Displaying items by tag: Calendar of Feasts and Memorials

June 14 | Memorial

Elisha, the Disciple Par Excellence

Elisha is not Elijah's only disciple. According to a Jewish tradition found in the Vitae prophetarum, in Jerome's introduction to his Commentary on the Book of Jonah, and in some other patristic writings, Jonah was the son of the widow of Zarephath, brought back to life by the prophet and became Elijah's disciple: “Jonah, after his death, was resurrected by the prophet Elijah: he followed him, suffered with him, and, because of his obedience to him, merited the favor of the gift of prophecy” (Arabic Jacobite Synaxarion of September 22).

G. Baconthorp knew this tradition, which he derived from Jerome. G. de Cheminot, following F. Ribot, makes a disciple of the man whom Elijah sent back when he was fleeing from Jezebel, the first one. It is this man whom Elijah sends to the top of Mount Carmel to watch for the coming of the rain.

According to the Vitae prophetarum, Obadiah, Ahab's steward who hid the hundred prophets, fifty by fifty, sent by Ahaziah, became a disciple of Elijah. Theodore Bar-Koni, an eighth-century Nestorian author, specifies that he was endowed with the gift of prophecy after following Elijah. Medieval Carmelites list Obadiah among the great disciples of Elijah. Philippe Ribot is the only 14th-century Carmelite to also make the prophet Micah a disciple of Elijah.

In this group of disciples, Elisha occupies the first place (Cheminot, Ribot).

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12 June Optional Memorial

Hilary Januszewski, born Pawel on June 11, 1907, in Poland, joined the Order of Carmelites in 1927 and was ordained a priest in 1934. During the German occupation of Poland, when other friars were arrested, Fr. Hilary decided to present himself in exchange for an older and sick friar. From that day his Calvary began. He was sent to the prison of Montelupi (Cracow), then to the concentration camp of Sachsenchausen and in April 1941 to the concentration camp of Dachau. There he was a model of prayer life, encouraging others and giving hope for a better tomorrow. Together with the other Carmelites, among whom was Saint Titus Brandsma, they often joined in prayer. He died on March 25, 1945, from typhus, shortly before the camp's liberation. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 13, 1999.

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Normandy Celebrates 100 Years of Sainthood for Its Most Famous Citizen

The Catholic Church and the town of Lisieux celebrated the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face with three days of solemn celebration on May 16-18, 2025. On May 18, the Basilica of St. Thérèse carried a live broadcast of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration Mass from St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on large screens.

The popular French saint, often referred to by devotees as "The Little Flower," was born Thérèse Martin. Following just nine years of religious life in the cloistered Carmelite monastery in Lisieux, she died at the age of 24 of tuberculosis in 1897. She lived with two of her older sisters and eventually her closest sibling in the same monastery.

Following her death, Thérèse became known worldwide through her spiritual memoir, Story of a Soul. She quickly became the object of astonishing devotion. The basilica built in her honor in Lisieux is today the second most visited place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes. Some 1 million visitors come annually to the basilica. Beatified in 1923, she was canonized in Rome on May 17, 1925, by Pope Pius XI, who proclaimed her patroness of missions in 1927. Pope Pius X called her “the greatest saint of modern times.” One hundred years after her death, in 1997, St. John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church.

The celebrations this year involved the entire city. Activities were planned to appeal to everyone, regardless of their age, level of faith or religious practice.

On May 16 in the evening -- a procession carrying the relics of St. Thérèse on a horse-drawn cart traveled through the streets of Lisieux, followed by several hundred people. This is the reliquary which has travelled the world always bringing in large crowds of Thérèse’s devotees. The reliquary spent some time in the Cathedral where the Martin family went to Mass regularly. It was then transferred to the basilica for a vigil of prayer.

The following day, the reliquary was displayed in front of the basilica. Some of her writings were read and the large crowd sung hymns. The Mass included the reading of the homily that Pope Pius XI delivered in Rome during the canonization Mass in 1925.

The rest of the weekend, pilgrims and others participated in activities related to the life and spirituality of St. Thérèse. They were able to make a jubilee pilgrimage and go to confession, but also take part in treasure hunts for children, guided tours of the wax museum, and, in a nod to 21st century intrigues, helped build a large structure out of Lego-style building bricks.

