Displaying items by tag: Calendar of Feasts and Memorials
John Soreth and the Carmelite Nuns
24 July Memorial
Important to the life of the Carmelite Order was the foundation of female monasteries by John Soreth. As soon as he was elected prior general on November 1, 1451, Soreth himself affiliated the beguinage of Ten Elsen near Geldern in 1452, confirming it the following year by appealing to the papal bull Cum nulla (October 7, 1452), with which Pope Nicholas V recognized the Carmelites' right to have female monasteries like other mendicant orders. It is unknown who requested the bull. Certainly, a decisive role, at least in speeding up the process, was played by the community of the Carmine in Florence, which boasted a long history of bringing women into the Order and perhaps wished to clarify and formalize the situation of some women who had joined the Order on August 15, 1450.
Soreth used the bull to found monasteries in Flanders, Germany, and Britain, in which he wanted cloistered life from the outset. The special bond with the reformed friars requested by Soreth confirms his plan to entrust the female communities with a role of spiritual support for the difficult project of reforming the Order. After the Beguines of Ten Elsen, Soreth incorporated the sisters of Nieukerk (1455), and at the same time the community of Dinant was founded, followed by Liège (1457) and Bondon in Brittany, where in 1468 the Duchess Françoise d'Amboise entered. In 1466, Harlem and Huy were founded, followed by Namur in 1468 and Vilvoorde in 1469. (Giovanni Soreth, by Giovanni Grosso, O. Carm. in Dizionario Carmelitano)
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Solemnity of Elijah, Prophet
20 July
Throughout St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, there are the statues of 34 founders of orders and congregations. On the side of the pier of St. Helena, housing the relic of the True Cross, stands the statue of Elijah the Prophet. The artist Agostino Cornacchini has Elijah pointing to the light entering the aspe. This was the third statue placed in St. Peter’s and was to honor the Order of Carmelites.
The inscription at the bottom of the statue reads: Cartouche - UNIVERSUS / CARMELITARUM ORDO / FUNDATORI SUO S. ELIAE / PROPHETAE EREXIT / A. MDCCXXVII. (The entire Carmelite Order erected this status to its founder in 1727.)
Controversy developed before the statue even reached its place in the basilica. Many denied the truthfulness of the claim of Carmelites that Elijah was their founder, certainly not in the same sense that the other thirty-seven statues around the basilica were founders.
Today Carmelites speak of Elijah, along with Mary, as an inspirational figure on whose experiences they partly base their spirituality. They had established themselves near the fountain of Elijah on Mount Carmel and now see their lives as in spiritual succession to that of Elijah.
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St. Teresa of Jesus ’de Los Andes’ (OCD), Virgin
13 July Optional Memorial in Latin America
Juana Fernandez Solar was born on 13th July 1900 at Santiago in Chile, to Christian middle-class parents. Two days after her birth, she was baptized. The example and the teaching of her parents were the foundation of her Christian education. She was confirmed on 22th October 1909 and made her First Communion on 11th September 1910.
On 7th May 1919, to the joy of her parents, she joined the Discalced Carmelite nuns in the city of Los Andes, taking the name of Teresa of Jesus.
Bl. Giovanna Scopelli, virgin
July 9 | Memorial
Born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1439, Bl. Jane Scopelli began her religious life at home living as a Carmelite mantellata (member of a Carmelite lay confraternity, wearing the white cloak or mantella). In 1480, after the death of her parents, she formed a community with a number of other like-minded women.
A few years later, in 1485, she acquired the house and the church belonging to the Humiliate in Reggio Emilia which she converted into a monastery. The nuns became known locally as "The White Nuns". The new community was affiliated to the Reformed Congregation of Mantua. Blessed Jane held the position of prioress in the community which grew to number twenty nuns. Many supernatural events were attributed to her and she was gifted with a great devotion to Our Lady, while living an intensely penitential life. She died on 9th July 1491 and her liturgical cult was approved by Pope Clement XIV in 1771.
