Our Holy Father of Carmel-The Prophet Elijah

Happy Feast Day to all Carmelites!

Feast of St. Elijah

BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY

He left his servant there and went a day's journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death: This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. He looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again, but the angel of the Lord came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, "Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!" He got up, ate and drank; then strengthened by that food he walked forty days and forty nights tot he mountain of God, Horeb.1 Kings 19:3-8


In our Carmelite tradition, the great prophet Elijah is our model of contemplative prayer who experienced God in the gentle whisper that spoke directly to his heart. The story in Kings of the angel bringing him bread for the journey is a prefigurement of the holy Eucharist.

We struggle in a spiritual desert because the Lord wishes to purify us, but sometimes we struggle simply because we try to do things on our own. We must always go back to the Lord in the Eucharist, to the sacraments, for the life of grace we need to sustain us in soul and body for this perilous journey in a wicked and depraved world. We must become holy beggars before the altar of the Lord. We are not worthy to have him enter our impure dwelling, but we know our great need for him. He alone satisfies the heart that longs for him. He alone can make us holy.

The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself,but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher.
Isaiah 30:20

God sent his Son to be our Teacher and Lord. He provides his very body and blood to sustain us. In a miracle of mercy and incomprehensible grace he remains physically with us in this our physical world. Let us adore him in all the tabernacles of the world!

If you have never considered attending daily mass, I would ask you to please consider it and make it a part of your life. As Secular Carmelites, we strive to attend daily mass and receive Holy Communion. This is not just for Carmelites but for all Catholics--for all are called to holiness of life.

Our Lord doesn't come down from heaven every day just to wait there in a gold ciborium: He has found a much better heaven for His resting place; a Christian soul, made in His own image, the living temple of the Blessed Trinity.St. Therese of the Child Jesus

If you pray from the heart and receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist on a regular basis he becomes your intimate friend and Teacher. A teacher who will share with you all things that the Father has shared with Him. Prepare yourself to receive secrets of great love!

Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children.
Matthew 12:25

Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, pray for us!

St. Elijah, pray for us!

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS