The Pope’s Prayer Intentions for December 2015

Universal: Experiencing God’s mercy - That all may experience the mercy of God, who never tires of forgiving.

Evangelization: Families - That families, especially those who suffer, may find in the birth of Jesus a sign of certain hope.

Lectio Divina December - Diciembre - Dicembre 2015

From November 16 to 21, 2015, 38 young Carmelites from the Asia-Australia-Oceania geographical area who are in their 1st to 5th year in ministry gathered in Malang, Indonesia, in order to know each other, to share their experiences on ministry among themselves and extract the lessons from them, and to dream for the Order as they continue their journey being the future leaders of the region and of the Order. The gathering was guided by the theme: Nurturing Carmelite Vocation in the Year of Consecrated Life.

To lead them in their discussion and helping them to make sense of their experiences, various speakers were invited. Fr. Christian Buenafe, O.Carm, Prior Provincial of Carmel Philippines, came to share his views about the reality, gifts and challenges of religious living in community and doing ministry as he talked about Sharing Our Lives with Others: Finding the Balance in the Tension of Community and Ministry. Fr. Noel Deslate, a diocesan priest from the Philippines and a director of the Galilee Institute devoted to helping priests and religious with problems, came to talk about Boundaries and Intimacy in the Ministry. Fr. Robert Puthussery, O.Carm., Prior Provincial of St. Thomas Province of India, came to talk about Consecrated Religious in the Midst of the People. The participants, being young Carmelites and confronted with the lures of the modern world, Fr. Stephanus Buyung, O.Carm., Director of Marian Center based Jakarta, Indonesia, came to share about Reclaiming and Nurturing Our Contemplative Gift as Carmelites in Today's World. Fr. Benny Phang Khong Wing, O.Carm, General Councilor for Asia-Australia-Oceania and for Formation, capped the course by suggesting to the young Carmelites that they are the future of the Order in his discussion about Building the Theotokoi Community: Carmelite Lifestyle in the Changing World.

The course was a mixture of prayer, study, relax and fraternal sharing as well as dreaming for the future of the Order. All the participants were grateful for the opportunity to gather together as brothers in the geographical area. They went home to each of their own province wiser, hopeful and inspired to do more in the ministries in the name of the Order, and looking forward to their next gathering!

The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Ravenna, Italy, was held 21 November 2015. The following were elected:

• Prioress:  Sr. M. Anastasia Cucca, O.Carm.
• 1st Councilor:   Sr. M. Elisabetta Mambelli, O.Carm.
• 2nd Councilor:  Sr. M. Barbara Stella, O.Carm.
• 3rd Councilor:   Sr. M. Paola Teresa Laudicina, O.Carm.
• 4th Couniclor:   Sr. Hilda Maria Duran, O.Carm.
• Director of Novices:  Sr. M. Elisabetta Mambelli, O.Carm.
• Treasurer:  Sr. M. Pia Malmesi, O.Carm.
• Sacristan:  Sr. M. Barbara Stella, O.Carm.

With joy and fraternity we offer you a new edition of E-Bulletin for the Carmelite Laity. This time around, you will find some testimonies from people who have come closer to God through the Carmelite spirituality that we offer in our various groups and institutions.

Likewise, we will read the news of the re-foundation of the Third Order in Sergipe, in northeastern Brazil, where this group had almost disappeared, and was reborn due to the interest of the local bishop and the friars who returned to work with the faithful of this place.

We are also happy to learn about the constancy of the Carmelite Family in the Philippines that met last July completing 23 years of consecutive annual meetings. One of its members offers us a short reflection on Saint Teresa, and with it, we close the V Centenary of the birth of this great saint and our sister.

Lay Carmelites also participate in many ministries in the Church. In this issue we highlight some of the apostolates of the Lay Carmelite and their great experience in these places.

We are pleased to announce the new official website of the Lay Carmelites. The Website provides the latest news, activities and events of the Carmelite Laity around the world, and also features many articles and lectures from and for the laity. Please bookmark and visit it at www.ocarm.org/lay/en

We welcome your comments and suggestions, and would like to ask you to contribute news, articles and activities from your communities to enrich this website.