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Bl. Maria Crocifissa Curcio, Virgin
4 July Optional Memorial in the Italian provinces
Mother M. Crocifissa Curcio was born on 30 January 1877 in Ispica (Rg), Italy. From the time of her adolescence she realised that she was called to follow Christ in a radical manner, Christ whose loving Mother of Carmel was entrusting her with the task of making Carmel flourish once more in her town as well as in others.
St. Elisha, prophet
June 14 | Memorial
Elisha, the Disciple Par Excellence
Elisha is not Elijah's only disciple. According to a Jewish tradition found in the Vitae prophetarum, in Jerome's introduction to his Commentary on the Book of Jonah, and in some other patristic writings, Jonah was the son of the widow of Zarephath, brought back to life by the prophet and became Elijah's disciple: “Jonah, after his death, was resurrected by the prophet Elijah: he followed him, suffered with him, and, because of his obedience to him, merited the favor of the gift of prophecy” (Arabic Jacobite Synaxarion of September 22).
G. Baconthorp knew this tradition, which he derived from Jerome. G. de Cheminot, following F. Ribot, makes a disciple of the man whom Elijah sent back when he was fleeing from Jezebel, the first one. It is this man whom Elijah sends to the top of Mount Carmel to watch for the coming of the rain.
According to the Vitae prophetarum, Obadiah, Ahab's steward who hid the hundred prophets, fifty by fifty, sent by Ahaziah, became a disciple of Elijah. Theodore Bar-Koni, an eighth-century Nestorian author, specifies that he was endowed with the gift of prophecy after following Elijah. Medieval Carmelites list Obadiah among the great disciples of Elijah. Philippe Ribot is the only 14th-century Carmelite to also make the prophet Micah a disciple of Elijah.
In this group of disciples, Elisha occupies the first place (Cheminot, Ribot).
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Bl. Hilary Januszewski, Priest and Martyr
12 June Optional Memorial
Hilary Januszewski, born Pawel on June 11, 1907, in Poland, joined the Order of Carmelites in 1927 and was ordained a priest in 1934. During the German occupation of Poland, when other friars were arrested, Fr. Hilary decided to present himself in exchange for an older and sick friar. From that day his Calvary began. He was sent to the prison of Montelupi (Cracow), then to the concentration camp of Sachsenchausen and in April 1941 to the concentration camp of Dachau. There he was a model of prayer life, encouraging others and giving hope for a better tomorrow. Together with the other Carmelites, among whom was Saint Titus Brandsma, they often joined in prayer. He died on March 25, 1945, from typhus, shortly before the camp's liberation. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 13, 1999.
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100 Years of the Canonization of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Normandy Celebrates 100 Years of Sainthood for Its Most Famous Citizen
The Catholic Church and the town of Lisieux celebrated the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face with three days of solemn celebration on May 16-18, 2025. On May 18, the Basilica of St. Thérèse carried a live broadcast of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration Mass from St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on large screens.
The popular French saint, often referred to by devotees as "The Little Flower," was born Thérèse Martin. Following just nine years of religious life in the cloistered Carmelite monastery in Lisieux, she died at the age of 24 of tuberculosis in 1897. She lived with two of her older sisters and eventually her closest sibling in the same monastery.
Following her death, Thérèse became known worldwide through her spiritual memoir, Story of a Soul. She quickly became the object of astonishing devotion. The basilica built in her honor in Lisieux is today the second most visited place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes. Some 1 million visitors come annually to the basilica. Beatified in 1923, she was canonized in Rome on May 17, 1925, by Pope Pius XI, who proclaimed her patroness of missions in 1927. Pope Pius X called her “the greatest saint of modern times.” One hundred years after her death, in 1997, St. John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church.
The celebrations this year involved the entire city. Activities were planned to appeal to everyone, regardless of their age, level of faith or religious practice.
