St. Teresa's Transverberation

August 26th

“I saw an angel beside me toward the left side, in bodily form. He was not very large, but small, very beautiful, his face so blazing with light that he seemed to be one of the very highest angels, who appear all on fire. They must be those they call Cherubim…I saw in his hands a long dart of gold, and at the end of the iron there seemed to me to be a little fire. This I thought he thrust through my heart several times, and that it reached my very entrails. As he withdrew it, I thought it brought them with it, and left me all burning with a great love of God. So great was the pain, that it made me give those moans; and so utter the sweetness that this sharpest of pains gave me, that there was no wanting it to stop, nor is there any contenting of the soul with less than God”. (St. Teresa, Life…Chapter 29).

The transverberation is commonly referred to as St. Teresa's entrance into the state of Spiritual Marriage. This state is described in the Saint's 7th mansion in her book The interior Castle. It is interesting to note that when St. Teresa's incorruptible heart was preserved, a small puncture site was discovered thus confirming this precise experience.

The state of spiritual marriage is the lot of the very few in the spiritual life.  But this is so because according to both St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross, we are the ones who put limits to the gifts of God.  Even though it is equally true that it is pure gift and therefore unmerited, God is willing to grant it to those who dispose themselves to it by acts of total surrender and abandonment to the will of God, which can take the form of spiritual darkness and sufferings.  The journey to the different mansions of our soul entails a journey of transformation, of leaving the familiar for the unfamiliar, of following unknown paths, and even complete surrender of reason to the darkness of faith.  Even though we may never reach this high state of union, it still does us good to realize what God prepares for those who love Him.  No eye has seen, no ear has heard, or has it even dawned on man, what is in store for us, if we only allow God to work His miracle in us.  This is the lesson we glean from the lives of the Saints.  May God help us.

Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

 Feast day:  May 25th

St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi was one of those souls in Carmel endowed by God with the gift of an abundant mystical life.  A reading of her life will make one's head spin from the many flights of supernatural experiences she was gifted with.  Following her in these mystical states is like going on a roller-coaster ride with its ups and downs, and being left with a splitting headache! Although it is true that St. Mary Magdalene's life was characterized by mystical experiences, we should not forget that these experiences were just but the overflow of the one reality we all are invited to experience- a deep love of God.  The Book of the Song of Songs testifies to it: 'deep waters cannot quench love.. if one would give everything one has to acquire it, she would be roundly mocked."  The love of God is pure gift,  infused into our hearts  to produce an overwhelming experience which brings in its trail wonderful things.  It also brings fire of purification necessary to burn the soul's imperfection and to transform it into the likeness of God.  Such was the life of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, the Seraph of Carmel.  St. Mary Magdalene's body is incorrupt.

More of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

Holy Father St. Joseph

Feast Day:  March 19

Devotion to St. Joseph was a hallmark of St. Teresa of Avila.  Teresa attributed her miraculous cure to Saint Joseph.  When she was living in the Incarnation Convent in Avila, she was struck with an ailment that left her half-dead.  She was paralyzed and was presumed dead at one point.  She prayed and prayed to Joseph and her prayers were answered.  Her paralysis was cured and she was able to walk again even though her health had always been fragile after that.

Saint Joseph is an example of a life so hidden and yet so pleasing to God.  Scriptures did not record for us a word he uttered.  But what the Gospels show is that Joseph was a doer of God's Will.  He was always on the go, always on the move to do God's bidding- waking up from the dream to journey to Bethlehem for the census, fleeing to Egypt with Mary and the Infant Jesus to escape Herod and his murderous band, journeying back to Nazareth at God's command after Herod had died.  These were important events but nothing was recorded of Joseph's account or words.  Even in the life of the Holy Family, the Gospel writers did not deem it necessary to give an account of the life in Nazareth.  The only indication we have that Joseph was respected and known in the local community is the passage in the Gospel where the townspeople were figuring out the source of Jesus' power,  "How did this man come by this wisdom and the miracles? Is not this the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:54-55).

