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.
Quote of the day, 21 May: St. Mary of Jesus Crucified
Mariam probably was thinking of home remedies from Galilee when she offered practical advice on how to mend wounded relationships: first, don't throw vinegar on the wound!
Quote of the day, 16 May: St. Edith Stein
In her article for the Augsburg Post in March 1935, St Edith Stein mentioned the origin of the brown scapular of Carmel: "the Blessed Virgin appeared to the general of the Order, Simon Stock, an Englishman, and gave him the scapular." Edith takes this piece of Carmelite tradition and firmly plants it within the Order's Marian spirituality.
Quote of the day, 15 May: Titus Brandsma
In today's Gospel, Jesus says, "as I have loved you, so you also should love one another." As a professor at Nijmegen, Titus was known to say that we must "look upon everyone with God’s eyes so that we love them as He loves them."
Marie du jour 2022, 15 May: Titus Brandsma
Titus Brandsma's love for Mary was contagious. He had learned to live "with Mary, for Mary, and in Mary", according to the teachings of Carmel's Marian spirituality and he explained this to his students, directees, and friends.
Marie du jour 2022, 13 May: Pauline Martin
After the healing of St. Thérèse on 13 May, her sister Pauline wrote to Thérèse to offer words of gratitude, compassion, and encouragement. "What a joy to see you well! How good the Blessed Virgin really is!"
Marie du jour 2022, 9 May: St. Edith Stein
Saint Edith Stein writes, "The legend of the Order tells us that the Mother of God would have liked to remain with the hermit brothers on Mount Carmel. We can certainly understand that she felt drawn to the place where she had been venerated through the ages..."
Marie du jour 2022, 8 May: St. Teresa of the Andes
In December 1915 St. Teresa of the Andes took a pivotal step toward her Carmelite vocation when she received permission to profess a private vow of chastity.
Marie du jour 2022, May 2: Hermann Cohen
After many attempts in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Servant of God Hermann Cohen was the Discalced Carmelite friar sent by Pope Pius IX to convert England in 1862.
Love gives value to everything – Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.
Bishop Silvio José Báez says that in our lives, "everything can begin anew with renewed strength and new dreams" when "love is what drives us from within." Even St. Teresa of Avila agrees: "love alone is what gives value to all things."
Quote of the day, 1 May: St. Thérèse of Lisieux
In the Gospel reading for Third Sunday of Easter, Jesus asks Peter, "do you love me more than these?" Saint Thérèse explains in a letter that she makes Peter's response to Jesus her one and only prayer before the Tabernacle: "My God, you know that I love You."
Quote of the day, 29 April: St. Raphael Kalinowski
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."
Quote of the day, 26 April: St. Thérèse of Lisieux
In a letter written for Céline's 22nd birthday, St. Thérèse explains why God didn't create her sister to be an angel in heaven: "it is because He wants you to be an angel on earth... He wants angel-apostles, and He has created an unknown little flower, who is named Céline, with this intention in mind...."
Quote of the day, 24 April: St. John Paul II
Already in his first encyclical, John Paul II highlighted the mystery of merciful love contemplated in Christ the Redeemer: "'God is love'... This revelation of love is also described as mercy; and in man's history this revelation of love and mercy has taken a form and a name: that of Jesus Christ."
Quote of the day, 21 April: Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.
Bishop Báez, preaching on the encounter of the Risen Christ with his disciples offers a timely commentary: "The Risen Christ always frees us and opens up horizons of mercy. Whoever believes in him and welcomes him always receives forgiveness as a gift..."
Quote of the day, 19 April: St. John of the Cross
St. John of the Cross offers a profound commentary on Christ's resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene outside the tomb, when she mistook him for the gardener. "This inebriation and urgent longing of love prompted her to ask the man she thought was the gardener if he had stolen him and, if he had, to tell her where he had put him so she could take him away..."
Quote of the day, 17 April: Jessica Powers
Carmelite poet Jessica Powers contemplates the image of St. Mary Magdalen, who "ran on Easter morning, her hair wind-tumbled and her cloak awry. [...] She sought, as love so often seeks and finds, a Radiance that died or seemed to die..."
Quote of the day, 16 April: St. John of the Cross
Safe sped I through that night, By the secret stair, disguised and unseen, -O moment of delight!- Wrapt in that night serene, New-hush'd to rest the house where I had been.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux: On the evening of Love
On the evening of Love, speaking without parable, Jesus said: "If anyone wishes to love me All his life, let him keep my Word.
Quote of the day, 14 April: St. Teresa of Avila
St. Teresa begins her commentary on the Song of Songs by mentioning a homily from one Holy Thursday: "I recall hearing a priest who was a religious preach a very admirable sermon, most of which was an explanation of those loving delights with which the bride communed with God... He was speaking about love since the sermon was on Maundy Thursday when one shouldn't be speaking of anything else..."
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