Stephen Lowell, O.Carm.

Even after the departure from the hermitages of Mount Carmel, there are found in our Order traces of the eremitic life. Indeed, mention is made of Carmelite recluses in several authoritative works. But perhaps the best known of these is Marie Petyt, who was probably the greatest of the Dutch mystics of the seventeenth century.

Born in the Southern-Netherlands in 1623, Marie Petyt was a girl of very pliant personality. She experienced periods of sincere religious ardor, and yet at other times she was entranced with the attractions of the world: beautiful clothes, dances, romantic novels, etc. But Providence made use even of her worldliness. For the turning point in her life took place during a pilgrimage in 1639 which Marie had undertaken with the questionable motive " that Our Lady might make her nice and graceful ”, Grace touched her and she understood the vanity of the world, and it was then she conceived the desire of becoming a religious.

Two years later she was admitted to the monastery of the Regular Canonesses of Saint Augustine, at Ghent. But her goal had not yet been attained. Having been a novice for only five months, Marie was dismissed because of an eye ailment which prevented her from reading. Instead of returning to her home, however, she took up residence in Ghent at the house of the Beguines, a group of pious laywomen living in community but without vows. Desiring still more solitude and silence than this house could afford, Marie Petyt persuaded a Carmelite father to act as her spiritual director. With a companion, she took the vows of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, receiving the name of Marie of Saint Therese.

Within a few years their Carmelite confessor was transferred to another city; and in 1646 they chose as their spiritual director another Carmelite, Father Michael of Saint Augustine, author of several mystical works and one of the guiding lights of the Reform of Touraine in the Belgian Province of the Order. It was under his stable and purposeful direction that Marie Petyt of Saint Therese reached the highest peaks of the mystical life. Father Michael seems to have understood immediately the possibilities as well as the dangers for this generous, affective soul; and he instructed her accordingly.

Finally, in 1657, Marie moved to a small house attached to the Carmelite church in Malines, Belgium. Here, according to a manner of life proposed by Michalel of Saint Augustine and approved by the General of the Order, Marie lived as a recluse, observing in its entirety the primitive Rule of Carmel.

Under obedience to Father Michael, Marie began writing, in 1668, her autobiography, which we may consider as a kind of mystical diary. Herein can be followed the development of her spiritual life. These notes are of exceeding interest and even of importance to the knowledge of the mystical life; for they are reflections of the mystic herself, each written only a short time after the mystical experience to which it refers.

All the writings of Marie of Saint Therese point to the practical consequence that the soul should be free not only from all sensible images and activities, which are an impediment to the union of the spirit with God, but even from the love and thoughts of any creature if not in direct relation to God. Only in this way will that condition be created under which God can work in the soul. „

It was in 1668 especially that she wrote her reflections concerning mystical union with Our Lady. These notes are probably the best of all that has been written on this point; and they were adapted by Michael of Saint Augustine in his famous treatise on the Marian life. For Marie of Saint Therese the Marian life begins with the constant consideration of the virtues of Our Lady. Contemplating the virtues of Mary, she becomes conscious of the source of those virtues, namely the union of Our Lady with God Himself. And from the moment of that realization Our Lady is for her the great contemplative, the mistress of the whole life of prayer, and the means by which she is prepared for the mystical marriage.

Marie, Petyt of Saint Therese died in 1677 on the feast of All Saints, and was buried near the altar of Our Lady in the Carmelite church at Malines,

The following is a translation of the first five of Marie Petyt’s introductory notes on the Marian life. We hope in succeeding issues to publish the remainder of her Marian reflections.

The Blessed Virgin appears to Marie, instructs her concerning the path of greater purity, and consoles her.

Now I remember what I forgot to mention when speaking of that former state of dereliction, in the course of which that took place. One night, during my sleep, our kind Mother, came near us. She carried the Infant Jesus in her left arm. The Infant and His Mother looked at me lovingly and smiled. They spoke to me. words of consolation and affection; but I do not clearly recall what they-said to me.- But I do know that my loving Mother gave me advice about a more perfect purity, a more complete, stripping of self, a death to all creatures. Her other words were spoken to console and strengthen me.

I said to myself: It is impossible that this is an illusion; I did not dream it. Hence I must of necessity remember it, in order to be faithful to obedience ”,. Afterwards, I no longer wanted to dwell upon it, but rather to consider it all as a dream. Still the memory of it remained much more vividly than in the case of an ordinary dream. It happened to me many times to dream of such good things, yet never was I impelled to record them as I am now doing.

