Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
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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Here St. Teresa explains her image of the well-watered garden, irrigated by "the water flowing from a river or spring." She compares the soul's joy to the woman who called her neighbors when she found her lost coin, one of the parables in our Gospel for Sunday, 11 September.
Père Jacques de Jésus began his preached retreat for the Discalced Carmelite nuns at the Carmel of Pontoise on this date in 1943. He reminded the nuns, “Prayer is the reason why God has placed us on earth.”
St. Mary of Jesus Crucified experienced a phenomenon during prayer that seems to be common to us all at one point in our lives: she would fall asleep. "Without doubt, I am not distracted, but I cannot finish my brief prayer. Even if I want to say the Hail Mary, I stop at the first words: “I salute you Mary”... and I lose myself and I fall asleep."
We thank you for joining us in this year's Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. As we conclude, St. Titus Brandsma leads us as we contemplate the Gospel for this Solemnity, the Virgin standing beneath the Cross of Jesus.
In the notes from her first retreat in the Carmel of Los Andes, St. Teresa writes that God "desires me to allow myself to be guided entirely by the Holy Spirit. My life should be a continuous praise of love. I should lose myself in God and always contemplate Him without ever losing sight of Him."
St. Teresa of the Andes meditates on the Carmelite call to a life of perfection: "Perfection of life consists in drawing close to God... What is the life of a Carmelite if not one of contemplating, adoring, and loving God incessantly?"
Poet Jessica Powers ponders the first stanza of Saint John of the Cross's poem, "The Dark Night". She asks, "How does one hush one's house?..."
In the translated works of St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, we find this meditation on our Lord's resurrection: "Thou didst wish to appear to Mary first because she had conceived Thee..."
Father Paul-Marie of the Cross explains the meaning of the Marian title, "Beauty of Carmel." For Carmelites, Mary is the brightness of eternal light...
Today we share a simple, beautiful little prayer to "little mother Mary" the "Virgin of the stars" that was written by Chiquitunga and could easily be memorized.
In the Sixth Dwelling Place of the Interior Castle, St. Teresa once again commends the practice of reflection on the Passion of Our Lord: "Life is long, and there are in it many trials, and we need to look at Christ our model, how He suffered them, and also at His apostles and saints, so as to bear these trials with perfection."
Jesus climbs a mountain to pray. Prayer is like climbing a mountain—not physically, but by entering into the depths of our being where we find God's heart filled with light.
Brother Lawrence reasons with a woman in spiritual direction: "You would consider it rude to leave a friend who is visiting you by himself; then why abandon God and leave him alone? Do not forget him..."
He wants to be my peace so that nothing can distract me or draw me out of “the invincible fortress of holy recollection.” It is there that He will give me “access to the Father” and will keep me as still and as peaceful in His presence as if my soul were already in eternity.
Oh, how sweet your presence will be to me, you who are the supreme good!... I will not rest until I rejoice in your arms.
Even when His Majesty desires to raise it to very lofty contemplation, as I have said, it is aware of its unworthiness, saying with St. Peter: Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.
Any attempt to arrive at a mysticism without dogma is contrary to the doctrine of Saint John of the Cross and to the very nature of contemplation.
I want to send you a little note from my soul for I am anxious for you to know that in the Father’s House I will pray especially for you.
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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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