“He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.”
(Bl. Titus Brandsma)
“Those who join the Carmelite Order are not lost to their near and dear ones, but have been won for them, because it is our vocation to intercede to God for everyone.”
(Edith Stein)
Let nothing disturb you
Let nothing frighten you
All things are passing
God never changes
Patience obtains all things
Who possesses God lacks nothing
God alone suffices.
Teresa of Avila
“I wanted Carmel as soon as I learned of it; I find that all the aspirations of my heart are fulfilled in this Order.”
(Saint Therese of Lisieux)
CARMELITE DIRECTORY - PRESENCE IN THE WORLD
The Coordinating Committee of the Carmelite NGO decided during its annual meeting to take the trafficking of human beings as its main focus for the coming year. A number of Carmelite ministries and organizations are already involved in the issue. The meeting was held at CISA in Rome on August 6-8, 2012.
One morning session was dedicated to a presentation and discussion with Dr. Alessandra Barberi from the Italian Prime Minister's Office of Equal Opportunity, the government agency responsible for dealing with trafficking. Dr. Barberi presented the current situation in Italy and outlined measures being taken to stop trafficking in the country.
A lay Carmelite from Sicily, Avv. Andrea Ventimiglia, was invited to join the coordinating committee. A lawyer by profession, Sig. Ventimiglia and his wife are very involved in the Domus Carmelitana Siculorum, an active NGO dealing with various social situations in Sicily.
Members attending the recently completed RIO+20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro reported on the various conferences and meetings they were able to attend.
Each member reported on the activities of their geographical area, the annual budget was discussed, and the publications for the Carmelite NGO for the year were planned. This meeting is usually held in conjunction with the annual meeting of NGOs at the United Nations but due to the recent RIO+20 Summit, no meeting was held this year.
More information about the work of the Carmelite NGO can be found on its website: www.carmelitengo.org
On the 5th of August just gone by, at the end of the re-dedication of the Church in Olinda (Citoc-online 75/2012) the Prior General, Fernando Millan Romeral, O.Carm., handed over the icon of "Our Lady of Hope" to Fr. Roberval Mendes Pereira, O.Carm., Prior Provincial of the Carmelite province of Pernambuco. That particular icon, written by the Carmelite nuns in Ravenna (Italy) went from one carmelite house, college and church to another in the different countries of Europe and was brought by young people to the international Carmelite gathering that took place during World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid (Spain). Fr. Roberval, for his part, handed the icon over to the young students of the community of Goiana, in the north-eastern province of Pernambuco, as the first stage in the icon's pilgrimage throughout America. It will pass through a number of different states in Brazil and it will preside over the gathering of young Carmelites at the next World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, in July of next year.
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by Fr. Patrick Thomas McMahon, O.Carm.
Lay Carmelites seek God's presence in prayer while living an active life in the world. This duality of contemplative prayer and active ministry was modeled by the first Carmelites who lived as hermits on Mount Carmel, then later became mendicants in the cities of Europe.
Carmel is Elijan
That means we look to the prophet Elijah, the great prophet who lived on Mount Carmel eight centuries before Jesus, and we find great inspiration in him. Carmelites from the very beginning of the Order have looked to Elijah for inspiration. They saw in the prophet everything that they wanted to be. He was a man of deep contemplation, one who sought solitude in the wadi Carith or in the cave at Mount Horeb. All Carmelites need to know the Elijah stories that we find at the end of the First Book of Kings, and in the beginning of the Second Book of Kings in the Bible.
We see in these stories that Elijah was a restless man. He was filled with energy for God like we want to be, and he was anxious to spend that energy on God’s kingdom. But he was always searching to know what God asked of him. He is the model, along with Mary, for each of us Carmelites. Elijah was a fearless prophet who stood strong and tall against the injustice of his day. He defended the farmer and the peasant against the mighty kings and lords. And that is why the Order of Carmel today has stood with the Church in making the preferential option for the poor. Carmel chooses to stand up for the cause of the poor. We stand with the teachings of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, and now Pope Benedict XVI, and with their teaching about the rights of immigrants and the rights of workers and the rights of women and the rights of all human persons for housing, health care, and education. Carmel stands for nothing more than what the popes have stood for in their brilliant encyclical letters when they call for rights of the poor to be protected.
