"The fundamental temptation, for Jesus as for us, is to set ourselves up as rivals of God our Father," writes Discalced Carmelite friar Antoine-Marie Leduc, who reflects on Jesus' temptation in the desert.
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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.
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Quote of the day, 5 December: Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.
In this Advent season, Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d. urges us to adopt the prophetic rebelliousness of St. John the Baptist so that we don’t resign ourselves to interior mediocrity or injustice in the world around us.
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Quote of the day, 19 August: St. John of the Cross
In August 1591, roughly four months before his death, St. John of the Cross writes to a benefactor about his experience in the Desert of La Peñuela, where he had just arrived about nine days earlier from Segovia. The Desert of La Peñuela was a Discalced Carmelite monastery for the friars that was more secluded and eremitic than any of their other convents. Thus, St. John of the Cross could give himself totally to prayer. "God grant that I may stay here," he writes.
Quote of the day, 18 December: Paul-Marie of the Cross, O.C.D.
Carmelites [...] feel constrained to undertake this persevering march toward the mountain of God where fire burns but does not consume.
Quote of the day, 6 December: Silvio José Báez, O.C.D.
The season of Advent is a favorable time to go to the desert, and God always arrives where there is a heart willing to listen to him.
St. Edith Stein Novena 2021, Day 9: An immense, unbounded desert
She feels that she has been led into an immense, unbounded desert. And this, for her, is the more delightful, pleasant, and lovely, the deeper, vaster, and more solitary it is.
St. Edith Stein Novena 2021, Day 4: Her aim was the ‘desert’ of Carmel
She had already known when she moved to her 'Nazareth' that her aim was the 'desert' of Carmel. But she had to await the Lord’s hour.
Quote of the day, 21 July: Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.
We can say without exaggeration that few young girls have loved her Lord Jesus. In order to find her Beloved, she walked through the very heart of the desert...
Quote of the day, 10 December: Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.
It was a very bold decision for Thérèse to agree to make the desert her life
Quote of the day: 15 June
If we don’t feed on Jesus, we'll succumb to weariness
Feeding on Jesus — Silvio José Báez, O.C.D.
We must not stop being fed by Jesus
16 May: Saint Simon Stock
Venerated for his personal holiness and devotion to Our Lady
Quote of the day: 15 May
They tarried long in the solitude of the desert
Quote of the day: 1 March
Only attachment to God makes us free
Quote of the day: 28 February
Mercy should put the brake on indignation
Quote of the day: 6 September
Silence is not an empty void; God dwells therein
Quote of the day: 2 September
All true ascesis as a desert lies
The life of the desert is admirable
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