is distinguished by a clarity, a simplicity and a limpidity that are absolute. It has nothing to do with techniques. It fears more than all else material and spiritual encumbrances, multiplicity of means, devotions and spiritual exercises. It is God just as He is that it seeks and desires: God, for the mind all mystery, but for the soul light and delicious knowledge.

The spirit of Carmel is a spirit of childhood, of original life, of newness, of immediate proximity to the divine outpouring. It drinks "of the torrent" without a shell; it does not kneel down but stands erect. It is born of God in all its profundity and passes into man renewing and in truth creating him. That is why this spirit is so immediate, so lacking any kind of transition, so without compromise; so bare, with the bare life of the Old Testament; that is why it is so essential. Strengthened by a power that transcends human means and traverses, without ignoring, what is relative, it discovers its goal and goes straight towards it with a totalitarian exigency of unitive transformation. In short, it advances with a thirst for the absolute, which, once having been felt, can never more be slaked. Without the least shadow of pessimism, the least disdain for the world, the Carmelite is deeply conscious of the infinite distance separating the created from the uncreated, God from His creature. Prayer gives him an understanding, better still, permits him to acquire a kind of experience of the absolute. It is also through prayer that the Carmelite, we read in the second chapter of the "Institution des premiers moines," "tastes in his heart and experiences in his soul the strength of the divine Presence and the sweetness of the glory from above". This does not make the spirit of Carmel aloof toward what is created and toward those who live and grow in the earthy and the relative; this experience of God, on the contrary, is the origin of the most active zeal for souls which is characteristic of the action and person of the prophet Elias. Carmel has never, in fact, separated the apostolic from the contemplative life in its father Elias "who was afire with zeal for the Yahweh of armies" (3 Kgs. 19: 10; 18) with fierce energy preserved in the people of Israel belief in the true God, and who has never ceased to serve as a model to the Order that claims him as founder. In 1275 Nicholas the Frenchman, the seventh prior general, recalled this in these words in his "Ignea Sagitta": "Conscious of their own imperfection, the hermits of Mount Carmel remained long in solitude. But because they desired to be in some way useful to their neighbor, and lest on this point they incur guilt, at times, yet very rarely, they left their hermitage. And as it was with the scythe of contemplation that they harvested in the desert so now in preaching they will scatter the grain on the threshing floor and with open hands they will sow the seed." So it came about that from the beginning Carmelite prayer has had an apostolic side and overflows with missionary fervor. Although these spiritual realities are part of the distant epochs of its pre-history, they have come down through the ages and will always be characteristic of Carmel. This inalienable treasure transmitted to us from century to century by the hermits seems to us in its brilliance and marvelous freshness like an ancient jewel discovered in all its beauty in the desert sands.

THE ROSARY OF SAINT JOSEPH

This Rosary, composed of nine mysteries in all, is divided into three parts, each part consisting of three decades, in honor of the thirty years that St. Joseph passed in the company of Jesus and Mary. Like the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, each decade is comprised of one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and a Glory Be. Each part concludes with an act of contrition, asking St. Joseph to obtain pardon and mercy for you. As with the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it may thus be conveniently divided into thirds, not necessarily recited consecutively.

First Part

The Incarnation.

The Perplexity of St. Joseph (as to whether he should abandon his Virgin Spouse).

The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.

Second Part

The Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple.

The Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt.

The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple.

Third Part

The Hidden Life of Jesus at Nazareth.

The death of St. Joseph.

The Coronation of St. Joseph in Heaven.

BLESSING OF THE ROSARY OF ST. JOSEPH

(Formerly reserved to the Order of Carmelites)

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.
Almighty and merciful God, who, out of exceeding love for us,
willed that your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, come
down from heaven to earth for our salvation, taking flesh at the
angel's message in the sacred womb of the blessed Virgin, in
order to snatch us from Satan's tyranny; we humbly beg you in
your boundless goodness to bless + this rosary, made and
dedicated to the honor and praise of the Mother of your Son and
of St. Joseph, her devoted spouse. Let it be endowed with such
power of the Holy + Spirit, that whoever carries it on his
person, or reverently keeps it in his home, may always and
everywhere in this life be shielded from every visible and
invisible foe, and at his death deserve to be presented to you by
these holy spouses, laden with the merits of good works; through
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.

