Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
On 2 February 1922 St. Edith Stein received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Here we read the recollections of her novice mistress, with added commentary by scholar, translator, and editor Father John Sullivan, O.C.D.
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On 31 January 1579 St. Teresa wrote a memorable letter to her nuns in Seville to encourage them in the midst of a great trial: the learned and talented prioress was unjustly deposed from office and an ill-equipped nun was appointed in her place. In this letter we read some of the great pearls of Teresian wisdom: pithy phrases of encouragement to aid her nuns in distress.
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Do you proofread your letters before sending them? In this quote, St. Teresa of Avila admits that "I never reread mine." She considered it to be a "waste of time."
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The apostolic visitation of Discalced Carmelite religious caused many headaches for St. Teresa of Avila. Today is the anniversary of Pius V’s decision to entrust those visitations to the Dominican friars.
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"The world is all in flames; they want to sentence Christ again, so to speak, since they raise a thousand false witnesses against Him," cries St. Teresa of Avila, pleading: "this is not the time to be discussing with God matters that have little importance."
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“We are all pilgrims on the way to eternity,” writes Cardinal Anders Arborelius, OCD. “Through Baptism we, the Bride of Christ, may take part in the adoration that He, the Eternal Son, continually offers to His Father.”
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On this day in 1577 St. Teresa writes to her brother, Lorenzo and thanks him for his kindness by sending Christmas carols that she composed for her nuns. She adds, “see if I'm not making good progress!” We include the Spanish text and English translation of one of those carols.
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St Edith Stein tells us about the kidnapping of St John of the Cross and his fellow confessor, Fray Germán, from the chaplain's quarters at the Carmelite monastery of the Incarnation in Avila on the night of 2–3 December 1577.
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Quote of the day, 30 November: St Teresa finished writing The Interior Castle on the eve of St Andrew's Day in 1577. She asked her readers to “consider our soul to be like a castle made entirely out of a diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms.”
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On 29 November 1638, Blesseds Denis of the Nativity and Redemptus of the Cross were martyred at Aceh, Indonesia. Learn about their mission to the Sultan and St. Teresa of Avila’s prophetic words written 60 years earlier.
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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. Teresa teaches us that to watch expectantly for the One who is to come is to be attentive to the presence of the One who is already there. Her catechesis on prayer provides keys to help us be attentive.
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Christ appeared to St Teresa of Avila in an imaginative vision as she received Holy Communion from St John of the Cross on this date in 1572, saying: “Behold this nail; it is a sign you will be My bride from today on.”
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St. Teresa of Avila once referred to the Book of Her Life as the Book of God’s Mercies. Today, we listen to her biographer, Discalced Carmelite Father Kieran Kavanaugh, as he explains why.
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The Synod for Consecrated Life closed on this date in 1994; St John Paul II wrote in ‘Vita Consecrata’ that “the history of spirituality owes much to Saints like Teresa of Jesus and Catherine of Siena.”
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“In sum, Sisters, what I conclude with is that we shouldn't build castles in the air,” St. Teresa writes in the final chapter of the Interior Castle. “The Lord doesn't look so much at the greatness of our works as at the love with which they are done.”
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In St. Teresa’s letter on this day in 1577, her compassion toward her sister Juana’s family in their financial need is evident; she wishes that she could help them. “Oh, what a trial these restraints of our poverty are!”
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In the Apostolic Letter "Multiformis Sapientia Dei", Saint Paul VI writes: "... as our predecessor Gregory XV’s decree bestowed upon her the honours of the saints so that all the faithful of Christ might understand with what abundance God had filled his servant with the Holy Spirit, so should we proclaim her — we do not doubt — a Doctor of the Church, first among women, especially for her knowledge and doctrine of divine things." Read here an excerpt from this Apostolic Letter.
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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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