Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
On the evening of that unforgettable "first day of the week," the day of the Lord's resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples, full of mercy. He didn't reproach them; he didn't accuse or reject them. Instead, he offered them his peace.
On the evening of Love, speaking without parable, Jesus said: "If anyone wishes to love me All his life, let him keep my Word.
"Whoever is imbued with a lively faith in Christ present in the tabernacle, whoever knows that a friend awaits here constantly—always with the time, patience, and sympathy to listen to complaints, petitions, and problems—this person cannot remain desolate..."
We remember and celebrate the anniversary of the day Pauline Martin was clothed in the Discalced Carmelite habit, Friday 6 April 1883 in the Carmel of Lisieux
We recall that on this date in 1920, St. Teresa of the Andes requested the last Sacraments as she lay dying from typhus. We recall the peace she experienced when going to confession two years earlier.
May the things of earth never be able to trouble my soul, and may nothing disturb my peace. Jesus, I ask you for nothing but peace...
If you desire to possess profound peace in your soul... surrender your whole will to God so that it may thus be united with him
Coming to him, we shall love him always. We want him to remain, filled with peace, In our Love!
Within the cross is life and consolation. It alone is the road leading to heaven.
Strive to preserve your heart in peace...
You must try to maintain a deep peace in yourself and not allow yourself to become troubled. Ask Jesus to command the winds and the storms and bring about calm and tranquility in [your] inner life.
He wants to be my peace so that nothing can distract me or draw me out of “the invincible fortress of holy recollection.” It is there that He will give me “access to the Father” and will keep me as still and as peaceful in His presence as if my soul were already in eternity.
Lord, nothing here below can comfort me, neither creation, nor Heaven, nor earth, nor men, nor angels, nothing can give me the joy, the peace that I have lost in losing you, my God.
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!"
In a poem that St. Teresa wrote for the profession of a Carmelite nun, she encourages the young religious to prepare for spiritual combat: "Sleep no longer, sleep no more, for now, there is no earthly peace."
In a 1932 presentation, St. Edith Stein said, "The people of Europe who struggled in a life-and-death combat during the World War were plunged into misery together, and all the hard facts of life furthered the recognition that a recovery is possible only through joint effort."
A soul depends on grace in proportion to its desire for greater perfection. God's help is necessary at every moment because, without it, the soul can do nothing.
When all things are forgotten, nothing disturbs the peace or stirs the appetites. As the saying goes: What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't want.
Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it...
Telling the story of a layman she knows, St. Teresa explains that we can practice obedience and the trials and distractions that result do not disturb our prayer because the Lord repays us well.
Carmelite Quotes 
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