Saint Teresa has this to say about St. Joseph: "

 "I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble and also from other and greater troubles concerning my honor and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I could ask of him. I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant. I am astonished at the great favors which God has bestowed on me through this blessed saint, and at the perils from which He has freed me, both in body and in soul. To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succor us in some of our necessities but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succors us in them all and that the Lord wishes to teach us that as He was Himself subject to him on earth (for, being His guardian and being called His father, he could command Him) just so in Heaven He still does all that he asks. This has also been the experience of other persons whom I have advised to commend themselves to him; and even to-day there are many who have great devotion to him through having newly experienced this truth." "I wish I could persuade everyone to be devoted to this glorious saint, for I have great experience of the blessings which he can obtain from God. I have never known anyone to be truly devoted to him and render him particular services who did not notably advance in virtue, for he gives very real help to souls who commend themselves to him. For some years now, I think, I have made some request of him every year on his festival and I have always had it granted. If my petition is in any way ill directed, he directs it aright for my greater good."

"I only beg, for the love of God, that anyone who does not believe me will put what I say to the test, and he will see by experience what great advantages come from his commending himself to this glorious patriarch and having devotion to him. Those who practice prayer should have a special affection for him always. I do not know how anyone can think of the Queen of the Angels, during the time that she suffered so much with the Child Jesus, without giving thanks to Saint Joseph for the way he helped them. If anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious saint as his master and he will not go astray." (Autobiography Chapter 6).

Glorious Saint Patrick

Feast: March 17

The only awareness I had of Saint Patrick was celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  I'm not Irish and had no particular devotion to him.  Even St. Patrick's Day was just another day in the calendar when Irish trinkets, corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread and Irish coffee, pretty much make up the celebration.  My community was founded by an Irish-Scottish Sister and as a consequence we have a lot of St. Patrick tradition in our community.  I learned how to make a really exceptional (and well-kept secret) soda bread taught to me by Sister Peter Thomas (God rest her soul), (she called it "Scottish tea-bread").  So I was heavy on the externals but not much on the substance of St. Patrick.  This all changed when God ordained that I be sent to Ireland for a two year mission in our nursing home situated in Dublin.  I then made a better acquaintance with Patrick.

The Sisters didn't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day with trinkets and parties.  In fact, the only celebration I saw was in Tipperary on TV, with the parade and party.  The Sisters had  real shamrocks pinned on our habits on Patrick's day.  There was no corned beef and cabbage either.
In Ireland,  I read and learned about St. Patrick.  He was different from what I experienced of him in the States.  He had a depth and palpable presence one can feel when one reads about him.  Maybe it's the being in the land where he walked and lived and died.  He became a real person to me.  In reading his Confessions, the virtue which struck me the most about Patrick was his humility, his great humility.  It was just something that jumped out of the pages of his life.  His words were powerful and spoke of a deep sense of gratitude, which translates in his keen sense of natural beauty and power.  I never would have believed that after leaving Ireland, I would be eager to find a statue of him I can place in my room!  I finally found one!  The Sisters were kidding me and said that one day I will return to Ireland.  And like St. Patrick, I would hear the "voice of the Irish" begging me to "come back, come back!"  At that time, no dream was to keep me away from the U.S since I've been away so long and missed home.  But my time there was precious and memorable.

St. Patrick, like all the Saints, transcends culture, place and time.  His "Confessions" is a wonderful book I would recommend anytime. Here is an ebook link: https://www.confessio.ie/etexts/confessio_english#

The Vision of Saint Helena

August 18 is the feast of St. Helena.  She is my patron saint and so I would like to pay her tribute even though she is not liturgically mentioned in the current Roman Catholic calendar. There are many versions of St. Helena's story especially her origins. I love her story, her total dedication to Christianity and her legendary reputation of finding the True Cross of Crucifixion. I was delighted to know the significance of this name in my religious life. I had no idea that St. Helena had a lot more connection with the Carmelites than I originally thought. Tradition affirms that the Empress Helena constructed a monastery in honor of Elijah on Mount Carmel. The site which it arose seems to be that of the present lighthouse, on the terrace of the Head of Carmel, as might be attested by some archaeological finds held to be from the Late Empire, after Justinian. St. Helena also established the Holy Sepulcher Rite used by the Carmelites during their stay in the Holy Land. It was also pointed out to me by a Carmelite Nun that "Helena" in Greek means "light." Therefore, my religious name means "Light of Mary" (Helena of Mary). I wrote this reflection when I was still a Novice and it expresses my sentiments to my Patron Saint.