It is sprinkled with holy water.

Credits: Particia S. Quintiliani, “My Treasury of Chaplets” (WORCESTER: Particia S. Quintiliani, 1994), pp 190-191; Philip T. Weller, “The Roman Ritual, Volume II” (MILWAUKEE: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1964) (www.ctocds.com)

Devotion to the Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys of St Joseph

Devotion to the Holy Face

Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre, born in 1816 at Rennes (France), entered the Carmelite monastery at Tours in 1839, having already a rich prayer life and an intense devotion to the Infant Jesus. In 1843 our Lord urged her to undertake herself and to encourage in others reparation for blasphemies, revealing that the adoration of His holy face would honor Him and serve in the work of reparation.
Further, our Lord informed that adoration of His holy face in reparation would render Him the same service as St. Veronica’s wiping from His holy face the spittle, dust, sweat, and blood that covered it as He struggled on the road to Calvary. In a later vision that same year, our Lord told Sr. Marie that His sacred face is “like a divine stamp” that reproduces the image of God in souls. During the course of the revelations, which took place over five years (from 1843 until 1848), our Lord made several promises to the Carmelite nun.

On October 27, 1845, our Lord said, “By My holy face you will work wonders.”

On November 5, 1845, Sr. Marie realized by “divine illumination” that through devotion to His holy face in reparation for the outrages committed against God, our Lord would restore His image in souls by applying to them the virtue of His holy face.
On March 12, 1846, our Lord promised that “all who defend His cause in the work of reparation, whether by their words, their prayers, or their writings, He would Himself present before His eternal Father and that He would give them His kingdom.” Moreover, He promised that at the death of those who strive to atone for blasphemies “He would purify . . . their souls by effac- ing the stains of sin and that He would restore to them their original beauty.”

On November 22, 1846, our Lord assured Sr. Marie that through His holy face she would obtain the conversion of many sinners: “Nothing that you ask in virtue of the holy face will be refused you.”

The Golden Arrow
On March 16, 1844 Our Lord told Sister Mary of St. Peter, “Oh! If you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once, ‘Admirable is the Name of God,’ in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy.” He revealed the following prayer to her:

May the most holy,
most sacred,
most adorable,
most incomprehensible
and ineffable Name of God
be forever praised,
blessed,
loved,
adored
and glorified
in Heaven,
on earth,
and under the earth,
by all the creatures of God,
and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.

After receiving this prayer, Sister Mary of St. Peter was given a vision in which she saw the Sacred Heart of Jesus delightfully wounded by this “Golden Arrow” as torrents of graces streamed from It for the conversion of sinners.

Prayer to the Holy Face (Composed by St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face)
As she herself tells in The Story of a Soul, St. Thérèse had a fervent devotion to the holy face, where she found unfathomable “depths of treasures hidden.” She wrote further, “Ah, I desired that, like the face of Jesus, [and now quoting Isaiah] ‘my face be truly hidden that no one on earth would know me.’”
On August 5, 1899, just a few weeks before her death, to celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration her sisters brought to the infirmary from the choir the “picture of the holy face she so much loved and hung it where she could see it” Looking at the picture, she said, “Oh, how much good that holy face has done me in my life!”

O adorable face of Jesus,
sole beauty which ravishes my heart,
vouchsafe to impress on my soul
Your divine likeness
so that it may not be possible
for You to look at Your spouse
without beholding Yourself!
O my Beloved,
for love of You I am content
not to see here on earth
the sweetness of Your glance,
nor to feel the ineffable kiss
of Your sacred lips,
but I beg of You
to inflame me with Your love
so that it may consume me quickly
and that soon I (name) may behold
Your glorious countenance in heaven.