The Blessed Virgin appears to her during the Office.

The morning of the Vigil of Pentecost, during the recitation of the Office, I thought I saw in spirit our loving Mother. She was present among us, and she seemed to listen to our recitation of the Office with a particular joy, with contentment and with pleasure. It appeared so to me because her glance, as she looked at us, was very loving and she was smiling, especially when we arrived at antiphons, verses and orations which are properly destined to spread her praises and perfections.

This presence caused a sentiment of reverence towards her Majesty, and, at the same time, a very tender and respectful love. To see her so, my heart leapt with complete joy and happiness. And I said:

" Sweet Mother, since your Majesty seems to delight in this praise which we offer to you, why do you not raise up souls in ever greater number to serve you in this same manner and to speak your praises in complete purity of heart? ” And it seemed to me that she expressed a certain hope that some such souls should later appear. Yet, I was not entirely sure of this.

She is shown how to conform herself to the example of Jesus and Mary in those things where nature finds a certain enjoyment.

Sometimes the soul experiences that its spirit begins to establish itself in a certain elevation and to place itself in God, abstracted from thing5 created. But sometimes, too, the faithful soul is shown how it must comport itself in situations which, at the same time, please and rejoice nature 01* which are agreeable to the sensibility; — especially when necessity or fitness or discretion force it to use those things. It is then necessary to use prudence and to take great care to elevate these thing to the spirit. Restraining herself immediately and detaching herself from every affection, the soul will then use such things in God.

This advice applies to everything which, in some way, can please the senses — taste, sight, hearing, smell. Ah, if the soul who is searching for God in all purity, the soul who wants God, could understand how our loving Mother and her Child Jesus comported themselves in these circumstances! In opportune times they made use of bodily nourishment. They were at the nuptials in Cana of Galilee, without their spirits suffering the least inconvenience. The loving Mother showed to her Son a tender and maternal affection. She caressed Him, she kissed Him, she held Him in her arms. And the baby Jesus acted the same, conforming Himself to the nature of every little child, sucking the milk of His mother, letting Himself be lulled asleep in her arms and coaxed. He was in every way like a little innocent child, although He was the Wisdom of the Father. Ah! who will give us ever to use creatures after their example, only for the spirit and for God!

The Blessed Virgin invites her to communicate, saying that Jesus desires it.

Our loving Mother appeared to me once; and as she looked at me affectionately and smiled, I asked her what I should do to please her: if I should continue to write in conformity to obedience; or rather devote myself to the church according to my own desire? She deigned to answer: “ Go; make haste to receive my Son I fell at her feet, my face pressed to the ground, begging her to give me her motherly blessing. Then, filled with respect and reverence and love, I listened to her as she said: “ My Son wants to come to you and to take His repose in your heart ”,

During my preparation for Holy Communion, this sweet Mother remained present to my spirit. She carried her loving Child in her left arm. But, after some time, she set the Child down upon His knees, His face turned toward me. And she smiled at me, stretching out her arms toward me in a gesture of affection.

When I had received Communion, I no longer sensed within me the presence of my loving Mother. Only the sweet Child Jesus was in the secret of my heart, where I gave Him a welcome full of affection, of caresses and of loving protestations.

How she honored and prayed to the Blessed Virgin, in God.

As for that which is of love and other operations, divine knowledge, lights upon the revealed truths, movements of the supernatural order, all that seemed to me gathered and, as it were, blended in the unity of the One Divine •—- although all that sometimes clouded my soul with superabundance. But this repletion did not make my soul depart from the unity, for in all that, it saw, knew and tasted the only Divine Unity, in a mysterious and excellent manner. The forces and the light of God alone aided my soul and elevated it to that.

It is in the same way, in the Divine One as in a mirror, that I see, honor and love our loving Mother, and that I pray to her. I see her there united with this divine mirror, with this inexpressible Being. And so, whenever I kneel before one of her statues and pray to her for something to which I feel myself interiorly drawn — the good of souls, the needs of the country, or something else — her image becomes present in this interior mirror, where she is contained with all other creatures. At other times I seem to penetrate, in some manner, the exterior image, without noticing there anything of her body, and I see her all contained in the secret of the spirit.

