Displaying items by tag: Calendar of Feasts and Memorials

22 May Optional Memorial

The writings of St. Joaquina are foundations for the Carmelite Sisters of Charity, the congregation founded by the saint in February 1826. Assembled into the Epistolario Joaquina de Vedruna, the texts bring together her core spirituality and thoughts. The letters focus on a fervent desire to serve and a complete dedication to the poor: to embrace the needs of the people and to give glory to God.

She believed in removing the obstacles to the pure love of Jesus so that one’s will and faculties are in sync with God’s service. The lives of the followers of St. Joaquina are filled with certainty and confidence that God dwells in each person and “pitched his tent”, especially among those who suffer the most.

Today, the Vedruna Family, formed by women and men, religious and lay, followers of Jesus are ministering on four continents (Europe, Asia, America, and Africe) and continue to respond to the current emergencies of the world, such as migration, youth, promotion of women, education, health, and integral ecology. (Adapted from the Congregation’s website)

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16 May Optional Memorial (Obligatory Memorial the province of Great Britain)

The general's secretary did not fail to make a note concerning St. Simon Stock. "The body of St. Simon Stock is contained intact in a painted casket, set in an elevated position in a special chapel. This saint is held in the greatest veneration in the city, and his office is said in our convent on May 16. It is true that because of wars and devastation by heretics of the convent, which was built 500 years ago, first outside the city, then transferred to its present location inside the city, as can be most clearly shown, there are no writings or documents concerning this saint who was our general, and the relics are venerated only by tradition. There are still in this province religious of 85 and 90 years of age who testify that the aforementioned relics were always venerated and held to be those of St. Simon Stock. A duplex office was composed in his honor, as can be proved by the very ancient choral books which contain the proper office of St. Simon, all in chant."

By the 1950s, the Order had purchased back the ancient property of Aylesford. In the post war optimism, the Order gave expression to its devotions through impressive public celebrations. The seventh centenary of the granting of the scapular, the first of these celebrations, was held from July 16, 1950, to July 16, 1951. It was commemorated on a grandiose scale, as the general chapter had ordained. Early in 1948, the prior general already announced the proposed celebration. Together with the Discalced Carmelites a program, projecting scientific studies, publicity, local congresses, lectures, and novenas was drawn up. A listing of all scapular confraternities erected from 1604 to 1948 was composed from archival and other sources. From August 5th to the 9th, fifteen thousand devotees met in Rome in an International Marian Congress to initiate the centenary. Pope Pius XII honored the occasion with his letter on the scapular devotion, Neminem profecto latet, February 11, 1950. Similar meetings were held in the provinces, and bishops sent pastoral letters.

The centennial year concluded at Aylesford, July 14-16, 1951, with the solemn return of the relics of St. Simon Stock from Bordeaux. The Discalced Carmelite, Cardinal Adeodato Piazza, presided over the ceremony attended by bishops, civil authorities, including Eamon de Valera, president of Ireland, and 25,000 faithful. This occasion also elicited a letter of Pius XII. The relics of the saint can be venerated in the Relic Chapel at Aylesford in Kent, England.

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9 May Optional Memorial (Obligatory Memorial in the province of Malta)

Saint George Preca was born in Valletta, Malta, on February 12, 1880. Ordained a priest in 1906, he immediately began dedicating himself to catechizing children. For this mission, he founded the Society of Christian Doctrine in 1907, known as M.U.S.E.U.M. (Magister utinam sequatur Evangelium universus mundus), for which he had to endure many insults. He dedicated his entire life to popular preaching and catechesis, and wrote a large number of books, most of which were aimed at the formation of the members of his Society. His effective apostolate was the fruit of a life of prayer and constant meditation on Sacred Scripture. His spirituality was founded on humility and meekness.

