CARMEL CHRONICLE

St Albert of Jerusalem - September 17th

2011-09-17T14:17:00.009-04:00

St Albert of Jerusalem giving Rule of Life to the Carmelites

St Albert of Jerusalem

Born about 1150

Died September 14, 1214

Feast Day September 17th

To Learn about St Albert, click on the link below

St Albert of Jerusalem

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

All trouble is a white-lit joy

2011-07-27T03:00:00.002-04:00

Blessed Titus Brandsma

1881-1942

Memorial - July 27th

In times of trial and suffering, let us take courage from the example of Blessed Titus Brandsma who remained faithful through the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. He found his consolation in Jesus.

Below is a prayer composed by him in his cell shortly before his death.

Before a Picture of Jesus in My Cell

A new awareness of Thy love

Encompasses my heart: Sweet Jesus, I in

Thee and Thou

In me shall never part.

No grief shall fall my way but I

Shall see Thy grief-filled eyes;

The lonely way that Thou once walked

Has made me sorrow-wise.

All trouble is a white-lit joy

That lights my darkest day;

Thy love has turned to brightest light

This night-like way.

If I have Thee alone, The hours will bless

With still, cold hands of love

My utter loneliness.

Stay with me, Jesus, only stay;

I shall not fear -

If, reaching out my hand,

I feel Thee near.

For more information on the life of Blessed Titus Brandsma, see our previous post entitled,

"Blessed Titus Brandsma: Carmelite Scholar, Priest, and Martyr."

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Blessed Titus Brandsma: Carmelite Scholar, Priest, and Martyr

2011-07-26T19:08:00.028-04:00

1881 - 1942

Memorial - July 27th

"We are here in a dark tunnel but we have to go on. At the end, the eternal light is shining for us."

Blessed Titus Brandsma, a professor and one time Rector of the Catholic University of Nijmegen, in Holland , died on July 26th, 1942 by lethal injection in Dachau, one of the Nazis' most brutal concentration camps. A fellow prisoner said of him, "He radiated with cheerful courage."

The guards at Dachua where proud of their reputation as merciless tormentors of the prisoners there. They were especially cruel to Titus, possibly because his gentle courageous manner infuriated them. They often beat him with clubs. His fellow prisoners described how they kicked him and tore his flesh, often leaving him bloody and "nearly unconscious in the mud" on the streets of the camp.

Without fail, however, Titus continually encouraged the prisoners: "Do not yield to hatred. Be patient. We are here in a dark tunnel but we have to go on. At the end, the eternal light is shining for us."

On one occasion, Titus was able to secretly receive a consecrated Host in a tobacco pouch from another inmate. A guard, who caught sight of him as he was returning to his barracks went into an insane rage, supposedly because Titus had been careless in mopping the kitchen floor. The guard seized Titus, beat him and when he fell, the guard stomped on him until Titus became semi-conscious. After prisoners helped the priest to his bunk, an inmate sought to comfort him. His response was, "Thank you, brother, but don't have pity on me, I have Jesus with me in the Eucharist."

The beautiful writings of Blessed Titus Brandsma on the value and sacredness of suffering are reflected most clearly in his own life and death. He died at the hands of Nazi doctors, an object of medical experimentation.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 3, 1985.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Blessed Silence!

2011-06-06T09:06:00.017-04:00

On June 7th, the Carmelites remember Blessed Anne of St Bartholomew. She was born Ana Garcia at Almendral, Castille in 1549. She was a companion and nurse to St Teresa of Avila. Blessed Anne brought the Teresan spirit to France and Belgium. She died at Antwerp in 1626. Soon after her death, miracles were attributed to her. She, like St Teresa, was a true daughter of the church with a great zeal for souls. She was Beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1917. Among her writings is the following inspirational meditation. Read it an learn from Blessed Anne.

Blessed silence!

In it you cry out and preach to the whole world by your example.

According to Saint Bernard, it is the person who keeps silent and says nothing when things go wrong who is really humble. It is very virtuous, he says, to keep silent when people are talking about our true faults, but more perfect when we are slighted or accused without having committed any fault or sin. And though it is virtuous indeed to bear this in silence, it is more perfect still to want to be despised and thought mad and good-for- nothing, and to go on, as our Lord Jesus Christ did, wholeheartedly loving those who despise us.

If Jesus kept silent, it was not because he hated anyone. He was simply saying to his eternal Father what he said on the cross: Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. What infinite love burned in that sacred heart of yours, Lord Jesus! Without uttering a single word you spoke to us; without a word you worked the mysteries you came to accomplish—teaching virtue to the ignorant and blind. What our Lord did was no small thing. Where should we get patience and humility and poverty and the other virtues, and how could we carry each other’s burdens and cross, if Christ had not taught us all this first, and given himself as a living model of all perfection?

Blessed silence! In it you cry out and preach to the whole world by your example. Volumes could be written about your silence, Lord! There is more wisdom to be learned from it by those who love you than from books or study.

Our Lord became a spring of Living water for us, so that we should not die of thirst among all the miseries that surround us. How truly he said in the Gospel that he came to serve and not to be served! What tremendous goodness! Can we fail to be shamed by your words and deeds, and the patience you show with us every day? How truly, again Lord, did you say: Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart. Where can we obtain this patience and humbleness of heart? Is there any way to achieve it except by taking it from Christ as he taught it to us with those other virtues we need—faith, hope and charity? Without faith we cannot follow that royal road of the divine mysteries. It is faith that opens our eyes and makes us see the truth; and where faith is wanting there is no light, and no way leading to goodness.

- From the Meditations on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Pope Benedict XVI on St Therese of Lisieux

2011-04-07T16:39:00.002-04:00

At his Wednesday Audience on April 6th, 2011, the Pope spoke about our beloved St Therese. Click the link below to read his comments:

The Pope on St Therese

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Pope Benedict XVI on St John of the Cross

2011-02-18T10:35:00.003-05:00

At his Wednesday Audience on February 16th, Pope Benedict XVI continued his lessons on the Doctors of the Church with a teaching on the life and writings of St John of the Cross. The Pope said that " ... holiness is not only for a privileged few, but a path to which we all are called." The Pope also referred to St John of the Cross as ..." a model of humble dedication and of faithful perseverance on the road to spiritual maturity." To read more about the Pope's comments, click on the link below.

February 16th Wednesday Audience, St John of the Cross

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Pope - "Prayer is Not Wasted Time..."

2011-02-03T19:05:00.025-05:00

" Prayer is not wasted time, but opens true way to life."