Stephen Lowell, O.Carm.

Quinn R. Conners

The challenge for RELIGIOUS in this early part of the 21st century is to be men and women of integrity people who live their sexuality as consecrated celibates.  This is the call of the Gospel.

http://ocarm.org/en/sites/default/files/intergrate.pptx

What is a Carmelite Vocation?

Prayer is at the very heart of the Carmelite vocation. Through praying alone and together as a community, Carmelites seek to deepen their understanding of God, and to develop their relationship with Christ.

Our community life is a witness to the importance of solidarity. By living, working and praying together, Carmelites find the support they need in their own faith journey, but also provide a practical witness to the teaching of St. Paul, that ‘we are all one body, made up of many parts, united in Christ.’

It is often believed that all Carmelite friars are priests, but this is not always the case. Throughout the world, many Carmelites do not become priests but commit themselves to other forms of service, including teaching, chaplaincy, social work or academic studies.

Although Carmelite ministries vary, what unites us as brothers is our commitment to a life of community, prayer and service. These three aspects make up the essence of the Carmelite vocation.

How do I know if I am being called by God to be a Carmelite?What should I do if I think I am being called?

God works in lots of different ways. The call by God to become a Carmelite can come to some people as a feeling or a thought that begins small and slowly grows. For others it can begin as a stronger feeling. Everyone’s story is unique.

Sometimes people know Carmelites and feel that they want to become part of the Community. Sometimes people feel they want to serve others and maybe being a Carmelite is the way to do it. Sometimes people learn about saints of the Carmelite Order and are inspired by them. And sometimes it is just a feeling that this is what God wants me to do.

If you feel or think that God might be calling you to be a Carmelite listen to that feeling. Don’t be afraid of it. If God is calling you to be a Carmelite, then being a Carmelite is the way that you will be happiest in life and the way you will be most fully alive.

If you feel that God might be calling you to be a Carmelite there are 3 things you might do: think about it; talk about it; pray about it.

Think about it:

Spend time thinking about the Carmelites and about the idea of you being a Carmelite. Try to find out more about us: about how we live, what work we do, where we have Communities etc. Look up our websites to get information. Read about the Carmelite Order and Carmelite Saints. If you know any Carmelites talk to them and ask them questions or contact us through social media.

Talk about it:

Pick one or two people whose opinion you trust and who might be worth talking to and ask if you can talk to them. Then tell them what you are feeling, what you are thinking. You don’t have to have any answers and neither do they. But just talk about it. If you are in college or school maybe talk to a Chaplain, or maybe someone in your parish or a church that you know.

Pray about it:

St. Teresa of Avila states that “prayer is nothing more than a friendly conversation with the God by whom we know we are loved.” Talk to God. Tell Him what you feel. Ask God to help you to understand what He wants you to do. Ask God to make it clearer to you if He is calling you to be a Carmelite. Ask God to help you respond to Him.

Making a decision...

When you think about it, talk about it, and pray about it, if the feeling gets stronger then maybe you are being called to be a Carmelite. But when you think about it, talk about it, and pray about it, and if the feeling gets weaker then maybe you are not being called to be a Carmelite. Maybe God has another plan, another dream for you.

 

Fr. Dave Twohig is the Vocation Director of the Irish Province If you live in Ireland and would like to speak with Fr. Dave, he can be contacted at the following:

E-mail: Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.

Tel: (01) 472 0949

or visit http://www.vocationcarmelites.ie/

 

In addition to the commemorative events for the 5th Centenary of the birth of St.Teresa of Jesus, that we have already reported, (citoc 91/2013, 88/2014), we add that the travelling twenty panel display, devised by the Discalced Carmelites of the province of San Giuseppe (Central Italia), was on display in our church in Pisa from the 14th to the 21st of January. The display, bearing the title, Para vos naci (I was born for you) contains some very original representations of Teresian themes and symbols, and their biblical roots. Each panel draws the viewer into reflection and prayer.

The Carmelite Third Order in the three Italian provinces organised an event with the theme, “La gioia di sentirci fratelli di Santa Teresa (The joy of knowing that we are sisters and brothers of St. Teresa). The event took place in Sassone (Rome, Italy) last 11th and 12th of April, heard a number of talks given by Fr. Giovanni Grosso, O.Carm.

