St Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes

 

 

Juanita Fernandez Solar was born at Santiago, Chile, on July 13, 1900. From her adolescence she was devoted to Christ. She entered the Monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Los Andes on May 7, 1919 where she was given the name of Teresa of Jesus. She died on April 12 of the following year having made her profession. She was beatified by John Paul II on April 3, 1987 at Santiago, Chile, and proposed as a model for young people. She is the first Chilean and first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be canonized. 

 

“….Are you perhaps afraid that the abyss of greatness of God and that of your nothingness cannot be united? There is love in him. His passionate love made him take flesh in order that by seeing a Man-God we would not be afraid to draw near him. This passionate love made him become bread in order to assimilate our nothingness and make it disappear into his infinite being. This passionate love made him give his life by dying on the Cross. ….” Fragment taken of the spiritual writing of St Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes (Diario y cartas, Los Andes, 1983). After ‘Discalced Carmelite proper offices’.

Read whole post......

Bl Jane Scopelli, click to read

Giovanna Scopelli was born in 1439, in Reggio Emilia, Italy. She lived with her parents and cared for them into their old age, while leading a simple life of prayer. During this time she became a Carmelite 'mantellata' (member of a Carmelite lay confraternity, wearing the white cloak or mantella). After the death of her parents in 1480, she joined a group of like-minded women to form a community of prayer. Five years later, she aquired for the community a house and church of St Bernard of the Humiliati, which she transformed into monastery that became commonly known as the 'White Nuns'. Two years later, the community was affiliated to the Carmelite Manutan Congregation which had grown to 20 members with Jane serving as a prioress. She is remembered as living out an intense Marian piety and spirit of penance throughout her life as she cared for her parents and in her work establishing a Carmelite monastery. She died on 9th July 1491. (text after Universalis)

Read whole post......

Novena to Our Lady of Mt Carmel starts 7th July, click to pray

Efficacious Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Mt Carmel, long version

Novena prayer of St John of the Cross to Our Lady of Mt Carmel

EWTN Novena to Our Lady of Mt Carmel, short version

OCARM Novena version

"Those who wear the scapular, profess to belong to Our Lady." said Pius XII. Because we belong to Mary she takes special care of our souls. One who belongs to her cannot be lost or be touched by eternal fire. Her powerful maternal intercession gives her the right to repeat, for her children, the words of Jesus: "Holy Father...those whom Thou gavest Me have I kept; and none of them is lost" (Jn 17:12)

Devotion to our Lady of Mount Carmel indicates a strong call to the interior life, which, in a very special way, is Mary's life. The Blessed Virgin Mary wants us to resemble her in heart and mind much more than in externals....the grace produced in Mary's soul a very rich interior life; a life of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted giving of herself to God, and of constant contact and intimate union with Him. Mary's soul is a sanctuary reserved for God alone...here reign love and zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of men.

Those who wish to live truly devoted to our Lady of Mount Carmel, must follow Mary into the depths of the interior life. Carmel is the symbol of the contemplative life, of life wholly consecrated to seeking God and tending wholly toward divine intimacy; and she who best realizes this very high ideal is Mary, Queen, Beauty of Carmel. "Judgment shall dwell in the wilderness and justice shall sit in Carmel. And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice quietness and security forever. And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence" (Isa 32: 16-18)

"O Mary, flower of Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of heaven, who brought forth the Son of God yet remained a Virgin, sweet and Immaculate Mother, grant the favours your children implore, O Star of the sea" (St Simon Stock)

Text based on "Divine Intimacy" by Ven Gabriel of St Mary Magdalene, OCD

Read whole post......

Bl Maria Crocifissa Curcio (1877-1957), Carmelite Tertiary, memorial, click to read

 

Rosa Curcio was born in Ispica, Sicily, she was seventh of ten children born to Salvatore and Concetta. When she was twelve she came across the book upon the Life of St Teresa of Jesus in the family library, and after she completed reading she was propelled into her Carmelite journey. She enrolled in the Carmelite Third Order at the age of thirteen in Ispica. As she grew in her understanding andpractice of Carmelite Spirituality she came to discern that her mission was to 'make Carmel flourish'. She joined later on the community of Carmelite seculars, she moved to Medica to join Carmela Polara, an institution that supported and educated orphaned and disadvantaged girsl. She attended canonisation of St Therese of the Child Jesus in Rome, 1925, and inspired by the experience she resolved to found a community of the Carmelite Missionary Sisters of St Therese of the Child Jesus and in 1930 her Congregation was granted official recognition. In 1947 Rosa (now Madre Maria Crocifissa) sent missionary sisters to Brasil to carry out their work to bring souls to God by feeding the poor, educating children and supporting families in Christiann living. She died on July 4th 1957 in Porto Santa Rufina, afte a life of contmeplative prayer, community and prophetic action. 