People dressed in late 19th century period costumes, took visitors through places Thérèse lived so they could easily enter into the atmosphere of everyday life in Lisieux in St. Thérèse's time.

The bishop of Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux, Jacques Habert, commented that there today a fascination for people of various backgrounds with Thérèse. "When I walk across the square in front of the basilica in Lisieux, I am always struck by the number of people who clearly are not used to going to church," he said. "They have heard about Thérèse, are interested in her, and want to come in and light a candle. It is a kind of attraction that is beyond our understanding."

"During World War I, many soldiers, both French and German, testified to their devotion to her and the graces they had received through her intercession," Father Schwab added. "And since then, enthusiasm for her has not waned.

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25 May Feast

From On Revelation and On Temptation of  Saint Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, virgin

Come, Holy Spirit

You are truly wonderful, O Word, in the Holy Spirit, in causing him to infuse himself into the soul, through which infusion it is united with God, conceives God, tastes God, and delights in nothing but God.

And the Holy Spirit comes into the soul always marked with that precious seal of the Blood of the Word, the Lamb who was slain; indeed, it is the Blood that moves him to come, if he moves of himself and wills to come.

The moving Spirit is in itself the substance of the Father and the substance of the Word; and it departs from the essence of the Father, from the good pleasure of the Word, and comes as a source spreading itself in the soul, and the soul drowns itself in Him. And as two rivers flow forth and unite together in such a way that the smaller one loses its name and takes that of the larger one, so does this divine Spirit who comes to the soul to unite with it. But it is necessary that the soul, which is the smaller one, lose its name and leave it to the Holy Spirit; and it must do this by transforming itself so much in the Spirit that it becomes one with Him.

And this Spirit, dispenser of the treasures that are in the bosom of the Father and treasurer of the counsels that are made between the Father and the Word, is infused into the soul in such a gentle way that it is not understood and, because of its greatness, is esteemed by few.

With its weight and lightness, it moves in all those places that are suitable and prepared to receive it. By its frequent speech and supreme silence, it is heard by all; with an impetuous gaze, immobile and most mobile, it infuses itself into all.

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22 May Optional Memorial

Yes, we must purify our hearts from everything that can prevent true love for Jesus. He alone is love, and in love he desires to communicate with us. The good Jesus calls us continually, without ceasing. How long will we remain deaf to his invitation? Let us offer our hearts to Jesus, let us give him our will, let us place our faculties and our senses at his service.

Let there be no disorderly attachment to creatures in our hearts, but only love, an ever more ardent love, because love is never satisfied and does not rest until it has consumed itself. And when the pure love of Jesus has completely inflamed our hearts, it will remove everything that is not love.

Let us not sleep, then: let us love God without ceasing. God alone, creator of heaven and earth, be our peace, our comfort. For we can always find the One who remains forever; everything else passes away, is transitory.

Love, love, I urge you to a love that is ever more ardent, that never ceases. The more we love God, the more we will desire to love him. And when we have Jesus in our hearts, we will be certain that we possess all things in him and with him.

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16 May Optional Memorial (Obligatory Memorial the province of Great Britain)

From “Ignea Sagitta” by Nicholas the Frenchman, Prior General

I Will Lead Her into the Desert and Speak to Her Heart

Has not our Lord and Savior, by His grace, led us into solitude, where He speaks to our hearts with particular familiarity? He gives His friends consolation and reveals arcane mysteries not in public, in the marketplace, amid noise and tumult, but in the cell.

Indeed, in the solitude of a mountain, Abraham, moved by obedience, ascended at the Lord's command to sacrifice his son Isaac; he did not hesitate in his faith and gazed from afar at the fulfillment of the promise that was realized in the passion of Christ, who is the true Isaac. Lot, Abraham's nephew, was also ordered to hurry out of Sodom to save himself in the solitude of the mountains. In the solitude of Mount Sinai, Moses was given the law. Up there, he was clothed in such splendor that when he came down, the others could not look at his radiant face.

While Mary and Gabriel converse in the solitude of a cell, the Word of the Most High Father becomes incarnate. God, made man, in the Transfiguration clearly shows his glory to the representatives of the two testaments in the solitude of Mount Tabor. Our Savior chooses the solitude of a mountain to pray alone. In the solitude of the desert, he fasted uninterruptedly for forty days and forty nights, and there he wanted to be tempted by the devil to show what is the most suitable place to pray, mortify oneself, and overcome the tempter. The Savior therefore goes to the solitude of a mountain and into a desert to pray; he descends from the mountain when he wants to preach and show his works.