In the province of Germany a series of spiritual exercises centred on the teaching of St. Teresa will be given in our house in Springiersbach. As well as that, in Mainz and in Bamberg there will be a number of talks and liturgical celebrations. In September, a four-day gathering is planned for the Carmelite family, which will include a study of the Interior Castle.

Lastly, in the Carmelite house in Seville (Spain) a series of monthly talks has been organised, to run from March to September of this year, dealing with different aspects of the life and teaching of Teresa. As well as that, the well-known statue of Teresa by the artist Alonso Cano from the 17th century, which is venerated in that church will be lent for a period to an exhibition in the National Library in Madrid.

Dr. Arie G. Kallenberg

In the lifetime of Jesus and for a long time after His death, the cross was considered an instrument of shame by which criminals were executed. For early Christians however, the cross soon became a sign of blessing and redemption.

At the beginning of the fourth century, the cross was accepted all over the Roman Empire as a sign of triumph. The reason for this acceptance was, according to legend, a dream of the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great. In the year 312, on the night before an important battle against his enemy Maxentius, Constantine saw in a dream a trophy of the cross in the heavens, arising from the light of the sun and carrying the message, In Hoc Signo Vinces (“In this sign, you will conquer”). Christ, who appeared to Constantine in the same dream, told him to make a standard, the labarum, in that form for his army. The sign was to be a Chi (X) traversed by Rho (P): These symbols represented the first two letters of the word Christos, which is the Greek spelling of name of Christ. According to the same legend, the next day Constantine ordered that all of his soldiers should fit the labarum symbol on their shields.

Because of this memorable victory, the persecution of Christians stopped, and the Cross began to be considered as a symbol of triumph, from which our salvation derives and on which Christ reigns as King.^[i] For centuries the Holy Cross remained a symbol of triumph. Around 1200 there was to be a dramatic change in the Western view of the cross. As a result of the influence of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) and Francis of Assisi (1181/1182-1226), the view of the cross underwent a decisive change. The focus on Jesus as a human began to be central. No longer was the focus on the crucified Christ as the conqueror of death, but on the earthly, suffering Christ who died on the cross. By means of a literal interpretation of Matthew 10:38 and 16:24 concerning the bearing of one’s cross in imitation of Christ, the identification with the suffering Christ came to be central. The living Christ who triumphed on the cross of glory made way for the suffering Christ who underwent a painful death on the cross.[ii] This vision remains to this day. To become convinced of this, it is enough to look at the crosses which dominate our churches.

In 1238 the Carmelites began to migrate to Europe. Precisely what happened to their liturgy in the period between their arrival in Europe and the publication of Sibert de Beka’s Ordinal in 1312 is not entirely clear. In any case there are no signs that the suffering Christ began to play a role in their liturgy, in contrast to that of the Dominicans, where on May 4, the Feast of the Crown of Thorns can be found in a calendar for the year 1255.[iii] There is not a trace of this feast either in a thirteenth century Carmelite ordinal found in Dublin or in the ordinal of Sibert de Beka. On the contrary, in the liturgy of the Carmelites the Feast of the Crown of Thorns and that of the Holy Lance were mandated only at a very late stage.[iv] Whereas, after the twelfth century, popular devotion and some liturgical rites focused increasingly on the Man of Sorrows as he manifested himself on the cross and inside the tomb, the liturgy of the Carmelites focused on the Risen One: Christ who rose from the tomb, never to die again.

[i]      Louis van Tongeren, Exaltatio crucis, cfr p. 159.

[ii]    Ibid., 270.

[iii]   Kallenberg, Fontes, 292.

[iv]   Idem, op. cit., 56.

Is there a relation between Carmelite Liturgy and Carmelite Spirituality? In order to find an answer to this question, it is necessary to go back to the early days of the Order, to a time between 1206 and 1214, when Albert Avogrado, Patriarch of Jerusalem, proposed a way of life to a group of hermits. The hermits were living on Mount Carmel in Palestine, near the fountain of Elijah, and they had requested St. Albert to prepare a rule of life for them. The way of life which Albert wrote out for the hermits has inspired many people, religious and lay, male and female. Throughout the centuries and down to the present time, it has led them to an intimate contact with God. Not only was Albert Avogadro Patriarch of Jerusalem, he was also a member of the Canons Regular who lived according to the Augustinian Rule. As such, he was familiar with religious life.