(text after Universalis and O.Carm Order of the Brothers of the Most Blessed Virgin of Mt Carmel).

Read whole post......

Feast of St Thomas, Apostle

"Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God". (John 20:28)

How much love and patience Our Lord showed to Thomas, who was well aware of the Resurrection prophecies, who knew exactly what the Apostles witnessed, who saw all the people around him rejoicing at the great news and yet he could not believe! He even wanted to challenge the Lord and set his terms: "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25). But Jesus treated Thomas only with patience and compassion. He does not admonished or rebuked him but instead He came with words of peace. And indeed He stands in front of Thomas ready at his disposal letting Thomas to see and examine the wounds with meekness and patience saying: "Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing" (John 20: 27). Exactly with the same patience and forbearance the Lord reacts to endless attacks and wickedness of atheists and infidels, obstinacy and blindness of Jews, schism, heresy and all the misery and sins of the world. Can we behave like Our Lord even in remotely parallel situation, when our credibility or orders are challenged, when we are ignored or even ridiculed? Possibly we will try to excuse and justify quite opposite reaction, wondering why we cannot win the hearts of those around us, family, friends, superiors. Someone made quite a good comment on the situation in modern world saying that nowadays simple domestic authority is usually enforced by endless orders, bans, prohibitions, but how ineffective really that could be. For in practice, a good example is most effective way. If someone is too strict with his subjects or employees he can end up surrounded by two-faced hypocrites. We should try our best to follow the Lord's example which enable us to win the hearts of others more easily by good example and loving attitude than by artificial and self-imposed authority. And indeed, Our Lord's love and patience won Thomas' heart who was converted and confessed: "My Lord, and my God" (John 20:28). Let us keep these moving words in our hearts, in particular during Mass when the Host is elevated after consecration. Do not cast the eyes down, but as St Pius X desired and granted indulgence for those faithful who with simple, deep faith and trust look into the Redeemer's eyes confessing in their hearts: "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

Read whole post......

St Peter and St Paul, solemnity

'Simon, son of John, do you love me?...'Lord, you know everything, you know that I love thee'...'Feed my sheep' (John 21:17)

How did JESUS have love his disciples and why did he love them? It wasn't their human qualities that attracted Him; an infinite distance existed between them. He was knowledge, Eternal Wisdom; they were poor sinners - ignorant, filled with worldly thoughts. Yet, JESUS called them his friends, his brothers. He wants to open his Father's kingdom for them and see them reign with Him in this kingdom. He wants to die on a cross because He said: 'There is no greater love than to give one's life for those we love' (The Story of a Soul)

'Fight like a good soldier (which means making every effort in overcoming temptations, imperfections, addictions, giving always good example to others) and if sometimes thou fall through frailty, rise up again, with greater strength than before, confiding in My more abundant grace; but take great care thou yield not to any vain complacency and pride. Through this, many are led into error, and sometimes fall into incurable blindness. Let this fall of the proud, who foolishly rely on their own strength, serve thee for a warning, and keep thee always humble (Imitation of Christ book 3 ch 6)'

I understand why St Peter fell. He counted too much on the affection he felt for Our Lord, instead of relying on the strength of divine grace. I am quite sure that if he had said to Our Lord: 'Master, give me the courage to follow Thee even unto death,' he would have obtained the grace.

I wonder why Our Lord, knowing what would have happened, did not say to him: 'Ask Me for the grace to accomplish what you desire'? I think it was in order to teach us two lessons: firstly, that His visible presence did not teach the Apostles more than we can learn from the inspirations of grace; secondly, that having chosen St Peter to govern the Church, whose members would include so many sinners, he wished him to learn by experience what man is without the help of God. That is why Our Lord said to him before his fall: 'Thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren (Luke 22;32) i.e. tell them the story of your fall, and show them by you own experience how necessary it is for salvation to rely solely upon God. (St Therese, Conseils et Souvenirs).

Text inspirations from 'Through the Year with St Therese' and 'Just for Today - daily readings from St Therese and Imitations of Christ'

Read whole post......