The trouble is that many Catholics do not know what the Church teaches in the areas of social justice. Let me say that, tragically, our bishops and our priests often have not done their job in this area. Too often the laity intimidate them from speaking the truth. Too often some clergy preach only that part of the Church’s magisterium that their congregations already agree with. But we Carmelites cannot depend on others for our knowledge of the Church’s teaching. Carmelites have an obligation to learn the social gospel of the Catholic Church and to put it into practice. I am going to be very blunt on this point. If our politics aren’t formed by our Christian and Catholic faith then we’re not good Christians, good Catholics or good Carmelites. Some Catholics think that all they have to do is vote for the candidates that are opposed to abortion, but while the protection of human life from the moment of natural conception until the moment of natural death will always be the chief priority, the social teaching of the Catholic Church is far broader than that one issue. We must know our faith. We must be familiar with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Papal Encyclicals. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Papal Encyclicals belong in our hands as we vote, even as they belong in our hands for every decision we make in our lives. Some might say ‘Render to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s,’ but I can tell you what is not Caesar’s business and where in my life I don’t have to be obedient to Caesar. But you tell me where you don’t have to be obedient to God. You tell me what in life is not God’s concern, what is not subject to God’s authority. The whole world belongs to God. And our whole life belongs to God. And every decision we make must be according to the will of God. The Carmelite, like Elijah, is enflamed with the spirit of God and stands for truth in the face of every obstacle. The Carmelite, like Elijah stands up for the poor, for the victims of injustice, for those who have no voice of their own with which to cry out to heaven.
Solemn “Rededication” in Olinda, Brazil, of the first Carmelite church in the American continent.
Written bySolemn “Rededication” in Olinda, Brazil, of the first Carmelite church in the American continent.
On the 5th of August of this year, the solemn rededication of the first Carmelite church in the American continent, took place in Olinda, Brasil. This church was founded by four portuguese Carmelites in 1580. The Metropolitan Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Antonio Fernando Saburido presided at the celebration of the Eucharist. He was accompanied by five Carmelite bishops, (Vitalis Wilderink, Paolo Cardoso, Antonio Muniz, João José Costa and Wilmar Santin), by the Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., by the Councilor General for the Americas, Raul Maraví, O.Carm., the Prior Provincial of Pernambuco, Roberval Mendes Pereira, O.Carm., and a large number of Carmelites from all parts of Brazil. The Commissary General of Portugal, Agostinho Castro also took part in the celebration. He presented a relic of St. Nuno de Santa Maria, founder of the Carmelite house in Lisbon, from which the Carmelite founders in Brasil set out.
The celebration was preceded by a Triduum and by a congress on the history and significance of the Carmelite presence in Olinda. At that congress the Prior General introduced the official letter which will be addressed to the whole Carmelite Family on this occasion, with the title, “Carmel in America: past, present and future”. Furthermore, there was an official meeting with the civil authorities to whom the Carmelites expressed their gratitude for the handing over and restoration of this beautiful church, which had been in the hands of the Brazilian State since 1877 and which from now on will be the location of the residence of the Prior Provincial.
On Monday, the 6th of August, Vatican Radio broadcast an extensive interview with the Prior General and with Fr. Francisco de Sales Alencar (in Spanish and in Portuguese respectively) concerning the importance and significance of this occasion (This can be heard in Spanish at:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/spa/Articolo.asp?c=605143 and in Portuguese at
http://www.radiovaticana.org/bra/Articolo.asp?c=611019)
Finally, it is important to mention that His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI sent a brief message of congratulations via the Secretary of State in which he referred to the historical and pastoral importance of this event.
M. Rev. Kilian Healy, O.Carm.
From the dawn of reason the heart of St. Thérèse was raised to God. As she grew in years she was blessed with insight into his merciful love. Her desire was to always do his will. At the reception of her first holy communion she told our Lord that she is giving herself to him forever.
After her entrance to Carmel at the age of fifteen she set full sail on her pursuit of holiness. She came to believe that God had bent down, lifted her up and embraced her in his loving arms (Story of a Soul, translated by John Clarke, O.C.D. 199; hereafter abbreviated as S).