From ancient times, there were two churches in Jerusalem, both erected on sacred sites: The Basilica of the Martyrs at Golgotha and the Anastasis Rotunda which was built over the tomb of Jesus, and was therefore also sometimes called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Church of the Resurrection.[i] In this church the liturgical services were conducted by the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, who originated in France and had accompanied the crusaders.[ii] Their rite was originally Roman, the rite which was in use in almost all Western European regions. It is understandable that the presence of sacred sites, especially the Tomb from which Christ arose, should exert a strong influence on the liturgy of the canons. For this reason, the liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre did not celebrate the tomb of Christ as the place of burial, but as the place of resurrection. “From this tomb the Lord arose,” as we read in a liturgical manuscript used by the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,[iii]

Around this tomb, a number of liturgical customs originated which later developed into a special Liturgy: the Holy Sepulchre Liturgy, and later, into the Resurrection Liturgy of the Carmelites. One of these customs was that every Saturday, in preparation for Sunday, the day of the Resurrection of the Lord, a solemn procession to the chapel of the Resurrection took place, where, on Sundays, the High Mass was solemnly celebrated in honour of the Resurrection.^[iv] Throughout the entire period from Easter to Advent, the night between Saturday and Sunday was, to all intents and purposes, controlled by the commemoration of the Resurrection. Furthermore – and this was very special – on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, namely the Sunday before Advent, the Resurrection of the Lord was again solemnly celebrated as a great feast, just like Easter Sunday.

It was this liturgy that the Carmelites adopted and took along with them when they were obliged to flee from the Holy Land. In imitation of the Liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre, the early Carmelites attributed a special significance to Sunday by solemnly commemorating on that day the Resurrection of the Lord in Holy Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours. Furthermore, during most of the ecclesiastical year, the Resurrection of the Lord was commemorated each day at the Conventual Mass and the Divine Office, and on the last Sunday of the Ecclesiastical Year the Carmelites solemnly commemorated the Resurrection of Jesus, just as in the liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre.^[v] On this Sunday, all of the texts of the Liturgy of the Hours and of the Solemn Mass were taken integrally from the formularies of Easter Sunday. It was a sort of second Easter, but now celebrated at the end of the Ecclesiastical Year.

About the year 1312, this liturgy was described and reintroduced into the Order by the famous Carmelite, Sibert de Beka, by means of an Ordinal, a sort of ceremonial for the celebration of liturgical rites. Since that time and for many centuries afterwards, the Liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Resurrection Liturgy, was the way in which the Carmelites celebrated the Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist. Nevertheless, down the centuries, this Liturgy underwent many adaptations. Due to many excesses, the Council of Trent, held in the sixteenth century, felt the necessity to reform drastically the Liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre. Even so, the remembrance of the Resurrection Liturgy continued in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Carmelites until the second Vatican Council in the twentieth century.

After this Council, the Carmelites abandoned their own Liturgy and adopted the Roman Liturgy. In doing so, they renounced a part of their proper spiritual patrimony, that patrimony which had inspired the Carmelites throughout the centuries and had influenced their spirituality. Nevertheless, it is gratifying to note that, in recent years, there is within the Order an increasing interest in the Resurrection Liturgy. At the Liturgical Seminar held in Rome in July 2008, Carmelite liturgists verified that, in many parts of the Order, the Resurrection Liturgy had become the common property of all members and was seen as a part of the spirituality and identity of Carmel, with special emphasis on eschatological aspects[vi]. Before analyzing this bond with the spirituality of Carmel, it is necessary to explain how the veneration of the Holy Cross developed throughout the centuries.

[i]   Louis van Tongeren, Exaltatio crucis. Het feest van Kruisverheffing en de zingeving van het kruis in het Westen tijdens de vroege middeleeuwen; Een liturgisch-historische studie (Tilburg: University Press, 1995) 27.

[ii]   Postquam igitur (Godefridus Bullionis) regnum obtinuit (an. 1099) paucis diebus interpositis, sicut vir religiosus erat, in his quae ad decorem domus Dei habebant respectum, solicitudinis suae coepti offerre primitias. Nam protinus in ecclesia Dominici Sepulcri et Templo Domini canonicos instituitY ordinem et institutionem servans, quas magnae et amplissimae, a piiss principibus fundatae ultra montes servant ecclesiae. So we are told, at the end of the twelfth century, in the Historia Hierosolymitana by a certain William, archbishop of Tyrium. Cf. Analecta Ordinis Carmelitarum, 1 (1909-10) 64.

