ALL SOULS OF CARMEL

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

Feast of St. Teresa of Jesus

Photo: R.Massaro (C) Spirit Singing Carmelite Monastery Cleveland, Ohio

SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

Bounteous Mother of God, Glory of Mount Carmel, we are members of your family, endow us with your own virtues; have pity, and protect us from every danger.




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

CARMELITE FEAST DAYS

SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

DECEMBER 14

Happy Feast Day to all Carmelites!

Photo: R. Massaro Carmelite Monastery Cleveland, Ohio

From the life of St. John of the Cross:

Once during Holy Week he suffered so intensely from the Passion of Christ that he found it impossible to leave the monastery to hear the nuns' confessions. Among his favorite feasts, besides those of the Blessed Trinity and Corpus Christi, were the feasts of the Blessed Virgin. In his prison cell, on the Vigil of the Assumption, after nine months of severe privation, he was asked what he was thinking of. He replied, "I was thinking that tomorrow is the feast of our Lady and that it would give me great joy to say Mass. The sight of an image of the Mother of God brought love and brightness to his soul. Once, on seeing an image of our Lady while he was preaching to the nuns in Caravaca, he could not conceal his love for her and exclaimed: "How happy I would be to live alone in a desert with that image."

St. John of the Cross, pray for us!







Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro St. Anthony Church Akron, Ohio

From the Imitation of Christ:

Personal penitential practices are best done in private and not openly for others to see. Do not be more inclined to the devotion of your own choosing than to those that are of religious obligation. When you have faithfully fulfilled your obligation, then if there is time left, you may perform those devotions according to your inspiration.

The same pious practices are not practical for all; for one suits one person, while another suits someone else. Different exercises are required for different times; some being more applicable for holy days, other for ordinary days. Also, we need one kind in time of temptations and another in time of peace and quiet; one when we have devotion, another when devotion is withdrawn.

As the principal feasts occur we must renew our pious practices according to the spirit of the feast, fervently asking the Saints to help us. As the liturgical year unfolds, we should make our resolutions as if we were then to leave this world for the everlasting feast in heaven.

In this way, we ought to prepare ourselves at holy season, living more devoutly and performing our duties more exactly as if we were soon to go before God to receive the reward of our labors.

But if it be delayed, we can be sure that we were neither ready nor prepared for that glory which will be revealed to us in God's time. Let up prepare ourselves better for the appointed time.



Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

CARMELITE FEAST DAYS

ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER

FEAST DAY FOR ALL DISCALCED CARMELITES

SS. Philip & James Church Canal Fulton, Ohio

Yesterday, Discalced Carmelites throughout the world fasted in preparation for today's feast of St. Joseph.  St. Joseph is the Protector of the Order of Carmel. 

Just last year, on May 1, Pope Francis decreed that St. Joseph's name be added to the Eucharistic Prayers at each Mass. This was the culmination of the efforts begun by the newly-canonized St. John XXIII.

From the United States Bishops' Website:

On May 1, 2013, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments promulgated the decree Paternas vices by the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis. The decree instructs that the name of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, should be inserted into Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV. Already on November 13, 1962, Pope John XXIII had inserted the name of St. Joseph into the first Eucharistic Prayer (the Roman Canon), and now that work has been carried forward to the other three Eucharistic Prayers, initially by Pope Benedict XVI and now confirmed by Pope Francis.

Pious and liturgical devotion to St. Joseph is first recorded with certainty in the seventh century, though reference to him is made in Sacred Scripture and multiple patristic texts earlier than that. A full liturgical Office was established for him on March 19 in the 13th Century, and in 1870 he was proclaimed Patron of the Universal Church. Many church writers and several Popes have written of St. Joseph, including the apostolic exhortation by Pope John Paul II entitled Redemptoris custos (August 15, 1989).

The decree Paternas vices draws some of its language from this exhortation, expressing in concise words the role of St. Joseph in the economy of salvation, stating, for example, that St. Joseph, "stands as an exemplary model of the kindness and humility that the Christian faith raises to a great destiny, and demonstrates the ordinary and simple virtues necessary for men to be good and genuine followers of Christ. Through these virtues, this Just man, caring most lovingly for the Mother of God and happily dedicating himself to the upbringing of Jesus Christ, was placed as guardian over God the Father's most precious treasures."

The Congregation has provided the Latin texts, which are now considered the typical edition, as well as official translations in the major western languages, including English and Spanish.

We know the importance St. Joseph played in the life of St. Teresa of Jesus.  In fact, her first Carmelite monastery was named St. Joseph's. She writes:

When everything was ready the Lord was pleased that on St. Bartholomew's day the habit was received by some and the Blessed Sacrament was reserved, and with all due authority and power our monastery of our most glorious father St. Joseph was founded, in 1562.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, ocds

Carmelite Feast Day

St. Albert of Trapani, priest



Albert degli Abbati was born in Trapani in Sicily in the thirteenth century. Having joined the Carmelites and been ordained a priest, he soon became famous for his preaching and miracles. He was provincial in Sicily in 1926, and died at Messina, probably in 1307, with a reputation for purity and prayer.


Lord God, you made St. Albert of Trapani a model ofpurity and prayer, and a devoted servant of Our Lady.May we practice these same virtues and so be worthy alwaysto share the banquet of your grace.We ask this through Christ ou Lord. Amen.

(From the Carmelite Proper)

Let us remember in prayer all priests today, especially our Carmelite priests and brothers and our provincial, Fr. Grennon.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

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