In February 1895, two and one half years before her death she composed one of her most beautiful poems “Living on Love” (Poetry of Saint Thérèse, trans. by Donald Kenny, O.C.D., PN 17; hereafter PN). It was the fruit of an inspiration on an evening spent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament during the Forty Hours devotion. In this poem she sings of the merciful love of God and of her desire to be aflame with love for him. She longs to live on love alone and to die of love.
“Loving you, Jesus, is such fruitful loss!
All my perfumes are yours forever.
I want to sing on leaving this world,
I’m dying of love!” (Ibid., St. 19).
A few months later on June 11, 1895 together with her sister Céline she made her Act of Oblation to the Merciful Love of God. She offered herself as a Victim, a holocaust of love. “Consume your holocaust with the fire of your Divine Love” (S 181).
As her spiritual life developed she was ravished with love and cried out: “O Jesus my love..., my vocation at last I found it....My vocation is Love” (S 194).
As we contemplate the heart of Thérèse aflame with love of God we ask: What were some of the devotions that served Thérèse on her journey to love? Throughout her life she had many devotions and shared in many spiritual exercises. We think of her devotion to the Holy Face and her love of the Divine Office. In this article we would like to focus our attention on three devotions that played a special role in her surrender to love, and that can become a vital influence in our spiritual development: the Bible, the Eucharist, and the Blessed virgin.
The Bible
Today reading and study of the Bible is a daily practice in convents. But in the nineteenth century this was not so. Thérèse came to Bible reading gradually, not at home but in the convent. We are told she did not have a copy of the complete Bible; she used Céline’s notebook which contained several passages from the Old Testament. Céline also gave her a copy of the Gospel and the Letters of St. Paul bound together. This little book she always carried over her heart. It is preserved today among the relics in the convent of Lisieux. Finally, we should remember that the nuns recited the Divine Office every day and among other Scripture passages it contained the Psalms, which gave her daily food for thought and prayer.
It was, then, the Vulgate form of the text that Thérèse knew. Had she been a priest, she said, she would have learned Greek and Hebrew in order to read the Bible in its original languages.
One book that gave her great nourishment was the Song of Songs, and her understanding of it came from the Catholic tradition, proposed by Origin (d. 254) the most influential commentator in the Christian community. For the Christian the Song refers to the love of Christ and the Church, Christ and the individual soul.
Thérèse received many spiritual insights from the Song, quoting it frequently especially in her letters to Céline. To one of her novices, Marie of the Trinity, she confided:
“If I had the time I would like to comment on the Canticle of Canticles (the Song); in this book I have discovered such profound things about the union of the soul with the Beloved” (quoted by Guy Gaucher, Story of a Life, 191).
In her Story she tells us of the spiritual enrichment gained from reading the Word of God. “Ah! how many lights have I not drawn from the works of our holy Father, St. John of the Cross! At the ages of seventeen and eighteen I had no other spiritual nourishment; later on, however, all books left me in aridity and I’m still in that state. If I open a book composed by a spiritual author (even the most beautiful, the most touching book), I feel my heart contract immediately and I read without understanding, so to speak. Or if I do understand, my mind comes to a standstill without the capacity of meditating. In this helplessness, Holy Scripture and the Imitation come to my aid; in them I discover a solid and very pure nourishment. But it is especially the Gospels which sustain me during my hours of prayer, for in them I find what is necessary for my poor little soul. I am constantly discovering in them new lights, hidden and mysterious meanings” (S 179).
We recall that in Carmel the sisters had two hours of silent prayer, one in the morning and the other in the evening. The daily reading and meditating on the Gospels led Thérèse to come to an understanding of God’s desire to flood the world with his merciful love, and prompted her to respond to his love. “Oh how sweet the way of love! How I want to apply myself to do the will of God always with the greatest self-surrender” (S 181).
Listening to Thérèse we can ask ourselves: What place do the Holy Scriptures hold in our life? Does God speak to us? Do we listen? To understand love, we must begin to love.