Credits:“The Little Book of Carmelite Spirituality and Practice” and various web sites ( www.ctocds.com)

"Practice of the Presence of God" according to Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1611-1691), Discalced Carmelite of Paris, translated by Donald Attwater, St Pauls Press

Necessary practices for attaining the Spiritual Life
1. The most holy, the most general and the most necessary practice in the spiritual life is the practice of the presence of God, whereby the soul finds her joy and contentment in His companionship, talking humbly and lovingly to Him always and at all times, but particularly in moments of temptation, of trouble, of spiritual dryness, of revulsion, and especially when we fall into unfaithfulness and sin
2. We should try unceasingly to allow each one of our actions to become a moment of communion with God: not a studied act, but just as it comes from purity and simplicity of heart.
3. We must act recollectedly, not with that impetuosity and thoughtlessness that mark an undisciplined mind; and we must work quietly, calmly and lovingly before God, beseeching Him to accept our labours. By such unceasing turning to God we shall crush the head of Satan and strike his weapons from his hands.
4. During our work and other activities, during our spiritual reading or study, yes, even in our set devotions and vocal prayer, we ought to stop for a moment, as often as we can, in order to worship God in our hearts, to touch Him as it were by stealth as He passes. Since you know that God is with you in all your actions, that He is at the very depth and centre of your soul, why not then pause an instant in your external occupations, and even in your prayers, to worship Him inwardly, to praise Him, to petition Him, to offer Him your heart and to thank Him? What can be more pleasing to God than this quitting many times a day of material things, in order to withdraw within ourselves and worship Him? Furthermore, these moments of recollection little by little purge us of those things of sense, among which alone self-love can flourish. Indeed, we can give God no more convincing evidence of our faithfulness than often to put aside and avoid the creature, that we may rejoice for one moment in the Creator. I am not proposing to you to give up material things entirely; that is impossible: Prudence, the queen of virtues, must be your guide. Nevertheless, I maintain that it is a common mistake among religious people to neglect this periodical recollection in which they may worship God inwardly and enjoy for a few moments the peace of His holy presence. The digression has been long, but no longer that I believe the matter to require; let us then return to our subject.
5. All these acts of worship must be the fruit of faith. We must believe that God is indeed within our hearts, and that we must worship, love and serve Him in spirit and in truth; that He knows all that happens or can happen among His creatures; that He is self-existent, while we depend entirely upon Him; that His infinite perfections are such sovereign excellence and authority that we are required to put everything, ourselves, our souls and bodies at the disposition of His will now and for ever; that in justice we owe Him our thoughts, our words and our deeds. Let us see that we act accordingly.
6. We must diligently examine our conscience to find out of what virtues we are most in need, and which are the most difficult for us to acquire; and to learn our habitual sins and the occasions upon which we generally fall into them. In times of temptation we should go straight to God with complete trust: remain recollected in His presence, humbly worshiping the divine majesty: tell Him our woes and weaknesses: lovingly beg for the aid of His grace; and we shall find in Him the strength that we ourselves lack.




Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague

In 1628, the Carmelite friars in Prague received a gift of a beautiful statue of the infant Jesus from a devout noblewoman, a Princess Polixena. They placed the statue in their Church in order to venerate the infant Jesus of Prague, their veneration then being the source of numerous and miraculous favors.

In 1631, when enemies of the Church sacked Prague, they mocked the Holy Infant and threw the statue into a heap of trash in an obscure place. Some years later, Ven. Father Cyril of the Mother of God, a Carmeiite of the Prague monastery, found the statue. One day, while praying before the holy image, Father Cyril heard the consoling words, “Have pity on Me and I will have pity on you; restore My hands and I will give you peace; the more you honor Me, the more I will bless you.”

So many graces, blessings, and miraculous cures came to those who embraced this devotion that it spread throughout the Catholic world and continues to be a source of much grace to this day.




Prayer of Ven. Father Cyril, O.C.D.

Infant Jesus,
unto You With a humble trust I pray.

Through Your mother’s sinless heart,
Help me in my need today.

I believe that You are God,
With a power that is divine.
Full of confidence I ask
That You grant this prayer of mine.

Firm my purpose to amend,
I resolve to grieve no more
That most loving heart of Yours
Out of which all mercies pour.

My whole life I give to You,
I will serve You , Infant King,
Suffer for You patiently,
Do Your will in everything.

Little Jesus, for Your sake
I will love my neighbor, too.
I will seek the other’s good
Through the love I bear for You.
Save me through Your mother’s prayers,
And St. Joseph’s, grant me then
With the heavenly choirs to sing
Endless praise to You. Amen!