Beginning this week, the Pope is dedicating his Wednesday Audiences to a new cycle of lessons on the Doctors of the Church. He took the occasion of his first lesson to speak of "one of the highest examples of Christian spirituality of all time", St Teresa of Avila. To see a video clip of his comments, click the link below:

Pope: "Prayer is Not Wasted Time, But Opens True Way to Life"

Pope's Wednesday Audience - February 2, 2011

To read an article with more complete comments from the Pope, click the link below:

Wednesday Audience - Doctors of the Church - February 2, 2011

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Whosoever is a little one, let him come to Me

2011-01-23T12:00:00.011-05:00

Excerpt from Homily of Pope Pius XI at the Canonization of St Therese of Lisieux, May 17th, 1925:

"Amen, I say to you, unless ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

(Matt 18:2)

The new St. Thérèse had learned thoroughly this teaching of the Gospels and had translated it into her daily life. Moreover she taught the way of spiritual childhood by word and example to the novices of her monastery. She set it forth clearly in all her writings, which have gone to the ends of the world, and which assuredly no one has read without being charmed thereby, or without reading them again and again with great pleasure and much profit. For this simple child, this flower that blossomed in the walled garden of Carmel, not content with adding to Thérèse the name of the "Child Jesus," retraced in herself His living image, so that it may be said that whosoever honors Thérèse honors the Divine Model she reproduced.

Therefore We nurse the hope today of seeing springing up in the souls of the faithful of Christ a burning desire of leading a life of spiritual childhood. That spirit consists in thinking and acting, under the influence of virtue, as a child feels and acts in the natural order. Little children are not blinded by sin, or disturbed by the passions, and they enjoy in peace the possession of their innocence. Guiltless of malice or pretense, they speak and act as they think, so that they show themselves as they really are. Thus Thérèse appeared more angelic than human in her practice of truth and justice, endowed as she was with the simplicity of a child. The Maid of Lisieux had ever in memory the invitation and the promises of her Spouse: "Whosoever is a little one, let him come to Me." (Prov. 9:4) "You shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you; as one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you." (Is. 64:12-13)

Conscious of her weakness she abandoned herself entirely to God, and leaning upon Him she labored to acquire -- at the cost of every sacrifice, and of an utter yet joyous abdication of her own will -- the perfection she arrived at. We need not be surprised if in Thérèse was accomplished the word of Christ: "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven." (Mat 18:4) In her catechism lessons she drank in the pure doctrine of Faith, from the golden book of The Imitation of Christ she learned asceticism, in the writings of St. John of the Cross she found her mystical theology. Above all, she nourished heart and soul with the inspired Word of God on which she meditated assiduously, and the Spirit of Truth taught her what He hides as a rule from the wise and prudent and reveals to the humble. Indeed, God enriched her with a quite exceptional wisdom, so that she was enabled to trace out for others a sure way of salvation.

That superabundant share of divine light and grace enkindled in Thérèse so ardent a flame of love, that she lived by it alone, rising above all created things, till in the end it consumer her; so much so that shortly before her death she could candidly avow she had never given God anything but Love.

Evidently it was under the influence of that burning charity that the Maid of Lisieux took the resolution of doing all things for love of Jesus, with the sole object of pleasing Him, of consoling His Divine Heart, and of saving a multitude of souls who would love Him eternally. We have proof that on entering into Paradise she began at once, there also, this work among souls, when we see the mystical shower of roses which God permitted her, and still permits her to let fall upon earth, as she had ingenuously foretold.

Therefore do We desire earnestly that all the Faithful of Christ should render themselves worthy of partaking in the abundant profusion of graces resulting from the intercession of "little Thérèse." But We desire much more earnestly that all the faithful should study her in order to copy her, becoming children themselves, since otherwise they cannot, according to the oracle of the Master, arrive at the Kingdom of Heaven.

If the way of spiritual childhood became general, who does not see how easily would be realized the reformation of human society which We set ourselves to accomplish at the commencement of our Pontificate, and more especially in the promulgation of this Jubilee. We, therefore, adopt as our own the prayer of the new St. Thérèse with which she ends her invaluable autobiography: "O Jesus, we beseech Thee to cast Thy glance upon the vast number of little souls, and to choose in this world a legion of little victims worthy of Thy love." Amen.

- excerpt from Homily of Pope Pius XI at the Canonization of St Therese of the Child Jesus, May 17th, 1925

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Verbum Domini

2010-11-13T09:33:00.020-05:00

The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church

Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Exhortation on the Bible, Verbum Domini, was released on November 11th. It is the first full length papal document focused solely on the scripture since Pope Pius XII's Encyclical, Divino Afflante Spiritu, that was published in 1943.

The Holy Father is calling all of us to rediscover the Bible, to fall deeply in love with Jesus, and to grow in faith. I encourage you to read it and meditate on it. Below I have given you a beautiful excerpt from the end of the document along with a link to the full document. Let us all take advantage of this masterful teaching from our great theologian Pope, Pope Bendedict XVI.

May every day of our lives thus be shaped by a renewed encounter with Christ, the Word of the Father made flesh: he stands at the beginning and the end, and “in him all things hold together” (Col 1:17). Let us be silent in order to hear the Lord’s word and to meditate upon it, so that by the working of the Holy Spirit it may remain in our hearts and speak to us all the days of our lives. In this way the Church will always be renewed and rejuvenated, thanks to the word of the Lord which remains for ever (cf. 1 Pet 1:25;Is 40:8). Thus we too will enter into the great nuptial dialogue which concludes sacred Scripture: “The Spirit and the bride say: ‘Come’. And let everyone who hears say: ‘Come!’” The one who testifies to these things, says: ‘Surely I am coming soon!’. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”. (Rev 22:17, 20).

To read the document, please click on the link below.

Verbum Domini

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

St Teresa of Jesus and the Way of Perfection

2010-10-15T05:00:00.005-04:00

St Teresa of Jesus

Virgin, Doctor of the Church, and our Mother

Solemnity - October 15th

In 2015, we will be celebrating the 5th Centenary of the birth of St Teresa of Jesus. To prepare for this celebration, all Carmelites throughout the world are studying her writings. Last year, we studied the Book of Her Life. This October, we begin the study of The Way of Perfection. To help in our study, we are being provided with worksheets or study guides. The first of these worksheets has just been made available. Click on the link below to go to the I Was Born for You website where you will find a link for the Worksheet 1 file.

Worksheet 1 - Way of Perfection Chapter 1-3

Read about this great Saint, Doctor of the Church and Mother of the Discalced Carmelites by clicking the following link -

St Teresa of Avila

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

October 16th Lecture at Boston College

2010-10-14T20:17:00.009-04:00

Lecture on St John of the Cross

Presenter: Fr Kevin Culligan, OCD

The Institute of Carmelite Studies is hosting a lecture on Saturday, October 16th, 2010

from 10 am till noon at

Boston College Newton Campus in the Stuart House East Wing, Room 120

885 Centre St., Newton, MA

The lecture is free and open to the public.