The Eucharist
Thérèse’s growth in understanding the merciful love of God and responding with love was also advanced by her love of the Holy Eucharist From her childhood Thérèse enjoyed going to Mass. She loved Sundays and Holy days. She doesn’t offer any special insights into the mystery of the Holy Sacrifice but she does have much to teach us about holy communion. She underwent a long and thorough preparation [or her first holy communion which she received at the age of eleven.
Her description of her first encounter with her Eucharistic King is edifying: “Afi! how sweet was that first kiss of Jesus! It was a kiss of love; I felt that I was loved, and I said: ‘I love You, and I give myself to you forever!’ There were no demands made, no struggles, no sacrifices; for a long time now. Jesus and poor little Thérèse looked at and understood each other, That day, it was no longer simply a look, it was a fusion; they were no longer two, Thérèse had vanished as a drop of water is lost in he immensity of the ocean. Jesus alone remained. e was the Master, the King. Had not Thérèse asked Him to take away her liberty, for her liberty frightened her? She felt so feeble and fragile that she wanted to be united forever to the divine Strength” (S 77).
Would this beautiful experience be repeated each time Thérèse received holy communion? No. Seldom would there be consolation and joy. Her communions would he acts of faith. She would think of the love of Jesus who longed to give himself to us in the host. She would recall his humility in condescending to come to us; his humility in coming hidden in the host. Her reaction was to try to please him who was so humble and loving.
Often she would seek Jesus in the tabernacle to keep him company. Daily reception of the Eucharist was not permitted in Thérèse’s time; a custom that displeased her greatly. She promised that once in heaven she would seek a remedy. In the meantime she would encourage frequent communion. In a letter to her cousin Marie Guérin, who would enter Carmel in 1895 as Marie of the Eucharist, Thérèse encouraged her to banish the scruples that kept her from receiving the Eucharist. “Dear little sister, receive communion often, very often. That is the only remedy if you want to be healed and Jesus hasn’t placed this attraction in your soul for nothing” (General Correspondence, v.1, translated by John Clarke, O.C.D., 569).
Pope Pius X in 1905 granted the whole church permission to receive daily communion; he was greatly pleased that he had done this after reading this letter of Thérèse. He said: “we must hurry this cause!” (Thérèse’s beatification) (Ibid.)
One night during her final illness Thérèse wrote a poem in preparation for holy communion: “You Who Know My Extreme Littleness” (PS 8, p. 233). Sister Thérèse of the Eucharist sang this song before Thérèse received holy communion on July 16, 1897. This was her last poem, a song of love, a cry of the heart to die of love. “Come into my heart, O white Host that I love. Come into my heart I long for you” (Ibid.).
During the last few months of her life Thérèse was so emaciated, so weak that she could no longer hold food in her stomach. Consequently, her last holy communion was on August 19, 1897, six weeks before her death. There is no indication that the last kiss of Jesus was similar to the first. This time there was no joy. She was immersed in the dark night of faith. After communion shed4ing tears she said to Mother Agnes, “I’m perhaps losing my wits. Oh! if they only knew the weakness I’m experiencing. Last night I couldn’t take anymore; I begged the Blessed Virgin to hold my head in her hands so that I could take my sufferings” (Last Conversations, translated by John Clarke, O.C.D., 54; hereafter LC).
Yes, the infirmary was her Calvary, her sick bed the Cross. With Jesus she was a victim of love.
As we meditate on Thérèse’s love of the Eucharist (she often thought how wonderful it would be to be a priest and offer the Eucharist) we ask: What place does the Mass and holy communion bold in our life? Do we share in the daily celebration of the Eucharist? Do we realize that Jesus in the host is manifesting his love for us, that he is asking to be loved? How do we respond to Jesus on days there is no consolation?
The Blessed Virgin
Along with the Bible and the Holy Eucharist, devotion to the Blessed Virgin accompanied Thérèse on her journey of surrender to love.
