Do you proofread your letters before sending them? In this quote, St. Teresa of Avila admits that "I never reread mine." She considered it to be a "waste of time."
Read more →
Quote of the day, 17 January: St. Teresa of Avila
Quote of the day, 16 January: Silvio José Báez, ocd
Bishop Silvio José Báez reminds us that goodness, truth, justice, and non-violence are like the mustard seeds of the Kingdom of God. Nothing can stand in the way of their growth.
Read more →
Quote of the day, 15 January: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Just as John the Baptist saw the Spirit come down from heaven and remain on Jesus, so St. Elizabeth of the Trinity begs the Spirit to come upon her and create "a kind of incarnation of the Word."
Read more →
Quote of the day, 14 January: Silvio José Báez, ocd
We join the faithful in celebrating the 38th anniversary of Bishop Silvio José Báez’s priestly ordination. This excerpt from one of his homilies talks about placing ourselves at the service of the crucified. Ad multos annos, Bishop!
Read more →
Quote of the day, 13 January: St. Teresa of Avila
The apostolic visitation of Discalced Carmelite religious caused many headaches for St. Teresa of Avila. Today is the anniversary of Pius V’s decision to entrust those visitations to the Dominican friars.
Read more →
Quote of the day, 12 January: Blessed Chiquitunga
"I offer you everything" is the motto of Blessed Chiquitunga, and with these words she begins her prayer for an increase in fervor and union with Jesus in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. We recall her birth on 12 January 1925 in Villarrica, Paraguay and revisit her beatification in video and images.
Read more →
Quote of the day, 11 January: St. Teresa of Avila
"The world is all in flames; they want to sentence Christ again, so to speak, since they raise a thousand false witnesses against Him," cries St. Teresa of Avila, pleading: "this is not the time to be discussing with God matters that have little importance."
Read more →
Quote of the day, 10 January: St. Thérèse of Lisieux
On 10 January 1889 St. Thérèse was clothed in the holy habit of Carmel in the Discalced Carmelite monastery of Lisieux, France. Concerning that day she wrote, “The wait had been long, but what a beautiful celebration it was!" View a video of the Lisieux cloister and a photo by Father Gombault that was taken several days later.
Read more →
Quote of the day, 9 January: Cardinal Anders Arborelius, OCD
“We are all pilgrims on the way to eternity,” writes Cardinal Anders Arborelius, OCD. “Through Baptism we, the Bride of Christ, may take part in the adoration that He, the Eternal Son, continually offers to His Father.”
Read more →
Quote of the day, 8 January: Hermann Cohen
Servant of God Hermann Cohen is overflowing with emotion to share that, as a deacon, he was privileged to place the Blessed Sacrament on the altar for exposition for exposition and adoration on the Feast of the Epiphany.
Read more →
9 January: St. Andrew Corsini
St. Andrew Corsini was born at the beginning of the fourteenth century in Florence and entered the Carmelite Order there. He was elected provincial of Tuscany at the general chapter of Metz in 1348. He was made bishop of Fiesole on October 13th, 1349, and gave the Church a wonderful example of love, apostolic zeal, prudence, and love of the poor. He died on January 6th, 1374.
Read more →
Quote of the day, 7 January: Pauline Martin
As St. Thérèse concludes her retreat to prepare to be clothed in the Carmelite habit, her sister Pauline writes to encourage her: "the Beloved runs over the hills; He is coming; He is here; only two days more!"
Read more →
Quote of the day, 6 January: St. Edith Stein
St. Edith Stein writes, “In faithful trust, we must abandon our souls to the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. It is not necessary that we experience the epiphany in our lives.” Edith urges trust and abandonment.
Quote of the day, 5 January: St. Thérèse and Benedict XVI
In a recent web exclusive column published in First Things magazine's online edition, scholar and author George Weigel recounted a conversation with Pope Benedict XVI in September 1997. At that moment, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Weigel recalls that he asked Ratzinger this point-blank question: "Why is Thérèse of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church?" We are grateful to First Things for their permission to publish excerpts of Benedict's magisterial reply.
Read more →
8 January: St. Peter Thomas (not observed in 2023)
Born about 1305 in southern Perigord in France, Peter Thomas entered the Carmelites when he was twenty-one. He was chosen by the Order as its procurator general to the Papal Court at Avignon in 1345. After being made bishop of Patti and Lipari in 1354, he was entrusted with many papal missions to promote peace and unity with the Eastern Churches. He was translated to the see of Corone in the Peloponnesus in 1359 and made Papal Legate for the East. In 1363, he was appointed Archbishop of Crete and in 1364 Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. He won a reputation as an apostle of church unity before he died at Famagosta on Cyprus in 1366.
Read more →
Quote of the day, 4 January: St. Kuriakos Elias Chavara
In his “Testament of a Loving Father,” St. Kuriakos Elias Chavara dispenses saintly, homespun wisdom for the renewal of Christian families. “Tell me who your friends are,” he writes, “I will tell you who you are.”
Read more →
Quote of the day, 2 January: St. Teresa of Avila
On this day in 1577 St. Teresa writes to her brother, Lorenzo and thanks him for his kindness by sending Christmas carols that she composed for her nuns. She adds, “see if I'm not making good progress!” We include the Spanish text and English translation of one of those carols.
Read more →
4 January: St. Kuriakos Elias of the Holy Family Chavara
Saint Kuriakos Elias Chavara, co-founder and first prior general of the congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, was born at Kainakary in Kerala, India, February 10, 1805. He entered the seminary in 1818, and was ordained priest in 1829. He made his religious profession in 1855, in the congregation he founded. In 1861, he was named vicar general for the Syro-Malabar church; in this capacity he defended ecclesial unity threatened by schism when mar Tomas Rochos was sent from Mesopotamia to consecrate Nestorian bishops. Throughout his life he worked for the renovation of the church in Malabar. He was also co-founder in 1866 of the congregation of the Sisters of the Mother of Carmel. Above all, he was a man of prayer, zealous for the Eucharistic Lord, and devoted to the Immaculate Virgin Mary. He died at Koonammavu on January 3, 1871. His body was transferred to Mannanam in 1889.
Read more →
150th Anniversary of St. Thérèse’s Birth — CarmelCast podcast
In honor of the 150th anniversary of St. Thérèse's birth on 2 January 2023, Discalced Carmelite friars from the Washington Province met to discuss the impact her spirituality has had on the Church throughout the last century. Join Fr. Pier Giorgio, Fr. Michael-Joseph, and Br. John-Mary for this lively discussion on the CarmelCast podcast.
View our YouTube video →
Quote of the day, 2 January: St. Thérèse and Benedict XVI
In life and death Pope Benedict XVI was a disciple of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, whose birthday 150 years ago we celebrate today. Father Quang D. Tran, SJ reflects on the influence of Benedict and Thérèse.
Continue reading →
Carmelite Quotes 
Recent comments