For more information, call 617-787-5056

To register call:
(617) 552-6501
(800) 487-1167

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

FREEDOM IN BEING WHO GOD WILLS US TO BE

2010-09-28T14:21:00.000-04:00

"Perfection consist in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be. "

- St Therese of Lisieux

In a number of ways, the world today seeks to rob us of our freedom. Beginning in our youth and continuing on into adulthood, we often find ourselves trying to be 'like the others.' How many people compare themselves with others and are unhappy with their size, their face, their abilities, their possessions... and the list goes on and on. This struggle to be who we are not or to be what others consider to be perfection is not only an oppressive slavery - it is a denial of reality.

The reality is that each of us is a unique creation of God and God did not intended us to be just like everyone else. St Therese of Lisieux explains this beautifully when she wrote in her Story of A Soul,

"... the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take

away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the

daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature

would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer

be decked out with little wild flowers.

And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. He willed to create

great souls comparable to Lilies and roses, but He has created

smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets

destined to give joy to God's glances when He looks down at this feet.

Perfection consist in dong His will, in being what He wills us to be. "

So, let us all ask God, through the intercession of St Therese the Little Flower, to help us understand who He has created us to be. Let us ask Him to help us in doing His will as only we can in our individual lives.

The world will be deprived of your beauty if you don't live the reality of who you were created to be!

Quote taken from Story of A Soul, the Autobiography of St Therese of Lisieux, Third Edition, ICS Publications, Washington, DC, 1996.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Our Lady of Sorrows - September 15th

2010-09-15T05:00:00.007-04:00

Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow? The poet puts these words on Mary's lips during the agony of her Son, Jesus.

From the very beginning, Mary, who was the most blessed (the word is sometimes translated happy) of women, endured the suffering of the cross. The hardship of giving birth to the Savior of the World in a stable was probably not part of her true sorrow: the sorrow that gained her the title Our Lady of Sorrows. But shortly after his birth, when as a young mother, filled with holy joy at the presentation of the child to His true Father, the Lord of Heaven, Simeon stopped her. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Simeon took the child in his arms and praised God because he recognized Jesus to be the Christ. At this moment he foretold the suffering of the God-man and turning to Mary, his mother, he said: and your own heart will be pierced by a sword. At this very moment her innocent heart, filled with holy ecstasy at the offering of the Only Begotten One to his Heavenly Father, experienced the initial wound of the sword which was to pierce through her very soul on Calvary.

We are told that Simeon spoke in the power of the Holy Spirit, and truly his prophetic words would resonate in the heart of Mary who conceived her child by the Holy Spirit. There can be no doubt that Simeon's words to her were understood with a power and depth that no one, even after the death and resurrection of Jesus, could comprehend. From a height of unspeakable joy, Mary was startled by the revelation of the sorrow she would later endure. We can believe that even at this moment in Mary's young life, when she heard those terrible words in the Temple, Mary bowed her head and repeated her fiat: Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done onto me according to thy word.

Within a year or two, Mary would again experience the sword of sorrow when she learned that Herod was seeking the child to destroy him. The Gospels tell the stroy in brief. They merely say that Joseph awoke in the middle of the night, after an angel had warned him in a dream, and took the child and his mother and fled into Egypt. What was the thought of this young mother, did she suppose that this was the final hour, the time foretold by Simeon? How long was the flight into Egypt? How many days? How many weeks? When Mary looked at her infant during that dreadful journey, what terror filled her heart at the thought of brutal soldiers tearing Jesus from her arms and destroying him as they indeed did with the slaughter of the holy innocents in Bethlehem, at this very time.

A few years later, perhaps not even ten, the young boy, Jesus, was lost to his parents when they went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The memory of the horrible flight into Egypt must have been still fresh in her mind, as perhaps were the ghastly stories of the slaughter of the infants in the City of David. What anguish Mary must have felt when, for three days, she and Joseph searched for Jesus without finding him. How desolate and abandoned she must have felt. The Gospels record her words to Jesus when he was at last found in the Temple: Son, why have you done this to us? You see that your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow. Luke 2:48. Simple words, gentle and humble, but revealing three long days of suffering for both mother and foster-father.

Were there other sorrows? Undoubtedly, but we are not told of them until the great sorrow which Mary endured at the Passion of Christ, and her three hour vigil at the foot of the Cross. That was the fulfillment of Simeon's prophecy: that was Mary's ultimate martyrdom that earned for her the everlasting title, Our Lady of Sorrows.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

The Triumph of the Cross

2010-09-14T05:00:00.005-04:00

Today the Church celebrates the Triumph of the Cross, sometimes called the Exaltation of the Cross.

The Cross, which represents the Passion and Death of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is called a mystery , and rightly, so it is. How can anyone ever sufficiently recognize or understand the greatness of that symbol?

The crucifix is an object that is in every Catholic Church and in many homes of Catholic Christians. But does anyone really look at it? Or truly see it? Has it just become and object, although a sacred one, for a casual reminder of the price paid for our salvation?

Alphonsus de Liguori, in talking of the Passion of Jesus Christ notes that in Luke's account of the Transfiguration (according to the translation he used), Moses and Elijah met with Jesus on Mount Tabor and spoke about his approaching passion and death: "And they spoke of his excess that he should accomplish in Jerusalem." Luke, 9:31. In another translation, the word "extravagance" is used: the extravagance of his suffering in Jerusalem. That excess or extravagance is part of the mystery.

That God in the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become man while still possessing the Divine nature is astonishing in itself. That this God-man, one Person with two natures (one fully human an one truly Divine) should willingly endure the utmost humiliation of the Cross: the condemnation before Pilate, the cruel scourging at the pillar, the brutal crowning with thorns, the unspeakable carrying of his own cross to the place of crucifixion, and finally, the utter desolation as he hung on the cross for three hours in agony, and ultimately, his death (in his human nature) is beyond human comprehension. That is the mystery: the mystery of the greatness of God's love for mankind, His own creation.

St Augustine once said, "There is no more profitable occupation for the soul than to meditate daily on the Passion of Our Lord." What profit can a person derive from meditating on the Cross of Christ? Christ, who lives now both in his human nature after the resurrection, and in his Divine nature, which never underwent change, accepts our meditation as an act of gratitude for his Sacrifice. Every time a person reflects on the extravagance of the Cross, Christ accepts it as a sacrifice of praise. This is what the Church teaches (through one of its Doctors of the Church, St Alphonsus de Liguori) and what should be evident by the great love which prompted the suffering and Passion of our Savior. Only by a realization of the unutterable magnitude of Christ's sacrifice, can one truly appreciate the Triumph of the Cross.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2010-09-08T05:00:00.005-04:00

On September 8th the church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the liturgical calendar of the Church only three persons have this distinction: St. John the Baptist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ himself.

