Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
When a close friend was filled with anxieties before an operation, St Elizabeth of the Trinity wrote to encourage and console her friend: “I am asking God to ease them, to calm them Himself.”
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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.
“I abandoned and forgot myself, laying my face on my Beloved…” Thank you for joining our St. John of the Cross novena; join us once again for our St. Joseph novena in March 2023.
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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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Brother Lawrence offers concrete advice to those who struggle with besetting sins; he says that we much carefully examine “which sins we commit most often, and which are the most frequent and inevitable of our falls.” Then, “we must have recourse to God with complete confidence at the moment of combat.”
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St. Thérèse wrote one of her last poems for Sr. Thérèse of St. Augustine, the nun who displeased her the most. Today this poem teaches us that we can rest in the shade of the tree called “love” and savor its fruit: "abandonment".
St John of the Cross has advice for us about asking God for favors: He has “more compassion when He beholds the need and resignation of a soul that loves Him;” in other words, God doesn’t need our opinions about what is best for us!
St. Teresa of the Andes had a lively devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In this prayer from 1917, she writes, "may your Heart be my refuge, my hope, my consolation, my solitude."
Blessed Mary Josephine of Jesus Crucified Catanea was a Discalced Carmelite nun from Naples who had experienced a miraculous healing and had great trust in God's will. We share one of her many famous quotes: "God's will is a kiss of His love..."
We share excerpts from Père Jacques' 1943 retreat conference on Hope and Abandonment: "When we sin against against hope, we effectively say to God: "I reject. You are wicked and heartless. I have no confidence whatsoever in you goodness"..." Père Jacques gives us the antidote and a beautiful prayer that is pleasing and powerful in the eyes of God.
The Discalced Carmelites who remain in Ukraine look to the martyr Saint Edith Stein for inspiration and discernment because she was willing “to live and die in the hands of the Lord, as God wills and when God wills.” Father Józef Kucharczyk, OCD gives us an update and thanks us for our prayer and financial support.
St. Zélie Martin, pregnant with Céline, is tortured with fear that she will lose the pregnancy or the child will die in infancy like her last two babies: "you can't imagine how frightened I am of the future... The best thing to do is to put everything in the hands of God..."
Faith doesn't lead us to sacrifice our reason; on the contrary, the experience of God elevates it—making it noble, unconstrained, and worthy.
All that comes from God is wise and loving. We have only to accept his will with thanksgiving and adoration; it is what is best for us.
The soul that still keeps something for self in its “inner kingdom”, whose powers are not “enclosed” in God, cannot be a perfect praise of glory
Abandonment is a steel file and the endurance of darkness leads to great light
And then when evening comes... again let us sleep in Love.
Read the story of how St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was originally destined to enter the Carmel of Paray-le-Monial
We can remain in God’s presence, however busy we are, however we feel
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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
Monasterio de las Batuecas Carmelitas Descalzos
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