All Carmelite Saints

Feast: November 14th

The Carmelite Order celebrates the feast of all its Saints on November 14th. This is a solemn commemoration and tribute given to the men and women who climbed the mount of Carmel to seek the face of God and allowed themselves to be transormed by the Presence they found there. There are many of these Saints, although we only hear of the famous ones- Saint John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Blessed ELizabeth of the Trinity and others. Equally great in the Order are, St. Peter Thomas, St. Andrew Corsini, St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified, St. Raphael Kalinowski, St. Teresa of St. Agustine and the martyrs of Compiegne, St. John Soreth, St. Elisha, St. Albert of Trapani, Blessed Titus Brandsma, St Margaret Redi and many more! These are huge personalities in Carmel and we treasure them, their lives and examples of true love of God.

Saint Teresa Benedicta a Cruce, Carmelite

 Feast Day:  August 9

Edith Stein was born at Breslau on 12th October 1891 to German Jewish parents, and after her secondary education, she enrolled in the department of philosophy in the city university. In 1913, she transferred to the University of Gotingen to study under Edmund Husserl. Until the age of thirteen years, she was in effect an atheist. She had her first serious encounter with Christianity listening to Max Scheler. In 1916, she continued and completed her studies at Fribourg where she wrote her doctorate directed by Husserl. She remained working in the university until 1921. During those years, she read the autobiography of Teresa of Avila and became aware of being called to become a Catholic; she was baptized on 1st January 1922. She made her First Communion the same day and was confirmed on the following 2nd February. After her conversion, she felt herself attracted to the religious life but circumstances forced her to delay this decision until 1933. When in 1933 she lost her teaching post as a result of the anti-Jewish laws, she entered into the Carmel at Cologne on 14th October 1933, taking the name of Teresa Benedict of the Cross. On 31st December 1938 she was moved to the Carmel at Echt in Holland so as to escape the Nazi persecution of the Jews. In 1940, the situation worsened also in Holland. When the prescriptions became more severe, an attempt was made to transfer her to the Carmel in Switzerland. While the arrangements were being negotiated for her move, the deportations of the Jews to the concentration camps began in Holland. Sister Teresa, accompanied by her sister Rosa who had also become a Catholic, was taken to Amersfort on 2nd August 1942. On 3rd August, she was transferred to Westerbork. On 7th August, she and her sister together with other deportees were locked in railway wagons and taken by train to the extermination camp at Auschwitz, a voyage which took two days.
Sister Teresa Benedict of the Cross died in the gas chamber the same day that she arrived at the camp at Auschwitz, Sunday 9th August 1942, and her body was burned in one of the crematoria there. She was beatified on 1 May 1987 and canonized on 11 October 1998 by Pope John Paul II. On 2 October 1999 the same Pope proclaimed her co-patron of Europe.
Original Article

Saint Isaac Jogues and the North American Martyrs

Feast Day: October 19

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I have no particular devotion to St. Isaac Jogues but I was awed by my first visit to Auriesville, NY even before I entered the convent.  My brother took me there and it was my first time to hear about him and the other North American Martyrs.  Auriesville is a holy place where Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha was born.  It was also the place where Fr. Isaac Jogues, Lalande and Rene Goupil suffered at the hands of the Indians and eventually put to death.  I can still remember the reverence and awe I felt walking down the ravine where the body of Rene Goupil was found by St. Isaac Jogues.

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As Novices, we often went to Auriesville to attend liturgical functions.  It only takes about an hour and a half to drive there from where I am now.