In her childhood Thérèse learned to honour Mary. At the age of three she prayed to Mary in words taught to her by her mother. When she made her first confession at the age of six her confessor encouraged her to practice devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and Thérèse promised herself that she would redouble her tenderness to Mary. When she was ten years old she came down with a mysterious nervous sickness. While lying sick in bed, she tells us, the Blessed Virgin with a ravishing smile appeared to her, and she was instantly cured. The following year, at age eleven in the afternoon of the day of her first holy communion Thérèse was chosen in the name of her companions to make the act of consecration to Mary. She tells us: “I put all my heart into speaking to her, into consecrating myself to her as a child throwing itself into the arms of its mother, asking her to watch over her. It seems to me the Blessed Virgin must have looked upon her little flower and smiled at her, for wasn’t it she who cured her with a visible smile? Had she not placed in the heart of her little flower her Jesus, the Flower of the Fields and the Lily of the valley?” (S 78).
In 1887 Thérèse accompanied her father and Céline on a pilgrimage to Rome. Along the journey they visited shrines of our Lady, and she felt that she was rewarded with great graces at Our Lady of Victories in Paris and Loreto in Italy. However, in Rome she was disappointed with her audience with Pope Leo XIII. Although he treated her with kindness, he did not grant her request to enter Carmel at age fifteen, leaving the decision to the will of God. Downcast she returned home, but her spirits were soon revived when the bishop granted her desire, a favour she believed was a gift of the Blessed Virgin.
Once she entered Carmel she took comfort in wearing our Lady’s mantle, and the Brown Scapular, our Lady’s gift, which for her was a sign of predestination. She also carried our Lady’s rosary, was faithful to the daily recitation, but, as she confesses, it was not without great difficulty.
In December 1894 she received an order from her superior, Mother Agnes (Pauline), to write her childhood memories. Always obedient Thérèse tells us: “Before taking up my pen, I knelt before the statue of Mary (the one that had given so many proofs of the maternal preferences of heaven’s Queen to our family), and I begged her to guide my hand that it trace no line displeasing to her” (S 13). Throughout the story of her life Our Lady figures prominently. But this is true in her poems, letters, religious plays and last conversations in which Mary appears as loving Mother and model.
As we reflect on the central role of Mary in the life of Thérèse we ask: Is there any writing in which she expounds her teaching on the Blessed Virgin? Fortunately, there is. To Céline she once confided: “I have always dreamed of saying in song to the Blessed Virgin everything I think about her” (S 217).
On May 1897, a few months before her death, she fulfilled this desire with a masterful poem, the favourite of many devotees, “Why I Love You, Mary” (PN 54, p. 215). In twenty five stanzas with thoughts drawn from the story of Mary in the Gospels she sings of her love for the Mother of Jesus and our mother.
It is not our intention to offer a commentary of the poem (there are some beautiful ones) but rather to offer a few thoughts that shed light on her profound devotion to Mary. In her poem she is guided by the portrayal of Mary in the Gospels. She tells us that Mary is not only the Mother of Jesus, our Saviour; she is our spiritual mother, But Mary is also our model. She led an ordinary life, similar to ours, a life of faith, hope, charity, obedience, humility, patience. It was a life of intense suffering. She experienced the pain of poverty, the cold, the heat, even exile. She endured the dark night of faith especially when she stood beneath the Cross and offered Jesus to appease the Father’s justice.
In her meditations on the Gospels Thérèse found in Mary not only a loving mother, hut a mother who had led an ordinary life, like our own, no ecstasies or miracles. She found a mother she could admire and imitate, a mother who could lead her to Jesus. In her joy she cried out: “You teach me to sing divine praises, to glory in Jesus my Saviour” (St. 7). This poem, Thérèse affirms, contains all that she would preach about Mary were she a priest.
During her final days in the midst of her trial of faith and intense physical suffering, Thérèse frequently prayed to the Virgin Mary. At times she was heard repeating the closing words of her beautiful poem to Mary: “You who came to smile at me in the morning of my life, Come smile at me again.... Mother.... it’s evening now” (St. 25, p. 220).
As the shadows of evening fell on September 30, 1897, and after two days of agony Thérèse, while gazing at her crucifix, died. Her last words:
“My God, I love you” (LC 206).
She had reached the goal of her life, eternal love. But on her journey, often fought with darkness and suffering she found guidance, comfort and great hope in the Bible, the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary. She points to us the way to love. From heaven she calls: “Come, follow my way.”