Source: “The Little Book of Carmelite Spirituality and Practice”

after www.ctocds.com

Santa Maria della Bruna

Story of the Miraculous Painting of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

According to legend, St. Luke painted this image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who holds the Infant Jesus in her arms. An expression of great tenderness seems to suggest that our Lady is contemplating the great mysteries of redemption. The Infant’s right hand caresses His mother’s face, and the left grasps the edge of her veil. His position and expression seem to speak of His great love for His mother. A crown on top of her large veil, with star ornaments on the veil at the shoulder, is reminiscent of St. Bernard’s words that Mary is a “brilliant star who enlightens us with the splendor of her virtues.” This image was venerated by the hermit Friars of the Blessed Virgin Mary in their original home on Mount Carmel.

In the beginning of the thirteenth century, the religious of the Carmelite Order, forced by Mohammedans to flee their peaceful solitude by the sea, brought the painting from Mount Carmel to Naples. When settled, their first concern was to place the painting above the high altar in their Church, where it secured countless miracles for the people venerating it. It hung there for more than 100 years, until placed in a side chapel at the order of the Empress Margaret. Then, in the jubilee year of 1500, the ancient picture of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was carried in procession to Rome by the pious Neapolitans. During the pilgrimage, several people were miraculously cured, including Thomas Saccone, who had been blind and lame.

Skeptical of these miracles, “King Frederic II of Naples conceived a plan to test the power of the Heavenly Mother. He ordered that all the sick and infirm [of the city] assemble before the image with written documentation of their maladies. High Mass was celebrated and special hymns were sung, and when the miraculous picture was unveiled, a ray of light fell upon the face of the Madonna, reflecting its brilliance on the assembled sick. The instantaneous healing of each person was authenticated” (Cruz, p. 160).

Sources: “The Little Book of Carmelite Spirituality and Practice”, with additional information from Joan Carroll Cruz's “Miraculous Images of Our Lady” (Rockford: TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1993).

after www.ctocds.com

Mater Gratiae (Our Lady of the Bowed Head)

This miraculous oil painting was rescued from a heap of rubbish and restored in 1610 by Ven. Dominic of Jesus and Mary, Prepositor General of the Order of Discalced Carmelites. According to the testimony of Ven. Dominic, our Lady spoke to him and promised, "'All those who implore my protection, devoutly honoring this picture, will obtain their petitions, and will receive many graces. Moreover, I shall hearken in a special manner to the prayers that shall be addressed to me for the relief of the souls in purgatory'" (Joan Carroll Cruz, Miraculous Images of Our Lady, [TAN Books & Publishers, Inc., 1993) p. 13].

PRAYER

Lord, Jesus, the hour is come:
glorify Thy Mother that Thy Mother may glorify Thee.
Manifest to all her power and efficacious mediation,
and grant us the favors we implore through her intercession.
Hear us for Thy Mother's sake,
hear us for love of Thy Mother,
we beseech Thee, Lord Jesus!
Show Thyself her Son and procure her triumph
which we desire in view of Thine Own.
That Thy Kingdom may come,
may we have the kingdom of Mary, Mother of Grace. Amen.

PRAYER

Virgin most holy,
Mother of the Word Incarnate,
Treasurer of graces,
and Refuge of poor sinners:
we fly to thy motherly affection
with lively faith,
and we beg of thee the grace
ever to do the will of God.
Into thy most holy hands
we commit the keeping of our hearts,
asking thee for health of soul and body,
in the certain hope that thou,
our most loving Mother,
wilt hear our prayer.
Wherefore with lively faith we say:

followed by Hail Mary three times

Prayers taken from a holy card distributed by the Monastary of Discalced Carmelites, New Orleans, LA, with Nihil obstat and Imprimatur dated March 5, 1949.