He who called our Fathers to the solitude of a mountain showed himself to them and to their successors as a sign, so that they might relive in their lives his actions, which are never without profound meaning.

Some of our predecessors followed this undoubtedly holy rule of the Savior. Recognizing their own imperfection, they lived for a long time in the solitude of the hermitage; and because they wanted to help their neighbors without the slightest personal distraction, they left the hermitage from time to time, but rather rarely, and sowed widely what they had gently reaped in the silence of contemplation, scattering the seeds through preaching.

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9 May Optional Memorial (Obligatory Memorial in the province of Malta)

Born in Malta on 12 February 1880. He lived in Valletta, the capital of Malta, near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. As a child, and according to the customs of the times, George joined the Carmelite Family by being enrolled in the Scapular. As a young man he felt called to the priesthood. He was ordained priest on 22 December 1906.

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May 5th | Memorial

Angelus is thought to have been one of the first Carmelites to return to Sicily from Mount Carmel and, according to a long-standing tradition, he was murdered in Licata during the first half of the 13th century.

The cult of Saint Angelus spread throughout the Order and among ordinary lay people. Angelus and St Albert of Trapani are considered the "fathers" of the Order because they were the first two saints to have a cult in the Order.

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Between 1625 and 1627, a “trial” was held in Licata on the miracles attributed to the Carmelite Saint Angelus, whose martyrdom, according to hagiographic tradition, was said to have occurred in the very town overlooking the Sicilian Channel. A detailed study of the proceedings of the trial can be found in the book Miracula et Benefitia: Malattia, Thaumaturgia e devozione a Licata e in Sicilia nella prima età moderna by Marco Papasidero, published by Edizioni Carmelitane.

Bl. Ángel M. Prat Hostench, Lucas of St. Joseph Tristany Pujol and Companions, Martyrs
May 4th | Optional Memorial (Obligatory memorial in provinces of Spain)

The Commissariat of Catalonia was established in 1932. Almost immediately difficuties began. In February 1934 the Carmelite church was desecrated. In October Communist guards were placed at the door of the priory to prevent the religious from leaving. In June 1936 the mayor forbade religious from teaching in the schools and working in hospitals. Shortly thereafter, a Carmelite was stoned while walking on the street. The only newspaper to defend the religious was closed down on July 18th. The following day churches and monasteries were pillaged, ransacked, and burned. On July 20, the Feast of St. Elijah, the community disbanded.

The story of the Carmelites during this time and a biography of many of the martyred Catalonian Carmelites can be found in the book Profiles in Holiness I by Redemptus M. Valabek, O. Carm., published by Edizioni Carmelitane.

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19 March Solemnity

Death is a mystery. For a Christian, according to Pope Francis, the good death is an experience of the mercy of God, who comes close to us even in that last moment of our life. According to Catholic tradition Joseph is considered the model of the pious believer who received grace at the moment of death.

During the early months of 2022, Pope Francis reflected on the person of St Joseph during his weekly General Audiences. During his audience on February 9, the pope spoke about this traditional devotion to St Joseph as the patron of a good death and the meaning of death in light of the Resurrection.

Although lacking any historical data, this tradition grew out of the idea that Joseph had died, “in the arms of Jesus and Mary,” before leaving Nazareth. After all, there is no mention of Joseph in Scripture after the Infancy Narratives, particularly the story of finding Jesus in the temple. So conventional wisdom holds that he died. In contrast, some eastern traditions made Joseph out to be 90 years old.

In the motu proprio, Bonum sane [July 1920], Pope Benedict XV wrote that that Joseph “is deservedly considered to be the most effective protector of the dying, having expired in the presence of Jesus and Mary” and then he pushed for pastors to support the pious associations established to implore Joseph on behalf of the dying. Associations at the time were “Of the Good Death,” “Of the Transit of St Joseph,” and “for the Dying.”

Referring to the 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Francis quotes him as saying “I am before the obscurity of death, at the dark door of death.” While our culture attempts to remove the reality of death and sanitize its aftermath, our Christian faith helps us to face it. It is through the Resurrection that our deaths take on meaning because “the light that awaits us behind the dark door of death” is Christ Resurrected.

To read more on St. Joseph, Principal Protector of the Order ...