Please click here to download the E-bulletin

http://ocarm.org/ebook/laybulletin/no4/no4en.pdf

From 4-7 November 2015, a total of 50 bursars from each province, commissariat, and delegation, gathered in Fatima, Portugal, at Hotel Casa Sao Nuno, for the Triennial Bursar's Meeting. This included 12 lay people who also work and collaborate in this ministry in their given provinces.

The Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., opened the meeting with a talk pertaining to some issues on the economy of our Order and thanked the bursars for their participation. He also presided at the opening Mass.

Craig Morrison, O.Carm., began the meeting with a Lectio Divina on Acts 5 and spoke about "Luke, Pope Francis, and the Economy." He pointed out the numerous parables in Luke that have a reference to money and the poor, and shared Pope Francis' interpretation of these parables. Bernadette Porter, RSCJ, gave a talk on "The Community of Goods," and shared her experience of central financing with regards to missions and developing areas of the world. Albert Anuszewski, OSST, a member of the General Finance Commission, spoke about the Vatican document on the "Guidelines for the Administration of Assets in Institutions of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life." Time was also set aside for Jurek Borucki, advisor to the Curia, to give a global picture of the finances of Carmel throughout the world.

The meeting was held in a spirit of transparency and honesty, while also taking time to share together in language and regional groups. Masses, prayer services, and meals highlighted a spirit of openness to one another, including a mass at The Shrine and the Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima.

Special thanks to Ricardo Rainho, O.Carm., and Agostinho Castro, O.Carm., and members of the Portugal Commissariat for their warm hospitality throughout the gathering.

By Ann Schneible

On the 500th anniversary of St. Teresa of Avila's birth, Pope Francis praised the Spanish mystic and reformer for her witness of self-gift to God, as well as her particular relevance during this Year of Consecrated Life.

“How much goodness does the testimony of her consecration – born directly from the encounter with Christ, her experience of prayer as continuous dialogue with God, and her community life, rooted in the motherhood of the Church – do for us!” the Pope said, according to Vatican Radio's translation.

In a March 28 letter addressed to Fr Xavier Cannistrà, superior general of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, the pontiff wrote that it is providential that the anniversary of the saint's birth should coincide with the Year of Consecrated Life, which began late last year.

St. Teresa of Avila, the Holy Father said, “shines as a sure and attractive model of total self-giving to God.”

Born March 28, 1515 in Avila, Spain, St. Teresa is known as a mystic and reformer. Entering the Carmelite order in 1535, she became disillusioned by the laxity of monastic life within the cloister, and committed herself to reforming the order. She is considered one of the founders of the Discalced Carmelites.

During her lifetime, St. Teresa wrote several important works on the spiritual life, such as Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection. Canonized 40 years after her death in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, she was declared as one of the first ever female doctors of the Church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.

St. Teresa of Avila remains relevant for consecrated men and women, Pope Francis wrote, as demonstrated by her prayer life, her proclamation of the Gospel, and her understanding of the importance of community life.

Describing her as “primarily a teacher of prayer,” the pontiff said that “the discovery of Christ's humanity was central to her experience.”

For St. Teresa, prayer arose in all occasions, not simply in times and places of seclusion, the Pope said. Moreover, she believed that “continuous prayer” – even when it was imperfect – had value.

“The saint asks us to be steadfast, faithful, even in times of dryness, personal difficulties or urgent needs that call us.”

The “concrete proposals” and methods of prayer left by St. Teresa offers “us a great treasure to renew consecrated life today,” the Pope said.

“Far from closing us in on ourselves or leading us only to inner balance, (they) always make us start again from Jesus and constitute a genuine school to grow in love for God and neighbor.”