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ST. ALBERT'S WATER

St. Albert was born at Mount Trapani, in Sicily. His father was of the illustrious family of Abbatibus and was possessed of an immense fortune; his mother, Jeanne de Palizze, was also of the nobility. They had no children, and in their distress vowed to consecrate to Our Lady the child God might give them. Little Albert, the fruit of the promise, was the delight of all for knowledge and virtue far beyond his years. When little more than a child, he received the habit in the Carmelite Monastery near his home, and at his profession all the nobility of the country were present. His life was an extraordinary mingling of prayer, penance, charity to his neighbor, and zeal for souls, to which God added visions and miracles. The Infant Jesus used to appear to him and rest in his arms. He lived to a great age, and in his later years retired into a desert to give himself wholly to prayer. The hour of his death was revealed to him, and many marvels announced its advent, August 7, 1306. At his funeral two Angels appeared to all present and intoned the Mass Os justi of Confessors, instead of the Requiem about to be celebrated. The clergy put on white vestments, as if for a Saint, and all considered that Albert was Canonized from Heaven. At the petition of Blessed John Soreth, his cultus was confirmed by Calixtus III, in 1453.

The use of water, blessed with a relic of the Saint, for the cure of the sick, and particularly for cases of fever, is well established in the Order of the Carmelites: and is justified by countless miracles, which have continued without interruption to the present day. This custom is of heavenly origin. St. Albert, being attacked with a grave illness, had recourse to the Blessed Virgin, who deigned to appear to him, holding a crystal cup, filled with water, which she offered him to drink. The Saint implored her to bless this water, and upon tasting it he was immediately cured.

Inflamed with charity for his neighbor, he besought the Most Holy Virgin to attach a healing power to all water which he would bless in her name and in that of her Divine Son. His prayer was granted; he used this power during life, and has continued to exercise it since his death, with marvellous efficacy, by means of his holy relics, as has been proved by innumerable persons who have taken this water with faith and confidence, while invoking his intercession.

BLESSING OF WATER IN HONOR OF ST. ALBERT, CONFESSOR

(Formerly reserved to the Order of Discalced Carmelites)

The priest is vested in surplice and stole, or at least in a
stole. Assisted by a server who carries a lighted candle, he goes
to the place where the relics of St. Albert are preserved and
reverently exposes them. The water to be blessed is at hand in a
fitting vessel.

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: Blessed be the name of the Lord.

All: Both now and forevermore.

P: Lord, hear my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, health and strength of all the faithful, who
once completely cured the mother-in-law of your apostle, Peter,
of her high fever; be pleased to bless + and to hallow + this
creature, water. By the prayers of Blessed Albert, your
confessor, whom you called to forsake the world and to enter the
Order of your Mother, the Virgin Mary, and by the humble use of
this water, may all who suffer from fever be delivered from every
infirmity of body and soul, and so deserve to be restored
unharmed to your Church, where they will always offer their
prayers of gratitude. We ask this of you who live and reign
forever and ever.
All: Amen.

Then he reverently takes the relics and immerses them in the
water tracing with them the sign of the cross, and saying:

By the merits of St. Albert, bless, + O Lord, this creature,
water, as you once consecrated the waters of the Jordan through
contact with your sacred body. And grant that all who taste of it
may regain health in body and soul; you who live and reign
forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Antiphon: O Blessed Albert, model of purity, chastity,
continency; intercede with the Mother of mercy that she may keep
us from evildoing in this vale of tears, and help us to attain
everlasting rest after we have laid aside this mortal body.

P: Pray for us, O Blessed Albert.

All: That we may be worthy of Christ's promise.

Let us pray. Almighty and merciful God, grant, we beg you, that
by the prayers of Blessed Albert, your confessor, all the
faithful who reverently drink of this water may regain health in
body and soul, and so persevere in your holy service; through
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Sources: “Carmel, Its History, Spirit, and Saints” (NEW YORK: P.J. KENNEDY & SONS, 1927); Philip T. Weller, “The Roman Ritual, Volume II” (MILWAUKEE: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1964).

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Devotion to Our Holy Father St. Elijah

Those to whom Elijah is little more than a myth, should visit Mount Carmel on July 20 — his Feast. They would behold a revelation. The chronicles of the Order give accounts of it each year, for it is a thing not of the past but of the present. The Holy Mountain is a teeming mass to celebrate Mar Elijah, as it is called. It is not by hundreds, but by thousands, the people are counted. For centuries, they have come on foot, on asses, on camels, on horseback, in carriages, and now, in automobiles! They come in caravans on pilgrimages, and singly on the eve, the pilgrims take their places nearest the Monastery, in every possible costume. The accounts are fascinating, and the ceremonies lend themselves to vivid description, but they would over-pass our space. The tone of the Feast is of innocent joy and profound veneration. There are two statues of Elijah, one in the original grotto under the Sanctuary, reached by steps from the Basilica, another exposed in the Basilica itself; they go from one to the other, praying and asking protection — the devotion to the Prophet enters into the very life of the people.