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Source:  New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

French missionary, born at Orleans,France 10 January, 1607; martyred at Ossernenon, in the present State of New York, 18 October, 1646. He was the first Catholic priest who ever came to Manhattan Island (New York). He entered the Society of Jesus in 1624 and, after having been professor of literature at Rouen, was sent as a missionary to Canada in 1636. He came out with Montmagny, the immediate successor of Champlain. From Quebec he went to the regions around the great lakes where the illustrious Father de Brébeuf and others were labouring. There he spent six years in constant danger. Though a daring missionary, his character was of the most practical nature, his purpose always being to fix his people in permanent habitations. He was with Garnier among the Petuns, and he and Raymbault penetrated as far as Sault Ste Marie, and "were the first missionaries", says Bancroft (VII, 790, London, 1853), "to preach the gospel a thousand miles in the interior, five years before John Eliot addressed the Indians six miles from Bostondoubt that they were not only the first apostles but also the first white men to reach this outlet of Lake Superior. No documentary proof is adduced by the best-known historians that Nicholet, the discoverer of Lake Michigan, ever visited the Sault. Jogues proposed not only to convert the Indians of Lake Superior, but the Sioux who lived at the head waters of the Mississippi. Harbour". There is little
His plan was thwarted by his capture near Three Rivers returning from Quebec. He was taken prisoner on 3 August, 1642, and after being cruelly tortured was carried to the Indian village of Ossernenon, now Auriesville, on the Mohawk, about forty miles above the present city of Albany. There he remained for thirteen months in slavery, suffering apparently beyond the power of natural endurance. The Dutch Calvinists at Fort Orange (Albany) made constant efforts to free him, and at last, when he was about to be burnt to death, induced him to take refuge in a sailing vessel which carried him to New Amsterdam (New York). His description of the colony as it was at that time has since been incorporated in the Documentary History of the State. From New York he was sent; in mid-winter, across the ocean on a lugger of only fifty tons burden and after a voyage of two months, landed Christmas morning, 1643, on the coast of Brittany, in a state of absolute destitution. Thence he found his way to the nearest college of the Society. He was received with great honourLouis XIV, and was allowed by Pope Urban VII the very exceptional privilege of celebrating Mass, which the mutilated condition of his hands had made canonically impossible; several of his fingers having been eaten or burned off. He was called a martyr of Christ by the pontiff. No similar concession, up to that, is known to have been granted. at the court of the Queen Regent, the mother of
In early spring of 1644 he returned to Canada, and in 1646 was sent to negotiate peace with the Iroquois. He followed the same route over which he had been carried as a captive. It was on this occasion that he gave the name of Lake of the Blessed Sacrament to the body of water called by the Indians Horicon, now known as Lake George. He reached Ossernenon on 5 June, after a three weeks' journey from the St. Lawrence. He was well received by his former captors and the treaty of peace was made. He started for Quebec on 16 June and arrived there 3 July. He immediately asked to be sent back to the Iroquois as a missionary, but only after much hesitation his superiors acceded to his request. On 27 September he began his third and last journey to the Mohawk. In the interim sickness had broken out in the tribe and a blight had fallen on the crops. This double calamity was ascribed to Jogues whom the Indians always regarded as a sorcerer. They were determined to wreak vengeance on him for the spell he had cast on the place, and warriors were sent out to capture him. The news of this change of sentiment spread rapidly, and though fully aware of the danger Jogues continued on his way to Ossernenon, though all the Hurons and others who were with him fled except Lalande. The Iroquois met him near Lake George, stripped him naked, slashed him with their knives, beat him and then led him to the village. On 18 October, 1646, when entering a cabin he was struck with a tomahawk and afterwards decapitated. The head was fixed on the Palisades and the body thrown into the Mohawk.
In view of his possible canonization a preliminary court was established in Quebec by the ecclesiastical authorities to receive testimony as to his sanctity and the cause of his death.

From the spiritual diary of St. John de Brebeuf, priest and martyr:

"My God, it grieves me greatly that you are not known, that in this savage wilderness all have not been converted to you, that sin has not been driven from it.  My God, even if all the brutal tortures which prisoners in this region  must endure should fall on me, I offer myself most willingly to them and I alone shall suffer them all."

