Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
On 20 February 1263, Pope Urban IV published the bull, "Quoniam ut ait," which is one of the first documents that mention "the Order of the Blessed Mary of Mount Carmel in the Holy Land." We explore this Marian identity in today’s Constitutions of the Discalced Carmelite Friars.
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On 28 November 1568, the Discalced Carmelite friars began their new life in Duruelo. St Teresa wrote: “the first Mass was said in that little stable of Bethlehem, for it doesn't seem to me the house was any better.”
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St. Raphael Kalinowski received the Discalced Carmelite habit on 26 November 1877 and made his religious vows on the same date in 1878. Here is an excerpt from his conference for the Discalced Carmelite friars in Wadowice: “Mother of God, Hope of the World.”
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In a letter to his parents written on this day in 1876 before entering the novitiate, St. Raphael Kalinowski says: “a year ago there came to me, like an echo, a voice from the grilles of Carmel.”
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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 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."
On Easter Sunday, 17 April 2022, Father General Miguel Márquez Calle sent video greetings to the entire Order from Bucha, Ukraine. From the burial ground where the friars had just prayed for the dead, he wished to extend resurrection greetings: "to all the Order we wish you a Happy Easter where death does not have the last word." Watch his video with our English subtitles.
This week, let’s take time to meditate on chapters 22 and 23 of Luke's gospel. Fr. Denis-Marie Ghesquières, OCD writes, "the evangelist chose the events of the Passion to bear witness not so much to the cruelty of men as to the goodness of Jesus towards these same people. They all are the object of his mercy: the women, the executioners, the thieves crucified with him, and even the leaders of the people."
Commenting on the Gospel story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, Fr. Denis-Marie Ghesquières, OCD writes, "Jesus challenges each one of the onlookers to search his heart and, faced with the woman's sin, to question himself! A new path can open up by setting out from the truth about oneself in the presence of Jesus..."
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.
What is the Discalced Carmelite experience in Ukraine at the moment? Provincial Delegate Father Józef Kucharczyk explains: "This is what I feel: spiritual warfare! I don’t feel like a hero... The priests and the faithful don’t feel like heroes, but we are really fighting with the devil!"
Discalced Carmelite provincial delegate Father Józef Kucharczyk in Kyiv says, "Our presence here in Ukraine is important so that the people can feel this kind of security—spiritual security." Learn about the initiatives that the faithful bring to him to unite in prayer.
On December 13, he asked in the morning what day it was and when he heard it was Friday, he inquired frequently what hour it was: after all, he was waiting to say Matins in heaven.
On the First Sunday of Advent, 28 November 1568, Fray Antonio de Heredia and St. John of the Cross began to observe the "Primitive Rule" of Pope Innocent IV in Duruelo, Spain. St Teresa describes their convent.
Fray Antonio de Heredia and Fray José de Cristo left for Duruelo on 27 November 1568 to begin the Teresian Reform for men on the next day, the First Sunday of Advent, 28 November.
If you look closely, you might notice that the rosary worn by many Discalced Carmelite friars and nuns is a little different than other rosaries...
Celebrating the centenary of the conversion of Saint Edith Stein in the summer of 1921
The refugees assembled for the daily prayers in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary
!["[Perfect love] will be our eternal life, and here we have to seek to come as close to it as possible. Jesus became incarnate in order to be our way."](https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/338273479_3403408046565587_3161977190221199289_n.webp?stp=dst-jpg&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8ae9d6&_nc_ohc=2RFDkB20o3EAX-8WKdJ&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfAMeUCAfYpdpXqrP30CynE8ybfx8G-woQSmQ_m_wKPXrA&oe=642E2A0B)
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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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