O.Carm
M.A in Spiritual Companionship opens Registration
MA Spiritual Companionship
(being offered from October 2023)
The Faculty of Theology at the University of Malta, in collaboration with Carmelite Institute Malta, is offering again the Master of Arts in Spiritual Companionship a professional programme aiming to train and empower candidates in discovering and practising the art and profession of spiritual companionship. The course aims at responding to the need of ongoing formation of pastoral ministers and school religious counsellors.
The different study-units of the programme cover the following topics:
Introduction to spirituality;
Dynamics of growth and maturity in the spiritual life;
Foundations of spiritual companionship;
Foundational theories of psychology;
Principles of spiritual discernment;
Emerging contexts in spiritual companionship;
Practicum in spiritual companionship;
Psychospiritual growth;
Counselling in a pastoral setting;
Helping skills in spiritual companionship;
Supervision in spiritual companionship;
Ethical issues in spiritual companionship.
The third year is wholly dedicated to the writing of the dissertation.
The course is recommended for those wish to be involved in the spiritual formation of others by providing the service of spiritual companionship and direction. It is also recommended to those engaged in pastoral ministry, particularly family and youth ministers, chaplains, spiritual directors in schools, and group leaders.
Course duration: 6 semesters part-time (evening)
Study mode: taught (2 years) and research (1 year)
For more information go to: https://www.um.edu.mt/theology/prospective/mainspiritualcompanionship/ or contact the Course Co-ordinator: Rev. Dr Charló Camilleri, O.Carm. on
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Lectio Divina June 2023
Lord,
guide the course of world events
and give your Church the joy and peace
of serving you in freedom.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
- pdf Lectio Divina June 2023 [PDF] Download here (977 KB)
- default Lectio Divina June 2023 [ePub] Download here (279 KB)
- default Lectio Divina June 2023 [Mobi] Download here (1.17 MB)
Celebrating At Home - Pentecost Sunday
Sent to be God’s love in the world
(John 20:19-23)
At Pentecost we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the first group of Christian believers - the disciples.
This gift of the Holy Spirit is the culmination of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
It would be wrong to think that this gift happened only once, in one moment of history. In fact, the gifting of the Holy Spirit is a continuing event in the life of every believing person and, therefore, in every age of human history. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God with us - the enduring way in which Jesus remains present in the Church and in the life of each person.
Today we do not pray to receive the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us has been affirmed and proclaimed in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Instead, we pray to grow more aware of the Spirit’s presence in our lives and to allow that Spirit to grow within us, gradually re-shaping our minds and hearts in the image of Jesus.
Pentecost brings to a close the fifty days of the Church’s Easter celebrations. Soon we will begin Ordinary Time again. So, our feast today helps us understand that we take the Holy Spirit with us into the ordinary events and tasks of each day. That is how we allow the sacred to touch, heal and transform us and the world around us.
The spiritual search is for the heart of God within our own. When we enter into relationship with Christ through the Spirit, the gifts begin to flow more abundantly. The Spirit is the source of reconciliation with ourselves and with each other. Reconciliation is essential if we are to ‘hold and guard’ each other in the midst of all that life throws at us, especially at the moment.
The Spirit brings gifts of wisdom, courage, understanding, right judgement, knowledge, reverence, wonder and awe in God’s presence. May we be graced by them all as we discern and decide how we can best work together to build up each other and to let God’s love be seen at work in each of us.
Carmelites' Archives and Library Opens to the Public
The Opening of the General Archives and Library of the Order of the Carmelites to the Public
The 2023 edition of the Days of Enhancement of Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage was held on May 13-21. Its theme was "Beyond the Slide. Church Cultural Heritage: From Accessibility to Inclusion." The Carmelite General Archives and Library took part with an even on May 19 at Centro Internazionale San Alberto (CISA) in Rome. Both library and archives are houses at CISA.
Three rounds of tours were given. Some 50 people attended, including employees of the General Curia, professionals in the field, scholars, as well as people curious seeing the doors to the library on Via Sforza Pallavicini open for the first time in 40 years.