St. Albert of Jerusalem, Law-Giver of Carmel

Feast Day: September 17th

Albert Avogadro was born about the middle of the twelfth century in Parma, Italy, probably to a noble family. He was well educated , especially in theology. He served as a priest at the Holy Cross Abbey in Mortara and was elected Prior in 1180. Four years later he was appointed Bishop of Vercelli. In 1205, he was made Patriarch of Jerusalem. There, in word and example, he was the model of a good pastor and peace-maker.
During this time, Jerusalem was controlled by the Saracens. The Christians needed a patriarch, bu the position was open not only to persecution, but to possible martyrdom at the hands of the Muslims. Albert proved himself not only diplomatic, but winning in his ways. The Muslims of the area respected him for his sanctity and his intelligence.

Because of the Muslim presence in Jerusalem, Albert took up residence in Acre, which was located on the north end of what is known today as the Bay of Haifa. Overlooking the city and the bay is the holy mountain of Carmel. At that time, a group of holy hermits lived on Mount Carmel in separate caves and cells. Albert was asked by St. Brocard, who was the Prior of the group of hermits, to draw up a formula of life for them, a formula of life that would constitute the beginning of the Carmelite Order. In 1209, Albert wrote this "formulae vitae" and united the hermits into one community.
In 1247, it officially became the Rule of Carmel.

In 1214, Albert was summoned to serve in the General Council of the Lateran, but was murdered before he could attend. On September 14th, a disgruntled man he had discharged from a local hospital, stabbed him to death in the Church of Saint John of Acre while he was part of the procession, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Source: Carmelite Calendar

"You Are A Link To A Chain"- Blessed John Henry Newman

"God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission – I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his – if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling."

Saint Peter Thomas

Feast Day:  January 8th

The Carmelite Order celebrates the feast of St. Peter Thomas on the 8th of January.  St. Peter is probably known only in the Order.  He had a most significant contribution within the Order and lived an illustrious role in Carmel:

"Born about 1305 in southern Perigord in France, Peter Thomas entered the Carmelites when he was twenty-one.  He was chosen by the Order as its procurator general to the Papal Court at Avignon in 1345.  After being made bishop of Patti and Lipari in 1354, he was entrusted with many Papal missions to promote peace and unity with the Eastern Churches.  He was translated to the see of Corone in the Peloponnesus in 1359 and made Papal Legate for the East.  In 1363 he was appointed Archbishop of Crete and in 1364 Latin Patriarch of Constantinople.  He won a reputation as an apostle of church unity before he died at Famagosta on Cyprus in 1366."

Prayer:
Lord,  you inspired in your bishop St Peter Thomas an intense desire to promote peace and Christian unity.
Following his example may we live steadfast in the faith and work perseveringly for peace. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
(Carmelite Liturgy of the Hours)

Blessed Isidore Bakanja, Martyr of the Scapular

Feast day: August 12

I don't have a personal devotion to Blessed Isidore Bakanja but his story is compelling to read.  Martyrdom is often an attraction and admirable event in and of itself.  The reason I thought of Blessed Isidore was because of how I was introduced to him when I was a Novice.  My Carmelite professor, every time we finished class, would hand me a holy card of Blessed Isidore and remarked, "Sister Helena, would you like a holy card of Isidore Bakanja?"  And I would of course respond, "Sure Father. Thank you!"  After he had done this for like a hundred times (a bit exaggerated), I finally exclaimed one day, "Father, just how many cards do I need?"  Now, years later, every time I see Father, we both remember Isidore and laugh!

Bl. Isidore Bakanja, a member of the Boangi tribe, was born in Bokendela (Congo) between 1880 and 1890. In order to survive, even as a boy, he had to work as bricklayer or in farms. He was converted to Christianity in 1906. He was working in a plantation run by a colonialist in Ikili and was forbidden by the owner to spread Christianity among his fellow-workers. On 22 April 1909, the superintendent of the business tore off the Carmelite Scapular, which Isidore was wearing as an expression of his Christian faith, and had him severely beaten even to drawing blood. He died on 15 August of the same year as a result of the wounds inflicted in "punishment" for his faith and which he bore patiently while forgiving his aggressor. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 24 April 1994.

