O.Carm
Triennial Chapter of the Carmelite Nuns in Ravenna, Held
Triennial Chapter of the Carmelite Nuns of the Monastery of Santo Stefano in Ravenna, Italy Held
The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Santo Stefano in Ravenna, Italy was held on November 21, 2024. The archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia, Lorenzo Ghizzoni, presided.
In 1760 the Carmelite Peter Tombi gathered pious young women in the village of Molinella, near Bologna, who lived as Third Order Carmelites. In May 1773 they moved to Ravenna. By 1840 the group became members of the Order, receiving the papal enclosure. On July 24, 1857, Pope Pius IX visited the nuns along with other nuns who had been brought there. In 1976 nuns from St. Stefano assisted in the founding of the Carmelite monastery in La Vega, Philippines. In 1992, other sisters assisted in the founding of the monastery in Sogliano al Rubicone.
The monastery belongs to the S. M. Maddalena de' Pazzi Federation.
The following nuns were elected:
Prioress | Priora | Priora:
Sr M. Anastasia de Gerusalemme Cucca, O. Carm.
1st Councilor | 1ª Consejera | 1ª Consigliera:
Sr M. Elisabetta Mambelli, O. Carm.
2nd Councilor | 2ª Consejera | 2ª Consigliera:
Sr M. Paola Teresa Laudicina, O. Carm.
Treasurer | Ecónoma | Economa
Sr M. Anastasia di Gerusalemme Cucca, O. Carm.
Formator | Formadora | Formatrice
Sr M. Elisabetta Mambelli, O. Carm.
Sacristan | Sacristana | Sacrestana
Sr M. Barbara Stella, O. Carm.
Meeting of the Order's Treasurers Held in Fatima
From November 11 to 16, 2024, 50 bursars from the provinces, commissariats and delegations gathered in Fatima, Portugal, in the Hotel Casa San Nuno for the meeting of the bursars of our Order, including lay people who collaborate in this ministry in their respective provinces. All entities present shared a brief report of the realities in which they live, problems, main challenges and possible solutions.
Prior General, Míċeál O'Neill, O. Carm, opened the meeting with a talk concerning some economic issues of our Order and a reflection on poverty and the role of community starting from our Rule No. 12. He also presided over the opening Eucharistic celebration.
Secretary for Missionary Cooperation of the Curia of Discalced Carmelites Jerome Paluku, OCD, then continued the meeting with a reflection on, “Solidarity as Mutual Responsibility - Conditions for Effective Solidarity in the Carmelite Order.”
Regarding the conditions for effective solidarity in the Order, the need for a future solidarity fund, how to finance and manage it was discussed. Also invited was Dr. Giovanni M. Manozzi, financial advisor to the Curia, who presented a comprehensive overview of Carmel's finances in the world; he also spoke and consequently discussed with the participants the method of compiling the economic reports sent annually.
The meeting was held in a spirit of transparency and honesty, spending time also for sharing in language groups and an afternoon for an excursion to the Batalha National Monument and the Atlantic Coast of Nazaré. The concluding Eucharistic celebration was held in the Chapel of the Fatima Apparitions.
Special thanks go to Ricardo Rainho, O. Carm. and Agostinho Castro, O. Carm. as well as to all the members of the General Commissariat of Portugal for their cordial and fraternal hospitality during the meeting.
The Caricature of Blessed Angelo Paoli
Curiosities of the Archives
The Caricature of Blessed Angelo Paoli
In the Iconographic Collection of the General Archives of the Carmelite Order is a copy of a caricature drawing depicting Carmelite friar Angelo Paoli (1642-1720), who was immortalized in front of the main door of the Roman convent of San Martino ai Monti, where he used to distribute bread and alms to the poor of Rome. Paoli, who was beatified in 2010, was known for his involvement in social work, particularly in assisting the indigent and the sick.
The caricature, the original of which is preserved in the Vatican Library, within the Codex Ottoboniano Latino 3113, was executed in ink by Pietro Leone Ghezzi (1674-1755), a famous Roman painter and caricaturist, who portrayed numerous picturesque characters of Baroque Rome, transmitting to us a visual memory of them.