Much can be said about the reasons for this but principally, by becoming the mother of the God-Man, Mary became the mother of God. On this extraordinary blessing, all other honors and titles of Mary depend.

When Bernadette of Lourdes was granted a vision of Mary, Bernadette asked the lady who she was. Mary replied, "I am the Immaculate Conception." She did not say, "I was immaculately conceived." By saying "I am the Immaculate Conception," she clearly states, "Immaculate Conception is my name: that is who I am."

When the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary at the Annunciation, he said, "Hail" or "Greetings, Full of Grace." Not, "Hail, Mary, you are full of grace." Gabriel was a messenger of God sent to Mary. His salutation, therefore, was not the name he, Gabriel, conferred upon her, but the name given by God, himself.

Something analogous to this appears in Matthew's Gospel when Simon answered Jesus by saying "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.! Jesus replied, "Blest are you, Simon son of John! No mere man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. I for my part declare to you, you are 'Rock', and on this rock I will build my church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. Mt 16:16-19." At this moment, Simon became Peter. He is also referred to as "Simon Peter," but Peter is his name. On his own authority, Jesus confers the name "Rock" or "Peter on Simon. The Archangel Gabriel, as messenger of God addressed Mary by the name conferred by God, "Full of Grace."

What does "Full of Grace" mean? In the encyclical letter of John Paul II, Mother of the Redeemer, he writes, "In the language of the Bible "grace" means a special gift, which according to the New Testament has its source precisely in the Trinitarian life of God himself, God who is love (cf. 1 Jn. 4:8)."

Mary's role in the mystery of the Incarnation, the sublime event when the Eternal Son of God became man: true God and true man, (having two natures in one being), is unique in all creation. In the eternal plan of God, His plan for the salvation of the world, Mary was chosen "before the foundation of the world" and, as the Second Vatican Council said of her, she "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently await and receive salvation from him." Lumen Gentium, 55.

It is Mary, the mother of the Saviour of the world, whose birth we joyfully celebrate today!

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

DEUS CARITAS EST - GOD IS LOVE

2010-09-01T19:58:00.039-04:00

St Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, OCD

1747 - 1770

Memorial - September 1st

“God is love; he who dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.”

This verse sums up the life of St Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart. From the day that her mother told her that "God is Love," our young Saint sought to know this love and to return this love to God.

As the following excerpt from the book God is Love reveals, St Teresa seemed to receive a special grace of revelation that helped her in living out this goal:

One Sunday after Pentecost, on the 28th of June, 1767, when Sister Teresa Margaret was officiating in choir, she read out the little chapter at Terce: “Deus caritas est.” She had heard these words repeatedly, Sunday after Sunday, for the past three years, but now it seemed as though she understood them for the first time - or rather, her understanding of them was raised to an entirely different plane. The verse struck her with the force of a revelation: “God is love; he who dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.” This dwelling had been the goal of all her striving, seeking as she did to imitate the interior life and hidden operations of Christ. From that day onwards the necessity of proving her love by deeds became so compelling a force that it was obvious to her sisters that some special grace had been given her. “Nobody comes to the Father except through Jesus,” she said. “To come to God who is everything and consequently all good, no fatigue must seem to us too great; we must not be put off either by the difficulties we meet on the way, but accept bitterness and welcome every kind of cross with eagerness. By these means, which are precisely those of Jesus Christ, it is not difficult to come to the true God, to live in charity, to walk in love.”

St Teresa Margaret cooperated with the grace of God by living in charity and walking in love. Stories of her work as the infirmarian in her monastery testify to this. Not only did she demonstrate great charity and patience in her duties, she seemed to have special gifts that, no doubt, were due to her constantly dwelling in the presence of God. In her book entitled The Hidden Life, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross wrote of St Teresa's gifts:

"When the monastery was visited by an epidemic, her strength seemed to multiply. Indeed, it was apparent that supernatural gifts came to assist her in her duties. No matter how far away she was, she sensed when one of her patients needed her and was instantly at her side. A deaf elderly sister, with whom no one could communicate any longer, whom therefore even the confessor was no longer able to comfort, understood everything that Teresa Margaret said to her, even in a soft voice. So the infirmarian could care for her unhindered, and the patient also received from her the spiritual consolation for which she longed."

St Teresa Margaret is a great example and inspiration for us all. To read more about this wonderful Saint, please visit the website

StTeresaMargaret.org

Let us ask St Teresa Margaret to pray for us in all our difficulties that we may always respond in charity.

May she obtain for us a greater faith and love.

Through her intercession, may we be drawn to live in the presence of God that we may we bring God to everyone we meet each day.

God is Love: Life of St. Teresa Margaret by Margaret Rowe, ICS Publications, Washington, DC , Revised Edition 2003

Quote taken from The Hidden Life, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Copyright ICS Publications. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is included. Maintained by the Austrian Province of the Teresian Carmel

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

THE LITTLE ARAB

2010-08-25T06:15:00.005-04:00

Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified, OCD

'The Little Arab'

1846-1878

Memorial - August 25th

Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified was born of the Baouardy family, Catholics of the Greek Melchite Rite, at Abellin in Galilee in 1846. In 1867 she entered the Discalced Carmelites in France and was sent with the founding group to the Carmel of Mangalore in India where, in 1870, she made her profession. She returned to France in 1872. In 1875 she went to the Holy Land where she built a monastery in Bethlehem and began planning for another in Nazareth. Noted for her supernatural gifts, especially for humility, for her devotion to the Holy Spirit, and her great love for the Church and the Pope, she died at Bethlehem in 1878.

Prayer

God, Father of mercy and all consolation,

you raised Blessed Mary, the humble daughter of the Holy Land,

to contemplation of the mysteries of your Son

and made her witness to the love and joy of the Holy Spirit.

Grant us, through her intercession,

so to share in the sufferings of Christ

that we may rejoice in the revelation of your glory.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

Above text taken from Carmelite Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours published by Instititum Carmelitanum, 1993.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

THE BRIDGE UNBROKEN

2010-08-16T08:40:00.049-04:00

When we think of following Christ and being transformed into his very likeness, we often think of the martyrs who, like Christ, gave up all, even to the shedding of their blood. But just because you may not be called to be a martyr, it does not mean that you are not called to whole heartedly follow Jesus in every aspect of your life. No matter what your state in life, all of us are called to follow Christ by doing His will in our own lives. In doing so, we can all grow in holiness. St Augustine wrote that "it is not true that the bridge was broken after the martyrs crossed...In the Lord's garden are to be found not only the roses of his martyrs. In it there are also the lilies of the virgins, the ivy of wedded couples, and the violets of the widows. On no account may any class of people despair, thinking that God has not called them."