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart

  O Jesus, how little known is the mercuful love of Your Heart!

(St Therese)

Read whole post......

Corpus Christi with Carmelite Saints

Carl Emil Doepler, Corpus Christi Procession

Lord, you have given your people the food of angels, from heaven untiringly sending them bread already prepared, containing every delight, satisfying every taste. (Wisdom 16:20)

This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ (1 Cor 11:23-25)

Bl Titus Brandsma:

In speaking of Carmelites' tender devotion to the Sacrament of the Altar...They have always seen a symbol of the sacred host in the wonderful food which the angels pointed out to Elijah and which strengthened the prophet in finding the way that he was able to cross the desert. The Eucharist is the power which permits them to arrive at contemplation...St Peter Thomas who died in 1365 was prior general at the time of the Avignon popes....He was not hindered by the many occupations of his busy life from spending several hours each night before the Blessed Sacrament, oftentimes he was found lost in adoration...Blessed John Soreth...a great reformer of the Carmelites in fifteenth century, his life imperiled, grasped the Blessed Sacrament from a burning church...Bl Bartholomew Fanti, who counted Bl Baptist Spignola among his disciples, taught his novices that it was not possible to be a good Carmelite without special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. What determined St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi to enter the Carmel of Florence was the practice of daily Communion observed in this convent - a thing rare for the times. The Carmelites are rightly numbered among the mendicant orders, for their constitutions demand the greatest simplicity in their monasteries. BUT for their churches and the cult of the Eucharist, grandeur was always permitted. (from the teaching on the Blessed Sacrament given during retreat) 

St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi:

1. When you are to receive Communion, think that you are about to perform the greatest and most worthy action that can be done, which is to receive the Lord God within yourself.

2.Guard against going to Communion through habit or by chance, but go with actual devotion.

3 If you realize that as long as the sacramental species continue, you have within yourself the entire Most Holy Trinity, you would not go to Communion only occasionally; you would also think about it before you left off Communion, in order not to be deprived of so great a good.

4. Take care lest, on account of your little desire and disposition, you may be the cause of closing that little window of heaven.

5. One cannot find a more effective means of perfecting a soul than to approach this divine table; and if you knew how to use this well, in a short time you would become filled with the love of God, for only one Communion is enough to make a soul holy.

6. Never of your own will deprive yourself of Communion, because you do not know if that Communion might be the very time when God has determined to give you some grace and particular gift. (Teaching on the Most Holy Communion in Complete Works of St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi)  

St Teresa of Avila:

Receiving Communion is not like picturing with the imagination. as when we reflect upon the Lord on the cross or in other episodes of the Passion, when we picture within ourselves how things happened to him in the past. In Communion, the event is happening now, and it is entirely true. Since we know that Jesus is with us as long as the natural heat doesn't consume the accidents of bread, we should approach him. Now, then, if when he went about in the world the mere touch of his robes cured the sick, why doubt, if we have faith, that miracles will be worked while He is within us and that he will give what we ask of him since he is in our house? His Majesty is not accustomed to paying poorly for his lodging if the hospitality is good. (The Way of Perfection)

Augustin-Marie of the Blessed Sacrament, OCD (Hermann Cohen):

My well-Beloved when all are asleep

And seem to forget your love

Do permit me to watch

Alone with you in this abode

(Canticle from his music collection 'Love of Jesus Christ')

Blessed Mary of Jesus Cricified:

...To fly to my Beloved

Hail, hail, blessed tree;

Thou bearest the fruit of life

Under Thy shade, I wish to sigh;

At thy feet, I wish to die.

(Mariam, the Little Arab)

St Therese of Child Jesus:

Living Bread, Bread of Heaven, Divine Eucharist,

O touching mystery produced by Love,

Come dwell within my heart, Jesus, my white Host...

Deign to unite me unto Thee, O holy and sacred Vine, 

That my feeble branch may yield its fruit to Thee;

And I will offer Thee a gilded cluster...

This cluster of love of which the grapes are souls.