On July 21, 1918, Don Giorgio joined the Carmelite Third Order, and on July 26 of the following year, he made his profession. As a tertiary, he chose the name Franco, after Blessed Franco of Siena, and signed some of his books as Father Franco, Carmelite. In 1952, Prior General Fr. Kiliano Lynch affiliated him with the Order as a sign of recognition for having greatly promoted devotion to the Blessed Virgin of Carmel.

Don Giorgio Preca died on July 26, 1962, and Pope John Paul II declared him blessed on May 9, 2001. Pope Benedict XVI canonized him on June 3, 2007.

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8 May Optional Memorial

Because of his virtues, he was looked down upon and treated badly even by the less observant friars. He, however, bore all the annoyances and the temperament of those religious with great patience, and he practiced virtue and devoted himself to the good of the convent. Since he lived in great austerity, he was gaunt in appearance, with a pale face and sunken eyes, but with a lively and honest gaze.

He was a good example to those who came to visit him, and those who frequented him were often moved to tears by his kind words and examples.

Brother Luigi, even though he was prior, did not spare himself from work; on the contrary, he behaved like the humblest of the friars in the convent, going door to door throughout the city of Randazzo to collect alms of bread, candles, and similar items, to support the friars and do good for all. In fact, while he was begging, the poor would turn to him for alms, knowing that he would not fail to distribute the bread he himself had received.

Once, on Easter Sunday, the friars of the convent ate meat, but he wanted bread and water as usual, as attested by Friar Pietro Cubani, a companion of Blessed Luigi. He also recounted that while Blessed Luigi himself was going from farmyard to farmyard and from farmhouse to farmhouse on his usual alms round, an arrow was shot at him from the road and struck him in the forehead, leaving him bedridden for quite some time. Many asked him to reveal who had wounded him, but he never would, and instead, with great patience, he would repeat: “May God forgive him; praise be to God.”

There was a path leading to the convent of St. Michael that was rough and notorious; to eliminate the scandal and immorality that prevailed there, he purchased a plot of land and opened another road, working on it personally alongside those who, at his request, had come to help him. If Brother Luigi needed a favor for the benefit of the convent, no one would say no to him, but they were only too happy to assist him, in remembrance of the benefits they had received, for his courteous manner, and for his generous hospitality.

After he passed from this life, his body was placed in a coffin beneath the main altar of the church, enclosed by an iron grille; and many venerated and invoked him, especially those suffering from quartan fever, who were healed. These things were said then, and are still repeated today.

(Fr. Simonelli, Blessed Luigi Rabatà, Rome, 1968, pp. 74–76)

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May 5th | Memorial

Angelus is thought to have been one of the first Carmelites to return to Sicily from Mount Carmel and, according to a long-standing tradition, he was murdered in Licata during the first half of the 13th century.

The cult of Saint Angelus spread throughout the Order and among ordinary lay people. Angelus and St Albert of Trapani are considered the "fathers" of the Order because they were the first two saints to have a cult in the Order.

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Between 1625 and 1627, a “trial” was held in Licata on the miracles attributed to the Carmelite Saint Angelus, whose martyrdom, according to hagiographic tradition, was said to have occurred in the very town overlooking the Sicilian Channel. A detailed study of the proceedings of the trial can be found in the book Miracula et Benefitia: Malattia, Thaumaturgia e devozione a Licata e in Sicilia nella prima età moderna by Marco Papasidero, published by Edizioni Carmelitane.

The Commissariat of Catalonia was established in 1932. Almost immediately difficuties began. In February 1934 the Carmelite church was desecrated. In October Communist guards were placed at the door of the priory to prevent the religious from leaving. In June 1936 the mayor forbade religious from teaching in the schools and working in hospitals. Shortly thereafter, a Carmelite was stoned while walking on the street. The only newspaper to defend the religious was closed down on July 18th. The following day churches and monasteries were pillaged, ransacked, and burned. On July 20, the Feast of St. Elijah, the community disbanded.

The story of the Carmelites during this time and a biography of many of the martyred Catalonian Carmelites can be found in the book Profiles in Holiness I by Redemptus M. Valabek, O. Carm., published by Edizioni Carmelitane.

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17 April Memorial

Baptist Spagnoli was a literary genius. He devoted the fruitfulness of his extraordinary literary ability to the service of the Order and the Church. His Apologia pro Ordine Carmelitarum (Apology for the Order of Carmelites) stands as the principal testimony to his love for Carmel, while his total devotion to the Church is attested not only by his poems in honor of Innocent VIII, Julius II, and Leo X, but also by all those writings that reveal his active engagement with the issues most deeply felt by Christendom at the time, such as, for example, the Obiurgatio cum exhortatione ad capienda arma contra infideles, ad reges et principes christianos (Admonition and Exhortation to Christian Kings to Take Up Arms Against the Infidels).

The events that were then disrupting the life of the nation also caused him to write. His verses Pro pacata Italia post bellum ferrariense (To Italy at Peace After the War of Ferrara), those of In Romam bellis tumultuantem (Against Rome in Turmoil from Wars), the poem Debello veneto commentariolus (Brief Commentary on the Venetian War), the Trophaeum pro Gallis expulsis produce Mantuae (Victory Ode on the Expulsion of the Gauls by the Duke of Mantua), and above all the De calamitatibus temporum (The Calamities of the Times), reprinted nearly thirty times between 1489 and 1510 alone, demonstrate how deeply the Mantuan felt the drama that was tormenting Italy in those years.

The friendships that bound him to distinguished figures of the time is proof of his high prestige in the world of culture. He was one of the most celebrated figures of the humanist movement, especially for his work Bucolica: seu adolescentia in decem aeglogas divisa (Bucolica or Adolescence Divided into Ten Eclogues), of which there are nearly 150 editions, more than a hundred of them in the 16th century alone, which is why his contemporaries, including Erasmus of Rotterdam, proclaimed him the Christian Virgil.

His poetic work, whose fame reached as far as Shakespeare with some even included in his play Love’s Labour’s Lost—influenced English literature in particular: Alexander Barclay paraphrased his eclogues, Edmund Spenser imitated him in The Shepheardes Calender (twelve pastoral eclogues), and John Milton in the Ode on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity.

The work required by the various offices entrusted to him and his intense literary activity did not distract him from the Carmelite ideals of the interior life and a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

The practice of the virtues and renunciation of the world form the theme of his De vita beata (The Blessed Life), a dialogue he wrote when he was barely sixteen years old; the aspiration to solitude and the desire for the presence of God are constantly found in his works and in his correspondence. In honor of Mary, he composed several odes and a three-volume poem, the Parthenices Mariana (Songs to the Virgin), which spread rapidly throughout Europe, as some seventy editions were published, fifteen in the fifteenth century and nearly fifty in the sixteenth. He worked to have the custody of the sanctuary of Loreto entrusted to his Congregation, which he obtained, albeit for only a few years, in 1489.

The six Parthenices composed in honor of the martyrs Catherine, Margaret, Agatha, Lucy, Apollonia, and Cecilia, and the poems in honor of St. John the Baptist, St. George, and other saints, constitute, together with the twelve books of the De sacris diebus (The Sacred Days), another example of his religious piety.

Impressed by the growing corruption of the clergy and the people, he expressed his reformist aspirations not only through his insightful literary works, such as the IXth eclogue De moribus curiae romanae (On the Customs of the Roman Curia), but also through a passionate speech delivered in the Vatican Basilica in 1489, before Innocent VIII and the cardinals. Some of his particularly harsh statements led Luther himself to rely on the authority of Baptist to take a stand against Rome. And in an Anthologia... sententiosa collecta ex operibus Baptistae Mantuani (Anthology of Sentences Collected from the Works of B.V.M.), published in Nuremberg in 1571, the Protestants went so far as to point to the Carmelite as a precursor of the German reformer. But it is worth noting the essential difference between the reformist spirit of Blessed Mantuano, who sought to work within the Church, and that of Luther, which was to lead to schism.