The tours consisted with the librarian and archivist, Mario Alfarano, O. Carm., giving an introduction to the history and organization of the archives and library. Sara Bischetti showed the library’s holdings and research tools, highlighting some of the older items preserved in the library, including incunabula (books printed before 1501) and cinquecentine (books printed in the 16th century. The visitors were then able to explore the three floors of the libraries holdings.
In the archives, Simona Serci provided a short history and evolution of the Order using a display of papal bulls and letters, records from both general chapters and provincial chapters, documentation on the Carmelite house at Traspontina which was relocated decades after the unification of Italy at what is now CISA but at the time was the International College of St. Albert.
The tours ended in the storeroom of the documentary section of the General Postulation. This department is involved with the processes for the causes of the Carmelite saints and blesseds.
The visits ended with the blessing of the library by Tadeusz Popiela, prior of CISA, inaugurating the new opening to the public. Refreshments in the houses main hall followed with music by Loredana Birocci on the piano.
For 2023, 136 events took place around Italy. Thirty-nine of these were done by museums, 33 by archives, 42 by libraries, 9 by churches, and 13 by dioceses. The days are promoted by the National Office for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage and Worship Buildings of the Italian Bishops' Conference together with AMEI - Association of Italian Ecclesiastical Museums, AAE - Association of Ecclesiastical Archivists and ABEI - Association of Italian Ecclesiastical Librarians and under the patronage of ICOM Italia (International Council of Museums), ANAI- Italian National Archival Association and AIB - Italian Library Association.
St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, virgin
May 25 - Feast
From her childhood, she had a deep sense of the presence of God, a great love for the Eucharist and a longing to live a penitential life.
In addition to her deep spiritual life, she observed conscientiously her religious vows and led a hidden life of prayer and self denial. She was filled with a burning desire for the renewal of the Church: keenly aware of the urgent need for reform, yearning to see it spread, and offering herself so that the "anointed ones" (i.e. priests) would once again be a witness to the world and that the lapsed would return to the Church.
Read more ...
Causa Nostrae Laetitiae
PROFESSIO SOLEMNIS
20-03-23 José Lucas do Nascimento (Flum) Roma, Italia
19-05-23 Francisco Javier Giraldes (ACV-Argentina) Lomas de Zamora, Argentina
ORDINATIO DIACONALIS
29-04-23 Ecson Gabriel Ramírez Alvárez (Baet) Jalí, Venezuela
ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS
16-04-23 Jefferson Ferreira Sousa (Flum) São Paolo, Brasile
16-04-23 Lucas de Melo Pires (Flum) São Paolo, Brasile
29-04-23 Oreste Maria Manzi (Ita) Gragnano (Napoli), Italia
Spirituality, Broken Hearts, and Broken Relationship
Seminar
Spirituality, Broken Hearts, and Broken Relationships
Clive Mifsud SDB – Robert Falzon SDB
Relationships form us; for good and for bad, they shape our understanding of ourselves and of each other. Letting ourselves come into contact with others opens us to all sorts of possibilities. Some relationships mature us, enrich us, and help us to grow on the path of authenticity. Others can be traumatizing and hurtful; especially those relationships that are most meaningful to us can even break our hearts. In such situations of hurt and vulnerability, in broken-heartedness, spirituality helps us ask the right questions, making it possible for us to find an approach that supports us, provides inner peace, and (if and when possible) also reconciliation.
In this seminar, after looking at some foundational concepts from both theology and therapy, Christian spirituality will be presented as a support in dealing with situations of broken-heartedness, while Gestalt Psychotherapy will support the reading of the concrete situation and the processing that is needed. The seminar aims to be engaging and interactive such that, apart from the level of information, there is also a level of personal processing.
Programme:
Friday 26 May 2023, 06:00 p.m. – 08:00 p.m. [online]
Saturday 27 May 2023, 09:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. [onsite]
Venue:
Friday session will take place online via Zoom.
Saturday session will take place onsite at the Carmelite Priory, Mdina.