But how must we follow? We must follow Christ in being obedient to the will of the Father. Regardless of our state in life or what cross we are called to carry, we must be humble and obedient as Christ was. St Augustine wrote, "Christ humbled himself. Christian, that is what you must make your own. Christ became obedient. How is it that you are proud? When this humbling experience was completed and death itself lay conquered, Christ ascended into heaven. Let us follow him there, for we hear Paul saying: If you have been raised with Christ, you must lift your thoughts on high, where Christ now sits at the right hand of God."

Can we identify with and get inspiration for our everyday lives from the martyrs? We certainly can for many of the martyrs were living ordinary lives and doing what we are all called to do - living in humility and obedience. A beautiful example can be found in Blessed Maria Sagrario who we honor this day, August 16th. Blessed Maria was someone who, in the eyes of the world, 'had it all.' Born in 1881, she was an intelligent and well educated young woman who was one of the first women in her country to become a pharmacist. And yet, Christ called her to give all of that up to follow Him as a Carmelite religious. She strove to follow Him in all things and to model her life on Christ. Ultimately, she was martyred in the Spanish Civil war.

You, like Blessed Maria, are called to follow Christ. Though God may not be asking you to leave your profession to become a religious or to shed your blood, He is asking you to follow in complete obedience to whatever he asks of you. In an excerpt from her writing below, you will find great inspiration for your own life. Let us learn from Blessed Maria and ask her intercession that we may be humble and obedient in all that comes our way. Let us conclude with her wonderful advice - "Keep your gaze always on our most beloved Jesus, asking Him in the depths of
His heart what He desires for you, and never deny Him anything even if it
means going strongly against the grain for you."

FOLLOWING CHRIST BY WAY OF HUMILITY AND THE CROSS
From the writings of Blessed Maria Sagrario, OCD

May Jesus reign always in my heart. The Lord asks me to be humble, to weep over my sins, to love Him much, to love my sisters much, to mortify them in nothing, not to mortify myself uselessly, to live recollected in Him wanting nothing for myself, completely surrendered to His divine will. In this vale of tears, suffering will not be lacking and we should be content to have something to offer to our most beloved Jesus Who wanted so much to suffer for love of us. The most direct way to unite ourselves to God is that of the cross, so we should always desire it. May the Lord not permit that I be separated from His divine will.

Blessed be God Who gives us these ways of offering ourselves up to His love! The day will arrive when we will rejoice for having suffered in this way. Meanwhile, let us be generous, suffering everything, if not with happiness, at least in close conformity to the divine will of Him Who suffered so much out of love for us. However great are our sufferings they come nowhere near His. If you wish to be perfect seek first of all to be quite humble in thought, word, deed and desire, learn well what this means and work tenaciously to carry it out. Keep your gaze always on our most beloved Jesus, asking Him in the depths of His heart what He desires for you, and never deny Him anything even if it means going strongly against the grain for you.

Blessed be He Who arranges everything
for our good! In possessing Him, we possess everything.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Blessed Maria Sagrario, OCD

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Blessed Maria Sagrario of St Aloysius Gonzaga

Virgin and Martyr

Memorial - August 16th

She was born at Lillo (Toledo) on Jan. 8, 1881. A pharmacist by trade, she was one of the first women in Spain to be admitted to this qualification. In 1915 she entered the Carmel of St. Anne and St. Joseph in Madrid. Through her spirit of prayer and her love for the Eucharist she was a perfect embodiment of the contemplative and ecclesial ideal of the Teresian Carmel. She was Prioress of her community when she was martyred on August 15, 1936. It was a grace she longed for and accepted in perfection of faith ardent love for Christ.

PRAYER

O God, Who by a spirit of prayer and devotion to the

Eucharist prepared Blessed Maria Sagrario to suffer

martyrdom, grant that we, through her example, may freely

spend our lives for you by faithfully and constantly fulfilling

your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, Who

lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God for

ever and ever.

Above text taken from ADDITIONAL DISCALCED PROPER OFFICES a

Discalced Carmelite Supplement for the 1993 Carmelite Proper.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

TRUTH IS NOT RELATIVE BUT ELUSIVE

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St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Memorial August 9th

Judge not lest you be judged in turn,

Appearances cloud our view.

We guess at the truth, but only learn

God alone knows what is true.

- Edith Stein, Selected Writings

St. Edith Stein, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, O.C.D., wrote this reflection on the words of Jesus Christ who commanded His disciples not to judge anyone. She ends with a statement that pervades much of her thought about finite and eternal being. We cannot judge another because our minds are clouded by appearances, only God, who is omniscient, has the right to judge anyone --- and He is also just. However, the last two lines of this statement can have a wider application. One that is very pertinent to our age.

At one time many people believed everything they read in the newspapers. Gradually, their trust was eroded until most people today are somewhat skeptical about much that is in print. That is not to say that papers and magazines are without influence, quite the contrary, but, at least, people question what they read more frequently.

There is another danger, however, much more insidious, because it strikes at one of the fundamental ways that human beings gain knowledge. We have the old adage Seeing is believing and whether anyone is willing to admit it, this saying tends to stick, no matter how educated or intelligent a person may be. When viewers see a newscast with film footage of something happening at that exact moment, something they can see with their very own eyes, it has the effect of bringing the viewer right at the scene. The impression given is that the camera acts only as a lens for the eyes of the viewer. It is an inanimate object that can't lie. Consequently, people make personal judgments on what they feel that they have seen with their eyes and heard with their ears. How many times in the last few decades have we heard a newscaster warn: The world is watching! In some cases this warning is completely justified. But there is another factor to consider. There is a journalist behind that camera who acts in much the same way as an artist who puts on canvas his view of the world (or at least part of it). The artist wants the people looking at his work to see what he sees and to appreciate what he finds worth while.

Elizabeth Bishop said, The eye cannot see what the mind is unable to perceive. But is it not accurate to say that the mind is often held captive by the heart? When people adhere to a certain creed or ideology --- for good or ill, can they not become so passionate about it that it captivates their whole being? Edith Stein was a victim of such a system where at least some of the individuals who adhered to that system held that Jews were evil and therefore had to be exterminated --- that was the Nazi final solution. But it was a misconception, a perversion, that made them think and see what their hearts dictated to their eyes and to their minds. Nazism isn't so long ago and far away that we can dismiss it as some aberration of a primitive society that modern man is too noble to imitate. Vigilance as well as humility is imperative. A humility that recognizes that human beings constantly have to remind themselves as Edith Stein did, that:

Appearances cloud our view,

We guess at the truth, but only learn

God alone knows what is true.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

The Morning Offering Anew

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THE MORNING OFFERING ANEW

Pope Pius XII recommended the daily offering of the Apostleship of Prayer to the faithful and many are in the habit of making this offering daily. But like many things, sometimes we lose site of the meaning and risk beginning to say prayers without really meaning what we say. Not only saying this prayer daily, but renewing it throughout the day and embracing all that comes to you during the day is an excellent means of uniting yourself to Jesus and growing in love for Him. Fr Killian Healy, in an attempt to stress the importance of not just saying the prayer but meaning it and actually giving our thoughts and actions to God, wrote in his book, Awakening Your Soul to the Presence of God, that "... it is insincere to make the offering and then to complain about the weather, lack of sleep, or the hundred and one other inconveniences that plague our waking hours."