Pope Francis went on to describe St. Teresa as a “tireless communicator of the Gospel,” at a time when the Church was in the midst of difficulties. Instigator of the “Teresian reform” of the laxities demonstrated by the Carmelite cloister in which she lived, she demonstrated a “missionary and ecclesial dimension has always marked the Carmelites and Discalced Carmelites,” he said.

“Even today the saint opens new horizons for us, she calls us to a great undertaking, to see the world with the eyes of Christ, to seek what He seeks and to love what He loves.”

Finally, St. Teresa recognized the importance of “authentic community life” in sustaining both prayer and the evangelical mission, the Pope said.

Warning against “the danger of individualism in fraternal life,” he added, the saint commends those living in community to place themselves “at the service of others,” with a humility consisting “of self-acceptance, awareness of one’s own dignity, missionary courage, gratitude and trust in God.”

“Teresian communities are called to become houses of communion, capable of witnessing to fraternal love and to the motherhood of the Church, presenting to the Lord the needs of the world, torn by divisions and wars.”

Pope Francis concluded by imparting his Apostolic blessing, praying that the Carmelite community's “witness to life” would allow “the joy and beauty of living the Gospel to shine and attracts many young people to follow Christ closely.”

The worldwide Year for Consecrated life began November 30, 2014 and will continue until the World Day of Consecrated Life on February 2, 2016.

By Alvaro de Juana

Seven-year-old Carmen has an extraordinary story. Because of her Blessed Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin, the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, will be canonized this Sunday in Saint Peter's Square.

The little girl was born prematurely in Spain in 2008 at just six months into pregnancy. She was fighting for her life for several weeks because of a cerebral hemorrhage and other severe ailments.  

But her loved ones and many Carmelite sisters sought the miraculous intervention of the Martins. The Vatican recognized the baby’s healing as miraculous.

Little Carmen’s parents, her mother Carmen and her father Santos, have told her story in an exclusive interview with CNA.

“We’re just another family who received this miracle with open arms, as you'd expect. But we and Carmen are normal people like anybody else,” Santos said.

The baby Carmen is now seven years old.

“Our daughter was born at hardly six months gestation, after a pregnancy with many complications, and her organs were very underdeveloped. Complications set in right away: cerebral hemorrhage, bacterial infection … her situation was getting worse to the point we were extremely worried,” Santos explained.

Both parents were both going through “a terrible situation.”  

“For some parents dealing with such a dramatic situation it would stir up feelings of helplessness, grief, guilt and despair...on top of that we had a five year old son and we were trying to keep this situation from affecting him,” Santos said.

The doctors told them to prepare for the worst. Every day had major significance.

“Carmen was getting worse and worse,” her father said. She was so weak that for 35 days her parents could not even so much as touch their daughter in order to avoid infecting her.

“The doctors thought there was no longer anything more they could do for her and after that they let us touch her,” Santos and Carmen said, adding “during this whole process we never lost faith, we clung to our faith and it helped us very much.”

“For us faith is the foundation of our family, and as they say: without faith, there is no hope.”

Little Carmen was born on the feast day of Saint Teresa of Avila, so her parents sought out a monastery or church connected with the saint.

“We saw our answer come to us through prayer. Carmen was still alive—even though she was still very sick—so we were determined to look for a place even harder,” Santos said. “So I searched on Google for some place to pray to Saint Teresa and right away popped up the monastery of Saint Joseph and Saint Teresa in the town of Serra in Valencia Province.”

“I went there one afternoon, but I got there almost at night and I couldn't get in because it was closed. So I told one of the Carmelite sisters on the intercom what was going on with Carmen and she told me they would pray.”

The sister also told Santos that he could come there Sunday for Mass.

“We were going to Mass there, we were praying and we would quickly turn around because we needed to get back to see our daughter since the hospital was 25 miles away.”

After four or five Sundays, the Carmelite sisters became close to the parents of the sick baby. This was how the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux came fully into their lives.

Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin married in 1858 just three months after they met. They lived in celibacy for nearly a year, but went on to have nine children. Four died in infancy, while the remaining five daughters entered religious life.

