FOCAL 2017
A FOCAL (Carmelite Formation in Latin America) ongoing formation event was held in São Paulo, Brazil, from the 27th of June to the 6th of July, 2017. for the Carmelite Family in the American continent. The event was organised by Raúl Maraví, O.Carm., Councilor General, with the help of a team of friars from the Rio de Janeiro province. The participants included people from Argentina, Perú, Bolivia, the U.S.A. and Brazil, all of whom enjoyed the fraternal atmosphere and the inputs by Eduardo Agosta, O.Carm. (Argentina), Bruno Secondin, O.Carm. (Italy) and Benny Phang, O.Carm. (Councilor General for Formation). The course had as its title, "I brought you into the land of Carmel" concentrating on the themes of ecology, challenges to ministry, Carmelite spirituality and morality. As a part of the programme the group made a pilgrimage to the national shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida on the occasion of the third centenary of the finding of the image of Our Lady.
We are grateful to the Provincie of Rio de Janeiro for their great generosity and very warm hospitality throughout this formation course.
Lectio Divina August 2017
Pope's Prayer Intentions for August 2017
Artists
That artists of our time, through their ingenuity, may help everyone discover the beauty of creation.
Lectio Divina August-Agosto-Agosto 2017
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75th anniversary of the death of Blessed Titus Brandsma
Today, 26 of July 2017, we remember the 75° anniversary of the martyrdom of blessed Titus Brandsma in the concentration camp of Dachau.
Born in the Frisian city of Bolsward, Holland, in 1881, Bl. Titus Brandsma joined the Carmelites while still young and was ordained priest in 1905. He undertook further studies in Rome and was awarded a doctorate in philosophy at the Gregorian Pontifical University.
Returning to Holland, he taught in a number of schools before taking up a post as Professor of Philosophy and the History of Mysticism at the Catholic University of Nijmegen where he was later appointed Rector Magnificus. A noted writer and journalist, in 1935, he was appointed adviser to the bishops, for Catholic journalists. He was noted for being ready to receive anyone in difficulty and to help in whatever way he could. In the period leading up to and during the Nazi occupation in Holland, he argued passionately against the National Socialist ideology, basing his stand on the Gospels, and he defended the right to freedom in education and for the Catholic Press. As a result, he was imprisoned. So began his Calvary, involving great personal suffering and degradation whilst, at the same time, he himself brought solace and comfort to the other internees and begged God's blessing on his jailers. In the midst of such inhuman suffering, he possessed the precious ability to bring an awareness of goodness, love and peace. He passed from one prison or camp to another until he arrived in Dachau where he was killed on 26th July 1942. He was beatified as a martyr by Pope John Paul II on 3rd November 1985.
Tomorrow, 27 July 2017, in our Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina (Rome), a solemn Eucharist will be celebrated to commemorate the death of Blessed Tito Brandsma 75 years ago in the Dachau Concentration Camp.
Assembly of the Federation "Verge, Flor del Carmel", Spain
The Assembly of the Federation "Verge, Flor del Carmel" (Catalonia), was held 27 June 2017. The following were elected:
- President: Sr. María del Carmen Izquierdo Marín, O.Carm.
- Secretary: Sr. M. Pilar Simón i Blasco, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. Maria Roser Ferrer Camps, O.Carm.
Pope Francis words at the Angelus prayer, 16 July 2017
“May the Mother of God, who today we remember with the title Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel, unsurpassable in receiving the Word of God and putting it into practice (Cf. Luke 8:21), help us to purify our heart and to keep the presence of the Lord.” …
“I would like to greet especially the Carmelite Sisters and Friars on their feast day. I hope that they can continue decidedly on the way of contemplation.”
IN SOLLEMNITATE B.V. MARIAE DE MONTE CARMELO
Flos Carmeli, vitis florigera,
splendor caeli, Virgo puerpera singularis.
Mater mitis, sed viri nescia,
Carmelitis esto propitia,
stella maris.