If you are not in the habit of saying the Morning Offering or, if you do but feel you don't fully understand all that is being said in the prayer, you might benefit from an excellent short video produced by the Apostleship of Prayer. The video is entitled "The Meaning of the Daily Offering" and it can be found by clicking the following link:

Apostleship of Prayer

There are a variety of versions of the Morning Offering. Perhaps reading a different version of the prayer will help you to renew your offering with greater depth and meaning. Below we share a Morning Offering prayer that St Therese of Lisieux composed 'for someone in the world.' It was actually composed at the request of St Therese's sister, Sr Marie of the Sacred Heart, who requested it for her friend, Edith. May it help you to embrace anew this most admirable practice of the Morning Offering.

Morning Offering Composed by

St Therese of Lisieux

My God, I offer you all that I do today for the intentions and the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I want to sanctify every beat of my heart, my thoughts and my simplest works by uniting them to His infinite merits. I want to repair for my faults by casting them into the furnace of His merciful love.

O my God! I ask you for myself and those dear to me the grace to fulfill perfectly Your Holy Will and to accept for love of you the joys and sorrows of this passing life so that one day we may be reunited in Heaven for all eternity.

Amen

Quote of Fr Healy taken from Awakening Your Soul to the Presence of God, How to Walk with Him Daily and Dwell in Friendship with Him Forever, Fr Kilian J.Healy, Sophia Institute Press, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1999. Originally published in 1948 by the Declan X. McMullen Compay, New York, under the title Walking with God.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Driving at Night Without Any Light ???

2010-08-04T10:27:00.014-04:00

"...and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."

- Mark 12:30

God desires your love and calls you to an intimate friendship. Yes, it is possible to 'Fall in Love' with God - to think of Him continually and to try and please Him in all we do. If God calls us to this and Jesus commands us as he did in Mark 12:20, then it is possible for all of us. We must desire it, persevere, and pray for God's grace to help us. But is there some guide to help us along this road? Some light? Some 'way' ?

Fr. Killian J. Healy, in his book, Awakening Your Soul to the Presence of God, writes about an excercise or 'way' to grow in love of God. Fr Killian says that though some may "...shy away from following any special road to love of God that appears systematized or scientific, ... Many people have desired divine friendship, only to find that, after months and years of fidelity to prayer and the commandments, they are still strangers to God. They have been driving in the night without any light to guide them." Fr Healy "... proposes a way of love that leads quickly and directly to divine intimacy. It is called the excercise of the presence of God."

According to Fr. Healy, there are two parts to practicing the presence of God - The action of the intellect (thinking of God) and the action of the will (desiring to be with Him and to speak to Him). In his book, Fr Healy explains, with clarity and beauty, five practical ways to practice this excercise. "Exercise of the presence of God leads us to intimate love of God, and indirectly leads us away from sin and worldliness."

If you or someone you know has been "driving in the night without any light," learn about this simple excercise of the presence of God. With this knowledge, your desire, and God's grace, you will be on a sure road to intimacy with God.

Quotes taken from Awakening Your Soul to the Presence of God, How to Walk with Him Daily and Dwell in Friendship with Him Forever, Fr Kilian J.Healy, Sophia Institute Press, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1999.

Originally published in 1948 by the Declan X. McMullen Compay, New York, under the title Walking with God.

To learn more about Awakening Your Soul to the Presence of God, Click on the Link below:

Awakening Your Soul to the Presence of God

In closing, we share the thoughts of Pope Pius XII on this very subject:

"Millions may hurry along the streets of great cities absorbed in their business or pleasure or sorrows, with never a thought for God. Yet the only true God is no less real. It is He who sustains them in their existence. Men and women must be brought to consciousness of the fact of God's existence, of their utter dependence on His power and love and mercy, and of their moral obligation to shape their daily lives according to His most holy will."

- Pope Pius XII

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, New Hampshire

THE REAL THING

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"I understand so well that it is only love which makes us pleasing to God, that this love is the only good for which I strive."

- Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

Most of us, especially the young, have a problem understanding the true meaning of the word "love." We know the same word is applied to the most degraded act of lust as well as to the highest form of charity. It's not enough to blame the Englsh language for not making the distinction between eros and agape, as the Greeks did. There is something deeper and more fundamental than this at the root of the misunderstanding. The diverse use of the word is only part of the problem.

Today, perhaps more than ever before, there is a failure to distinguish between the true and the false. The inabilty to recognize truth from falsehood, the real from the unreal, is a fundamental problem of our society where so much of what we see and know and feel is not the real thing.

Saint Therese grasped the true meaning of the word "love" because of her insistence on cutting out everything in her life that was not true to God's word, as she sought to know it. Her burning desire for God and her single-minded purpose in following him led to her discovery of the true meaning of the word. It also gave her the inner strength to spend her whole life in pursuit of it.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

"SOMEONE HAS PRAYED FOR ME"

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"From her little cell, as from a broadcasting station, wonderful waves escape night and day. The souls whom they reach are unaware of their origin. They merely murmur: 'Someone has prayed for me'."

- Abbe Thellier de Poncheville

St Therese of Lisieux was a true daughter of Elijah. She had great apostolic zeal - A zeal for souls. She longed to go to the missions but could not. When she realized that "LOVE COMPRISED ALL VOCATIONS," she then understood her place in the church. In the Story of A Soul, she wrote, "... I have found my place in the Church and it is You, O my God, who have given me this place; in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be Love." Though she lived out her vocation within the bounds of her Cloister and never went to the missions, it was never the less a most fruitful apostolic life.

The offering of her life and her prayers to God for the salvation of souls should inspire us with confidence in God's power to use our own prayers and offerings. Abbe Thellier de Poncheville, in speaking of the powerful effect of the intercessory life of St Therese wrote, "From her little cell, as from a broadcasting station, wonderful waves escape night and day. The souls whom they reach are unaware of their origin. They merely murmur: 'Someone has prayed for me'."

