Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
St. Edith Stein sends greetings on this date in 1934 to her old friend and recent Jewish convert, Ruth Kantorowicz; she offers this advice: let nothing distract you “from living in the intense thought of the Advent liturgy.”
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Quote of the day, 30 November: St Teresa finished writing The Interior Castle on the eve of St Andrew's Day in 1577. She asked her readers to “consider our soul to be like a castle made entirely out of a diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms.”
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On 29 November 1638, Blesseds Denis of the Nativity and Redemptus of the Cross were martyred at Aceh, Indonesia. Learn about their mission to the Sultan and St. Teresa of Avila’s prophetic words written 60 years earlier.
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On 28 November 1568, the Discalced Carmelite friars began their new life in Duruelo. St Teresa wrote: “the first Mass was said in that little stable of Bethlehem, for it doesn't seem to me the house was any better.”
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Denis of the Nativity, a priest, called in the world Pierre Berthelot, was born in Honfleur in France in 1600. He was a cartographer and naval commander for the kings of Portugal and France before he joined the Discalced Carmelites in Goa in 1635. It was also at Goa that the Portuguese lay brother, Thomas Rodriguez da Cunha, born in 1598, had made his profession in 1615, taking the name Redemptus of the Cross. They were sent to the island of Sumatra (Indonesia), where, in the town of Achen (Aceh), they received the martyr’s crown on November 29, 1638.
St. Teresa teaches us that to watch expectantly for the One who is to come is to be attentive to the presence of the One who is already there. Her catechesis on prayer provides keys to help us be attentive.
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In "The Spiritual Canticle," St John of the Cross writes, “let us go forth to behold ourselves in your beauty to the mountain and to the hill,” which is to “knowledge in the divine Word, who in his height is signified here by the mountain.” Here we share excerpts from the Saint's powerful commentary.
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St. Raphael Kalinowski received the Discalced Carmelite habit on 26 November 1877 and made his religious vows on the same date in 1878. Here is an excerpt from his conference for the Discalced Carmelite friars in Wadowice: “Mother of God, Hope of the World.”
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Elizabeth of the Trinity was beatified on this day in 1984. As a tribute, we’ve translated her prayer, “Make me a martyr of your love,” along with comments from her biographer, Fr. Conrad de Meester, OCD.
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St. Elizabeth of the Trinity explained to Canon Angles, “I live in thanksgiving.” What a blessed ideal to adopt today and everyday. Read this excerpt from her letter and discover the secret to her attitude of gratitude.
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After St. Thérèse’s tearful encounter with Pope Leo XIII on 20 November 1887, her sister Céline wrote to Marie in the Lisieux Carmel to explain everything. Pauline then wrote to her father on 23 November: the Pope “saw the halo that already circles your forehead.”
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In 1905 the novitiate in the Carmel of Dijon portrayed St Cecilia's martyrdom at recreation. St Elizabeth of the Trinity was in charge of the music and devised a clever way to add a soundtrack.
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St. John of the Cross’s eleventh poem closes with a classic quote: “love works so in me that whether things go well or badly love turns them to one sweetness transforming the soul in itself.”
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Brother Lawrence speaks with simplicity as he describes his relationship with Christ the King: “this King, full of goodness and mercy, lovingly embraces me, seats me at his table, waits on me himself, gives me the keys to his treasures and treats me in all things as his favorite.”
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St Raphael Kalinowski’s years of hard labor in Siberia became a great grace that prepared him for life as a Carmelite: he knew that life’s biggest and most difficult problems are resolved on one’s knees.
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Christ appeared to St Teresa of Avila in an imaginative vision as she received Holy Communion from St John of the Cross on this date in 1572, saying: “Behold this nail; it is a sign you will be My bride from today on.”
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Raphael Kalinowski was born to Polish parents in the city of Vilnius in 1835. Following military service, he was condemned in 1864 to ten years of forced labor in Siberia. In 1877 he became a Carmelite and was ordained a priest in 1882. He contributed greatly to the restoration of the Discalced Carmelites in Poland. His life was distinguished by zeal for Church unity and by his unflagging devotion to his ministry as confessor and spiritual director. He died in Wadowice in 1907.
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On 17 November 1991, St. John Paul II presided at the Rite of Canonization for Raphael Kalinowski. A 7-year-old boy from Wadowice who was struck by a car and suffered massive brain trauma, experienced an astonishing miracle of healing. We have his story.
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On 16 November 1937 St. Edith Stein writes, “My sister Rosa is living wholly on faith […] interiorly she is completely alone.” Learn about Rosa’s difficult path from baptism to the Carmel of Echt and the pitfalls she faced along the way.
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“The soul is a terrible thing; it cannot die,” writes Carmelite poet Jessica Powers. Her masterful meditation on the soul’s “two destinies” is worth pondering as we commemorate All Carmelite Souls.
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Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices. ~ St. Teresa of Avila
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