Blessed Angelo Paoli (1642-1720) was so well respected for his charity work, he was called "Father of the Poor." He operated with the belief that whoever loves God must find Him among the poor. He established a convalescent center in Rome where the poor could recover after leaving the hospital. Devoted to the Cross, he placed the cross inside the Colosseum of Rome. He was beatified in 2010.
(This article first appeared in ABIGOC – 5/2024).
Carmelite Order Celebrates Day of the Cloistered Nuns
Carmelite Order Celebrates Day of the Cloistered Nuns, Pro orantibus. Prior General Sends Letter
In recognition of Pro orantibus, the day the Church dedicated to contemplative nuns, Fr. Míceál O’Neill, the prior general of the Carmelite Order, wrote to the monasteries of the Order. The letter focuses on 2024 being the Year of Prayer, as announced by Pope Francis at the beginning of the year. The prior general connects this year of prayer to the Carmelite charism, writing to those “who incarnate the Carmelite charism to think about our vocation to pray, to pray more intensely ourselves and to help other to pray.”
Reflecting on the Gospel read in the celebrations of both St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Francis of Assisi, he finds that God reveals “truths to children like us” in prayer. “Prayer is a communication between persons divine and human who are united in love.” The great Carmelite nun, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, teaches us about the moment after Holy Communion when she began to think about the Gospel she had heard in the Eucharist. “There was no better place for her to be at the moment.”
Fr. Míceál also explores the Order’s tradition of prayer and contemplation as recorded in the Order’s Constitutions for the nuns. He points out that the revision of those for the men in 2019 focused the most attention on contemplation. Recalling that the nuns are well into the process revising their own Constitutions, he points out that proposed revisions clearly recognize the gift of contemplation is the nuns’ “charism and calling in a way that allows you to live out that vocation yourselves and explain it to the Church of today and to those who will approach you in the future …”
The prior general notes that liturgical prayer “is the privileged place desired by Christ for our encounter with him.” He senses movement in the Order today “to recover and enhance our rich liturgical tradition.” He highlights a recent publication and the scheduled Liturgical Congress in May. He asks that the liturgies celebrated during the Jubilee Year “contribute to … enlightenment and moving us to seek reconciliation in families, in the Church, in communities.”
Finally, Fr. Míceál speaks of prayer as “discernment, discernment alone in the cell, nourished and completed by discernment in the community and vice versa.” He writes that “a community that comes together to pray and engage in communal discernment is a community that is capable of growing in maturity and responding each day, more fully, to the call to holiness which is union with God.” He concludes “union with God does not exist without union with neighbor, union with our families, union with our religious community.”
He concludes wishing that this day of Pro orantibus be an experience of joy for the sisters and a moment of renewal of love for prayer in their lives.
Celebrating At Home - Solemnity of Christ the King
A Royal Shepherd
(John 18:33-37)
On this last Sunday of the Church’s year we always celebrate the Feast of Christ, the Universal King.
The first reading from the prophet, Daniel, speaks of the coming of one who will rule in the name of God in an eternal kingdom. The second reading from the Book of the Apocalypse speaks of Christ as the ‘faithful witness’ to God and ‘ruler of the kings of the earth’. Here is a king who loves his people and sheds his own blood to save them. The Gospel comes from the Passion of Jesus in St John’s Gospel. It is Jesus’ dialogue with Pilate about his kingship and the nature of his kingdom.
Jesus is anything but a traditional king. This King reigns, not from a golden throne, but a cross of rough wood; naked, with no rich, flowing robes; no bejewelled crown, just thorns; no orb and sceptre, just nails in his hands.
He comes among his people, not as a tyrant wielding weapons of suffering and death, but as a powerless baby.
Jesus says that his kingdom is ‘not of this world’. It is not a kingdom with geographical and national boundaries. It is not a kingdom in the earthly sense where power and oppression reign, but a kingdom where justice, love, mercy, truth and peace reign.
At the end of the day, the disciple is called to be the Kingdom (the living presence) of God in the world and to transform the suffering of its people into joy by deeds of loving kindness.
Virtuous disciples are the living presence of Jesus in the world. They realise that until Jesus comes again, the kingdom has been entrusted into their hands. In the Kingdom of Jesus, the disciple is not master but ‘servant’.
The power of the spirit of Jesus fuels deeds of loving kindness – reversing horrible human conditions, and bringing healing and salvation.