Reflect on this when at prayer and have confidence that, through the action of God's grace, your prayer will be effective in saving souls.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Blessed Maria Mercedes Prat

2010-07-24T01:15:00.002-04:00

24 July - Memorial

Blessed Maria Mercedes Prat

Mercedes Prat was born on March 6th, 1880 in Barcelona,

baptized on the following day, and made her first Holy

Communion on June 30th, 1890. From her childhood she gave

herself completely to God, whom she received every day in

Communion. She displayed a great love for her neighbor and

tried to foster this kind of love in others. During her years in

school, she was known for her goodness and her dedication to

school work, excelling especially in painting and needlework,

which were areas in which she had a natural talent. Entering

the novitiate of the Society of St. Teresa of Jesus in 1904, in

Tortosa, she made her temporary profession in 1907. She was

a religious, according to the heart of God: ‟ prudent, and

truthful, calm and gentle in her reactions, having a natural

goodness in all her dealings with others, but firm in character.

God was her one love, and her love for God kept growing to

the point where she would give her life for Him. In 1920 she

was assigned to the motherhouse in Barcelona. From there the

path to martyrdom began on July 9th, 1936, when the

community was forced to give up the school and flee. On July 23rd,

because she was a religious, Sr. Mercedes was arrested

and shot; she died in the early morning of the 24th of July.

PRAYER

God, Father of infinite goodness, you gave Blessed Maria

Mercedes, Virgin, the courage to bring to fullness in

martyrdom her offering to you and to the Church. Grant us,

through her intercession, the grace to be so firmly rooted in

the love of Christ that nothing can ever separate us from this

love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, Who

lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for

ever and ever.

Amen

Above text taken from "ADDITIONAL DISCALCED PROPER OFFICES a

Discalced Carmelite Supplement for the 1993 Carmelite Proper"

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Blessed Maria Pilar, Teresa and Maria Angeles

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"Viva Cristo Rey!"

(Long live Christ the King)

24 July - Memorial

Blessed Maria Pilar,

Teresa and Maria

Angeles

Maria Pilar of St. Francis Borgia (born at Taraszona on 30th

December 1877), Teresa of the Child Jesus and St. John of the

Cross (born at Getafe on 6th March 1905), Discalced

Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of Guadalajara, Spain, were

martyred on 24 July 1936, after having given witness to their

faith in Christ the King and offered their lives for the Church.

The first fruits of the countless martyrs of the Spanish Civil

War of 1936-1939, they were beatified by Pope John Paul II

on 29th March 1987.

PRAYER

Father, strength of the humble, you sustained in martyrdom

the Virgins Blessed Maria Pilar, Teresa and Maria Angles. As

they willingly shed their blood for Christ the King, may we,

through their intercession, be faithful to you and to your

Church until death. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ,

your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

One God forever and ever. Amen

Above text taken from "ADDITIONAL DISCALCED PROPER OFFICES a

Discalced Carmelite Supplement for the 1993 Carmelite Proper"

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH

Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne

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Each took their turn kneeling before Mother Teresa of Saint-Augustine, received her blessing, kissed a little statuette of the Madonna and child, and asked,

"Permission to die, Mother?"

"Go, my daughter!"

July 17th - Memorial

Blessed Teresa of Saint-Augustine

and Companions

As the French Revolution entered its worst days, sixteen Discalced Carmelites from the Monastery of the Incarnation in Compiègne offered their lives as a sacrifice to God, making reparation to him and imploring peace for the Church. On June 24^th, 1794 , they were arrested and thrown into prison. Their happiness and resignation were so evident that those around them were also encouraged to draw strength from God’s love. They were condemned to death for their fidelity to the Church and their religious life and for their devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Singing hymns, and having renewed their vows before the superior, Teresa of Saint Augustine, they were put to death in Paris on July 17^th, 1794.

Prayer

Lord God,

you called Blessed Teresa of St Augustine and her companions

to go in the strength of the Holy Spirit

from the heights of Carmel to receive a martyr’s crown.

May our love too be so steadfast

that it will bring us

to the everlasting vision of your glory.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

Texts taken from the “Carmelite Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours,”

Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome: 1993.

The Discalced Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne

July 17, 1794

Sr. Jesus Crucified, age 78, choir sister

Sr. Charlotte of the Resurrection, age 78, choir sister

Sr. Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception, age 58, choir sister

Sr. Julie Louise of Jesus, age 52, choir sister

Sr. Teresa of the Heart of Mary, age 52, choir sister

Sr. Saint Martha, age 52, lay sister

Sr. Catherine, 52, extern

Sr. Marie of the Holy Spirit, age 51, lay sister

Sr. Teresa of Saint-Ignatius, age 51, choir sister

Mother Henriette of Jesus, age 49, past prioress and novice mistress,

choir sister

Sr. Teresa, age 46, extern

Sr Saint Louis, age 42, subprioress, choir sister

Mother Teresa of Saint-Augustine, age 41, Prioress, choir sister

Sr. Marie Henriette of the Divine Providence, age 34, choir sister

Sr. St. Francis Xavier, age 30, lay sister

Sr. Constance, age 29, novice choir sister. New laws in 1789 alone kept her

from making her life vows that year.

- above list adapted from To Quell the Terror by William Bush, ICS Publications, Washington, DC, 1999

For more information on the Carmilite Martyrs of Compiègne, click on the link below to secure a copy of the book.

To Quell The Terror

" We must train ourselves to thwart our own wills in every way; then, if you try hard, as I have said, though you won't get their all of a sudden, you will gradually arrive, without realizing it, at the peak of perfection. "
- St Teresa of Jesus , Way of Perfection

"The life of a good religious, a person who wants to be one of God's really close friends - is one long martyrdom."
- St Teresa of Jesus, Way of Perfection

July 16th - Our Lady of Mt Carmel - Following Mary into the Depths

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Those who wish to live truly devoted to our Lady of Mount Carmel, must follow Mary into the depths of the interior life.

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 wants us to resemble her in heart and mind much more than externals. If we penetrate into Mary's soul, we see that grace produced in her 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 where no creature has ever left an imprint; 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. "Judgement 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." These verses, taken from Isaias (32, 16-18) and repeated in the Office proper to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, delineate very well the contemplative spirit and, at the same time, they are a beautiful picture of Mary's soul which is a real "garden" (Carmel in Hebrew signifies garden) of virtues, an oasis of silence and peace, where justice and equity reign: an oasis of security completely enveloped in the shadow of God, and filled with God. Every interior soul, even if living amid the tumult of the world, must strive to reach this peace, this interior silence, which alone makes continual contact with God possible. It is our passions and attachments that make noise within us, that disturb our peace of mind and interrupt our intimate converse with God. Only the soul that is wholly detached and in complete control of its passions can, like Mary, be a solitary, silent "garden" where God will find His delights. This is the grace we ask of Our Lady today when we choose her to be the Queen and mistress of our interior life.

