Quote of the day: 9 July

Our Lady is pure reference to God and to the life of God in the sense in which Elisha said to Elijah: “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives” (2 Kgs 2:2). From the moment of her Immaculate Conception Mary’s soul had no other life than God, no other end than to know God and to love God purely and without any admixture and to allow God to accomplish in her his designs of love.

Carmel finds in Mary the fullness of the spirit that is its own: her beauty is without spot, her purity is absolute. As Isaiah says: “The beauty of Carmel will be given you” (Is 35:2). Reciprocally, Mary’s soul is connected with Carmel. She is a daughter of David according to the flesh, the daughter of the prophets and the daughter of Elijah according to the spirit.

Paul-Marie of the Cross, O.C.D.

III. The Rule and Its Spirit
Brothers and Sisters of Our Lady

of the Cross, P-M, Payne, S 1997, Carmelite Spirituality in the Teresian Tradition, ICS Publications, Washington DC.