Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity began her ten-day retreat on this day in 1904, the first since her profession retreat in January 1903. She told her sister that the extra solitude and prayer “created a very enticing schedule” because “I'm going to lose myself in Him.”
In his homily for the beatification of the Martyrs of Rochefort, St. John Paul II quoted the apostle Paul: "they fought the good fight of faith." He continued: "They even went through a long ordeal for having remained faithful to their faith and to the Church. If they died, it was because they insisted to the end on affirming their close communion" with the Pope.
On 10 August 1567, Carmelite Prior General Giovanni Battista Rossi wrote from Barcelona giving St. Teresa permission to found two houses of "contemplative Carmelite friars" in Castile. Here is the story of how they met...
By the 6th of July 1591, St. John of the Cross had been relieved of responsibility in the governance of the Discalced Carmelite friars and among those who were disturbed by the news were two nuns in Segovia. On the 6th, St. John wrote from Madrid to assuage their fears and concerns. Those letters contain two of his most famous quotes.
On the 4th of July 1942, the Prioress of the Carmel of Le Pâquier, Switzerland proposed to the voting members of the monastic community that St. Edith Stein should transfer and be received as a member of the community. On July 5, the nuns gathered once again and held a secret vote...
Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew describes her experiences as Prioress in Paris in the year 1605. She tells us that four professed religious and two novices left Paris to found a new Discalced Carmelite monastery in Amiens on Pentecost. There was a Pontifical Mass and the Bishop had the head of St. John the Baptist carried in procession!
In June 1944, Mother Agnès of Jesus was ready to sacrifice the Carmel of Lisieux to God if he wanted it. The obituary circular notice written by her nuns for the other Carmels in France testified to her valiant spirit. The nuns were terrified, while she remained calm. Read an excerpt from this circular letter.
We recall the anniversary of the profession of the foundress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in the United States, Mother Clare Joseph Dickinson on 3 June 1773, with an excerpt from her journal of the voyage from Netherlands to America on the anniversary date.
The Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne were beatified on 27 May 1906. Now the Holy Father has granted the opening of the Process of Equipollent Canonization. We have the details from the Discalced Carmelite General Curia.
St. Thérèse explains that during her novitiate she had difficulty during her one-on-one sessions with her novice mistress: "I had never become accustomed to speaking about my soul and I didn’t know how to express what was going on within it."
Frei Belchior de Santa Ana describes how pious recreations that prepared St Teresa's nuns for martyrdom became part of the tradition at the new monastery of San Alberto in Lisbon. But they nearly became a rehearsal for reality on 9 May 1585 when the English Armada attacked the city.
Saint Teresa of the Andes entered the Carmel of the Holy Spirit in the township of Los Andes, some 90 kilometers from her home in Santiago de Chile on Wednesday, 7 May 1919. The Prioress said that when Teresa said farewell to her oldest sister, she said, "Until heaven! Life is so short!"
On the feast day of the male religious who died in the Spanish Revolution in the 1930s, we recall St Teresa's counsel from the Way of Perfection: "It is clear that if someone is a true religious or a true person of prayer and aims to enjoy the delights of God, he must not turn his back upon the desire to die for God and suffer martyrdom."
With gratitude for the life of biographer Father Timothy Tierney, OCD (1941-2022) he quotes Kalinowski saying, "All our actions are eternal; when you work with love for God and neighbor, our actions deserve an eternal reward."
The Discalced Carmelite friars and nuns are not immune to the current crisis in Ukraine. On 28 February 2022, the Discalced Carmelite General Superior, Father Miguel Márquez Calle, interviewed Father Józef Kucharczyk, the Provincial Delegate in Ukraine, asking him to describe the Discalced Carmelite presence, their current experience, as well as their needs. Here is our translation of that interview.
Virtue always inspires love, and I hope in His Majesty that those living in this house will with the help of God always be virtuous
Formerly, little Mother, I used to like to think that in heaven I would know all the marvels of nature, all the beauty of the stars and their immensity. Now, all that holds little interest for me, and I desire only one thing — to lose myself in Him Who has done so many wonderful things....
"My Mother, here is the Bridegroom!" This was the inscription on the holy card that St. Elizabeth of the Trinity presented as a gift to her novice mistress on the day of her religious profession, 11 January 1903. Learn more about this day...
Recalling Thomas Merton's predilection for the Carmelites on today's anniversary of his death, we announce an online, live presentation on Merton and the Fruits of Contemplation sponsored by the Discalced Carmelite friars in the UK
Céline tells us that Thérèse "received an audience with the Holy Father on Sunday 20th November 1887 with the pilgrims of the dioceses of Coutances, Bayeux, and Nantes"
![Teresian scholar Father Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD states that St. Teresa didn’t believe that in order to pray “it was sufficient to follow the rubrics and pronounce” the [Latin] words. Thus, she taught her nuns to be aware of the One to whom they were speaking. Visit our blog to learn more:](https://scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/308954217_682184336115139_7294918452435920926_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8ae9d6&_nc_ohc=zkuEGy0cTf8AX90ObQn&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AT8zmcGht3honB0EVQh4ct0ip9YQH4TvZWI9YmQ7r1lKzw&oe=6338D93A)
The Real News
Everyday Life
The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.
web de espiritualidad carmelitana
Antonio Mas Arrondo
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
Carmelite Quotes 
Recent comments