Above written by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., DIVINE INITMACY, MEDITATIONS ON THE INERIOR LIFE FOR EVERY DAY OF THE LITURGICAL YEAR, Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford, Illinois, 1996. pages 1147-1148 (Original published in English circa 1964 by Desclee Company, New York, Paris, Tournai, Rome and printed in Belgium by Desclee & Co., Editeurs, S.A., Tournai)

I Was Born For You

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I Was Born For You - Official Website For The Preparation of the 5th Centenary of the Birth of

St Teresa of Jesus

(1515 - 2015)

In preparation for the 5th Centenary of the birth of our Holy Mother, St Teresa of Jesus, all Discalced Carmelites have been asked to join together in studying her writings. To assist us, the website I Was Born For You, has been created. The website contains many helps such as study guides for the book that is currently being studied, a weekly letter about a Teresian subject, and other resources.
Why have we been asked to do these readings? In the document I was Born for You, which lays out the directives for this preparation, it states that "direct contact with her writings, read in a meditative way, will enable us to share the human and spiritual adventure which she herself lived and which she holds out to us. We want to wake up again to her spirit, take hold of her wisdom, approaching her writings with a listening ear, as disciples and sons, so that our lives and our service of the Church and the world will be shaped afresh by her charism. We want to get in touch with her message as a source of hope in our human, Christian and Carmelite lives ." P. Saverio Cannistra,Fr. General OCD, wrote that " ...In every page, in every line of her writing, Teresa invites us to follow her in her journey toward the risen crucified One. She repeats to us that Jesus Christ is living, with a life that is offered and given to whomsoever wishes to receive it.... May Teresa teach us to find once again our freedom in handing ourselves over to the One who wants us to be truly free!"

So please check out the website, I Was Born For You, and join us in reading her writings.

The schedule for the five year study is as follows:

2009 to 2010 The Book of Her Life
2010 to 2011 Way of Perfection
2011 to 2012 Foundations
2012 to 2013 Interior Castle
2013 to 2014 Spiritual Testimonies, Poetry, Letters

One last thing...

Why the phrase "I was born for you?" Read the following and you will see...

IN THE HANDS OF GOD

by St Teresa of Avila

I am Yours and born for You,

What do You want of me?

Majestic Sovereign,

Unending wisdom,

Kindness pleasing to my soul;

God sublime, one Being Good,

Behold this one so vile.

Singing of her love to you:

What do You want of me?

Yours, you made me,

Yours, you saved me,

Yours, you endured me,

Yours, you called me,

Yours, you awaited me,

Yours, I did not stray.

What do You want of me?

Good Lord, what do you want of me,

What is this wretch to do?

What work is this,

This sinful slave, to do?

Look at me, Sweet Love,

Sweet Love, look at me,

What do You want of me?

In Your hand

I place my heart,

Body, life and soul,

Deep feelings and affections mine,

Spouse -- Redeemer sweet,

Myself offered now to you,

What do You want of me?

Give me death, give me life,

Health or sickness,

Honor or shame,

War or swelling peace,

Weakness or full strength,

Yes, to these I say,

What do You want of me?

Give me wealth or want,

Delight or distress,

Happiness or gloominess,

Heaven or hell,

Sweet life, sun unveiled,

To you I give all.

What do You want of me?

Give me, if You will,prayer;

Or let me know dryness,

And abundance of devotion,

Or if not, then barrenness.

In you alone, Sovereign Majesty,

I find my peace,

What do You want of me?

Give me then wisdom.

Or for love, ignorance,

Years of abundance,

Or hunger and famine.

Darkness or sunlight,

Move me here or there:

What do You want of me?

If You want me to rest,

I desire it for love;

If to labor,

I will die working:

Sweet Love say

Where, how and when.

What do You want of me?

Calvary or Tabor give me,

Desert or fruitful land;

As Job in suffering

Or John at Your breast;

Barren or fruited vine,

Whatever be Your will:

What do You want of me?

Be I Joseph chained

Or as Egypt's governor,

David pained

Or exalted high,

Jonas drowned,

Or Jonas freed:

What do You want of me?

Silent or speaking,

Fruitbearing or barren,

My wounds shown by the Law,

Rejoicing in the tender Gospel;

Sorrowing or exulting,

You alone live in me:

What do You want of me?

Yours I am, for You I was born:

What do You want of me?

2010-07-11T18:03:00.001-04:00

July 12th - Memorial - Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, parents of St Therese of Lisieux

July 12th is the Memorial of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin. They are the parents of St Therese of Lisieux.

The first parents of a saint to be beatified, they are the first spouses in the history of the Church to be proposed for sainthood as a couple and the second to be beatified together.

To read more about their lives, click on the following link:

Story of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin

They are truly an inspiration for families of today!

Let us join together to seek their intercession and to prayer for their canonization.

Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin
Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux
Beatified on October 19, 2008, as Witnesses of Conjugal Love

God of eternal love, You give us Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin,
the parents of St. Therese, as an example of holiness in marriage.
They remained faithful to You and your commandments in all the duties
and trials of life. They desired to raise their children to become saints.

May their prayers and example help Christian family life to blossom in our world today.
If it be your will, grant us the grace we now ask of You through the intercession of
Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, and let them be counted among the
Saints of the Church. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, pray for us!!!

The Lord of Hosts Lives, before Whom I stand

2010-07-09T22:35:00.000-04:00

"It is the mission of the Secular Carmelites, called as they are to a life both contemplative and apostolic , to carry into the world the distinctive witness of Carmel: ‘ The Lord of Hosts Lives, before Whom I stand.’ ” - (1 Kings 17:1; “Forward,” The Rule of Life)

For me, ‘The Lord of Hosts Lives, before Whom I stand’ evokes a rich and powerful image of Elijah that reminds me of my call to draw close to God in prayer so that my life will become a witness to the presence of God in the world. As Michael D. Griffin, OCD, wrote in his book ‘A Commentary on the Rule of Life,’ ...

“The Secular Carmelite has been sent by God to carry on the ‘distinctive witness of Carmel in the world.’ This simply means that you are not being sent by God to talk to the world, to use words and words and words about holiness and all sorts of good pious things. Rather, you are called to be a person who stands for the contemplative way of life and the apostolic fervor or zeal that the Order represents. The world will not be impressed so much by what you say as by what you are.”

May the things we share in this blog help us all to, as Michael Griffin writes, “...stand in the presence of the Lord of Hosts, and to be confident that He will aid and strengthen you as you labor for the good of His Church and humanity.”

Quotes taken from A Commentary on the Rule of Life by Michael D. Griffin, OCDS, Theresian Carmel Press, Hubertus, WI.