IN SOLLEMNITATE B.V. MARIAE DE MONTE CARMELO
Fernando Prior Generalis
Domusque Generalis Communitas
16. VII. 2017
News from the Office of the Postulator
In its session of the 5th of June, 2017, the General Council accepted the request of the Prior Provincial of the province of Aragon, Castile and Valencia, to open the cause for beatification and canonisation of Fr. Enrique Maria Esteve, O.Carm.
In the same session, the request from the Prioress of the Monastery of “Our Lady of Maravillas and St. Joseph” in Dumaguete City, Philippines, for the introduction of the cause for beatification and canonisation of Sr. Trinidad del Sagrado Corazon de Jesús Cuesta Valluerca, O.Carm. was accepted.
On the 27th of June, 2017, in the diocese of Jundiaí, in Brazil, the supplementary diocesan inquiry for the Servant of God, Dom Gabriel Bueno Couto, Carmelite bishop, was closed.
The 23rd Assembly of the Carmelite Family in the Iberian Region
The 23rd assembly of the Carmelite Family in the Iberian Region took place at the Casa Sao Nuno in Fatima from the 30th of June to the 3rd of July. It was organised by the Portuguese Commissariat. Some 160 people took part, including lay people, religious women, nuns, friars and the international novitiate in Salamanca. The theme of the meeting was, "Fatima and Carmel", honouring the celebration of the first centenary of the apparitions (1917-2017). The two Superiors General of the "Orihuela" and "Malaga" Carmelite Sisters, three Priors provincial of the Iberian Region, the Federal Mother of the Nuns of the Betica province and the board of the Karit NGO also attended. Mgr. Luciano Guerra, Rector of the Fatima Basilica, spoke to the assembly about the "Message and Spirituality of Fatima".Fr. Desiderio García, O.Carm., stood in for Fr. Rafael María López Melús, recovering from illness, and shared with the assembly his reflections on "Fatima and Carmel". Fr. Pedro Bravo, O.Carm. brought the meeting to a close with an address on the theme, "Carmel and Fatima, Prophecy of Salvation".
Letter of the Prior General for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel 2017
Fernando Millán Romeral O.Carm.
Dear brothers and sisters of the Carmelite family:
The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is approaching and, like every year, I want to send you an affectionate greeting with my most sincere congratulations. I hope that the feast and all the celebrations of these days (novenas, processions, religious and cultural events, etc.) will be an occasion to honor Mary under this title so popular and endearing and so dear to all of us Carmelites. May these celebrations touch our hearts, inspire our living of the charism, and transform our lives so that we become more and more faithful to the values of the Gospel.
I would like to present again this year the outline of the novena that has been made by the people in charge of the website of our Order, based on texts by writers, mystics, and Carmelite saints. May this novena help us, guided by the hand of Mary, to enter the depth of the mystery of our faith.
*****
This year I would like, in the first place, to remind you that we are commemorating the first centenary of the apparitions of Fatima. For this reason, among other events, the Portuguese Carmelites, in collaboration with our discalced Carmelite brothers, have prepared a Marian congress that will take place in September 2017. Also, various works and articles have been published on the relation of these apparitions to Our Lady of Mt Carmel.
It is well known that, in the sixth apparition, which occurred in October 1917, the shepherds indicated that the Virgin appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel who was venerated in her parish (see photo). In 1924, testifying before the diocesan tribunal, Lucia insisted on this and added that "she wore a thing hanging in her right hand" (the Holy Scapular). Likewise, when in 1950, Father Kilian Lynch, then Prior General of the Order, visited Lucia, the seer, insisted that it was the Our Lady of Mt Carmel. Even in interviews with other Carmelites, Lucia emphasized that she was surprised that this aspect had not been emphasized and that devotion to the Scapular of Carmel, inspired by the same apparitions, had not been promoted.
Be that as it may, in this centenary of the apparitions, the Carmelite family renews in some way their Marian devotion and now that the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is approaching, we also ask her to give us a simple, deep faith and a devotion that does not fall into empty sentimentalism or passive affections, but, well rooted in our hearts, leads us to rediscover every day the Good News of the Gospel and encourages us to announce it with courage and authenticity.