The Martins were known for living an exemplary life of holiness of prayer, fasting and charity. The couple frequently visited the elderly and invited poor people to dine with them in their home.

Their daughter, St. Terese of Lisieux, became a Carmelite nun known as the Little Flower. She authored the deeply influential spiritual autobiography “Story of a Soul.” She was canonized in 1925 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1997.

The canonization cause for another of their daughters, Leonia Martin, opened in 2015.

The Martins were beatified in 2008.

“Saint Therese’s parents were beatified on October 19, four days before Carmen was born,” Santos said.

The Carmelite sisters gave little Carmen’s parents some pictures of the Martins, a prayer and a short biography of the married couple.

“The prioress told us that perhaps these blesseds, who had miraculously cured a child, could also help us,” Santos said.

“That very same night we began to pray to them,” he said. Other sisters in other convents also joined in prayer for the suffering baby.

“Beginning the next day there were a series of changes and Carmen's state,” the girl’s father said.

The next day Carmen was transferred to another hospital and she began to recuperate noticeably. She began to breathe without a machine and her infections began to subside. On the third day she left the intensive care unit, though it took several years to know whether she suffered side-effects from the hemorrhage.

Carmen was finally released from the hospital on Jan. 2, 2009 the same day as the birthday of Saint Therese of Lisieux.  

Fifteen days later, the relics of Blessed Louis and Zelie came to Lerida, Spain. The Carmelite sisters encouraged the family to go.

There, they met the postulator for the Martins’ cause for Sainthood and explained their daughter’s healing. The postulator pursued the case, and the investigation for the Martins’ possible canonization began in November 2009.

It was not until March 2015 that investigators approved Carmen's miracle that would raise the Martins to the altars.

The family received the news on March 18 during the popular Fallas de Valencia festival.

“Our whole family was going down San Vicente Street in Valencia right in the middle of the Offering of Flowers to the Virgin of the Defenseless to give her our bouquet. All of a sudden our cell phone went off and, after six years, they gave us the big news.”

“It was a very special and moving moment, it couldn't have been at any other time, just when we were at the feet of the Virgin,” Santos recalled with great emotion.

Baby Carmen’s parents have told her everything about how she was healed, adapted for her age.

“For us it was always a miracle, and even more when we could see she was responding to everything and recuperating,” her parents said. “It's different to experience something like this than when somebody tells you about it. When it happens to you, your faith is reaffirmed.”

Carmen’s parents said they were already strong believers before the miracle, but now they practice their faith more.

The whole family will witness the canonization along with family and friends. They are “a little nervous and anxious” as they await the ceremony. But they also have “a lot of joy.”

This is the first time the Church will canonize a married couple at the same ceremony.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com

The Diocese of Metuchen in New Jersey on Monday May 20, 2009 opened an investigation into an alleged miracle believed to have been worked by Servant of God Mother Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory, the foundress of the Germantown, New York-based Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.

Mother McCrory spent her life caring for the elderly and ailing in long-term care facilities operated by the Carmelite Sisters, who now operate 17 elder-care facilities around the country and one in Ireland. Mother McCrory died in 1984 at the age of 91. "Sometimes you hear about somebody being an imposing figure," said Sister Kevin Patricia Lynch, a Carmelite sister who knew Mother McCrory, told MyCentralJersey.com. "She was very imposing, but very warm."

At a 20-minute ceremony at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Bishop of Metuchen Paul G. Bootkoski formally opened the diocese’s investigation into the alleged miracle, the details of which are not being made public.

However, Mother Mark Louis Randall, superior general of the Carmelite Sisters, told MyCentralJersey.com that the reputed miracle involves a family in the diocese’s general area that prayed to Mother McCrory to intercede with God after their unborn child was diagnosed with a genetic abnormality. When the child was born, the defect was not as severe as expected.

About twenty sisters from Carmelite elder care facilities attended the ceremony, where Bishop Bootkoski and a panel of investigators took oaths promising to put God and the Church first. They also promised to keep the details they learn in the investigation secret until the process is complete.

Lori Albanese, diocesan chancellor and notary of the investigation, said the process might take about four months. Officials will interview family and friends of the child, as well as medical experts. The medical experts will include two people who are independent of the Church and the case.

She explained that the investigative panel’s task is to collect evidence, not to determine whether the case is an actual miracle attributed to Mother McCrory.

Mother McCrory’s home diocese, the Diocese of Albany, has also extensively investigated her life.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints will decide on whether there was an actual miracle attributable to her. If the miracle is verified, Mother McCrory can be beatified. If a second miracle is then attributed to her, she may be canonized.

Those who believe their prayers for Mother McCrory’s intercession have resulted in a miracle are asked to contact the Carmelite Sisters.

QUEZON CITY—Five individuals have made it to the roster of awardees for this year’s Titus Brandsma Award of the Titus Brandsma Media Center, a Carmelite Media Ministry.

Titus Brandsma Award is a biennial award given to individuals and groups especially to journalists in print and broadcast media who have exemplary lived-out the virtues of Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite priest, journalist and educator who was martyred in 1942 in Dachau Concentration Camp for writing and defending the truth.

The awarding ceremony is set on November 27, at the Titus Brandsma Media Center in New Manila, Quezon City.

The award giving body has chosen the following individuals for their excellence in various endeavors in different categories:

LEADERSHIP IN SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

Fr. Franz-Josef Eilers, SVD

A renowned speaker in different courses and workshops on social communication, culture and globalization, Fr. Franz-Josef Eilers, SVD is actively promoting communication in the church especially in today’s age of Internet and communication technology.

Fr. Eilers continues to serve as professor of Social Communication and Missiology at the Divine Word School of Theology in Tagaytay City and University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Fr. Eilers has also authored books on Social Communication that animated not only the Church in Asia but all over the globe. Aside from that, he is a Consultor of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican in Rome where he also teaches in schools like the Gregorian and Salesian Universities and he is also a professor at the College of Development Communication of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

Fr. Eilers used to be the Executive Secretary for the Office of the Social Communication (OSC) of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) in Manila.

LEADERSHIP IN JOURNALISM

Yvonne Chua

Yvonne Chua has lived the best of both worlds of the academe and media practice.

A journalism professor of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication where she handles basic to advanced Journalism courses at the undergraduate and Master’s levels, Chua is also the co-founder of Vera Files, an online investigative news agency where she writes, edits and manages the website that discusses in-depth stories.

Her award-winning stories on corruption led to reformation in various government agencies because of her expertise especially in Data Journalism where she uses data culled from different researches and investigations and use them to give a picture of the different issues like the unexplained wealth of government officials, discrepancies in textbook procurement in public schools, lack of accountability and transparency in government institution, among others. Chua was the former managing editor of Malaya, a publication in the Philippines.

Aside from her teaching and media stints, Chua has also edited and co-wrote books on investigative reporting while sharing her expertise as member of the editorial advisory board of Asia Pacific Media Educator, a refereed journal of the School of Journalism and Creative Writing of the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. She is a member of the Technical Committee for Journalism of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and editorial consultant of Tulay publication for 20 years already.

EMERGING LEADERSHIP IN JOURNALISM

Raymund Villanueva

Raymund Villanueva is the Director for Radio of Kodao Productions, Inc., a multimedia radio and production group based here in the Philippines that has won awards and citations from different award-giving bodies. Known for his passion as a journalist and a storyteller, Villanueva has written articles on peace and conflict, disasters, human rights, social justice, among other issues in bulatlat.com and other outlets. His works include the story on the massacre of a Blaan family and photo essay on the Banwaon Children of Balit.

Though he has fearlessly faced the different threats in the profession, Villanueva always tells students and fellow media practitioners that safety is a must in performing one’s duties.

“… In all these, I am happy and still alive. I have every intention to stay this way for some more decades. Because no story, no photograph, no film, no broadcast, is worth dying for,” Villanueva said during one of the workshops he handled.

