News of great joy:

 The parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus are canonized Sunday, October 18, 2015.  Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, pray for us!

The miracle behind the canonization of the parents of St Therese of Lisieux

Vatican City, Oct 17, 2015 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Seven-year-old Carmen has an extraordinary story. Because of her Blessed Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin, the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, will be canonized this Sunday in Saint Peter's Square.

The little girl was born prematurely in Spain in 2008 at just six months into pregnancy. She was fighting for her life for several weeks because of a cerebral hemorrhage and other severe ailments.  

But her loved ones and many Carmelite sisters sought the miraculous intervention of the Martins. The Vatican recognized the baby’s healing as miraculous. Read more...

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

Carmelite Feast Days

St. Teresa of Jesus

Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Feast Day: October 15

For complete Novena to St. Teresa

Click on image on right sidebar

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Carmelite Feast Days

St. Teresa of Jesus

Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Feast Day: October 15

For the complete Novena to St. Teresa 

click on her image on the right sidebar

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Novena to St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila)

Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Feast Day: October 15
(For complete Novena, click on image on right sidebar)

Novena Day 1


 This Novena was written by St. Alphonsus Liguori.

First Day: 

O most amiable Lord Jesus Christ! We thank You for the great gift of faith and of devotion to the Holy Sacrament, which You didst grant to your beloved Teresa; we pray, by Your merits and by those of your faithful spouse, to grant us the gift of a lively faith, and of a fervent devotion toward the most Holy Sacrament of the altar; where You, O infinite Majesty! abide with us even to the end of the world. 

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be. 

V. St. Teresa, pray for us: 

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ. 

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from them the fervor of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Carmelite Quote from St. Teresa of Jesus:

God deliver you from the peace of many kinds that worldly people have. May He never allow us to try it, for it brings perpetual war. When such persons of the world remain quiet, while going about in serious sin, and so tranquil about their vices, for their consciences don't feel remorseful about anything, their peace, you have read, is a sign that they and the devil are friends.
Meditation on the Song of Songs, Chap. 4, No. 1


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Carmelite Feast Days

ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS AND 

OF THE HOLY FACE

VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

FEAST DAY: OCTOBER 1

To be Your Spouse, to be a Carmelite, and by my union with You to be the Mother of souls, should not this suffice me? And yet it is not so. No doubt, these three privileges sum up my true vocation: Carmelite, Spouse, Mother, and yet I feel within me other vocations. I feel the vocation of the WARRIOR, THE PRIEST, THE APOSTLE, THE DOCTOR, THE MARTYR. Finally, I feel the need and the desire of carrying out the most heroic deeds for You, O Jesus. I feel within my soul the courage of the Crusader, the Papal Guard, and I would want to die on the field of battle in defense of the Church.
St. Therese of Lisieux Her Last Conversations, John Clark, o.c.d.,Washington, D.C. ICS, 1997.






Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Heartbreakers:The Seven Sorrows of the Saints

Photo: R. Massaro St. Luke Chuch, Danville, Ohio

Recently, on September 15, we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. There is a beautiful devotion to Our Lady under this title that one can pray on rosary beads, it's the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows. Although I'm sure our Blessed Mother had many more sorrows than the traditional seven that are listed below, the Church asks us to meditate upon these while saying this Chaplet.

1.  The Prophecy of Simeon
2.  The Flight into Egypt
3.  The Loss of Jesus in the Temple
4.  Mary meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary
5.  The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus
6.  The taking down of the body of Jesus from the Cross (Pieta)
7.  The Burial of Jesus

Here is a website that will help you to learn to say the Chaplet that is also known as the Servite Rosary:

http://www.rosaryandchaplets.com/chaplets/seven_sorrows_prayer.html


When we read the lives of the saints, we learn that many things in life made them sorrowful. Similarly, in today's society, there are many issues that cause Catholics, Christians, and good people to be sorrowful.  The saints are people who strive to console the heart of God by living a holy life and in some way try to make up for those who offend Him. Let us consider how the saints would be spiritually wounded in light of today's society (these are in no particular order):

1. God is Not Loved in the World; He is Rejected By Man.

The Prophecy of Simeon is the First Sorrow of Our Lady. While holding the Christ Child, the holy man raises his eyes to heaven and states, Now, Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace; you have fulfilled your word, for my eyes have witness your saving deed displayed for all the people to see... (Luke 2:29-31).

God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer, and He is rejected over and over again by people who desire to live as they please. There is no sense of sin or thought of offending Almighty God. Even among the faithful, there are those who reject him and the Church's teachings.