Language:
English & Maltese
How to Register:
Send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(or click the "Book Now" button below)
Payment:
The seminar is being organized free of charge; however, if you wish to donate, you may do so:
(1) via bank transfer to our account [IBAN] MT 28 VALL 2201 3000 0000 400 1797 9621 [beneficiary "Carmelite Institute"]
(2) via cheque addressed to "Carmelite Institute" for amounts greater than C20 (as per directive n. 19 issued by the Central Bank of Malta
(3) via Revolut to 79060733
St. Joachina de Vedruna, Religious
22 May Optional Memorial
Saint Joachina was born on 16th April 1783 in Barcelona, Spain. She married Theodore de Mas in 1799 but was widowed in 1816. She brought up nine children with loving care.
She was beatified on 19th May 1940 and canonized on 12th April 1959.
Carmelite Youth Day to be held during WYD 2023
We are only 71 days (1 August) away from the World Youth Day, the biggest gathering of Catholic young people. “Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39) is the theme. This year’s celebration will be held in Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal from August 1-6, 2023.
As part of the week’s celebration, a Carmelite Youth Day will be held on Wednesday, August 2. This will be a time of celebration for youth from around the Order who are participating in World Youth Day. It is a great opportunity for our youth to meet other young people who are connected to the Carmelites as well as to experience prayer and learn something about world the various groups come from. The day is being jointly sponsored by the General Commissariat of Portugal and the Order’s international Youth Commission.
The Carmelite Youth Day will take place in our Carmelite Church of Santo António dos Cavaleiros which is located on Avenida Francisco Pinto Pacheco, 34, 2660-262 Santo António dos Cavaleiros, Loures, Lisbon.
Our prior general Míċeál O’Neill, councillor general for Europe Richard Byrne, the president of the Order’s International Youth Commission Robert Thomas Puthussery, and many other provincials, commissaries and other representatives of the Order will participate on this day. The Carmelite Youth Day will have time for sharing and interaction among Carmelite young people. There will be short video presentations from each group. A Eucharistic celebration will follow, presided by the prior general.
All are invited to participate. A general letter of invitation to participate was sent by the Commissary General of Portugal, Agostinho Castro O. Carm. Each Carmelite youth group is expected to register for this event through a Google form, available in four languages. Use the links below.
ENG_: https://forms.gle/Ai8JS1FNdisVTjv49
IT_: https://forms.gle/GoAHKKNH3trTTKDK8
ES_: https://forms.gle/jq7KKN4aF5h6naKQ7
PT_: https://forms.gle/dvzRULzV56A2T39KA
For more information on Carmelite Youth Day, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Carmelite Provides Service as Deacon at Papal Masses
Normally it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a deacon to be asked to participate in an official capacity at a papal Mass. However, Matteo Antollini, a member of the Italian Province, has received the opportunity on a number of occasions. His latest was to proclaim the Gospel at the Vigil Mass in St. Peters and to proclaim the Gospel to the congregation and then the Easter message to Pope Francis.
His service started with the canonization of Titus Brandsma on May 15, 2022. The Vatican liturgists were looking for a deacon who could sing the Gospel. After auditioning with the director of the Sistine Choir, Matteo was selected to be the deacon of the Word.
Antollini was contacted a second time for the funeral of Cardinal Jozef Tomko, a member of the Rome Curia from 1962-2007, who died in early August 2022. Then he was tapped again to deacon, including the sung proclamation of the Gospel, at the mass for Pope Francis’ eighth Consistory and its 20 new cardinals. This took place at the end of August.
On Ash Wednesday, Antollini was again asked to sing the Gospel and read the Prayers of the Faithful at St. Sabina's. During the papal Mass on Palm Sunday, he sang the Gospel standing by the obelisk in St. Peter’s Square.
“The great excitement was on the night of Holy Saturday when I made the Easter proclamation to the Holy Father—singing the first Alleluia after 40 days of the Lenten desert experience,” said Matteo. Those watching on television noted that he never looked down at the text but kept his eyes on the Holy Father the whole time.
Antollini is from Malnate in the Varese region of Italy. He is currently a student at the Biblicum in Rome and resides at Centro Internazionale Sant’Alberto. He will be ordained to the priesthood on June 24 at Santa Maria in Traspontina in Rome.