Saint Albert of Trapani, Carmelite

  Feast:  August 7

Born in Trapani, Sicily, during the 13th century, Albert was distinguished for his dedication to preaching and by his reputation for working miracles.In 1280 and 1289, he was in Trapani and afterwards in Messina. In 1296 he was appointed Provincial of the Carmelite Province of Sicily. He was known especially for his great desire to lead a holy life and for prayer. He died in Messina, probably in 1307. He was the first saint whose cult spread throughout the Order and, as a result, he is considered its patron and protector or "father", a title he shared with the other saint of his time, Angelus of Sicily. In the 16th century it was decided that every Carmelite church should have an altar dedicated to him. Among the many with a devotion to this saint were Saint Teresa of Jesus and Saint Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi.

Saint Andrew Corsini

 

Feast Day:  January 9th

Andrew was born in Florence on November 30, 1302, a member of the powerful Corsini family.  Andrew was influenced strongly by his mother and entered the Carmelite Order.  He studied in Paris and Avignon, France, returning to his birthplace, where he became known as the Apostle of Florence.  He was elected Provincial of Tuscany at the General Chapter of Metz in 1348 and was made bishop of Fiesole in 1349, an office which he held for twelve years.  He was sent by Pope Urban V to Bologna to settle disputes between the nobles and commoners, a mission he performed well, giving the church a wonderful example of love, apostolic zeal, prudence and love of the poor.  Andrew died in FIesole on January 6, 1374 at the age of 71.  So many miracles took place at his death that Pope Eugenius IV permitted the immediate opening of his cause, but it was in 1629 that he was canonized by Pope Urban VIII.

Prayer:
"God, our Father, you reveal that those who work for peace will be called your children.  Through the prayers of St. Andrew Corsini, who excelled as a peacemaker, help us to work without ceasing for that justice which brings true and lasting peace.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Blessed Denis and Redemptus, Carmelite Martyrs

 

 OCD:  Memorial

O.Carm: Optional Memorial

The Carmelite Order celebrates the memorial of Blessed Denis and Redemptus, martyrs of the Order on November 29th.

Denis was born at Hornfleur in France on 12th December 1600. He served as a cartographer and naval captain for the kings of France and Portugal, but in 1635 he became a Discalced Carmelite in Goa, India. Some years earlier, in 1615, the Portuguese, Thomas Rodriguez de Cunha (born in 1598) had made his own profession as a lay brother in the same house, taking the name in religion of Redemptus of the Cross. The two of them were sent to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia and there, on 29th November 1638, they were martyred near the city of Achen, giving the ultimate witness to their faith in Christ. They were beatified by Pope Leo XIII on 10th June 1900.

(Carmelite Ordo)

Saint Raphael Kalinowski, Carmelite

Feast Day:  November 19

Raphael of St. Joseph (in lay life: Joseph Kalinowski) was born at Vilna to a Polish family on 1st September 1835 and died at Wadowice on 15th November 1907. Graduating in engineering at the Academy of Military Sciences at St. Petersburgh, he was appointed to the fortress at Brest Litowski and later promoted to be Chief of Staff in the Russian Army. In spite of his desire to leave the military life, he took part in the rising against the Czarist occupying forces in Poland, accepting the position of Minister of War in Vilna. The night of the 24th March 1864, he was arrested and put in prison where he was condemned to death but the sentence was later commuted to ten years forced labour in Siberia. He was freed in 1874 and returned to Poland. Being forbidden to live in any of the main Polish cities, he took up a post as tutor to the young Prince Augusto Czartoryski who spent most of his time in Paris. In 1877, Raphael joined the Carmelites. He was ordained priest in 1882 and began an apostolate centred on the confessional, in the giving of spiritual direction and being full of enthusiasm for ecumenism, he worked strongly for unity in the Church. A great devotee of Our Lady, he revived the Discalced Carmelite Order in Poland. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 17th November 1991.
(From Carmelite website)