[iii]  ms. Barberini Lat. 659 (Rome: Biblioteca Vaticana) fol. 80.

[iv]    Edmund Caruana, The Ordinal of Sibert de Beka with special reference to Marian Liturgical Themes. An historical-liturgical-theological investigation. (Rome: Anselmian­um, 1976) 7-8.

[v]     James Boyce, “The Liturgy of the Carmelites,” Carmelus, 43 (1996) 9.

[vi]    Eschatology is a part of theology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred as last things: death, resurrection, heaven.

Dr. Arie G. Kallenberg

For the first centuries of their existence, the Carmelites devoted much attention to the Resurrection of the Lord. The daily encounter with the Risen Lord must certainly have influenced their spirituality. The constant confrontation in the liturgy with the Resurrection of the Lord, via Votive Masses and liturgical celebrations throughout the entire year, culminating in the Solemn Commemoration of the Resurrection on the last Sunday before Advent, left no room for the idea of a static Resurrection, reported to have occurred centuries before in history. On the contrary, the dynamic encounter with the ever-Risen One was thrust upon those who celebrated the Carmelite liturgy, for Christ constantly makes Himself present in the liturgy, and He offers a daily opportunity to rise again with Himself from the lethargy of death, and even from the incapacity to rise.

Throughout the centuries, many Carmelites penetrate into the essence and spirituality of the Resurrection Liturgy. From the Reform of Touraine, a sixteenth century reform movement which inspired new life in the Order, two mystical authors are known who occupied themselves with the Resurrection Liturgy and Carmelite Spirituality. One of them was the blind friar, John of Saint Samson (1571–1636), who wrote a mystical poem about the Holy Sepulchre. The poem is a dialogue between Mary Magdalene and the empty tomb, and John’s message is that the soul, in order to possess the Supreme Beatitude, must bury herself alive in that tomb and live there dying[i].

Another mystical author from the same era, Maur of the Child Jesus († 1690), was also a Carmelite of the Reform of Touraine. In his mystical writings, he affirms that the highest degree of mystical union with God which a soul can reach in this life is the state of Resurrected Life in Jesus. These are only some examples of the influence of the Resurrection Liturgy on the spirituality of the Carmelites. Within the Order there is much interest in this theme; the last two international Carmelite Seminars, held in Rome, treated this topic extensively. In the context of this short article, it is not possible to examine the subject thoroughly.

[i]              My Soul, in this Tomb you must collect forces

               in order to hide yourself from human beings

               and from yourself;

               you must bury yourself alive and live there dying

               in order to possess the Supreme Beatitude.

During the Provincial Chapter of the Maltese Province held on 6-10 April 2015 were elected:

• Prior Provincial:  Fr. Alexander Vella, O.Carm.
• First Councilor:  Fr. Charles Mallia, O.Carm.
• Second Councilor:  Fr. Maurice Abela, O.Carm.
• Third Councilor:  Fr. Anthony Cilia, O.Carm.
• Fourth Councilor:  Fr. Alexander Scerri, O.Carm.

The Second International Meeting of the Carmelite Laity in Asia-Australia-Oceania was held at the Carmelite Missionary Center of Spirituality in Tagaytay City, Philippines, on March 18-21, 2015. The gathering had very rich discussions and sharing based on the theme of the congress: “Living The Way Of Carmel For The New Evangelization”. There were over 130 delegates, from several countries in the region, representing different TOC communities and Lay Carmelite groups. Among the main participants were Fr. Benny Phang, O.Carm., Councilor General of Asia-Australia-Oceania; Fr. Raúl Maraví, O.Carm., Councilor General for the Carmelite Laity; Fr. Christian Buenafé, O.Carm., Prior Provincial of the Philippines and Fr. Joseph Hung, O.Carm., Webmaster of the Carmelite Curia; together with other Carmelite religious and lay leaders. The congress ended with a brief tour of some historical churches in the area.

Christus resurrexit!
Resurrexit vere! AlleluIa!

In Pascha Domini
A.D. 2015

Fernando Prior Generalis
Domusque Generalis Communitas

*Image: Marko Ivan Rupnik, Discesa agli inferi e Resurrezione, Cappella Collegio San Stanislao, Lubiana