(Poems)

Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity:

Every Sunday, we have the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the oratory. When I open the door and contemplate the divine prisoner who has made ma a prisoner in this dear Carmel, it seems to me rather like the gate of heaven opening! Then I present to Jesus all those who are in my heart, and there, close to him, I find them again. (Light, Love, Life)

St Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein):

Communion delivers us from evil, because it cleanses us of sin and gives us peace of heart that takes away things of all other 'evils'. It brings us the forgiveness of past sins and strengthens us in the face of temptations. It is itself the bread of life that we need daily to grow into eternal life. It makes our will into an instrument at God's disposal. Thereby, it lays the foundation for the kingdom of God in us and gives us clean lips and a pure heart to glorify God's holy name. participation in the sacrifice  and in the sacrificial meal actually transforms the soul into a living stone in the city of God - in fact, each individual soul - into a temple of God. (Essential Writings)

Servant of God, Pere Jacques de Jesus Bunel:

Our participation at Mass, our grace filled actions, our Communions must be religious acts stamped with prayer and love. Our material work of the day must be a work bathed in prayer. (Resplendent in Victory).

St Teresa of Jesus of the Andes:

Thank God, we have always had Mass and we've had the Blessed Sacrament. Since Eli, Gorda, and I are the sacristans, we've spent moments of heaven by our Lord's side. (Letters).

Read whole post......

Blessed Alphonsus Mary Mazurek, Priest, and companions, martyrs, optional memoria

He was born in 1891 at Baranowka near Lubartow, now Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. He entered the Order of DIscalced Carmelites in 1908, taking the religious name Alphonsus mary of the Holy Spirit. He was ordained a priest andappointed as a professor, while dedicating himself to the education of youth. Afterwards he served in his Order as prior and bursar. In 1944, after having been arrested by the troops that had invaded his country, he was shot dead on August 28 at Nawojowa Gora, near Krzeszowice. He was beatified by JohnPaul II on June 13 1999, together with many other Polish martyrs. The picture of the Blessed Alphonsus Mary can be found at the website of the Discalced Carmelite publishing house website link: https://wkb-krakow.pl/obrazki/871-obrazek-bl-alfons-maria-mazurek.html  

'Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs (Mt 5:10). In a particular way, this beatitude places the events of Good Friday before our eyes. Christ was condemned to death as a criminal, and then crucified. On Calvary it seemed he had been abandoned by God and left at the mercy of people's derision....he wanted the words of the sermon on the mount to be verified in himself: 'Blessed are you when people abuse and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you' (Mt 5:11-12).

To whom these words still apply? To many, many people throughout humanity's history, to whom it was given to suffer persecution for the sake of justice. We know that the first three centuries after Christ were marked by persecution, at times terrible, particularly under some Roman emperors, from Nero to Diocletian. Even though these ceased from the time of the Edict of Milan, nevertheless, they broke out again in various historical eras, in numerous places throughout the world. Even our century has written a great martyrology. I myself, over twenty years of my pontificate, have elevated to the glory of the altar numerous groups of martyrs: Japanese, french, Vietnamese, SPanish, Mexican. How many there were during the period of the Second World War and under the communist totalitarian system! They suffered and gave their life in the Hitlerian or Soviet extermination camps......I am happy that I was able to beatify, among others the one hundred and eight martyrs, Blessed Fr Alphonsus Mary Mazurek, a pupil, and much later, a well-deserving educator in the minor seminary connected to the Discalced Carmelite Monastery. I had an occassion of meeting personally with the witness to Christ, who in 1944, as prior of the Czerna monastery, sealed his faithfulness to God with death through martydrom. I kneel in veneration of his relics which rest in the church of St Joseph and I thanks God for the gift of the life, the martyrdom and sanctity of this great religious. Excerpts from the addresses of Pope John Paul II, June 1999.

Read whole post......

Most Holy Trinity Sunday

Luca Rossetti, Holy Trinity

How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything? All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! (Rom. 11:33-36)

"O my God whom I adore; help me to forget myself entirely That I may be established in you as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into depths of your mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and your resting place. May I never leave you there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to your creative Action. O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I wish to be a bride for your Heart; I wish to cover you with glory; I wish to love you...even unto death! But I feel my weakness, and I ask you to 'clothe me with yourself', to identify my soul with all the movements of your Soul, to overwhelm me, to possess me, to substitute yourself for me that my life may be a radiance of your Life. Come into me as Adorer, as Restorer, as Saviour. O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life in listening to you, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplessness, I want to gaze on you always and remain in your great light. O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may not withdraw from your radiance. O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, 'come upon me', and create in my soul a kind of incarnation f the Word; that I may be another humanity for him in which he can renew his whole Mystery, And you, O Father, bend lovingly over your poor little creature; 'cover her with your shadow', seeing in her only the 'Beloved' in whom you are well pleased'. O my Three, my All, me Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself to you as your prey. Bury yourself in me that I may bury myself in you until I depart to contemplate in your light the abyss of your greatness'" 
Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity, Prayer.