The following is an article taken from the Exhortations of Saint Raphael Kalinowski:

The Holy Scriptures praise nothing more than a perfect and holy life lived in the exact and perfect fulfillment of each one's duties.  In the Old Testament our Lord and God taught his people and told them: "You must be holy because I am holy." (Lev 11;44).
The Eternal Father gave us our Lord Jesus Christ as our teacher, master and guide.  He confirmed and ratified the Old Testament injunction where He taught us that we must emulate the holiness of the Father: "You must be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect " (Matthew 5:48).  How does one become perfect and holy?  The Doctors of the Church, the leaders of souls, and the masters of the spiritual life answer: If you would be perfect and become holy, fulfill your duties faithfully.

Once a desert father was asked by a certain young hermit what books he ought to study in order to advance in holiness.  The old man replied: My practice is to read two books only.  In the morning hours I read the Gospel, and in the evening I read the Rule.  The first teaches me the way I should walk as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The other teaches me what I should do to be a good religious.  That is enough for me.

Let us therefore be students of the laws of God so that we may conduct ourselves according to them. "When you walk, these will guide you; when you lie down, watch over you; when you wake; talk with you" (Pv 6:22). Wherever me may be or go, may they go with us to direct our our footsteps.  May they be so near us when we sleep that they may fill our thoughts as soon as we awaken.  His voice will speak to us in them.  He will refresh us for the day ahead.  Through His laws we will gain the victory over our doubts.  We will cast away every obstacle.  We will free ourselves of that sluggishness of nature which is the enemy of strength, the foe of devotion, and the lover of ease.  The law of life will help us to overcome our fears in time of temptation and to follow eagerlyin the way of obedience.  May it always be at hand to counsel us, so that by it we may find the strength to follow God's call with generous hearts and willing souls.

St. Teresa Margaret Redi

Feast Day: September 1st

Teresa Margaret was born in Arezzo in Tuscany in 1747 of the noble Redi family and entered the Discalced Carmelites in FLorence on September 1, 1764. She was given a special contemplative experience concerning the words of Saint John, "God is Love." She felt deeply that her vocation was to live a hidden life of love and self-immolation. That vocation was confirmed by her heroic exercise of fraternal charity, but was soon completed. She died in 1770, aged twenty three.

Texts from Carmelite Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours

FROM THE DECREE OF CANONIZATION

Brief as it was, Teresa Margaret's whole life may be regarded as one continual raising of her guiltless soul to God. In its innocence her soul turned spontaneously to God, and seemed able to find rest in him alone. In her, utter purity was joined to profound humility and she genuinely loved to be disregarded and despised. She did not simply bear humiliations, she rejoiced in them. Her purity of heart and lowliness of spirit earned for her a high degree of charity, and this rapidly increased until her ardor became truly seraphic and she could hardly speak of God without her face becoming suffused with joy. Her love of God went hand in hand with a deep love of her neighbor and especially for sinners, on whose behalf she offered herself unreservedly to God as a victim. Her unassuming kindness and complete self-denial for the sake of her sisters in religion, especially the sick, were such that she was regarded as an angel of charity. The fires of her love were fed principally by the Eucharist, and she looked forward with longing to her communions. She was also especially devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a devotion which did much to curb the advances of Jansenism at that time in Tuscany. She was utterly devoted to Our Lady, whom she regarded as the model and protectress of her own virginal purity. She was endowed to high degree with the gift of contemplative prayer, and daily grew closer to God, as though reflecting the glories of the eternity she was fast approaching. As her life neared its end this true daughter of the holy Mother Teresa and faithful disciple of Saint John of the Cross was called upon through a mystical martyrdom of the spirit, to resemble her crucified Spouse yet more closely. It was the very intensity of her love which caused this martyrdom; for the more fervent love becomes the more unrelentingly it spurs the soul on to further love, and since no love of ours can match God's infinite lovableness, such a soul suffers exquisite torments from its insatiable thirst for greater love, and seems to itself to be wrapped in impenetrable darkness and to be totally lacking in love for God. In fact the greater love is, the less it seems to itself to be. It is the soul that is truly "nailed to the cross with Christ" by this supreme martyrdom of the heart that wins for itself and for others the choicest fruits of redemption. Such souls by their silent apostolate of suffering, love and prayer, are foremost in the benefits they obtain for mankind and the purest and most exalted in the whole Church.