Whenever we act like Christ the Kingdom of God (the reign of God’s grace) breaks into our world. Whenever we are moved by the Spirit to proclaim the truth, to respond to need, to work for justice, to transform and heal our society, the Kingdom of God breaks into human reality and the grace of God becomes clearly visible in our words and actions.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - Solemnity of Christ the King [PDF](2.83 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - Solemnity of Christ the King [ePub](4.17 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - Solemnidad de Cristo Rey(464 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - Solennità di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo Re(323 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - A Solenidade de Cristo Rei(435 KB)
St. Raphael of St. Joseph (OCD), Priest
19 November Optional Memorial in the province of Poland
Raphael of St. Joseph (in lay life: Joseph Kalinowski) was born at Vilna to a Polish family on 1st September 1835 and died at Wadowice on 15th November 1907. He took part in the rising against the Czarist occupying forces in Poland, accepting the position of Minister of War in Vilna.
In 1877, Raphael joined the Carmelites. He was ordained priest in 1882 and began an apostolate centred on the confessional, in the giving of spiritual direction and being full of enthusiasm for ecumenism, he worked strongly for unity in the Church.
To read more on the life of St. Raphael of St. Joseph (OCD) ...
Causa Nostrae Laetitiae
PROFESSIO TEMPORANEA
01-11-24 Maria Faustina de Jesus Divage (MON) Moncorvo, Portugal
ORDINATIO DIACONALIS
09-11-24 Agostinho Dos Santos (Aust-TL) Hera, Timor-Leste
ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS
15-10-24 Flávio Souza de Oliveira (Pern) Vertentes, Brasil
09-11-24 Silvestre Alves (Aust-TL) Hera, Timor-Leste
Commemoration of All Carmelite Souls
15 November Optional Memorial
Gathered together by one and the same love for Christ and reverence for his beloved Mother, the members of the Carmelite family continue to love one another fraternally, whether they are engaged in the struggle for Christ on this earth, or, their earthly pilgrimage over, await the glorious vision of the Lord.
Therefore, the whole Order, united in prayer, commends to God's mercy the departed brothers and sisters that, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, pledge of sure hope and joy, He may receive them among the glorious choirs of saints.
To read more ...
Annual Lecture on the Carmelite nun Ruth Burrows
Center for Carmelite Studies hosting Annual Lecture on the Spirituality of Ruth Burrows on November 18
The Annual Lecture of the Center for Carmelite Studies will feature Dr. Michelle Jones speaking on the spirituality of Carmelite nun Ruth Burrows. The event will take place in Caldwell Auditorium on the campus of The Catholic University of America. It is open to the public and there is no charge. The talk will also be livestreamed.
Ruth Burrows – the nom de plume of Sr. Rachel Gregory, a Discalced Carmelite nun from England – is a very popular writer of spirituality. Describing the central theme that runs throughout her work, she writes: “God offers himself in total love to each one of us.”
Dr. Michelle Jones is a lecturer in theology at the Australian Institute of Theological Education. Her area of specialization is spirituality, with a particular focus on Carmelite spirituality. She has written about Ruth Burrows having access to a collection of unpublished writings and personal correspondence as well as live interviews with Burrows.
The event starts at 17:00 (5PM Eastern USA) and is scheduled to last for 90 minutes. A buffet reception will follow the lecture.
The Center for Carmelite Studies was established and endowed by the Carmelite Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in November 2017. The center is located on the campus of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
The Carmelite General Archives on Academia.edu
The General Archives and Library of the Carmelite Order on Academia.edu
The General Archives and Library of the Carmelite Order in Rome have recently become part of the Academia portal, with the aim of sharing and disseminating among scholars, both religious and lay, the numerous publications (monographs, essays and articles) that have resulted from the research conducted in the Archives and Library in recent years. The various studies were published by Edizioni Carmelitane, the publishing house of the General Curia of the Carmelite Order and the Institutum Carmelitanum.
The broader purpose was also to make the Carmelite Archives and Library known as not only ecclesiastical but also cultural institutions, including them within the international scientific community for possible future collaborations and projects.
For the time being, the latest works released in the different series of Edizioni Carmelitane have been included, which you can view at the following link: https://independent.academia.edu/ArchivioeBibliotecageneralidellordinecarmelitano