The good Fathers lend themselves with the utmost charity to all harmless local customs. The archives of the Monastery record many well-authenticated incidents of miraculous favors, and even of apparitions of the Prophet. Children are dedicated to him and offered to God in his grotto. There are always many baptisms. The Arabs of the Greek Catholic Rite wish their children baptised in that spot, and often defer the Sacrament until their yearly pilgrimage.

The closing of the Feast leaves a beautiful picture; the sun sets in the deep blue of the Mediterranien; the Mountain, so lovely in form that the Canticle says of the Bride, “Thy head is as Carmel,” is veiled in shadow, the moon rises over the olives, and it is night! The monks come out upon the terrace, and the traditional illumination takes place, the Monastery is outlined in fire, and as it fades away once more, the pilgrims in their turn continue the display far into the night.

Devotion to the Holy Prophet was brought into the West with the advent of Carmel, and probably no living man has so many adherents, followers, and devotees as he. East and West combine to do him homage: East, because of traditions which hang without dispersion, as clouds in summer, over those dreamy, non forgetting, changeless peoples; West, because of the diffusion of Carmel throughout every nation.

A volume might be filled, indeed many have been filled, with memories of Elijah. The Prophet had no home, but a solitary cave in the mountain, and divine hospitality has opened a home for him in every quarter of the world. And what more in keeping with the idea of divine economy than to believe that when an ambassador of God returns to earth after thousands of years, God should thus provide for him, and how better provide than by constituting him the father of innumerable children who everywhere claim him as their own; who treasure every detail of his life, and, what is most sublime, who offer the supreme Sacrifice many times each day in the humble cave wherein he dwelt, which has be come a Sanctuary enclosed in the Basilica of Carmel. There in the Tabernacle, he will find his Master awaiting him.

The Manual of the Carmelite Order contains prayers for a procession to be made in time of drought or flood, for the holy Prophet both opened and closed the heavens, and in many countries messages are sent to the Monasteries for prayers in either necessity. In May, 1779, there was a great drought in Rome and a Triduum was inaugurated at the four Carmelite Churches in the City. Prayers were said in honor of Elijah, and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome urged the faithful to follow the exercises. The people came in crowds to the statue of the Thaumaturgus, and from the first day the prayer was granted, rain began to fall, and the devotions were continued in thanksgiving. This is only one of many analogous cases.

The Holy Prophet is invoked against pestilence, to avert public calamities, to restore peace of soul, and to draw down the blessings of God on those aspiring to perfection, as is proved in innumerable cases among the Saints and Blessed of Carmel. He is also called upon to avert wars and a remarkable instance is given when Roger of Sicily had to sustain terrible combats against the Saracens. So immediate was the answer of his prayers, that the pious Count built a Church and Monastery in honor of Elijah and presented it to the Carmelites. Many churches, altars, and statues have been erected in his name; states and cities have chosen him for Patron.

This devotion is proper to these latter times when the crimes of men are such as to weary the Divine patience and draw down calamities upon the human race. It is well to seek the charitable aid of him “who has been chosen to appease the wrath of God.” (Ecclesiasticus) Then, too, each day brings us nearer the time when he will come among us with the last message of mercy and forgiveness, ere he sheds his blood for the Lord “in whose sight he stands.”

PRAYER TO ST. ELIJAH

Holy Prophet of God Elijah, Leader and Father of Carmelites, intercede
for us and for the salvation of all.

V: Pray for us, O holy Father Elijah.
R: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech You, O Almighty God, that we who believe that the
Blessed Elijah Your Prophet and our Father was wonderfully carried up in
a fiery chariot, may by his intercession be raised to the desire of
heavenly things and rejoice in the society of Your saints. We ask this
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: “Carmel, Its History, Spirit, and Saints” (NEW YORK: P.J. KENNEDY & SONS, 1927), pp 240-42.

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