Tests from Carmelite Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours.

"I think that Love would make all things tolerable for us, perhaps even sweet, for love can encompass everything.. Yes, my God, I do not want anything other than to become a perfect image of you and , because your life was a hidden life of humiliation, love and sacrifice, I desire the same for myself. I wish therefore, to enclose myself in Your loving Heart as in a desert, in order to live in You, with You, and for You this hidden life of love and sacrifice." - St. Teresa Margaret

Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified, Carmelite

Feast Day:  August 25

The Carmelite Order celebrates the feast of Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified on August 25th.  In Carmel, she is known by the endearing title "Miryam, the Little Arab."  Blessed Mary had a most difficult life.  Her experience with the cross came early on in life and her life as a Carmelite seals her mission of life identified with the Cross of Christ.  She founded the Carmel of Bethlehem and we should invoke her intercession for peace in the land of her birth in the Holy Land.

Mariam Baouardy was born at Abellin in Galilee on 5th January 1846 to very poor parents who were good living and devoted Greek-rite Catholics. She was left an orphan after the death of her parents at only three years of age when, together with her brother Paul, she was entrusted to the care of an uncle, who had moved to Alexandria in Egypt a few years earlier. She never received any formal education and remained unable to read. At thirteen years of age, wanting to give herself only to God, she firmly refused the marriage which her uncle, according to the Eastern custom, had arranged for her. The next few years, she worked as a domestic in Alexandria, Jerusalem, Beirut and Marseilles. At the beginning of Lent in 1865, she joined the Sisters of Compassion, but falling ill, she was forced to leave after a couple of months. Then she was received into the Institute of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Apparition but, after two years as a postulant, she was judged not to be suited for the cloistered life. Finally, on 14th June 1867, she entered the Carmel in Pau. On 21st August 1870, whilst still a novice, she left for India to join a new Carmel to be founded at Mangalore. On 21st November 1871, she made her religious profession there. One year later, she was recalled to Pau, from where she left as part of a new foundation, the first Carmel in Palestine. She died on 26th August 1878 at Bethlehem from a cancer which she had contracted after a fracture caused by a fall. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 13th November 1983.
(article from http://www.ocarm.org/)

Saint John Mary Vianney

Feast Day:  August 4
Patron of Parish Priests
 
"We cannot comprehend the power that a pure soul has over God. It is not the soul that does God's will, but God who does the soul's will." -- Saint John Vianney.

Born May 8, 1786 in Dardilly, near Lyon, in a family of farmers, Jean-Marie Vianney started preparing his priesthood when he was 20 with Father Balley, priest of Ecully. He was ordained in 1815 and became Curate in Ecully. He was then sent to Ars in 1818. As soon as he arrived, he made the church his home. Night and day, there he was, in front of the tabernacle, praying the Lord for his parishioners'conversion. Little by little, he revived their faith through his sermons but above all through his prayers and his lifestyle. He restored and embellished his church, formed an orphanage, La Providence, and took care of the poor. Very quickly, his reputation as a confessor drew to him many pilgrims seeking the pardon of God and the peace of heart.
FULL ARTICLE

Saint Teresa of the Andes

July 13th is the feast of a celebrated young Carmelite, Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes. This young Chilean spent only less than a year in Carmel and died at the age of 19. Her story was one of intense love of God which gave her short life on earth such fullness and depth that was fully realized when she entered her beloved Carmel. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 3, 1987 at Santiago, Chile and was proposed as a model for young people. She is the first Chilean and the first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be beatified and later canonized.