Adapted from the entry for Baptist Spagnoli by Edmondo Coccia in Santi del Carmelo, a cura di Ludovico Saggi Ocarm, Institutum Carmelitanum, Roma, 1972.

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Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
A New Blessed with Carmelite Connections

The year 2023 was the 75th anniversary of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen becoming a professed member of the Third Order of the Carmelites. He made his profession on July 17th, 1948, in the chapel of Whitefriars Hall in Washington, DC. The prior general, Kilian Lynch, received the archbishop’s commitment.

Venerable Fulton Sheen is scheduled to be beatified on September 24, 2026, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was declared Venerable in 2012, with a miracle involving a stillborn baby’s recovery approved in 2019. The future archbishop was born in El Paso, Illinois in 1895, although he later served as auxiliary bishop of New York (1951-1966) and bishop of Rochester, New York (1966-1969).

According to Allan Smith, director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Mission Society of Canada, Sheen loved Carmel and he kept up a lifetime of correspondence with many communities of Carmelites. He is quoted as saying of the Carmelites who prayed for him – “Your Carmelite prayers and sufferings do more good than all our preaching and hectic actions. We make the noise, we get the credit, we enjoy the consolation of a victory, seen and tasted. You are responsible for it and yet you cannot see the fruits. But you will on the day, when the Cross appears in the heavens, and every man is rewarded according to his works.”

Sheen also said “I want to cling onto Carmel for I love its love of Jesus. I refuse to give it up and like the blind man of Jericho, I shall go on shouting on to you continually to cure my blindness and my ills.”

Archbishop Sheen loved St. Therese and her devotion to the Holy Face.  He spoke and wrote often about her and this special devotion.

During his time as auxiliary bishop of New York, Sheen was a trailblazer for evangelizing using the then new medium called television. His program garnered 10 million viewers each week at its peak. His television show, Life Is Worth Living, won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality in 1953. The Emmy is still given today, an award recognizing one’s contribution by others in the television industry. Life Is Worth Living, aired from 1952-1957 discussing various aspects of Catholicism. Two similar programs, also featuring Sheen, followed in 1958-1968. Prior to television, Sheen appeared on the radio program The Catholic Hour from 1928-1952.

Sheen discussing moral issues of the day, often used a blackboard to make drawings and lists to help explain the topic. When the blackboard was filled, Sheen would move to another part of the television set, and request one of his "angels" (one of the TV crew) to clean the blackboard.

The website BishopSheenToday.com is one of the best resource libraries, on the new Blessed, featuring his many fine books, videos and audio recordings.

Inauguration of the Restored Chapel of St. Andrew (curated by Luca Venturi)

The traditional feast of St. Andrew Corsini, Carmelite Bishop of Fiesole, which takes place in the Basilica del Carmine in Florence on January 7, had a dual significance in 2026. There was the annual religious commemoration marking the passing of the Fiesole prelate in 1373. This year there was the inauguration of the restored chapel where Andrew’s remains rest.

The Holy Mass was celebrated by Bishop Stefano Manetti, bishop of Fiesole, in the restored chapel. Officials from the Ministries of the Interior and Culture, the Superintendence of Fine Arts, and the City of Florence, as well as members of the Corsini family, direct descendants of the holy bishop, attended.

In his homily, Bishop Manetti thanked all the various parties involved for working together to make such a beautiful and important restoration possible. He then recalled the figure of St. Andrew as an example of charity, apostolic zeal, and love for the poor.

The remarks by the various institutional representatives highlighted the importance of the work carried out, emphasizing the professionalism of the craftsmen involved as well as adherence to the timelines set by the PNRR project. The PNRR funds projects with European resources, focusing on the green transition, digitalization, sustainable infrastructure with a significant emphasis on urban regeneration and cultural heritage.

Special thanks also go to Fr. Raffaele Duranti who, as “host,” together with the community, oversaw the work of this very important restoration.

From Cammino OnLine (1/2026)