Pope Francis, during his visit to Fatima, has insisted on how the values of the Gospel must transform and revolutionize our lives and how the devotion to the Virgin helps us to discover them and live them to the full. Marian devotion, in fact, if it is authentic, makes us more human: "Every time we look at Mary we come to believe in the revolutionary power of tenderness and affection. In it we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong. "
In this centenary, we also remember in a special way all the sick of the Carmelite family. The Pope had endearing words for them in his visit to Fatima, stating that they were "a valuable treasure of the Church". In this feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel may we be very present to those who suffer any infirmity and may we renew our commitment to help them, accompany them and share with them all the best we have. We pray that far from the “throw away” culture, nor of the selfish comfort, we see that they are really a treasure in our families and Carmelite communities.
*******
Secondly, I would like to point out that this year we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of Blessed Titus Brandsma's death at the Dachau concentration camp and the 50th anniversary of the death of the great Carmelite theologian, Bartolomé F. Mª Xiberta. Both died the same day, on July 26, with a difference of 25 years. The two met in Holland, in 1938, after the expulsion of Fr. Xiberta from Italy by the Fascist government. Father Xiberta would always remember with admiration the Dutch Carmelite.
The two stood out for their great Marian devotion and wrote about the role of the Virgin Mary in the history of salvation. Father Titus insisted that we, like Mary, are called to be "theotokos", bearers of God, who take the Lord to the most needy places. It is a doctrine that connects very well with the Pope Francis' missionary insistence who constantly reminds us of the importance of leaving and going to the geographical and existential peripheries.
Father Xiberta was able to harmoniously combine a very high and speculative theology with his tender devotion to Mary. Those who knew him well remember how he counted the days that were missing to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He liked to repeat the Marian antiphon, taken from the book of Judith (cf. Judith 15:9), "You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you are the pride of our race." In Mary, a woman of our race and of our people, the whole of humanity becomes evident, giving her primacy in the mystery of salvation.
Here are a couple of examples to illustrate how our brothers lived with depth, doctrinal seriousness, and piety the devotion to Mary in the twentieth century.
Blessed Tito celebrated for the last time the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Lager of Dachau in 1942. Despite his weakness and illness, he did not fail to greet with a handshake the other Carmelites that were there: the Dutchman, Fray Rafael, who accompanied him to the end, and several Poles, among whom was Blessed Hilario Januszewski. It was a strange celebration, but lived, certainly, in an endearing and touching way in those terrible circumstances.
The same day, twenty-five years later, Fr. Xiberta died in Tarrasa, Spain. The last few years he was totally disabled because of a stroke. He hardly articulated any words. Perhaps he was realizing what he had once said about his work as a theologian: "We, poor teachers of theology, must talk about extremely high mysteries, before which it would be best to remain in silent contemplation ..."
*****
May both Blessed Titus Brandsma and the Servant of God, Bartolomé F. Mª Xiberta, help us to live our Marian devotion with the same authenticity and requirement of life that they demonstrated.
May Mary, the Mother and beauty of Carmel, the star of the sea, guide us in our journey, so that we can respond with creativity and joy in the face of the challenges that arise in our sometimes complex world.
To all of you who are one way or another part of the Carmelite family, I send you my affectionate greeting. Congratulations!
Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm.
Prior General
Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Electoral Chapter of the Monastery of Valencia, Spain
The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Valencia, Spain, was held 29 June 2017. The following were elected:
- Prioress: Sr. M. del Sagrario Lorite Beltrán, O.Carm.
- 1st Councilor: Sr. M. Auxiliadora Muñoz López, O.Carm.
- 2nd Councilor: Sr. M. Mercedes de la Cruz Medina Zárraga, O.Carm.
- 3rd Councilor: Sr María de los Ángeles Megías M., O.Carm.
- 4th Couniclor: Sr. M. Manuela de Jesús Medina T., O.Carm.
- Director of Novices: Sr. M. Norayma Coromoto Morales, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. M. Auxiliadora Muñoz López, O.Carm.
- Sacristan: Sr. M. Manuela de Jesús Medina Triguero, O.Carm.