On May 16 in the evening -- a procession carrying the relics of St. Thérèse on a horse-drawn cart traveled through the streets of Lisieux, followed by several hundred people. This is the reliquary which has travelled the world always bringing in large crowds of Thérèse’s devotees. The reliquary spent some time in the Cathedral where the Martin family went to Mass regularly. It was then transferred to the basilica for a vigil of prayer.
The following day, the reliquary was displayed in front of the basilica. Some of her writings were read and the large crowd sung hymns. The Mass included the reading of the homily that Pope Pius XI delivered in Rome during the canonization Mass in 1925.
The rest of the weekend, pilgrims and others participated in activities related to the life and spirituality of St. Thérèse. They were able to make a jubilee pilgrimage and go to confession, but also take part in treasure hunts for children, guided tours of the wax museum, and, in a nod to 21st century intrigues, helped build a large structure out of Lego-style building bricks.
People dressed in late 19th century period costumes, took visitors through places Thérèse lived so they could easily enter into the atmosphere of everyday life in Lisieux in St. Thérèse's time.
The bishop of Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux, Jacques Habert, commented that there today a fascination for people of various backgrounds with Thérèse. "When I walk across the square in front of the basilica in Lisieux, I am always struck by the number of people who clearly are not used to going to church," he said. "They have heard about Thérèse, are interested in her, and want to come in and light a candle. It is a kind of attraction that is beyond our understanding."
"During World War I, many soldiers, both French and German, testified to their devotion to her and the graces they had received through her intercession," Father Schwab added. "And since then, enthusiasm for her has not waned.
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St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin
25 May Feast
From On Revelation and On Temptation of Saint Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, virgin
Come, Holy Spirit
You are truly wonderful, O Word, in the Holy Spirit, in causing him to infuse himself into the soul, through which infusion it is united with God, conceives God, tastes God, and delights in nothing but God.
And the Holy Spirit comes into the soul always marked with that precious seal of the Blood of the Word, the Lamb who was slain; indeed, it is the Blood that moves him to come, if he moves of himself and wills to come.
The moving Spirit is in itself the substance of the Father and the substance of the Word; and it departs from the essence of the Father, from the good pleasure of the Word, and comes as a source spreading itself in the soul, and the soul drowns itself in Him. And as two rivers flow forth and unite together in such a way that the smaller one loses its name and takes that of the larger one, so does this divine Spirit who comes to the soul to unite with it. But it is necessary that the soul, which is the smaller one, lose its name and leave it to the Holy Spirit; and it must do this by transforming itself so much in the Spirit that it becomes one with Him.
And this Spirit, dispenser of the treasures that are in the bosom of the Father and treasurer of the counsels that are made between the Father and the Word, is infused into the soul in such a gentle way that it is not understood and, because of its greatness, is esteemed by few.
With its weight and lightness, it moves in all those places that are suitable and prepared to receive it. By its frequent speech and supreme silence, it is heard by all; with an impetuous gaze, immobile and most mobile, it infuses itself into all.
St. Joachina de Vedruna, Religious
22 May Optional Memorial
Yes, we must purify our hearts from everything that can prevent true love for Jesus. He alone is love, and in love he desires to communicate with us. The good Jesus calls us continually, without ceasing. How long will we remain deaf to his invitation? Let us offer our hearts to Jesus, let us give him our will, let us place our faculties and our senses at his service.
Let there be no disorderly attachment to creatures in our hearts, but only love, an ever more ardent love, because love is never satisfied and does not rest until it has consumed itself. And when the pure love of Jesus has completely inflamed our hearts, it will remove everything that is not love.
Let us not sleep, then: let us love God without ceasing. God alone, creator of heaven and earth, be our peace, our comfort. For we can always find the One who remains forever; everything else passes away, is transitory.
Love, love, I urge you to a love that is ever more ardent, that never ceases. The more we love God, the more we will desire to love him. And when we have Jesus in our hearts, we will be certain that we possess all things in him and with him.