LEADERSHIP IN COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION

Abner Francisco

A journalist for print and radio, Abner Francisco has been hailed for his works not only as a journalist but also as a community catalyst and facilitator. He is known for uplifting the lives of the people in North Cotabato and Mindanao through his brand of innovative and participatory journalism.

Francisco is noted for his leadership and advocacy for good governance in the province being the convener when the Watchful Advocate for Transparent, Clean and Honest Governance (WATCH) North Cotabato, a media-citizen initiative started.

LEADERSHIP IN CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

Gary Granada

Gary Granada is an award-winning composer for his pop/folk music artistry and known for his songs like Salamat sa Musika, Kahit Konti, Mabuti Pa Sila, Saranggola sa Ulan, among others. A musical genius who produced jingles that became popular songs like Kapag Nananalo/Natatalo ang Ginebra, Iba na ang Pinoy, Alay Mo Buhay Ko, Bangon Na, Mag-impok sa Bangko, Lakbayin Natin ang Pilipinas and Tagumpay Nating Lahat, Granada has also written books used to teach about nationalism, globalization, women’s rights and intellectual property to students in the middle school up to college.

In his book which also includes chords and lyrics of his songs, Granada said that he is first of all a teacher who happens to know about music. He taught at the University of the Philippines College of Development Communication and College Algebra at the UP Los Baños.

Titus Brandsma Awards is a prestigious award-giving body that has recognized different individuals in the mainstream media for their exemplary works like Kara David and Howie Severino of GMA News, Patricia Evangelista of Rappler, Carol Arguillas of Mindanews, to name a few through the Titus Brandsma media ministry of the Order of Carmelites (O.Carm.), an 800-year old religious order in the Catholic Church who is also present in the Philippines.

The Carmelite Priests in the Philippines has chosen Blessed Titus Brandsma to bear the name of their media apostolic ministry. Titus Brandsma has defended press freedom, right to education, even at the cost of his life. He was beatified on November 3, 1985 by Pope John Paul II. (PR)

Recently, from the 26th to the 32st of October, the 4th Congress of the Association of Latin American Carmelites (ALACAR) took place at the retreat house of the Sagrado Corazón de Cantón Ayagualo (La Libertad, El Salvador). This gathering is held every three years. Up to now it has been held in Lima (Peru) in 2006, in Villa Leiva (Colombia) in 2009, and in Sao Paolo (Brazil) in 2012.

On this occasion, there were 130 participants, including friars, both O.Carm. and O.C.D., cloistered nuns, O.C.D., sisters of various congregations of apostolic life, and lay Carmelites from various groups (Third Order, Secular Carmelites, Youth groups, etc.) The main theme of the congress was, “Teresa of Jesus: woman, mystic and prophet: A window of hope for Lain America”. The speakers included, the Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., who spoke about prophesy in Carmel today; the Superior General of the Discalced Carmelites, Saverio Cannistrà, O.C.D. who spoke about prophesy in the mysticism of Teresa of Jesus;  Fr. Oswaldo Escobar, O.C.D. provincial of the Central American province, who spoke about Teresa’s conversions, and Bishop Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, Nicaragua, who spoke about the relationship between Teresa of Jesus and “Evangelii gaudium”.

On the last day, the participants visited a number of places associated with the life of Bishop Oscar Romero: UCA (The University of Central America), where the group of Jesuits and their co-worker were assassinated, and where they keep the Scapular that Romero was wearing when he died; the Cathedral in the crypt of which the remains of Blessed Oscar Arnulfo Romero are kept; the little hospital where the house that Romero lived in is located, as well as the chapel in which he was assassinated and where the final Mass of this year’s congress was celebrated.

The meeting was organised and coordinated by Fr. Raul Maravi Cabrera, O.Carm., Councillor General for the Americas and Bro.Luis David Pérez, O.C.D., along with Fr. Francisco Javier Mena, O.C.D., Definitor for Latin America. The joint O.Carm.- O.C.D. commission will continue to work in preparation for the next meeting in 2018.