Read whole post......

Bl Elisha of St Clement, optional memoria

Born in Bari in 1901, the third child of deeply Christian parents, Joseph and Pasqua Fracasso, she was baptized in the Church of St James by her uncle, Fr Charles Fracasso, chaplain at the cemetery, and given the name Theodora, meaning gift of God. On April 8th 1920, the feast of St Albert, author of the Carmelite Rule, she entered the Carmel of St Joseph in Bari and received her habit on November 24, the same year, taking the name Sister Elisha of Saint Clement. She made her first simple vows on December 4, 1921: “Alone at the feet of my Crucified Lord, I looked at him for a long time, and as I looked I saw that He was my whole life”. Besides St. Teresa of Jesus, she took as her guide Therese of the Child Jesus, following the “little way of spiritual childhood where I felt called by the Lord”. She made her solemn profession on February 11, 1925. She died on Christmas day 1927. On 19th December 2005 Pope Benedict XVI signed the Decree of Beatification. She was proclaimed Blessed in Bari Cathedral on 18th March 2006. After Universalis and Carmelitani Scalzi Curia Generale Del Carmelo Teresiano http://www.ocd.pcn.net/Elia1_en.htm

Read whole post......

St Mary Magdalen de’Pazzi, memoria

 

St Mary Magdalen de’Pazzi Born in Florence in 1566, she entered the Carmelites there where she led a hidden life of prayer and self-denial. She prayed especially for the reform of the Church. She was endowed by God with many spiritual gifts and directed her fellow sisters along the road of perfection. She died in 1607 and was canonized in 1669 by Pope Clement X. According to ST Mary Magdalen, prayer is important because through it 'the soul detaches itself from created things and is united to God'.The picture represents eching print by Giovanni Fabbri, Wellcome Collection

   O Holy Spirit, you show us what we must do to please the Trinity, interiorly through your inspirations, and externally through preaching and warnings, and that all proceeds from you, since no one can say the sweet and holy name of Jesus unless he is moved by you. 

    You are the dispenser of the treasures hidden in the bosom of the Father and the treasurer of the counsels which pass between the Father and the Word. You are that rod that strikes the rock and makes it bring forth the water that satisfies every creature. The cataracts of heaven are always open to send down grace, but we do not have the mouth of our desire open to receive it. 

    Come, come, O most gentle Spirit! Spirit of goodness! I contemplate you as you leave the bosom of the Father, and enter the side of the Word, then leaving by the heart of the Word, come to us here on earth. From the bosom of the Father, bring us power, from the Heart of the Son burning love. After Complete Works of St Mary Magdalen.

Read whole post......

St Joachina de Vedruna memorial, the foundress of the Carmelite Sister of Charity

Joachina was born in Barcelona in 1783, in 1779 she married Theodore de Mas, by whom she had nine children. Her husband died in 1816 after he withdraw from the army he served during Napoleonic Wars to defend Spain. In 1826 she was moved by the Holy Spirit to found the Congregation of the Carmelite Sister of Charity, which soon spread throughout Catalonia, maintaining many houses for the care of the sick and the education of the children, especially the poor. She loved to contemplate the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and the devotion characterized her life of prayer, mortification, detachment, humility and charity. She died at Vich in 1854. 

“If only we were all on fire with love of God! If we were, we should preach love, proclaim love, and yet more love, until we had set the whole world on fire. We must have great desires: then God will give us whatever is best for us”. A fragment of the reading from the Letter of St Joachina de Vedruna, after Discalced Carmelite Proper Offices.

Read whole post......

Pentecost Novena starts on Friday after Ascension Day!

Pray Pentecost Novena short version here
Pentecost Novena prayer for the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, after Walsingham Shrine of Our Lady here

 

And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.Acts 2:1-4.

The grace of the Holy Spirit be with your paternity, mi padre. I hope that this Pentecost has brought you so many of his gifts and blessings that through them you may render His Majesty the service you owe him for having willed to come to the aid of his people, at so great a cost to yourself. May he be praised for everything. (On the vigil of the Pentecost Sunday, 7 June 1579, while praying in the hermitage of Nazareth, St Teresa received the four counsels for the discalced friars). From the letter 297 of St Teresa to Fr Jeronimo Gracian, written in Avila, 10th of June 1579.

Read whole post......