2.  The Lord's Day is Not Kept Holy.

On Sunday, it's business as usual in the marketplace and in our homes. Long gone are the "Blue Laws" our country once observed. While most Blue Laws or "Sunday Closing Laws" have been repealed, some laws such as the sale of alcohol remain in effect. The laws that were established in the age of Puritanism were not enacted to give people a day of rest, but were written to respect the Sabbath.

The lack of keeping the Lord's Day holy must have been a sorrow for St. Pope John Paul II, because he wrote an Apostolic Letter on this very subject. Here is a quote from his letter:

Unfortunately, when Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes merely part of a "weekend", it can happen that people stay locked within a horizon so limited that they can no longer see "the heavens". Hence, though ready to celebrate, they are really incapable of doing so. 

 It is clear then why, even in our own difficult times, the identity of this day must be protected and above all must be lived in all its depth. (Dies Domini, No. 4, 30).


3.  Abuse, torture, and killing of God's children.

The Second Sorrow of Our Lady is the flight into Egypt.  Herod desired to kill the Christ child.  In our society, there are many, many, who desire to kill children while they are still living in their mother's womb. Children are abused, tortured, and starved on a daily basis in some homes. In the Middle East, Christians are being persecuted and beheaded for their faith in Jesus Christ.

4.  The worship of false gods.

The third sorrow of Our Lady is the loss of the child Jesus in the temple.  When Jesus was found, he boldly declared,  Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?  In our society, it seems that the Father's business is none of our business. We live in an age of materialism, individualism, and relativism, spiritual illnesses in which we worship ourselves and not God.

5.  Presuming on God's mercy.

One has only to speak to a neighbor, relative, or friend, or pick up the local newspaper and read the obituaries to learn that absolutely everyone is going to heaven. And not just going there by way of Purgatory, but going there directly when they die-the condition and state of being of a saint. 

In our society there is a deep lack of a sense of sin, and no desire to be accountable or purified of the sins one has committed during his or her life. Then,when one dies, a funeral becomes a eulogy in which the deceased is lifted on a spiritual pedestal and canonized by the family.

6.  Blasphemies against the Holy Eucharist.

Today, our Lord has many enemies. There are those who wish to desecrate the most Holy Eucharist. Churches are vandalized. Statues and religious articles are destroyed or desecrated by those claiming artistic freedom. Even among the faithful, sacrilegious communions take place.

7.  The Blessed Mother is not duly honored in the world.

St. Louis de Montfort, in his spiritual masterpiece, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, writes:

It was through the blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world, and it is also through her that he must reign in the world. (True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, Introduction, No. 1).

I admire good Catholics who never seem to tire of defending Our Lady and explaining her role in the Church: to bring each soul to her Son, Jesus Christ. She is our model of prayer, humility, and obedience. 

At the beginning of this article, I listed the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. Sadly, we could update and lengthen this list in light of how Our Lady is treated in the world today. 

Our Lady of Lourdes spoke these tender words tinged with sorrow to St. Bernadette:  I do not promise to make you happy in this life, but in the next. 

Yes, Our Lady confirms what we have come to know, that life and striving for holiness is, at times, a "Valley of Tears." But in God's mercy and goodness, he gives us joys to balance our afflictions. He gives us the joy of receiving him in the Holy Eucharist. The joy of having good and holy friends to imitate, the Communion of Saints. The joy of having a Holy Mother who never abandons us, even when we are sorrowful to the point of despair over our sins. As Catholics, we have the "best of both worlds." Why? Because we have Our Lord present with us in the Blessed Sacrament and we can receive him daily if we wish. And, if we are faithful, we will be with him forever.

We have discussed the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady and of the saints. If you have the courage, consider the  "Seven Sorrows" of your own personal life. Whatever our sorrows, or our great sins, if we are truly sorry, the Lord forgives us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we have repented, he then consoles us. The Holy Spirit is the great Consoler. Our Lady of Sorrows, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, pray for us!

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R. Massaro-Lourdes, France

An excerpt from Pilgrims With Mary by John Maloney, P.P.


Round the whole life of Mary there is the serene calm of a great silence. The great things of God are done in silence. When the night was on its way and all the world was asleep the Savior was born. Right through the story Mary was ever present, but nearly always silent.

She must have loved the silence of the hills, the lovely calm of those hidden years. Jesus also loved the quiet of the hills. There in the early morning and through the nights He found refreshment, alone in the prayer of God.

Ours is a world of noise; and we tend to need the companionship of noise. And unless we are careful our souls become like a crowded inn, and the gentle knocking of God at the door is drowned in a babel of voices clamoring for attention. 

Prayer:

Immaculate Virgin, grant me something of that silence full of love and peace which always filled your soul. Make my ear always attentive to God's word. 


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS