Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
St. Edith Stein writes an old friend in Switzerland to ask if she could assist to obtain entry permits and visas for herself and her older sister Rosa, who has been an extern sister and outside sacristan at the Carmel of Echt since 1 July 1939.
Discalced Carmelite historian Peter-Thomas Rohrbach shows us how our First Reading for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) fits within the Carmelite legend of Elijah and Elisha and the Carmelite tradition, which indicates that we have inherited their double spirit.
We recall the death of the "holy nuncio" Nicolás Ormaneto on this date, 18 June 1577 in Madrid. He was the nuncio who favored the Teresian reform and helped it to flourish in the first fifteen years of Teresa's tireless efforts to establish the discalced friars and nuns in Castile. When she mentions her first meeting with Fray Jerónimo Gracián in Beas, she writes that Ormaneto :sent to see him and then gave him authority over the discalced friars and nuns of Castile.:
On 13 June 1942, Saint Titus Brandsma, chained to a Protestant pastor, was loaded onto a cattle car and transported to Dachau. As he left the platform, he said: "nothing bad can happen to me, because the Lord is with me."
On 10 June 1914 Pope Saint Pius X signed the decree introducing the cause for the beatification and canonization of Thérèse of the Child Jesus that was submitted by the Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux.
On the 9th of June 1895, which was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, St. Thérèse of Lisieux—"in order to live in one single act of perfect Love"—offered herself "as a victim of holocaust" to God's merciful love. Here is the testimony of Mother Agnès of Jesus concerning the offering during the Ordinary Process for the Cause of Beatification.
We recall the anniversary of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity's Confirmation on 8 June 1891 in the Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon, with eyewitness testimony provided by her biographer, Father Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.
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.
St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart was heroic in her charity and compassion, especially for the sick in the infirmary of the Discalced Carmelite monastery of Florence. When one of the nuns who was mentally infirm became quite insane, St. Teresa Margaret asked to be allowed to care for the nun, although it was terrifying. The Saint would kneel and pray before a statue of the Blessed Mother every time she would need to enter the patient's locked room.
On 18 May 1291 the Crusader stronghold of Acre fell after weeks of siege. We remember the Carmelite martyrs who perished in Acre and in the weeks that followed.
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!"
When the Carmelite Prior General visited Avila in February 1567, St. Teresa "arranged that he come to St. Joseph's" and the bishop assisted in making the arrangements. Father General was so impressed he sent patent letters authorizing St. Teresa to found more monasteries. The first letter was dated 27 April 1567.
Out of the thank-you letters that St. Edith Stein wrote after her first profession, her letter to Mother Petra Brüning is touching: "out of the great riches of grace on this Easter day, I let all those have a share who have given me something of their heart to take along into Carmel." We explain some of the customs that Edith mentions in her letter.
We celebrate the birth of St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi with an excerpt from the English translation of Father Fabrini's biography concerning the grace of Easter 1590. We also explore the story of the translator, Father Antonio Isoleri, pastor of the first Italian National parish in the USA, St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi Church in Philadelphia.
Blesed Titus’ chief preoccupation in Amersfoort Camp was the needs of others. He had been in the camp barely two weeks when dysentery struck. Hundreds around him died, but Titus recovered enough to be released from the infirmary on March 30, 1942, the Monday of Holy Week that year. During his convalescence he visited those who were worse off than he was.
"To have had virtuous and God-fearing parents along with the graces the Lord granted me should have been enough for me to have led a good life, if I had not been so wretched." Today we celebrate the birth of St. Teresa of Jesus, born 28 March 1515 in Avila.
The chief among Teresa’s virtues was the love of God, which our Lord Jesus Christ increased by means of many visions and revelations. She not only submitted all her exterior actions to the judgment of her superiors with the greatest humility of spirit but also all her thoughts.
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.
Carmelite Quotes 
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